A holiday to lift the spirits

Not your normal holiday snap!

Most people I know would prefer to spend their holiday in a hot sunny place, lazing around on the beach or exploring some historic or exotic city. And whilst I would agree that some element of sunshine is usually desirable I am not excessively fond of the normal sun and sea package holiday; which is why I chose to go to Shetland for my half-term holiday this year.

However, it didn’t seem quite so much of a holiday rather than a trip back home. Walking off the Northlink ferry early on Saturday morning into the bright but chilly sunshine I felt as if I had just returned from a long holiday. A holiday that I must have consumed far too much alcohol on as my memory seemed rather hazy. It was hard to shake off this feeling all week as I caught up with around 30 of my dearest friends and neighbours. It was great to be in Shetland again and I particularly loved the opportunity to gaze out to sea at the view I used to call my own.

Thanks to the wonders of Facebook, I feel as if I hadn’t missed out on too much of the gossip, but it was so much better to hear it all again at first hand. And Facebook might be good for seeing photographs, but it doesn’t take the place of getting to cuddle lovely new babies.

I have missed Shetland so much during the last eight months in Ireland. There is something really quite extraordinary about the community where I lived. So friendly, so welcoming, so funny. I have missed my book club and the SWRI (Scottish Women’s Rural Institute) and my friends and neighbours. I missed hearing the unique language and dialect, and it was hilarious to hear my son speaking the dialect again, as if he had never been away.

At the end of my short holiday I felt revived and refreshed and all the more determined to get on with my writing. I have people waiting for a sequel to my first Shetland novel, so I had better get back to work. And as much as I like living in Ireland, it made me realise that my first love is Shetland. I shall be back there next summer for another holiday and hope to see all the people that I didn’t manage to fit in this time. Can’t wait!



An exhilarating walk to Eshaness to explore an old broch site