Reid & Robie

August rain: the best of the summer gone, and the new fall not yet born.

– Syliva Plath

After spending much of last August sitting indoors trying to stay cool amid heatwaves and wildfires, this year we enjoyed the dog days of summer in the Scottish Highlands. It was a month of long, sunlit evenings, refreshing rain showers and a partial solar eclipse.

Here’s what we were up to last month.

Travels

On the first day of August, we left the little cottage on Isle of Skye and returned to our homebase in Aberdeen enjoying the lovely, scenic ride across Scotland. The following weekend we went to Perth for the town’s 200^th Highland Games.

We got to watch “pipe bands” (bagpipers), Highland dancing, a tug of war contest and track and field events like tossing the caber where a large, tapered tree trunk was flung end over end. There were feats of strength and medieval fighting, all things that had Robie quoting Monty Python and the Holy Grail throughout the day.

We also put together a quick trip to Speyside, the world capital of single malt Scotch. With over 50 distilleries, the region combines crystal-clear waters with rich local barley to produce smooth, sweet, fruit-forward whiskies.

Trip Planning

In addition to cobbling together the trip to Speyside, we secured a storage unit in London for our travels to the States this month. It’s the second time we’ve rented a locker in Europe.

During Reid’s seven weeks on the Camino de Santiago, we dropped our things at Homebox near Atocha Station in Madrid. The facility required a bit of paperwork, insurance and sizeable deposit. Fortunately, it got returned after we cleared out.

This time we’ll leave our belongings with Shurgard using their “£1 for the first month” promotion. Since we already had a padlock, we were only charged £20 for their mandatory insurance for a total of $28.69. That beats luggage storage services which start at £7 ($9.50) a day!

With 2026 more than half over, we’ve also started mapping out next year’s travels. January will see us enjoying Mediterranean sunshine in Greek Cyprus before moving to Tunisia in February. Come March we’ll take a long-haul flight to Cape Town and spend autumn in the southern hemisphere. We meet up with friends in April and take a 10-day safari in Kruger National Park in June. Once we leave South Africa, we’ll head to Zanzibar to kick back on the beach before making another big move, this time to Southeast Asia.

Cooking and Eating

While we love us some meat pies, fish ‘n chips and yes, even haggis, we’ve mostly been enjoying the oven in our Aberdeen apartment. Except for six weeks in Syracuse, we’ve sorely missed the appliance, so having one suddenly made baking feel like a luxury.

This month we made pizzas at home and quiche Lorraine as well as whole roasted chicken. Then we turned the leftovers into a delicious pot pie.

Entertainment

The Scottish Premiership started their season this month and quickly turned two Gooners (supporters of Arsenal Gunners) into followers of the Aberdeen Dons at our local pub. We enjoyed it so much, Robie bought two tickets to a September home game.

When we weren’t watching live matches, we tuned into Welcome to Wrexham, the docuseries chronicling the purchase of Wrexham FC, one of football’s oldest clubs, by two Hollywood actors. I guess we didn’t get our fill of soccer with the World Cup.

Other projects

When we discovered we had a dining table and coffee table at our Aberdeen apartment, Robie suggested buying a jigsaw puzzle. Before we found any, our visiting guest bought one for us. After she left, we spent many happy hours working on it. We had so much fun that after finishing it, we donated the puzzle back to the British Red Cross charity store and bought two more!

Health and Wellness

Taking advantage of Scotland’s cool weather, we enjoyed long walks around Aberdeenshire. First, we visited the oldest bridge in Scotland, Brig o’Balgownie, and strolled around the University of Aberdeen.

Then we visited the seal colony in Newburgh and rode the bus to Peterculter where we got on the Deeside Way, a bike and footpath running along a former railroad that follows the River Dee. From Peterculter, it was a lovely, 7 ½-mile stroll along a tree-line path back to Aberdeen as we passed grand homes, golf courses and grazing farm animals.

Budget and Finances

Since we needed to make up for our extravagant plans in September and October somewhere, August was slated to be the most budget-friendly month of the year. Beginning with a spending budget of just $3,843, we then tacked on a day trip to the Highland Games and overnight travel to Speyside. Together, they came to $773.71 with $215.40 spent in Perth and $558.31 at the world whisky capital.

The added expenses threatened our carefully laid plans. To compensate, we ate out less and enjoyed more delicious baked meals thanks to the apartment’s oven. As it turned out, the super low budget was too aggressive, and we came in over by $364.68.

We both agreed that Scotland was worth it!

Next up…

We might get a little off schedule in September when we cross the pond to visit the States for a few weeks. When we return to Europe in early October, we’ll pick up our left luggage and head to France for the remainder of 2026.