One Year as a Full Time Travel Blogger and Writer
Where to Stay in Brighton, Vine Street Studios
I’ve celebrated Hogmanay (the Scottish word for new years) in Edinburgh before, but never made it to the world famous street party. Hogmanay in Edinburgh is actually a festival which takes place over three days, beginning on the 30th with the torchlight procession, and ending on the 1st January with a whole host of events throughout the city.The three days of celebrations are surely a testament to the fact us Scots simply love a party, and nobody else does it quite as well as we do!
One of the highlights of the three day festival that is Edinburgh’s Hogmanay (hogmanay is the Scottish word for the last day of the year), was, without a doubt, the Edinburgh Hogmanay Torchlight Procession.
I’d been looking forward to it for a while. I mean, how often do you get the opportunity to wander around with a burning torch these days?!
At first, just one, a single torch was lit. It quickly spread and a veritable sea of light was created. Thousands of people carrying flaming torches above their heads began to slowly follow behind vikings from The Shetland Isles, at the tip of Scotland, who were flanked by a traditional Scottish pipe band.
Vikings wielding fire!
I’ve been lucky enough to visit some pretty exciting and far flung places so far in my lifetime like Australia and Russia, but there are some serious travel oversights that will surprise you. There’s some places that I definitely should have visited, but haven’t…yet!
Despite living in Scotland, and being so wonderfully close to continental Europe, you’ll be surprised to hear I haven’t made it to Paris yet. People are always shocked when I tell them that, after all, it is less than a 2 hour flight from Glasgow airport and as Audrey Hepburn famously said, Paris is always a good idea.
I always think of couples strolling hand in hand being all lovey dovey when I think of Paris and that’s definitely not me. I’m so not a fan of PDAs and this is a big part of why I haven’t visited France’s capital yet. I’m the girl who would be more likely to buy Disneyland Paris tickets or eat my body weight in delicious French food than put a love lock on a bridge over the Seine.
What better way to look back on a big travel year than with pictures from some of my favourite places and moments of 2012.
Villa Cheminée
No your eyes are not deceiving you, that is a tiny little house on top of what appears to be an industrial chimney. Read more
Despite preferring Glasgow to Edinburgh, I still love any opportunity to explore Scotland’s picturesque capital for a few days. Edinburgh is the most popular stop in Scotland for most visitors so it can become very busy. I chose to visit Edinburgh Castle at night, rather than during the day, and found it to be completely empty of tourists. Whilst you can’t visit the interior at night, it’s still nice to admire the castle within a more peaceful atmosphere.
2012 has been a pretty big year for me.
I started this little blog at the end of 2011 while I was still at university, and juggled studying and blogging. It wasn’t until I began that I realised there are a bunch of people out there who blog and travel full time. I quickly realised that this was something I wanted to try. Read more
I’m Emma, a 23 year old Scottish girl who is obsessed with travel. I’ve been to 26 countries so far and I’m constantly plotting to add to that number. After graduating from university with a degree in English Literature I decided to combine my passion for travel with my love of writing and Emma’s Travel Tales was born. Join me on my quest to make memories all over the world. Find out more here…
