Imagine driving through lush, green, single-lane, country roads that are so narrow you almost have to breathe in as you reach a corner.

Village after village, meandering hills and valleys with picturesque scenery for company traversing around the southern shores of Loch Lomond on our six-hour drive northwards. I must add that I took a 30-minute disco-nap in a service station to get some much-needed sleep, after the partying at the wedding the previous night, and it’s quite incredible what a difference a disco-nap, power-nap, cat-nap (or all three of them), can do.

Just a wee bit peculiar that the motorway signs state; ‘tiredness can kill’ then you reach the service station layby and the signs state ‘no overnight parking’ or ‘only 2 hours free’ then ‘you will be clamped’ or ‘you will be towed’ plus a fine of course. Freedom! I cry.

Well, this is Scotland at its best, just majestic, not overcrowded, not long traffic tailbacks, just the raw beauty of the Scottish Highlands.

Finally, arriving in Oban on the western coast, we met up with our friend Lexi, who we had volunteered with in Brazil the previous year, she was now volunteering at this hotel on the outskirts of town.

Lexi doing it Scottish style

You know when you are in Scotland when you see the flags and hear the cheers from the local pub and we dared, well I dared, to drive into Scotland and pass Hampden Park, where Scotland were playing their fiercest rivals, England, in a World Cup Qualifier. The noise from the pubs was deafening when the Scots took the lead with only added time left, only for my country to equalise and drown their hopes of a spirited win.

this kind of place is off limits to an Englishman on matchday

peaceful Oban harbour

Oban, a small fishing town, sits as a key harbour in connecting the many Hebrides Islands to the mainland and now after driving up and across Scotland, I realise the much better way of making this journey is in a campervan or RV and stopping overnight at the many welcoming sites and openings in the extremely hospitable land. Next time for sure!