“I haven’t slept in a week” I moaned to Libby. “Nor have I” she replied, rejecting my request for sympathy. We stared at each other with bleary eyes and a general disheveledness that all parents being subjected to sleep torture by their toddler looks like.
It was a week after we had returned from our late autumn holiday: two glorious weeks of campervanning around the Scottish highlands. I claimed in Part 1 of this blog post that if you want to do something cool with your child, don’t expect to sleep. So two weeks in a campervan was two weeks of exactly that and now the transition back to home-life has equated to even less sleep whilst trying to seem vaguely interested in our respective jobs. Yet I stand by my assertion that it’s always worth it and even months later when I’ve finally found a slither of free time (compounded by back-to-back colds from nursery, a broken leg and more teething) and the mental capacity to get pen to paper I still maintain that position, here’s why:
We were buoyant after our teeny camping trip over the summer and were eager to do something bigger and more fun. Before the pandemic we had our eyes set on a point-to-point week long walking trip somewhere in the Scandinavian wilderness but the pandemic very nicely stopped us biting off more than we could chew (although we would’ve still been up for the challenge).
Our brainwave for Part Two wasn’t anything original. In fact if you didn’t know the whole of the United Kingdom had flocked to Scotland on campervan holidays you would have been equally unaware of this little virus going around. Like all those other folks that had turned their attention northwards, we had always wanted to tour Scotland and the pandemic made a perfect excuse to do so.
We patiently waited until the schools went back before we planned our trip, when hopefully the wilds of Scotland would have returned to their desolate wilderness that we so wanted. This time we were going to be well planned - we found the most perfect and quirky campervan that was just right and booked it with over a month to spare. How’s that for planning?
One mantra that every expedition-hardened-explorer or parent recites before heading off into the unknown is that no matter how good your plans are, nothing ever goes to plan.
“Nothing ever goes to plan.”
Three days before we were due to head off to Scotland, the owners of the campervan told us that the engine had broken down and will not be fixed in time for our holiday. My recitation of this mantra didn’t help the situation and instead I got a cold hard look from a stressed Libby. To summarise, the next three days went something like this: no campervans in the UK, none, nothing, we’re not going, postpone the trip, cancel the trip, we’ve found a van, we’re picking it up tomorrow.
24 hours later, we had packed from scratch and loaded the car to pick up the van from Leeds on our way to Scotland (via Manchester to pick up a suitable car seat that would fit in the van). We even found room for our stand up paddle board (minus the paddle). We were off.
Not doing much planning (or any at all in this case) is actually how I prefer to do most of my travelling trips. We so often overplan and research that we only see what we expect to see and stick rigidly to some itinerary that someone else has laid out. I’ve lost count the number of times I’ve overheard conversations between two acquaintances bumping into each other in some far flung corner of the planet and exclaiming how small the world is - whilst both clutching a copy of a Lonely Planet guidebook. However when you have a child in tow and only two weeks to go, this laissez-faire attitude won’t do us much good - so we opted for a loosely made itinerary made up on the fly with invaluable help from some well-travelled friends and a road map.
Not having a well defined itinerary meant that we could react to the infamous Scottish weather and more importantly to the infamous demands of a toddler out of routine. The trick to making it work with a toddler is to lower your expectations and adapt, adapt and adapt.
“Get their sleep right and you’ll be golden. ”
Everything we did was based around his royal highness’ sleep routine. Moving from place to place either had to be very short or exactly a 2.5 hour journey made during his lunchtime nap. In the end our itinerary was only partly based on the beautiful sites of Scotland but more so based on places that were 2.5 hours drive apart. Bizarrely, these restrictions made us more creative with where we went and ended up in places that had far fewer visitors, making our trip more unique and memorable.
Mornings were an absolute source of wonder. As soon as he woke up, at the crack of dawn he wanted to be outside. We happily obliged as the van wasn’t big enough for all three of us to stay inside so whilst one of us arranged breakfast, the other saw the world anew through the eyes of a toddler. In the dawn light we went on hikes, climbs and wildlife spotting whilst the rest of the world slept.
Although lockdown brought us physically together pretty much 24/7, it’s no way the same level of intimacy as being in a little camper in the wilds of nature. Being in such close contact, experiencing such amazing things has brought us closer together and, as parents, as equals.
“Adapt, adapt, adapt.”
It was nigh on impossible getting his naps right. We split the naps so that we could go on long hikes with him sleeping in the carrier. But sometimes we got it completely wrong and he’d just conk out - such as on his scooter!
One thing that people forget to mention about Scotland is how fantastic the beaches are. Clear blue water, secluded coves and miles of soft sand - if you get days like we did, we wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere else in the world.
Seeing the world through the eyes of a toddler really grounded us. There are only two things he cares about - having his Mama and Dada with him and being outside. No matter how the world changes, that much we can give him.
“There are only two things he cares about - having his Mama and Dada with him and being outside. No matter how the world changes, that much we can give him.”
Thanks to my cousin Meeten and family for giving us a basecamp, my sis Kavs for the car seat, to Kev for the in depth knowledge of Scotland and to Toria for some hidden gems.