Scotland has a mystic effect or pull on people that’s difficult to describe. I can’t tell you how many fellow travellers like myself, who’ve visited Scotland and come away saying – “I’ve never felt so at home.” “I felt like I belonged there.” For those millions of us with ancestry in Scotland, perhaps it’s an ancestral tie that somehow reaches out to us through the ages. For those born in Scotland maybe it’s even more definable. Scottish comedian Billy Connolly talks of having a string tied to his heart that, despite his now being a citizen of the world, always pulls him back to Scotland. In his book “Made in Scotland” he writes not just of his love for his birthplace, Glasgow, but for his love of all of Scotland. And then he says, “I would love Scotland just as much even if I didn’t come from there.” And he adds, “There’s a beauty and intensity there it is hard to find anywhere else in the world.”
In his book “Made in Scotland” Billy Connolly talks of his love for where he came from, Scotland and from what he came from, Scotland. As he puts it, Scotland has “a beauty and intensity it’s hard to find anywhere else in the world.”
Kathi Kamleitner may understand that emotion better than many. Born in Austria, In 2013 she moved to Scotland for a year of scholastic study and never left. During her time in Scotland she’s launched a successful travel blog, watchmesee.com, where she writes exclusively about Scotland. Like other niche destination bloggers she also offers herself as a travel consultant and provides intinerary planning services, and she is good at what she does. Kamleitner was recognized as one of the Top 100 Women in Tourism in 2020 and was previously recognized in 2019 by Young Women In tourism as Tourism Influencer of the Year while the National Trust for Scotland magazine called her “a top Scottish blogger to follow.”
Now, in part perhaps as an effort to assuage her own wanderlust demons, she’s launched a new podcast, Wild For Scotland (yes I borrowed the title from her). In her podcast she intends to take her listeners along on some of her personal journeys – virtually of course, through an immersive story telling experience and then provide some practical tips for those who might someday (soon we hope) wish to take a similar trip of their own.
In the premiere episode Kathi takes her listeners on an island hopping experience to Iona, Staffa and the Treshnish Isles in search of Puffins, also known as the “clown prince of the sea” and sometimes the “parrot of the sea.” The program will be released in seasons, each ten weeks long and the rest of season one will feature more of the Scottish Isles.
Left to right above: Looking toward the island of Rum, Common Atlantic Puffin on the Isle of May, Kathi Kamleitner on the Outer Hebrides. Click on any of the images to enlarge.
KEY POINTS:
05:25 - Kathi on moving to Scotland to study and deciding to stay
07:25 - Were you already a blogger when you moved to Scotland?
10:00 - Word Association; Kathi recommends Scottish places to visit in response to keywords
19:20 - Kathi’s most surprising find when moving to Scotland
23:00 - Kathi on her trip planning services
35:30 - Why a podcast?
45:30 - What impact have you observed on Scotland’s travel/hospitality industry from Covid-19?
49:30 - Why should someone have a trip to Scotland on their Bucket List?.