ALICE BRAHAM Production editor, Lonely Planet magazine @alicebraham
UNPLANNED
I SPENT CHILDHOOD SUMMERS on the small Hebridean island of Colonsay. I was blissfully unaware of how much planning went in to these family holidays to this remote Scottish island, with just one shop (back then selling little more than spaghetti hoops and Spam) and a pub. Neither did I realise how much of that planning gets turned on its head when you are at the whim of the weather. That is, until decided to return with my own family of five and my parents. Our trip started unpromisingly when our evening ferry was cancelled because of a storm. Stuck in Oban, with a week’s worth of perishable food in the boot of the car, we spent three hours looking for hotel rooms. When we finally made it to Colonsay – late the next day and from a port two hours away – the weather continued to dictate our days. But rather than ruin the week it made for one big ever-changing adventure: fishing in the rain; beach barbecues; wet and wild walks; playing at being pirates – all experiences that were to bond the whole family.