Traveling Abroad through Sheep Pictures
Three years ago, I picked the pumpkin spice latte of countries for my Study Abroad semester. English-speaking. Moderate climate. Bars and clubs. Large American expat population.
Scotland.
But I don’t regret going there instead of Kenya or Thailand or some other ambitious cross-cultural destination. Going somewhere kinda boring pushed me to make it special. I didn’t know many people and the ones that I did were satisfied soaking in the singular city (Edinburgh) where we’d landed. At the start, that felt limiting because I wanted to stretch my legs and get the most out of that special time.
![Saint Andrews Chapel](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://c2.staticflickr.com/1/708/22081811113_a73d969284_b.jpg)
![Untitled](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/648/22704472136_1804053eeb_b.jpg)
Mostly by accident, I was pushed into the clear solution to my problem. I invited a girl to join me on a trip up North to the Highlands. We needed to board a 6:30AM train to get there. She texted me to cancel just a few minutes before it would disembark, leaving me standing on the platform at 6:29 with a choice.But it wasn’t really a choice at all, the answer was obvious: go alone.
I did, and it was fantastic. I did the same thing most weekends after that. That winter, I climbed higher mountains and took more photographs than I ever had before.
![Sheep on Hill](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://c2.staticflickr.com/1/662/22714025321_68afbbaf22_b.jpg)
![Saint Andrews Chapel](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://c2.staticflickr.com/1/708/22081811113_a73d969284_b.jpg)
![Old Landrover](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://c6.staticflickr.com/6/5835/22702840525_b8e742ee36_b.jpg)
![Enchanted Forest](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://c4.staticflickr.com/1/735/22714016211_7f104fba70_b.jpg)
Plenty of other really cool things happened. I made some great friends, I have some stupid crazy stories from nights on the town like any college student, and I read some great books.But the big lesson, the one that I’ll tattoo on my ass when I come up with a pithy way to say it, is this: Make interesting life happen, and others will want to join. And if they can’t make the early train, go anyway and love your own company.
![Stone WIndow](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://c5.staticflickr.com/6/5700/22676985196_5335b53cd7_b.jpg)
![Sunset Concrete Dock](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://c2.staticflickr.com/1/598/22702989945_b1c10a8dae_b.jpg)
![Dark Landscape](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://c8.staticflickr.com/1/649/22702879015_7973b023d2_b.jpg)
![Sheep and Mull](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://c3.staticflickr.com/6/5652/22689428242_92ec075a27_b.jpg)
P.S. Words and Photos original. There are a lot of sheep in Scotland, in case you didn’t know.