The Road Trip - house thirteen, almost tempted

By mid morning, we'd successfully gotten to and viewed the three properties we had planned to by this point in time. We were on track, but the road to the Outer Hebrides (or rather the ferry) was lacking. What we knew at this point in time was - we were not going to get there as planned today for our viewing tomorrow morning. Calmac were good at telling us what was not going to run (today's services) but not forthcoming about what was going to run (tomorrow). Whatever was going to happen, the 4 hours drive to Uig at the top of the Isle of Skye for the 7:30pm ferry didn't need to happen. If we were going to get there it would be tomorrow at best, so how could we make the most of more time here?

Well, as we'd been driving we had also been doing our daily trawl of the property listings and this Croft not only jumped out the page, but was on the way. Quite literally a free viewing - not out of our way and who knows? Fate? The agent had agreed for a viewing at 2pm, the property had already drawn interest within the first 12 hours and they were camped out there for the day doing non-stop viewings - wow. Offers over £265,000.

Located just outside Muir of Ord, a small town less than 30 minutes from Inverness, with shops and a railway station is this lovely Croft down a beautiful private road, with only one neighbour - the son of the lady who had owned the house. We have been asked to keep its location vague as the neighbour values his privacy. With open views across to the Moray Firth and the climate, being on the East side of the country and close to the sea, is colder but less wet than the west.

This charming traditional, extended cottage is in a delightful setting. The accommodation is generous and with lovely views and, in addition to the first floor bedrooms, there is a fully lined attic room accessed by a Ramsay ladder and this offers the potential for further conversion, subject to the necessary consents. The garden was truly lovely - a very traditional 0.27 acres of cottage garden with established roses.

But, John just wasn't loving the house, and Liz just wasn't loving the pylons marring the view, or the fact that it was a bit of a busy view across the river traffic and the city on the other side. So close, and yet somehow so unsatisfying. We moved on.

Again the Estate Agent was polite, knowledgable, not pushy and pointed us to a great local cafe for a well earned late lunch and re-group about where we literally went from here. If you are ever in that area of Scotland, you must visit Beauly, a lovely little market town with a great atmosphere, and a fantastic cafe, Corner on the Square.

Main focus of this delicious working lunch:

1. Do we still absolutely want to get to the Outer Hebrides to see the next property? Absolutely - no doubts about it, in the words of Apollo 13, failure was not an option

2. How were we going to get there? Not today (unfortunate fact). Tomorrow's best option looked like a scheduled sailing at 13:50 from Mallaig to South Uist. All other options, including flights to Uist were garbage. This sailing was our best bet but:

   1. Would Calmac allow us to transfer our tickets ? Yes, but we had to trust their word over the phone

   2. If we arrived at South Uist (30 miles from the property) how would we get to the property and back? At this point in time we didn't know, but the owners put themselves out and acted as taxi - this is how the island worked, they said!

   3. Where would we stay that night - hotels on the outer hebrides are generally fully booked in the summer? Lochmaddy hotel which we had booked could not transfer our booking nor did they have a room available. As luck would have it - Lochboisdale Hotel had a room

   4. Would the owners of the house of the house do a viewing 6pm rather than 10am on that day? Of course they would - what lovely, accommodating people!

3. Last but not least: if we go to the Outer Hebrides, where are we going to stay tonight?

On this last point we really thought we were going to be sleeping in the car and we knew that was a disaster. It just knackers you out for the balance of the trip, makes you ratty and spoils the whole thing. Liz started calling and checking availability Inverness going west, and John started Mallaig going East. We spent so long in the Corner on the Square trying to find accommodation that one of the waitresses asked if we were ok and Liz explained our predicament. She said there was a music festival on in town that week making it very busy, but suggested one hotel that might help, and as a last resort, she had a camper van! What a sweetheart - this is why we love Scotland! But we wanted to get on the road some first. We must have tried 50 places - all booked solid, then we got 'lucky' - The Tomich Hotel.

If you've ever booked a hotel on line and then arrived and genuinely thought 'am I in the right place?' then you'll relate, if you've not then just tag along with the yarn. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't worth £160 a night for a double if you know what we mean. The couple who had taken it over had bought just before lockdown and set about renovations, but they had a long way to go. The bedrooms had been done first, they were clean, the bed was comfy and it's a night to look back on, but most of all, the location was somewhere we would never have planned to go to and just look at why people go there: Plodda Falls.

And so, over a pretty decent dinner at the strange hotel, we started to, once again, go over are dreams for the future. Neither of us have ever had the opportunity to do whatever we want, when we want, all the time. We have gone from school, to college/university, to work, to full time baby care, back to work. And, we worked hard, not only at work, but in our house, our garden, volunteering, church. We have filled our time to the brim, lived full and sometimes exciting lives. But we are ready to take it down a gear or three...or we think we are. But, what if we get bored? We can't just take our foot off the gas and coast our way through retirement! We both enjoy being busy - we just want to busy doing fun stuff. We both believe in giving back and helping out. How will we do this, and what will all our free time look like.

Liz is not stuck for an idea - she wants to take up dress making again, read more books, do the garden justice at her leisure because she wants to, rather than as a chore because she needs to. She would like to grow fruit and veg, and pickle things and make jams, and learn to make sushi and crochet.

John is at a loss - he cannot envisage having so much free time and it is making him worry that he will not find enough spiritual sustenance if he leaves his current life behind. I think it is just the thought of severing the work part of his life, thus leaving a huge hole where there used to be responsibility, and respect, and being useful and needed.

Liz asked her friend Nick, who is on the verge of retirement himself. He immediately sent back a list of 30 things he intended to do, from learning to dance to bonking! He has clearly thought about this a lot, and I'm sure we haven't even scratched the surface. But, everyone we have talked to about retirement has given the same, time old adage - 'we don't know how we ever had time for work.' I think we need to trust that in time we will be the same, no matter where we end up, we will have plenty to do!