I don’t know what to write

Out in the Hams on the Shetland Islands. About an hour walk out to the area, but worth it.

So as you might have noticed I haven’t posted in a while. To be honest I’m not really sure what to write about. I’ve kind of just settled into traveling and been on the move. While there are new people, new places, new sights being seen, etc. I just don’t know what I want to tell the world.

Pristine mica filled beaches of West Sandwick on the island of Yell.

I could talk about the Brexit and what I’ve been learning about the UK/EU relationship, but that would be really long and still not comprehensive. The easy way to sum up what I’ve heard is that people can’t believe the outcome. That’s probably because I mostly talk to: 1) younger people, 2) scottish people, 3) people traveling. All of these groups represent demographics that voted to stay. I have met one guy that said he voted to leave, but he was a few beers beyond where I was so I didn’t ask him many questions.

Kind of creepy being out in the moors all alone about an hour walk away from the nearest road.

I did have a few fun conversations with some people over the last few days. Apparently I’m a bit of a local celebrity, or maybe a spectacle, on the Shetland Islands. On two occasions I have been talking to people and when they see my bike and trailer they exclaim something along the lines of “Oh! You’re that guy! I’ve heard about you!” I’ve only been on the Shetland Islands for 8 days and I’m known far and wide. One English couple that I ran into three times on the Isle of Unst was really interested in my setup. The husband kept quietly saying “brilliant” as he stared and asked questions. His wife said he’s not allowed to think about it after I’m out of sight. Apparently it’s been the topic of conversation a few times. Lol.

A surprisingly lively spot on a Friday night. A few pints with the other fellas staying at the B&B turned into 3 a.m. at a locals house continuing the party. Fun times on Yell.

The Shetlands are really beautiful. The weather changes really quickly, but there is one constant. Wind. It’s really windy up here. The clouds come and go and the mist is salty. It’s been a nice unplanned detour. The people are all really easy to talk to and the women like to make fun of my accent.

I worked really hard with lots of running across moors avoiding the attacks of the great skuas to get this picture of an Iron Age fort… looks like a pile of rocks.

Most days are a mix of riding 20-40 miles and walking 10-15 km through the moors. However, yesterday was 25 miles of riding that ended with a visit to a gin distillery on the northernmost island in the UK. Unfortunately, the brewery next door was closed for the weekend. Today, I returned to the largest city on the islands in anticipation of the weather changing back to more typical rainy weather and also to prepare to board a ferry either to the Orkney islands or back to Aberdeen to continue with the mainland tour. I can’t seem to decide which way to go…

Three seals out on their little rocks during low tide. Just outside of Haroldswick on the island of Unst.

I watched a bit of the Glastonbury Festival on TV the other day, and it makes me really want to find a summer festival somewhere. I here there is a good one in Budapest at about the time I want to head to Eastern Europe. So maybe I’ll look into that a little. While I am enjoying the cool weather that I’ve had most everywhere I’ve been, I am quite ready for some heat. I think I need it to be summer now which is making this part of the trip a little hard for me. It is really beautiful here in Scotland, but I have a hankering to feel the sun blazing down on me. I have a feeling that this urge and the prices in the UK may cause me to cut my time short or accelerate things a bit, but we’ll see.