Hi, everyone! How have you been?

I just returned from my vacation in the UK (all around Scotland and then a stint to London) and decided to disconnect while I was gone, hence my silence over the past two weeks..

Can’t say I’m super thrilled to be back – the second we touched down in D.C., reality pelted us hard, right upside the head like a noxious smell you weren’t expecting. One sad or embarrassing story after another about the happenings in the grand U.S. of A. came flooding into our phones and I realized coming back was a terrible idea.

Sigh.

Anyhow, before I jump back into full reality, it’s time to reflect on this trip. First, I want to focus on some of the One Health topics I noticed along the way. If I sit with my thoughts a bit longer, I could probably come up with more, but these are the three main themes I felt were the most prominent One Health features of our trip – then I’ll throw in a few smaller blurbs at the end.

Public Transportation

First of all, we are lucky enough to live in a part of the U.S. that does have metro lines in the city and a fairly extensive Amtrak network, so I can’t complain too much. It isn’t always perfect (and let’s be honest, the Tube in London suffers from more closures and strikes than I ever saw here in D.C.), but I am grateful for it.

For this trip, we had oyster cards (London), but certainly no local or national rail cards that would have reduced the price; but in Scotland, one tap of your credit card (the SAME credit card each time for tap on, tap off) gets you all-day bus access for 5 pounds (about $6.50 USD at the exchange rate while we were there). That’s not too shabby for a tourist to get around and have a bit of relief for the feet.

Public transit is beneficial for multiple reasons. When cared for, maintained, and upgraded they save on greenhouse gases and they provide a means for people to get around who would otherwise be stranded. One of our travel buddies on this trip suffers from anxiety with driving, relying entirely on their family to get to work, stores, home, etc. and was awe struck upon learning how easy it was to get around just by bus and train. Public transportation is, essentially, freedom. Apart from the four days we drove around the Isle of Skye, our trip was done entirely using public transportation and walking.

So, of course, easy access to hiking trails, city sidewalks, and pedestrian bridges make it easy to get everywhere by foot….just don’t forget comfortable, waterproof shoes!

The Scottish Landscape

Undoubtedly one of the most incredible, beautiful, inspiring, and emotional landscapes I’ve ever laid eyes on was that of Isle of Skye. Truly an indescribable experience – the pictures simply do not do it justice. Yet, despite the sweeping skies, moody clouds, and jagged mountains, there was one noticeable concern with the landscape, throughout: clear cutting. Sure, there were forests here and there, mostly as you drove around the main land, but Skye, itself, seemed almost barren of trees. Not just near the mountain tops, but everywhere.

Wood harvesting for fuel and building ships or homes has long been part of Scottish history, all the way back to the vikings….maybe even more? The ancient forests are gone from the land, but even in our modern era, there appeared to be no promising evidence of reestablishing such a vital resource to the land for the benefit of humans, the environment, and the animals. For more reading, see this Trees for Life article.

Related, while we were there we visited the National Museum of Scotland and there was one exhibit that showed which animals were now extinct from Scotland and…well, it seemed as though damn near all of them had gone the way of the viking. On a slightly different note, the museum also showed (as you progressed through) how Scotland originated in the South Pole! As it migrated north, it expanded in size and….now that I think about it, they might have actually said the UK and not just Scotland, but I think I’ll stay out of their politics. We have enough problems of our own.

Despite our anthropogenic destruction, it was still undoubtedly a place of beauty and peace – perfect for a poet.

Baaaaa, Sheep! Get Out the Way

Warning: Feral Goats. Watch for Sheep. Wild animals and livestock, alike, seemed to roam the Earth without bounds on the Isle of Skye. It’s a good thing the roads are winding and narrow to keep you traveling slow and steady (ignoring the part where they insist on driving like jousters…on the wrong side) – although, not sure I can say the same for the locals (speed racers). Multiple times we had our wooly friends living on the literal edge, forcing you to make way for them – a difficult task for my partner who was chauffeuring us around in a 9 seater sprinter van. They knew those roads belonged to them and they were unyielding. Once we even had them IN the road, taking their jolly time to trot along and out of the way. The sacred Highland Coo, however, was more protected and guarded with fencing. I’m not sure that was necessary, however….they did NOT seem interested in moving much.

I’m unfamiliar with the full environmental impact of the intensity with which Scotland (and Ireland, for that matter) raise sheep. I suspect it isn’t great. Nearly every turn, every field and mountainside, and a dominant part of the wild landscape is dotted with white little wooly bears, noshing away at the grass and brush. What I will say is this: they did not fear humans. The welfare of these animals seems, at least compared to my U.S. eyes, a major improvement to our factory farming and the abattoirs were not visible from any of the places we visited (perhaps by design). It left these little Highland Sweaters free to munch and sleep with little fear. I do wonder, however, if their anxiety increases when the bipedal comes along with the shears or shepherd dogs….

Other interesting experiences with One Health were:

1. “The first time is free” visit to the ER with the NHS system (my son got a relentless bloody nose after hiking up Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh). A U.S. hospital would have charged a tourist a couple thousand bucks, ruining their finances and their trip.
2. The unexpected sunny skies and dry air we experienced, thanks to climate change (hard to complain about this, however. The weather was glorious).
3. The surprisingly large plates of food whilst farther out in the country – a reflection of the hearty diets of the area, but also the larger waist-lines (not to be confused with waste lines, as I could never finish my plate) to match. There also seemed to be a lack of diversity with vegetables, which is understandable if they are aiming to live off the land; however, I’m not convinced that was the reason. The food systems, in other words, seemed a lot like our own.
4. Visible from the road, you could also see the “North Atlantic fish farming” industry, which is showing major signs of environmental destruction to our oceans. This was reflected on the menus everywhere we went – little diversity in seafood, yet every establishment had “fish and chips” with cod and halibut as the dominant varieties.
5. Finally, the love and use of the flavors of the Earth in each region of Scotland – the terroir – with their famed whiskey making. It truly does taste different, depending on where it is made.

Before wrapping up, I’d like to credit several of these photos to my brother, who brought along his incredible camera and skills while some are courtesy of my sis in law who artfully captured candid moments with her iPhone. This was an unbelievable trip and I felt at peace, plodding along the ragged, wild trails and hopping off and on the buses, feeling like a local within a day. To grow up in a place with that much unfettered access to the land and the environment and the freedom to travel about seems like a dream. We had a taste of it in Germany, but every trip back to Europe leaves me feeling disheartened upon returning to a culture of driving, oversized houses, and fenced off wilderness – the “American Dream”. It’s definitely time to start planning my next trip, as my hopes for any real change in this country seems unlikely (but I’ve already plotted my trip up the coast by train so, maybe there is some hope).