Magazine

Often it seems that adventures are restricted to fearless travellers, requiring big budgets and far away locations. They can be daunting and seem unattainable for the everyday person. However, this doesn’t have to be the case! Adventures can be simple, cheap, short, close to home, yet still be extremely exciting, challenging, and even better – guaranteed to refresh your mind.

As we approach the warmer summer months, many of us will be dreaming of a coastal break. Scotland’s stunning 6000-mile coastline provides some fantastic staycation options, from luxurious bothies to beach houses, and is a haven for sea lovers. Whether it’s white sandy beaches, rich marine life, water sport activities or dramatic cliffs that tickles your fancy, there’s something for everyone to enjoy no matter what you love about the coast. All of us at Meander love a good getaway, so we’ve gathered some of Scotland’s most wonderful coastal staycations for you to sit back, relax, and soak in Scotland’s natural beauty.

We believe that getting outdoors makes us better humans and that exploring nature has the power to relax us, challenge us and to inspire us, it certainly inspires everything we do. For the uninitiated though, getting outside of your comfort zone can be daunting so joining a group can be a fantastic way to get involved. We recently had the pleasure of catching up with Alice Keegan from Adventure Girls Club and Sarah Gerrish from Wonderful Wild Women who started two of these adventure communities, both aiming to inspire women and bring down the barriers that prevent women from realising their full potential and going on outdoor adventures. They talked us through their inspiration for starting these groups, the importance of building communities, top adventure tips and more.

The Scottish Borders, or more commonly referred to as the Borders, is an area in the South of Scotland that is famed for its rolling landscapes, ancient abbeys, endless picturesque villages, and being the home of rugby sevens. Having lived in the Borders for over 20 years, I feel as though I might know a thing or two about what to get up to while visiting!

Here at Meander we are constantly inspired by those who push the boundaries and live a life full of adventure. We also find it inspirational when someone manages to turn their passions and love of the outdoors into a career. So when we came across Seana Forbes, who is not only a passionate skyrunner, but also happens to be the Press Officer for the Sky Runner World Series, we just had to get in touch. Seana encapsulates the adventurous spirit and love for the outdoors that we so admire and we really enjoyed hearing about her experiences running high altitude races, her introduction to a life outdoors and what makes her tick.

From stone structures to camouflaged barns, these retreats work with the landscape rather than ruin it and are yours to stay in. These nature-inspired hideaways seamlessly blend into their surroundings and are perfect for outdoor lovers seeking an unforgettable nature-fuelled experience. All of these homes were built with greenery at the heart of their projects, so anyone seeking a break from the urban environment will love looking at these. We have gathered five of our favourite homes from around Europe that celebrate the natural beauty around them. Best of all they are all places you can stay yourselves!

Being based in Edinburgh, we’re just across the water from Fife and with just a bridge separating us from miles of stunning coast on offer we really need to make the journey and get exploring more often. If you want to explore it all, then the Fife Coastal Path is a great place to start either all in one go, or broken up into sections over several trips.

There is nothing quite like finding a beautiful, white, sandy, uncrowded beach that you can explore alone, without tons of other people getting in the way. Finding new hidden gems makes for great road trips and adventures, but sometimes you do need some local knowledge to help find the best ones. We’ve tried to make it a bit easier for you by asking some of our adventure buddies where their favourite hidden beaches are and they’ve definitely delivered.

Scotland hosts some of the most unique and challenging ultra-endurance races in the world. Thanks to the variety and difficulty of terrain as well as the hostile weather, more and more events are popping up around the country to test the stamina and nerve of endurance athletes. Below we have listed some of the events that the Meander team have been eyeing up.

Back in November, we had an absolute blast hosting a book launch event for ‘The Art of Wild Swimming’ written by the wonderful for Anna Deacon and Vicky Allan. Anna and Vicky are both seasoned wild swimmers, and in fact this isn’t the first book they’ve written on the subject. Their book ‘Taking the Plunge - The Healing Power of Wild Swimming for Mind, Body and Soul’ was published in 2020 and documents the stories of the wild swimmers and the reasons they swim outdoors.

Over the past couple of years with various lockdowns, many of us have become cyclists. Whether this was out of choice or by obligation, cycling gained traction as many of us took up cycling as a COVID-friendly alternative for our daily commutes. Not only has cycling grown hugely in recent years, but bikepacking has picked up pace too.

Whether you’re looking for a peaceful place to escape to with your partner, or just trying to beat the January Blues, we’ve compiled the perfect list of staycations for your next long weekend.