MIND THE GAP
The gap: literally, the space between the platform and the train you are boarding. Figuratively, the space occupied by the camera viewfinder when it separates you from your vacation.

Take a walk down Edinburgh’s Rose Street on a Sunday night. Normally filled with partiers and tourists, the restaurants and pubs are empty. The “party” is one block over, at a live EDM show in Princes Street Gardens. Rain christens the gathered crowd and pyrotechnic jets of fire light up the stage.
Rose Street is quiet. And the buses are a blur. Travel behind a viewfinder can be like that. You may see the blur, but you miss the music and the flames.





THE VIEWFINDER IS THE GAP
On the first day in Glasgow, I made the welcome shift from professional storyteller to vacationer. When I’m on assignment, I shoot as I see. I get paid to make a two-dimensional view of a 360-degree world, and then deliver it as a tight package of images. And when it’s not me behind the viewfinder, I’m guiding others to do just that and keep it under budget.
So, about the photo below. That’s me. Joanne called this image one of her favorites from our trip….until, she took a similar frame of me on the coast, again my viewfinder between my eyes and the beauty. Her two photos remind me: the viewfinder is the gap.
The other guy, the one in the mural, is Saint Mungo. He died in the early 600’s AD, after performing 4 miracles. By the way, my photo of Mungo was forgettable; there are hundreds just like it on Google. But there is only one like this:

LIFE IN A NORTHERN TOWN
Let’s be real. You can’t begin to understand 2 countries with centuries of history like Scotland and Ireland as you loop quickly through both over 14 days. We overnighted in 7 cities; traveling by 6 trains, 3 ferries, 2 large tour busses, 2 intercity busses, a smaller tour coach, 2 private-hire taxis and 4 rented bicycles.







“YOU BETTER STOP. LOOK AROUND…
Here it comes. A vintage Rolling Stones hit seems to be a good soundtrack here.
The tourist trail includes stops to look around. But not enough time to linger and explore community and culture. On some stops, we could hike a few miles and others appreciate the unique beauty and curiosities. What our plans gave us was a physical, non-Instagram preview of places we would spend more time on our next visit here. A trip where we can spend a week instead of a day, a day instead of 20 minutes, or a dinner and conversation instead of a coffee to go.












YOU TAKE THE SKY ROAD
Far from adventure travel, our original plans kept us on the tourist trail. But after reading Susanne Masters’ story on the BBC website about her cycle trip around Roundstone Bog, we called an audible. We reserved 2 bikes for the final day of our trip from Clifden Bike Shop. One of our drivers in Ireland, after telling us about his love for cycling, immediately suggested Sky Road as a “must ride” near Clifden. So we shifted, adjusted, and wrangled our final day and took the local bus from Galway to Clifden.






HERE’S YOUR SIGN







