Fulfilling a dream...

And what it taught me...

Many people have a bucket list of things they want to do in retirement, but there was only one thing on my bucket list and that was to go to the Isle of Lewis and Harris in the Outer Hebrides. I can’t even tell you why I’ve always wanted to go there; for no discernible reason, it’s something that’s always been in my mind and heart and I was determined to make that dream come true.

Having sold our house, car and caravan in 2021 to live on a narrow boat, we had to look at a way of getting there, so to that end, we bought a van conversion motorhome last year. We chose a van style motorhome as we figured it would be more suitable for some of the narrow, single track roads than a coach built motorhome.

Before we bought the van, we discussed doing this trip by hiring a car and staying in guest houses/B & B’s, but as lifelong caravanners, we love the freedom and flexibility of having our own ‘stuff’ with us and being able to move where we want, when we want…..so the van purchase was completed!

When we had the caravan, our usual mode of operation was to book a site for at least a week, set up camp and walk everywhere we could, leaving the car on site. The main purpose of having the caravan was to walk (hike); we’d only use the car when we wanted to travel somewhere further afield.

Having the van (rather than a caravan) means we can pack up and move more quickly and rather than booking onto specific sites on this trip, we planned to use more ‘park ups’ which can be anything from a layby to a beach car park.

When we stay on a site, we usually pay to be connected to an electricity supply, so the heating, hot water, kettle and microwave can all run off that supply; we have a gas cooker and the gas supply runs off an LPG tank on the van. When we’re on a park up, we use as little power as possible to keep the batteries charged and to try not to deplete the gas in the tank too quickly. On the island, this was important as the only place we could get LPG gas on a pump was at Stornaway and using the heating and hot water on gas would deplete what gas was in the tank very quickly.

We’d planned on being here for up to five weeks and one thing I’d always dreamed of doing was opening the back doors of the van in the morning and walking straight onto a beach; I really didn’t have any expectations other than this and was happy to go with the flow as we made our way around.

When we found a place to stay for a few days/nights, we very quickly started to notice a pattern that nearly everyone was following. When we were staying on a site, literally everyone went out in their vans/motorhomes all day and if we were on a park up, people would pull up, walk to the beach, take a picture and move on.

It became evident that our usual method of setting up camp and walking everywhere wasn’t feasible here as everything is so spaced out; to get the best out of the island, we’d need to drive around most of the day to see everything.

Having said that, we did some beautiful walks and the landscape and scenery is stunning.

We also caught the bus one morning (the site owner was very bemused when we told him we wouldn’t be moving our van during our 3 day stay) to Gearrannan Blackhouse Village and walked back along the coast.

As so much of the landscape on Lewis is peat bog, walking back was like walking on an upturned egg box and our boots disappeared up to our ankles in black, peaty water several times. It felt such an achievement to be getting around by public transport and walking back, rather than by driving…such a great day!

So many of the island’s services are run by the community; shops, launderettes, campsites and cafes are very spaced out, but the sense of community is genuinely wonderful. We met so many lovely people who were so generous with their time and I was very moved by the islands’ history and the struggle the people have been through to own their own land and live independent lives.

Crofting and traditional land use practices shape the landscape; many properties have sheep on their land and the visible ‘runrig’ lines are everywhere, particularly in North Lewis.

So, was I able to fulfill my dream of opening the van doors to step onto a beach and into the sea? Not all of the beaches are safe or suitable for swimming, but at Bosta Beach (my favourite), I was able to walk a few metres from the van and go into the water. It was absolutely freezing, but I did go in on 2 consecutive days (to say I swam would be stretching it!) but I did fulfill my dream.

As I said earlier, we’d planned to be on the island for up to 5 weeks, but after two and a half weeks, we were very low on gas (so we needed to go back to Stornaway) and we hadn’t been to Harris yet. I’d been feeling a bit of cognitive dissonance which I couldn’t quite figure out….I’d always wanted to come here, yet I wasn’t really feeling very enthusiastic about going back to Stornaway to fill up with gas and then driving back down to Harris?

I’ve always been a thinker and a doer and have been much more likely to try to please others than be in touch with what I want (to do); although I have great empathy for others, I’ve often been detached from how I feel and overly concerned with what other people think.

The thought of leaving the island so soon felt like giving up somehow; other people had told me they’d been here for 6 weeks and still felt they needed to spend more time here, so what was I doing ‘wrong?’

Of course, if rather than thinking and rationalising, I gave myself time to feel, I’d know what I wanted to do. I didn’t want to be driving around all day, stopping at all the beaches and every tourist spot and taking pictures before jumping back in the van and moving on, I wanted to be walking with a packed lunch and a flask in my rucksack.

I’d loved what we’d done, what we’d seen, who we’d met and where we’d stayed; we hadn’t stayed as long as I’d thought we would, but that was ok, dreams can adapt and change and still be fulfilled.

What this trip has taught me is to make choices with my heart and my gut, to let go of what I think I should do, to do what I want to do and to give myself time to make those decisions. In my heart, my dream feels fulfilled, even though in some ways it took on a different shape and that’s all that matters.

PS: We’re now in the Lake District; I have my walking boots, packed lunch and flask of coffee….I’m ready to walk the fells :-)

With love,

Karen x