For my father-in law’s birthday, we decided to walk the West Island Way, a 45 kilometres trail crossing the Isle of Bute from south to north. We walked it over two days, and settled camp in Rothesay, the isle’s main town.

The “family friendly” trail ended up being way harder than we thought and definitely wrongly advertised. Longs stretches were poorly marked and we struggled, ankle-deep in marshy fields, feeling like we would never reach the next beacon.

But, like always, the hard moments are quickly replaced by all the good things. It reminded me how much I love long distance walks. I love the journey to reach the starting point of the hike, taking a car, then a ferry, and then a bus. The exhilarating mix of excitement and apprehension. I love the lunch breaks, when you could eat all your snacks for the day in a second and when pot noodles taste better than a fancy restaurant. I love getting surprised when the landscape changes and taking hundreds of pictures. I like how the frustrated silence changes into laughter. I love the evenings, exhausted but happy, drinking beers in pubs and eating huge portions of chips.

We folded our tents the last morning under the heavy rain and went home with that unique and priceless feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction. What are we hiking next ?