A Snapshot Of Our Tour

 A Snapshot Of Our Tour

After six days on our own in Philadelphia and five days on our own in Edinburgh, Scotland, we are now on the tour-led portion of our trip, and I'm feeling like I barely have time enough to shower, much less blog. But, I thought it might be fun to post over from the private blog I keep of our travels, in order to provide a glimpse of what just two days of our current tour of the British Isles is like. We're having a fantastic time, even if we're currently exhausted . . . but it's a good exhaustion! 😃

Snapshot Of Our Tour:

Day 1 - Our group of 20 happy travelers, plus our tour guide, got going right after breakfast for a full day of scenic driving around the Isle of Skye, said to be the most scenic of the Scottish Highland isles.

From our tour itinerary for the day:

Enter onto Isle of Skye via the scenic Skye Bridge, and onto a 50-mile long fusion of velvety moors, angular mountains, quaint villages, and historic castles.

Later in the drive visit Loch Ness, one of the most storied sites in all of Scotland, home of the fabled Loch Ness monster. 

Our first stop was the town of Partee, where we enjoyed both lunch and the town's scenic seaside pastel houses:

Some of Partee's vintage British phone booths, now repurposed into anything but!

Eilean Donan Castle, the most photographed castle in Scotland:

At Loch Ness, searching for the elusive ‘Nessie’:

Day 2- We departed for Glasgow, largest city in Scotland. Enroute was really fun, however. We drove through the beautiful Glencoe Valley, enjoyed a scenic boat ride on the largest loch in Scotland, Loch Lomond, and stopped by almost 200 year old Glengoyne Whiskey Distillery to sample and learn how Scottish whiskey is made.

From our tour itinerary for the day:

Today's journey travels past Ben Nevis, Scotland's mighty mountains, and the Glencoe Valley with its glimmering lakes and dense forests. Arrive on the 'bonnie banks' of Loch Lomand, the largest freshwater lake in the UK, located within Trossachs, Scotland's first national park. Tour a whiskey distillery to learn about the art of Scotch Whiskey making and enjoy tastings of several varieties. In the late afternoon,  arrive in Glasgow, Scotland.

At the Three Sisters Mountain view spot in Trossachs National Park:

One of the hotels we sailed past during our cruise along Loch Lomond is used by hikers traversing Scotlands famed 96 mile West Highland Way, one of the hikes on my lengthy bucket list. And which explained why we saw so many hikers along the loch's scenic shoreline.

Our stop at Glengoyne Distillery was as fun as it was interesting. And where we learned that the first sip of whiskey is really just the beginning of one's whiskey journey. I.e., don't judge a whiskey by the first sip. The first sip generally burns, so the second sip is the real 'tell':

We really are having a fabulous time, and could never do or see as much as we are if doing this on our own, which is what we most appreciate about doing tours. We're in Glasgow, Scotland today, then tomorrow we set sail for Belfast, Northern Ireland, via ferry boat and the Irish Sea. 

Hope all is well for you all wherever you may be, and whatever you may be up to!

We're In Scotland!

  We're In Scotland!

After six very interesting days in Philadelphia, then a quick 6 hour redeye flight, we arrived in Scotland by way of historic, charming Edinburgh.

Our plan for the day was to just keep moving so we didn’t succumb to jet lag! We dropped our luggage at our hotel, and got going.

We primarily followed Rick Steves' Royal Mile walking tour, seeing interesting sight after sight.

From a 1600’s lodging house we visited, Gladstone's Land, and still rules to live by!

We enjoyed our lunch at Deacon Brodie’s tavern, thought to be the basis for Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel, Jekyll & Hyde. Deacon Brodie ran a respectable inn by day, and brutalized and stole from hapless travelers by night!

The street below, Victoria Street, was beyond charming, and thought to be the inspiration for Diagon Alley in Harry Potter.

St. Giles Cathedral, below, the most historic church in Edinburgh, dating back to the 1100's, if not earlier-

All in all, a fantastic first day in the British Isles!

Wednesday Wellness - September Week #2

Wednesday Wellness - September Week #2

I'm heading off to the British Isles shortly, where in place of my scale, I'll be relying on my trusty travel shorts. They've gone all over the world with me, for no other reason than to act as a stand-in scale. I try them on each morning of any traveling we do, and can tell immediately by their fit, if I'm up, down, or holding steady.

Weight:

- Goal: Continue to remain within my maintenance range of 108 - 110 pounds.

• Weekly weigh in: 108.8. Following my food plan each day is becoming increasingly easier as I continue to strengthen my brain-muscle. I'm not perfect - I still have the occasional slip day - but I get right back on track, and that appears to be much more important in continuing to maintain my 2025 weight loss.

What I wore to a recent Club dance.
I enjoy putting outfits together to wear to our various social events.
Clothing is really my only vice. 
Well, that and coffee. 😀

Fitness:

- Goal: Do cardiovascular movement five days out of seven. 

• Weekly results: 
• I walked a total of 28 miles over 6 out of 7 days. My anxieties have kicked up a bit this week, a result of stressing over the details of our upcoming travels, and my daily walks help immensely to calm my travel-frenetic brain.

- Goal: Do strength training at the gym three days each week.

• Weekly results:
• Did strength training at the gym 0 times. Will focus on getting there a minimum of two times a week immediately upon our return from our upcoming travels.

- Goal: Do planking, squats, and push ups daily at home, track progress.

• Weekly results:
• Began to incorporate all three into my morning routine, for a success rate of four out of four (began, finally, this past Sunday).

Water:

- Goal: Consistently consume four glasses a day.

• Weekly results: Continuing to average between 2 - 3 glasses a day. I am, however, now consciously thinking about water consumption, particularly during meals and workouts, which is a significant improvement.

Long Range Goal:

- Goal: Find a long distance event to sign up and train for. 

• Completed previously - A 10k (6.2 miles) Thanksgiving Day run. Formal training to commence in early October, following this 8 week Hal Higdon plan.

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I'll resume my Wednesday Wellness posts after returning from our travels. I intend to continuing posting my Friday Five though, likely with a good amount of photos!

Friday Five - Kicking Large Entities To The Curb

Friday Five - Kicking Large Entities To The Curb

I had a bit of an 'ah ha' this week, when I had to untangle a couple of problems that involved having to interact with large companies that had made it almost impossible to get to a live person. Going forward I'm going to be even more resolute about who and what I do business with.

Friday Five

1. I fought a corporate machine and won. A national gym brand closed their location closest to us, so in early 2025 we cancelled our membership and joined a locally run gym just up the street. Out of the blue, a renewal fee of $250 from the 2025 cancelled gym membership hit our credit card, which after almost two hours and multiple calls attempting to connect with the correct person by phone, was resolved in our favor and removed. 

Lesson learned: The moment an entity is provided with our credit card, they now can potentially jerk us around, and thus other than paying for a good or service on the spot, we will simply no longer do.

2. I eliminated every non essential auto-renew and auto-charge item in our budget, including to my spouse's religious entity of choice. After my unpleasant experience above, I went over our remaining renewing bills and my spouse has agreed that the only ones we will leaving in place going forward are for utilities and our HOA, because those are tied to documented ownership of our home.  I'm no longer giving up sole control of our financial life going forward, even if it saves us a few bucks. My time is more valuable that a few dollars saved here and there, not to mention lessening my stress level. Between phone trees, auto prompts, bots, and AI, having to make a phone call to a business is an increasingly awful ordeal.

3. Only businesses that have brick & mortar locations, and that answer their phone will get my business going forward. This includes online ordering as well. If they 'exist' in real life I'll continue to order, if they don't I won't.

Amaz*n has a presence at our local Wh°le Foods, and Targ#t and H^me Depot have stores here as well. So I'm well covered in spite of my new self-imposed requirement.

4. Sat outside for the first time in weeks. Our weather has taken a pleasant turn recently, with humidity dropping and coastal breezes returning, and we resumed our habit of sitting outside before dinner, sipping sparkling water while chatting and/or reading.

5. Booked a New Years cruise to the Caribbean. Since we'll be in Tennessee with our family for the Xmas holidays, we decided to add on a New Years cruise in that flying from Tennessee to Florida to do cruise is a short flight. We are cruising to the Western Caribbean, and have signed up for excursions that include close up encounters with dolphins, giant sea turtles, manatees, snorkling with 'gentle' sting rays, and a foodie tour. Excited.

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Off shortly to enjoy an 8 mile beach walk with spouse, after which we'll share a well-earned burger. I wish you an enjoyable day as well, wherever you are.

Wednesday Wellness - September #1

Wednesday Wellness - September #1

My takeaway for the week is that maintaining my weight loss is very, very doable at this point, but it still takes making deliberate, conscious eating decisions each and every day. 

Maintenance is almost the same amount of effort as weight loss was, just with immediate vs future rewards. Which I'll take.

Weight:

- Goal: Continue to remain within my self-set maintenance range of 108 - 110 pounds. 

• Weekly weigh in:  110.6. Coming off an incredibly busy and social weekend, I'm very happy with my Wednesday weigh in. I'll likely re-enter the weekend back down to 109, exit it at 110, wash and  repeat. I am becoming very comfortable with maintaining a pretty rigid diet during the week, then loosening up just a bit over the weekends. It feels sustainable.

What I wore to a dinner party at the beach on Saturday night.
Less clothing is more at this point, as it has been very
warm and very humid for us here.
The tank top, which I bought at Target this season,
has a built in bra, which I love -
so comfortable to wear on hot sticky days!

What I wore to a theater play on Sunday.
I bought the skirt in Brazil during a cruise,
and wearing it always brings pleasant memories.

Fitness:

- Goal: Do cardiovascular movement five days out of seven. 

• Weekly results: 
• I walked and kayaked a total of 24 miles over 5 out of 7 days. All at the beach at this time of year, as it's simply to humid to venture inland to any of our rolling hill trails.

- Goal: Do strength training at the gym three days each week.

• Weekly results:
• Did strength training at the gym 0 times. Came so close a few times, but headed outdoors instead. I'm not giving up, as this is extremely important to my long term well being.

Newly added for upcoming weeks:

- Goal: Do planking, squats, and push ups daily at home, track progress.

• Weekly results:
• I lost track of this goal, but will pick up beginning today.

Water:

- Goal: Consistently consume four glasses a day.

• Weekly results: Continuing to average between 2 - 3 glasses a day, but the positive effects of being more hydrated are clear. Very quickly after consuming a glass of water, any residual fatigue I might be feeling fades away. The same if I'm having thoughts of snacking in between my meals - a glass of water will generally quiet any tendencies to nibble very quickly.

Long Range Goal:

- Goal: Find a long distance event to sign up and train for. 

• Completed previously - A 10k (6.2 miles) Thanksgiving Day run. Even though I'm not committed to commence training until October, I've begun running small stretches of any walks I do, and it feels good. I have the conditioning in place already to run - what I don't have yet is the speed. That should begun to come with a regular training schedule.

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Even though I continue to falter with some of my goals, simply having to document it here strengthens my resolve. I am so appreciative!