A Very "How to Train Your Dragon" Weekend

If we're excluding the flight across the Atlantic to get to the United Kingdom (which... I am, mainly because while I traveled alone, I wasn't the only one involved in the planning), Scotland was my first-time solo traveling! I figured I would start small and go to a country a mere 215 miles away for a weekend as my way to "dip my toes in the loch." It's a joke... get it?

Regardless, this was my first adventure out of Hull and out of the United Kingdom. It was also my first time taking a train in the UK, riding the Megabus, and spending the night in a hostel. Some may call this an overwhelming amount of firsts in one weekend, and I might just agree with you.

Friday at 9:20 AM, I took an Uber from my accommodations to the Hull Paragon - the bus and train station in the city. I hopped on a train from Hull to Manchester, had an hour-and-a-half break between trains, and then yet another train from Manchester to Glasgow.

I got into Glasgow around 5:30 PM. From the train station to George Square, it was about an 8-minute walk, and I wanted to see at least some of the city before nightfall. Once I got a good look at George Square, I found a restaurant called Brewdog, about 12 minutes away. I ordered a German lemonade, mac and cheese, and pulled pork. Turned out the pulled pork was chicken and came with a dash of BBQ sauce - nothing like what I would've gotten in North Carolina.

While I was at dinner, I saw that there was a comedy club near the hostel I was staying at and booked a ticket for their 8:30 PM showing. From dinner, I went to drop my things off at the hostel I was staying at for the weekend - Safestay Glasgow. The hostel is a two-minute walk from a lot of restaurants, clubs, a concert hall, and general nightlife. Like I said earlier, I have never stayed in a hostel - but I did share a bathroom with 30 people last year, and I've been to summer camp, so I figured it couldn't be anything worse than that.

The hostel had a lot of different packages that you could pick from, and I chose the cheapest. I was sharing a room and one bathroom with nine other people. I was randomly assigned a top bunk and a locker, and when I arrived, there was nobody else in the room, so I had a minute to myself. However, the walk from the restaurant to the hostel was 25 minutes (uphill, by the way) and the walk from the hostel to the club was 15, so I didn't stay too long before I headed to The Stand Comedy Club.

I'd never been to a comedy club before, but the tickets were cheap, the wine was good, and the seats were velvet. There were four different comedians that night, and even though one of them only made jokes about Scotland that I didn't get, I still had a great time. The show ended at 10 PM. I walked back to the hostel and very quickly did everything I needed to do to get to bed at a reasonable time. The next morning I had to be up at 7 AM so I could make it to my day tour on time.

By 7:45 AM, I had a coffee in hand and was out the door and walking to the bus station - yet another 20 minutes walk. For Saturday, I had booked a guided day tour of the Scottish Highlands, and I wanted to make sure I didn't miss the car. I got to the bus station with plenty of time to spare and ended up being sat in the front of the van. The driver said it was because he likes letting Americans sit in the front because it's stressful for them since you drive on the opposite side of the road. Honestly, I was the only person taking this tour solo, so I was the only one who could sit in the front without splitting up the group.

The tour was a total of 11 hours, and I paid maybe $50 (excluding lunch). The driver was funny, the tour was very informational, and the Highlands are incredibly gorgeous. It's absolutely more than I would've been able to do on my own. We saw mountains, castles, lochs, historical sights, Highland Cows, and plenty of rainbows. We stopped at...

• Glasgow

• Luss

• Rest and Be Thankful Mountains

• Inveraray

• Loch Fyne

• Loch Lomond

• Loch Ore

• Loch Awe

• Kilchurn Castle

• Kirkennan

• Connel

• Appin

• Oban

• Castle Stalker (where they filmed Monty Python)

• Glencoe

• Arrochar
  

All throughout this, we saw beautiful scenery, ate good food, and learned so much about the different areas we were in. I didn't realize how little I knew about Scotland until I was on this tour. The Scottish Highlands are one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.

We ended up arriving back in Glasgow at 7:30 PM, and by the time I made it back to the hostel, it was almost 8 PM, raining and quite chilly. The Scottish Highlands are a lot of bogs and are very rainy, so I was cold and damp before I set foot off the bus. I wanted to take a quick shower and have everything packed and ready to go for the next morning before people were asleep, so I ended up being ready to head out again closer to 9 PM.

I had eaten a large lunch in Oban (the seafood capital of Scotland), so I really only needed a snack. I found a cute coffee and dessert bar about three minutes away from the hostel called Shake N' Scoop. I had a strawberry and Nutella crepe with double chocolate ice cream and a weird-looking spoon.

Even though there was a lot of nightlife where I was, most places allowed smoking inside (like... cigarettes), so I ended up back in my hostel and ready for bed at 10 PM. The next morning, I was checked out of the hostel at 9 AM and on my way to an Italian cafe called Cafe Smile in between the bus station and the hostel. I had delicious vanilla and oat milk latte and a bacon and egg breakfast sandwich before I headed to take the 7-hour-long bus ride home.

I took the Megabus from Glasgow to Manchester and then a second from Manchester to Hull. For the trip to only be two hours long, it was significantly cheaper. The only downside was the lady sitting beside me from Glasgow to Manchester was talking to me the whole time - even in her sleep. I got back at Hull Paragon around 7:30 PM, walked back to my accommodations, and was home and unpacked by 8:30 PM.

Even though I wasn't in Scotland for a long time, I saw a lot of beautiful things and had a lot of fun. Plus, it's close enough to Hull, where another weekend trip isn't out of the question. If you find yourself in the area, I would recommend going - even if it's just for a couple days. Though it seems touristy to take a van around the highlands, it's much easier to book that than it is to try and plan it all yourself. And as far as it goes? I would call my first solo traveling experience a success.

For more images, go to the photos page!