Reid & Robie

If I had my way, I’d remove January from the calendar altogether and have an extra July instead.

– Roald Dahl

With 2026 officially half over, here’s what we did last month.

Travels

After spending the first week of July in Istanbul, we packed up and migrated north for the summer. Soon after getting settled, we welcomed a friend from home and spent a week touring Aberdeenshire, the historic county seat of Aberdeen, Scotland.

We visited Balmoral Castle, the private residence of the royal family, and rode the train to Stonehaven to see Dunnottar Castle, a fortress dramatically perched on a seaside cliff. Back in Aberdeen, we wandered through blooming flowers in Cruickshank Botanic Garden and strolled along the beach to historic Footdee village. After our friend returned home, Robie and I celebrated two years of being homeless with a trip to the Isle of Skye.

Trip Planning

With everything going on there wasn’t much time for planning, but we made it a point to finalize our October travels. After we return from the States, we’ll head to Dijon, France for 10 days before traveling to Lyon and boarding a cruise on the Rhone River. Afterwards, we’ll head to Nimes and spend what’s left of 2026 in Southern France.

Cooking and Eating

It wouldn’t be Scotland without fish ‘n chips, roasts, meat pies and haggis, and we’ve done our best to enjoy them all!

Books and Entertainment

There wasn’t much time for reading this month, but we got to watch a lot of great sports. We saw Wimbledon and the British Open without waking early and enjoyed hanging out at our local pub to watch the World Cup. Now we’re keeping up with the Scottish League Cup.

Other projects

When a friend from California said their family hailed from Aberdeen, we went on a hunt to find their relatives’ gravesite. At Allendale Cemetery on the banks of the River Dee, we located the marker for Reverend Alexander Milard and his wife, Elizabeth Anna Bruce. Robie clipped roses from a bush in our courtyard and we took pictures to send to our friend.

Budget and Finances

We began the month with a spending budget just under $5k. Then we played tourist with our friend for a week, ate out more than usual and grabbed a few pints at any pub that caught our fancy. While the house in Isle of Skye was a steal thanks to friends in Italy, getting to the Inner Hebrides was not. Roundtrip train tickets from Aberdeen cost $116 per person and a one-way cab to the rental property from the nearest train station set us back a whopping $87.50. Despite everything, we spent $183.90 less than our original $4,918 budget, not bad for fun-filled month.

So, what’s next?

In August we look forward to catching the Aberdeen Dons live as the Scottish Premiership begins the 2026-27 season. We’re also planning to visit nearby Perth to celebrate the 200^th anniversary of the Highland Games, and of course we’ll also be exploring more of Aberdeenshire and enjoying time with friends since it seems we aren’t the only ones escaping the heat in Scotland!

Happy August, all!