WELCOME!
Hello! I'm Autumn and, as always, I'm joined by my husband, Matt. I am an elementary school counselor and Matt is a junior high school social studies teacher from Washington State. We love our two formally feral cats, Cami and Ava, our cute, little house and entertaining friends with homemade food and yummy cocktails. But more than anything, we love traveling! That's us above in Endicott Arm, Alaska in 2018. We were freezing cold and sopping wet but having a blast anyhow. If this picture doesn't sum up our travel philosophy, I'm not sure what does!
So why Scotland? This was one of my most frequently asked questions when planning this trip. The truth? I used to watch a lot of British stand-up comedy. Like, a lot. These comedians all talked about getting their start at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, aka The Fringe. The Fringe, which takes place every August, is a off-shoot of the Edinburgh International Festival and features young up-starts and a few big names preforming in plays, improv, music, comedy, dance and everything in between. From the minute I heard its name I knew I had to be there one day.
Fast forward to Matt and I scrolling through Rick Steves' tours one evening, dreaming and scheming like nobody's business. Our summer travel plans had fallen through and we were in itching to get back to Europe. Matt had traveled all over Europe before we met and I have previously been on The Best of London tour in 2006 and The Best of Paris tour in 2010 but we had never made it to Europe together. That night we were imagining ourselves cruising the Rhine, soaking up the sun on the Dalmatian Coast and sipping port in Porto. Leaving no stone unturned, we clicked on The Best of Scotland in 10 Days tour and were immediately drawn in by romantic imagines of Old Town Edinburgh, the scenic Highlands and the salty sea air of the Hebrides. So, for the heck of it, we clicked on the Dates and Prices tab. That's when I saw it in big, bold letters next to the August 2nd departure. "Opportunity to enjoy the Edinburgh Festival and Military Tattoo during free time!" Suddenly, all my dreams of seeing show after show with people from all over the world and rubbing elbows with performers "before they were famous" came flooding back. We had found our tour. |