The Road to Scotland

I am going to Scotland with my parents this spring, and doing lots of planning and research. My Mum is from Scotland, she met my American Dad, got married and moved across the ocean (a brave act that I appreciate for my existence). The one and only time I visited Scotland, I was 14. My memory is spotty and has a skewed perspective. We also went to England, but I couldn’t tell you how long we stayed or what exactly we did. I remember being given a sausage patty as a hamburger, playing with kittens and dogs and seeing a cow named Fergie, Dad gamely eating a food he hated at an elderly relative’s house (liver and pasties, I think), and seeing Midsummer Night’s Dream at Stratford on-Avon. I remember being sick with a cold and being given a fizzy tablet hot drink. I remember talking to my cousins about the differences between American and British words, of being on a train and being able to see rows of tiny back yards.There were giant ravens. I don’t remember my brother being there, but he must have been?

It’s quite possible that my parents tried to prepare me for the trip with books and movies, but I don’t remember. I had episodes of the Goon show that I listened to on my record player, and several books about castles. I had read all of the Lord of the Rings about 10 times. I may have glanced at a map of Great Britain once.

My parents are jet-setters, traveling frequently. Sometimes I will get an email or Facebook post of their latest adventure, like visiting Hobitton in New Zealand or saying how busy it is in Greece. Last summer they were cruising around Great Britain and I realized how much I wanted to go, to see Scotland with my mother as a guide. To see my roots. I had visited where my Mother-in-Law grew up in Canada, looked at my husband’s massive family tree poster. It was time for me to connect like that.

So, how to prepare? I have been reading blogs and travel books, but I could do more, set myself some challenges with literature, history, genealogy and art. I will start this blog series “The Road to Scotland”. I was going to call it the low road, referring to the Loch Lomond song, but apparently that’s the path of the dead, so the high road for me!