You can't be old and wise until you've been young and stupid.

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That is the quote on the wall of my Inverness hostel. I fell in love with it! It's so true! Mistakes have to be made and wrong roads need to be taken in order to experience and learn. Today I took several wrong turns and felt stupid several times. And a little homesick, but thats beside the point.

I checked out of my Edinburgh hostel begrudgingly this morning and caught the train at Waverley to a very frigid train stop at Perth--where I totally ate it on the platform. I'll elaborate.

My pack is unusually heavy due to my recent purchases, so as I was waiting for my Inverness change, I decided to rest my backpack on a grab bar/post thingy. It was about thigh height so when I bent down awkwardly, my backpack slipped back behind the bar (still attached to my arms and back, mind you), while my feet slipped out from underneath me and I ended up in front of the bar. So I was left hanging there, stuck. I looked around and there were several people staring at me. Did anyone offer to help? Of course not. I literally had to tear one arm out of my backpack to be able to untangle myself. Rug burn anyone?

Yikes. Young and stupid at it's finest.

On the train ride, it felt like the temperature dropped with every mile. I was freezing, despite all of my layers. An undershirt, long sleeved shirt, sweater, raincoat, and heavy coat. The cute gloves my sister bought me before I left were lifesavers. Thanks Erin 😊 More beautiful countryside and cute train stations, and then I arrived at Inverness train station. I was starving so I stopped to eat at the Filling Station before dropping my things off at my hostel. It was getting late considering everything closes here around 4 or 5pm, so I knew it would be tight trying to get to the Urquhart Castle and Loch Ness visitors center. The bus I was told to catch was completely incorrect, it would have put me at the castle about an hour late, so, with a quick and ill thought out decision, I decided to take a taxi there. Pricey, but I'm only going to be here once, right? The cab driver was this delightful old man named Charlie who gave me insider commentary the whole way. He pointed out his old schoolhouse and various sites on the way. It was about a 30minute drive so I kept watching the fare amount grow higher and higher, agh! This better be worth it! There was supposed to be a bus back so I though that at least I wouldn't have to pay for fare back to the city. I got there...5 MINUTES TOO LATE FOR THE LAST TOUR. WTF. Luckily, I could kinda see the castle from a lookout point and had already stopped at a Loch Ness turnout for pictures, so it wasn't all for naught, but I then realized that I'd have to pay for far back. Crap. It was already at about GBP 25 (25 pounds or like $35 ish) so I just felt sick about it. We chatted and talked the whole way back and even had a really great talk about Mormons 😊 He literally pulled the car over when I told him that I'd never even tried an alcoholic drink. And his surprise was even greater when I told him that we don't smoke either. He said that even Doctors and nurses all smoke in Scotland and when I told him that smoking is directly linked to lung cancer he completely dismissed the idea like I was insane hahaha! I couldn't believe it! He also told me about his daughter who is also a nurse on an Intensive Care nurse and is my age. She wants to work in the "A&E" department-- "Action and Emergency." Like our Emergency room. When we got back to town he gave me about a GBP 10 off of the fare because he said I reminded him of his daughter and that he didn't want me going broke on my trip. Such a nice guy!! Thanks Charlie!

I didn't end up seeing ol' Nessie, but I did see her beautiful home. Loch Ness is picturesque and the fall leaves are still all over-- I felt like I was on a postcard. I got back to my hostel and then walked down the River Ness quite a ways until the sun went down. Then I stopped at this great Scottish place called McDonalds for some fried and a diet coke-- wish they had one of those back home...

I am so blessed to be on this trip and, despite the hard times, the lonely times, and the lost times, I still can't believe that I am here having the time of my life. People at home tell me that I am brave for coming alone but, truth is, I am actually a pretty fearful person. Maybe a better word is anxiety. I stress about everything and over-think a lot. I do big things like this to push myself and force myself out of my normal box, even though its hard. I guess the fear of looking back on my life someday and seeing blank pages and missed opportunities outweighs my fears of other things.

Tomorrow? Orkney Islands!



**Tons more pictures from Edinburgh and from Inverness, but the wifi has been so slow so I'll post them later.

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Comments

[Shelie (Kait's Mom)]

Being wise/stupid doesn't necessarily have anything to do with age ;)
A Letter to my daughter, As I read thru your letter, I am filled with pride and joy because of you! Trust me sweetie you are young but wise beyond your years; always have been. That's what is so amazing about you. Since day one you have always been a lover of life- a seeker of the wonders of this world. You find beauty in the common every day stuff of life and turn it into something to behold. And anybody that knows you knows that there are NO blank pages in your book of life! Not one. Even the margins are full! I am SO proud of you. Always have been. You have meticulously planned every detail down to the minute of your trip but remember that while destinations are great, the joy is in the journey. I have no doubt that your journey-ing will continue on long after this trip is over. The best part for me as your mom is I get to journey with you- whether at home reading your posts or if I'm lucky as your travel buddy (pleeease can I go on the next one with you? I'll try not to slow you down). I'm your biggest fan (and yes the biggest worrier too but hey that's my job as a parent. It'll happen to you too someday). Thank you for being you. Like I always tell you...someday I hope to be just like you. I love you to pieces!!! Forever and ever always,always. No matter what. Have fun and I'll see you soon. Stay warm/be safe/don't talk to strangers- LOVE YOU! xoxo, Mom.