Our very own Scotland Story - This was our second trip to Scotland and this trip was special since it was for our Wedding and Honeymoon. When my then fiancé approached me about hiring Graeme,... read more I was a little bit nervous. Being a very introverted person, and admittedly a bit socially awkward, the thought of spending 12 days with someone who I did not know made me apprehensive, but after spending just a short amount of time with Graeme, all the apprehension went away.
What really made my worries go away and made this trip special beyond the fact that I was getting married, was Graeme himself as a person. Being that he is a published author and has a strong social media presence, made him the closest to an actual celebrity I’ve ever interacted with, but he ended up being just a down to earth and fun person to be around. He did so many little things that ended up meaning a lot to us that he did not have to do. Some of these gestures are helping us carry all our luggage to our room at one of our bed and breakfast accommodation, up three flights of a 100-year-old stairs not built to carry luggage on. He also bought all kinds of different foods for us to try on picnics as well as sharing food with us at our meals after my wife mentioned she comes from a culture where it is normal to share food with each other. Gream even brought bottles of whiskey from his own personal collection for me to try at special places along the way in addition to indulging us by letting us eat “Chippy Tea” and Chinese Takeaway in his car. All of our random conversations were not only meaningful but humorous as well, whether it was about his own personal life or ours, what goes on behind the scenes as an author, a person involved in Scottish social media, a business owner, whiskey related topics, or learning about the differences and similarities between our two countries made me feel that he was invested in us during this journey and was not just simply driving us around like someone would with a bus tour that you find all over Scotland.
But the one thing he did that will forever be extra special to us was the wedding gift he gave to us. During one of our stops, we mentioned that our celebrant wanted us to bring a special cup to use as part of our ceremony and even though we wanted to use a quaich, we were unable to find one, so we just bought a random cup we saw at a Renaissance fair, with no special meaning. The day before our wedding he presented us with a quaich engraved with our names and wedding date on it, so we not only had our own quaich now for the ceremony, but it was special because it was a gift to us. This should tell you the kind of person you are getting when you book a trip with Graeme.
As our tour planner and driver though, Graeme was exceptional and far exceeded any expectations I had. My wife gave him an extensive list of places and things to do, and he made it all happen. Being a whiskey fan, I was especially appreciative that he included stops at distilleries along the way for me to try a dram or two as well as purchase bottles for my own collections. Each day was planned perfectly. Every day, Graeme arrived at our accommodation on time, car fully fueled and stocked with drinks and snacks for the day’s journey, ensuring we were comfortable and had to make minimal unplanned stops. He allowed plenty of time to get to every destination, spend time there, take pictures, ask questions and hear the stories before having to leave for the next stop. Graeme was always flexible with the plans as well. When my wife had mentioned one morning after our walk to the Machrie Moore Standing Stones that she enjoyed doing that, he rearranged our schedule when possible so that each day can start with a morning walk. Another time she wanted to change plans and go to Staffa instead of what was planned that day, no problem with Graeme! He was happy to accommodate and when the boat to Staffa got cancelled due to weather, Graeme not only called and got our tickets refunded, he then replanned the day to make up for it. When our entire day trip to Orkney got cancelled first thing in the morning due to an accident on the ferry, Graeme was able to rearrange our schedule on the fly and made our day just as fun and special. In addition to the planned stops, all of the recommendations he made for accommodations where clean and comfortable as well as the restaurants where we ate were fantastic! We enjoyed so much great food on our trip that it became difficult to pick a favorite (but we did, and it was the Applecross Inn)!
From our first few hours in Edinburgh hearing stories behind the names of pubs in Grass Market and the Royal Mile, to our last few hours hearing about the history behind three bridges leading back into Edinburgh, as we completed our journey in a full circle moment. It was clear that Graeme is much more that just a driver and tour guide, but a wonderful storyteller and historian with deep knowledge and love for Scotland. Everywhere we went, there was a purpose and reason, and every place comes with history or significance behind the location. We learned about the various Scottish Clans who controlled the areas we were in, stories about real life heroes and villains as well as wonderful tales about mythical creatures and the mostly tragic fates surrounding them and those who interacted with them. While driving Graeme would point out the landmarks from lochs and Monroes, ruined castles and Victorian mansions or even what little town we were about to drive through, he always kept us informed about where we were, what we were looking at and the stories associated with them. This made the long car rides between stops engaging and exciting, so much so that after a few days he asked us how many miles we think we had travelled and I guessed a number that was way too low because it had felt like we had only been in the car for a few hours over those first days. I could not believe we had travelled hundreds of miles already!
After spending 12 days, traveling 1900 miles and walking 155k steps on our trip I am reminded of the quote, “A journey is best measured in friends rather than miles” and the modern saying of, “maybe the real treasure was the friends we made along the way.” While every day was an adventure and every sight something I’ll certainly always remember, I’d like to think what truly made our trip special was the friendship we shared with Graeme. Thank you for everything you did and for being you. We both look forward to seeing Graeme again soon on our next Scotland adventure.
