September 2022

30th

Woke up admist a storm rocking my tent which began around 3am. I have tick bites all over my body but feel two around my left forearm the most. I pitched my tent by the side of Kylesku Bridge.

Regardless of the horizontal spray if rain I spent time taking some pictures.

The first lift came quickly from a 4×4, male driver who was courteous. He drove me to Lairg, stopped at the petrol station I purchase a 50p (all money I had) bar of chocolate. The next lift came from a lorry driver who talked none stop to Invergordon, he told me he only stopped because it was raining.

I attempted to hitch unsuccessfully three times from this layby on the A9. First and second lift only went to… On the third lift, an old pervert stopped and grabbed me before requesting a kiss, how nuts! So I got his picture and registration plate number. The fourth lift took me to Inverness, the driver, an early 60s man from Dornoch on his way to purchase Xmas presents for his family. He asked me when I’d last eaten then gave me £30 to get supplies so treated myself to a large coffee in Starbucks and got a respite from the downpour of sopping rain. The A9 was blocked off due to two lorries colliding which resulted in a fatality I was told. The pervert driver (vocalised naked fantasies before asking if I shaved my public hair) gave me a lift, placing me on a road towards Granton on Spey but dropping me off at least ten miles before the town.

I was relieved to get out of this area when an atheist guy gave me lifts to Aviemore. I purchased some camping stove gas then walked to the A9 to get another lift. I thumbed another lift from a woman going to Glasgow, she dropped me south side of the city. After an hour a Ukrainian stopped and gave lift to Bothwell services but stopped illegally on the M74 hard shoulder. I am covered in sore tick bites, should go to casualty (A&E) as I'm feeling unwell.

29th

Woke up speaking my thought out loud, almost as if they are desperate for me to hear them, through shattered comprehension and compartmentalised cognition.

Sunrise view of the sea from Helmsdale.

I walked around Helmsdale Harbour.

And made a hot drink.

I walked south over the bridge and talked to a dog walker who gave me £10 to get something to eat. I hitched a lift to Thurso from an NHS IT consultant, and along the way, we passed a wind farm.

At Thurso, I walked to a cafe van and purchased a breakfast roll and a cup of tea. She appeared not to recognise me but I’d been and had breakfast there once before.

My mother was a geordie, from South Shields.

Walked into the port of Scrabster.

And found Holborn Light house.

Looking back from the emptiness I felt only chilling wrath projected at forgetful Thurso, disheartened by this morbid town of reprobates.

I asked and received a fill of my water flask from a wood carver before joining the main road to hitch a lift towards Tongue. The road was narrow and traffic travelled fast making this a dangerous endeavour. I was given a lift from a French NC500 tourist to Tongue.

Then given a lift from an Ayrshire NC500 tourist who drove me all the way to Kylesku Bridge, where I pitched my tent for the night.

28th

Thought I heard tent poles being put together in the vicinity of my tent during the unearthly early hours of this morning, at around 4 am. This is the time when the majority of patients die inside hospitals, in slumber from their projection. Took these early morning pictures whilst out of my tent for a pee, baring my ass to the cold north wind.

My tent pitched by Durnoch Beach.

I am deliberating whether or not to return to Dornoch this morning, there is a local history museum I wish to visit. A man from the golf club came via 4×4 and said “I’ll give you half an hour to go, people play golf here”; I won’t be returning to Dornoch, my tent is by the edge of a beach, no problem to them.

As I walked away from the area, half a mile along the coastal path I noticed they sprayed the course boundaries with red paint. Expecting a lot of people to come by this way I thought. The walk along the beach was airy, with so much reflection and space.

I walked around the coastline turning into Loch Fleet.

I stopped at a bench to eat breakfast.

After enjoying a tin of Scotch broth I recommenced my journey across the shore of Loch Fleet.

A man bird-watching caught up from behind, we talked for five minutes about golf courses encroaching upon wild habitats. He told of a plan (by American businessmen) to create another golf course alongside Loch Fleet but, thankfully, had been successfully countered by local environmentalist groups. His group was named “not cool”.

Along the lane I met a man in a Viking van, he had the Vegvisir painted on the rear door; I popped my head around and said hi.

There were so many wild mushrooms along this trail.

I walked over a bridge running the width of Loch Fleet.

And then up a steep incline to hitch north from a T junction.

The first lift of the day came from a woman going to Golspie, she was on her way to an electric bike event being held at a local race track so I went there with her. Arriving, after signing a form I got to test drive some bikes.

There were many special bikes for people requiring extra assistance. I tried a three-wheeler, a tandem (the first time I rode one), an electric mountain bike, and a low-down racing bike. Bought tears to my eye to be doing something substantial. I walked through Golspie and stopped at a grocery and crystal shop. Along the seafront, a creepy man encroached on a custom-made electric bike. He had not been at the race track yet stopped, talked about Christianity, and then requested to shake my hand. He offered me his phone number but I refused it. He told of a castle further along the coast.

Towards the end of Golspie I came across the Big burn trail.

I unsuccessfully tried to find Golspie Tower, but found more fungi.

Eventually found my way back to the A9 and hitched a lift north from a female estate agent. I don’t know. If she didn’t like me or just liked herself to much, but offered the used of a lawn adjacent to Helmsdale community centre where she said she was attending an AGM.

I was in my tent at 8 pm and fell asleep an hour later, my mind too tired and confused to write a blog entry.

10th

Helped a man look for keys his wife lost the day before, they’d stayed in the neighbouring hotel haven’t not been able to access there car to leave the service station. After ten minutes I got a lift out of Charnock Richard from a man in a range rover. I used the opportunity of switching on the electric heated seat to warm my cold bones before parting company at the Keele M6 service station. An ex-serviceman stopped, bought me lunch at Stafford services and via his trip to London dropped me off on a hectic M40 / A34 roundabout. I waited here sometime before being picked up by a guy on his way to Bournemouth.

He dropped me at Oxford A34/A44 services, where I purchase a yummy sandwich. I a feeling a little bit better this afternoon from my stressful hitchhike yesterday. The footpath along the roundabout on the A34 underpass was a public health risk.

I also walked past a bucket filled to the brim with stagnant water. Fifty yard up the road I pulled over a lift from a Scottish lady in a range rover. She took me to Woodstock, there was a horse fare being held in the grounds of Blenheim place. The next lift came from a chauffer, has driving an eighty thousand pound range rover, I was left wondering why fate had upscale the car. He took me half way to Chipping Norton where I was picked up by a woman driving a horse box. I hitched a ride from a builder heading towards Burford. He dropped me off at the Beeches traveller site where I was received by my friend Alec.

I spent the evening with Alec’s two friends, both cooked me food and their hospitality seemed sincere. We played chess, I won the first game but lost the second, another game wasn’t played. We left his trailer at midnight and ended the night cashed out on a cluttered couch.

9th

I woke at 5 am and updated my blog ten minutes later. Many spiders seem to have found their way into my tent this morning.

A walk down a country lane to Keele services is typical of Staffordshire countryside.

Returned to Keele services and commenced hitchhiking trip after 7am.

After a lift from a guy going to Liverpool I was dropped at Knutsford.

A lift to Lancaster M6 services from a young guy going to Keswick.

This guy (pictured below) took me to Hamilton M74 services.

Got a lift to Perth from two guys who had been working in Carlisle.

I had a chat with one of them about B12 and realised I been passing out because am due for another shot of B12, so I decided back off to England after the police moved me on from Broxden roundabout. I walked to a layby and received another lift to Bothwell M74 services then picked up another lift to Johnstone M74 services from a man going to Dumfries. Two young people then picked me up and took me to Southwaite M6 services. Next lift was from a trade plater and took me to Charnock Richard M6 services.

Feeling unnerved about tonight, for what reason I do not know so I guess its just anxiety because I am hitching in the dark; or maybe its because more and more people are telling me to stop. Kicking off at Charnock Richard M6 services tonight, Ned’s following me about on and off slip road, lorry driver called police. Exhausted so pitched tent, I’ll put walking pole up their ass if they try come near me.

8th

Pitched my tent a mile away from where I was dropped last night, in a village named Maugersbury near Stow on the Wold.

Had a telephone conversation with Skye before I packed away my tent. I surmised he doesn’t want anything from life because he idealises his past beyond his future.

The nurturing softness of the Cotswold countryside is awesome and the views are endearing. I walked straight through Stow and onto Monarchs way.

And visited a well, sat down on a bench nearby and updated my blog.

And another well.

Edible sloe berries are ready for picking.

If you cannot get fruit then rose hips are a good source of vitamin C.

Further along the Monarch way, a little bit after Donnington some wretch had lit a fire.

A friendly horse greeted me, further down the footpath after another horse tried to eat my rucksack I enjoyed the scenic view.

At Longborough the Monarch Way became the Heart of England Way.

I walked past Sezincote.

And up through Borton-upon-hill acquiring a lift twenty minutes later by a petrol station from a polish guy going to Eversham. I waited sometime before getting a lift from a trade plater driving along the A46. I’ve hiked about eight miles today on an empty stomach so asked the next lift for some food. They, an elderly couple gave me two energy bars before dropping me at junction 13 M5. Next lift took me all the way down to Exeter M5 services and came from a male lorry driver originally from Bedford. From here I reversed my direction, deciding not to return to a previously chased down hapless Exmouth. Iniating the change of direction to north took time bit began with a lift from a man going to Essex along the A303. A farmer returning from a funeral gave me a lift to Tiverton Parkway. From here I was picked up by “Roger the Vet” and given a lift to Gloucester M5 services. Walking to the end of the services I acquired a lift from a kind woman who bought me supper before dropping me at Hilton M6 services. An hour later a race-mixed half Chinese / white man gave me a lift to Keele M5 services. From here I waited without a lift until midnight.

7th

Dawn came back drunk at 4 am and said “I don’t give a fuck about you, you’re going today”; I.e whatever social life you had here has ended. Insisting that I eat just a spoonful of spicey food that had come from a Sri Lankan funeral which I refused to eat, countering she opened the plastic container and thus attempted to push the food under my nose. Dawn also returned with tobacco which has swollen glands in my neck and behind my ears.

Anyway during the day we returned to the traveller site and met a guy with two dogs who said Alec was away to Wales fishing for a few days. He phoned Alec’s friend who said Alec didn’t want to know me and that he would not be back until Xmas, bad luck for him then. As we walked back into town one of the dogs got sick so the traveller called his cousin who return them to the site via car.

Dawn asked if I would go to the vet with her to get her cats vaccinated. After she withdrew some money we walked up to the vet and waited. Both of her cats had two jabs each, Dawn was told the two cats were male and aged between 12 and 14 weeks. After the vets, I waited over an hour whilst she shopped at Aldi supermarket, she return end with 5 large bottles of QC sherry in her basket.

The shopping trolley was heavy, I lifted the front whilst she pushed the back steering her trolley towards her flat. We stopped at a dodgy garage (owned by some very creepy Catholic Sri Lankans). Dawn had an altercation with a cranky pump attendant who was wearing a Bob Marley T-shirt, I thought this funny. After a struggle with the trolley through Chipping Norton town centre, we returned to the flat. I spilt some cooking sauce from a packet onto the floor and was told by Dawn to get out of her flat.

I left the flat immediately and walked westward out of Chipping Norton along the A44. The road became pitch black, I put on my head torch for visibility. I tried to hitchhike as I had to face off the cars so they could see me. After ten minutes a man stopped, he offered to get me a room in a hotel but found they were all booked. He briefly drove me to a takeaway and purchased fish and chips. After his wife declined to put me up for the night he dropped me off just outside Stow-on-the-Wold.

6th

Woke up next to a traveller guy named Alec, we had snuggled up for most of the night. He didn’t want me to clean his caravan and a few other things that made me unsure about him, but there were more certainties. Today I am tired, two hectic days are catching up with my health, I do need to rest more as much as I require a healthy relationship. There has been so much rain since I arrived in Chipping Norton, including a huge thunder and lightning storm last night. I am staying here another night, today I cooked fish and chips, a nice gesture as I’ve been hungry during the last two days. I gave my friend a tarot reading, although I need a new card deck.

My friend Dawn has been gone a long time doing a to-do in town, I am hoping she is OK as it is pouring rain outside + I am getting bored. If I leave I cannot lock the door behind me so will stay in till at least she returns. Vince from Belgium still keeps in touch but is very uninformative in reply.

Strange to find the attic door open, I have been hearing lots of noises in the flat and never noticed the door open this morning when we returned. The police were supposed to come around to see my friend, but she is not here and they have not come here; has she been arrested? My mind races when I am alone in a flat for more than a couple of hours, one of the reasons I live outside. As I predicted Dawn didn’t return, was only supposed to be out 2hrs max but it’s now 10:30 pm, over 5 and a half hours and still no show. If she isn’t back by the morning I am leaving the flat without locking the door; sick of being lunched out, happens everywhere with every new person I meet.

5th

Having problems with my eyesight this morning, text on my phone is a blur, must make an appointment to see an optician. Have a terrible taste in my mouth from the pollution of the M74. Been hammering down with rain all night. Today I am on a mission to get my HRT from England, I cannot get a prescription electronically sent to Scotland because they use different systems; the only other option is to register for another doctor’s surgery, this is difficult as getting an appointment to see a doctor.

At least during this heavy rain storm I was dry and warm in my tent last night; because the cold bites harder and so damages you more when you’re wet and hungry. The first lift of the day came from two alternative people, one of them got out of their van, walked over and offered a lift. They looked ajar when they dropped me at Moffat Junction, hope they are OK. The next lift was from a farmer driving a clapped-out Skoda; he took me to the centre of Carlisle where I collected my medicine. I walked to the M6 junction and noticed the berry’s ripening.

Next, I pulled over a lift to Penrith, they were going to the lake district for their 20th wedding anniversary. I stopped the lift short at Southwaite services because at Penrith most of the traffic goes down the A66 towards Scotch Corner. I gained another lift from two elderly people going to Wales, am so sleepy in their car! The next lift came from a Romanian lorry driver, he took me to a layby near Stone and attempted to molest me. I bolted out of his cabin escaping through some fields, taking the front of my dress over barbed wire. There was a major accident northbound on the M6 and from the layby and fields, I was on that side of the motorway. I walked two miles through fields to get to the next service station. Here I got a lift from a guy delivering electronics, he was going down the M6 toll so got him to drop me south of Standford. A lift came from a Welsh couple who dropped me off at the A5/M6/junction. I thought I’d cleared the M6 toll but the next lift took me clockwise across Birmingham and down the M42 / M40. The female driver (from Wales) was a staunch socialist and thrashy indifferent about Liz Truss becoming prime minister. I was glad to leave the car at the Oxford A34 / A44 interchange. It was dark, I was determined to get some distance from Oxford towards Evesham before I pitched my tent for the night. I waited at a dark roundabout for an hour before an eccentric elderly lady picked me up and drove me to Chipping Norton. I popped into a public house and asked for water, they also gave me nice ice. Across the street, I saw a woman in trouble so went over to ask if she was OK. She, a woman in her mid-40s named Dawn, offered to put me up for the night, but via her flat, we went to a traveller’s site to meet some of her friends. We sat in a caravan crammed with litter and broken things but the guy we went to see was awesome.

4th

Woken disturbed with endless messages going through my head. Last night I was disturbed sleepless by public walking too close to my tent on numerous occasions.

It’s raining outside but now I have to get up, pack my tent away and walk, and hitchhike through the ongoing rain. Waking hungry and thirsty, with no money and with a premise of becoming cold and wet through rain is a dismal outlook. Got up for a piss and took some photos of my tent, pitched just outside Stirling.

Rain is relentless, and downpours could last for hours so going to make a move, and get packed up. I walked anticlockwise alongside the River Forth, look at these elder sprays.

I walked along way round the river (to get to the M8 junction) and caught up with some local history.

First lift came from a couple travelling from Swansea, they stopped at a garage and bought me some supplies then stopped to take a few scenic photographs before dropping me off into Aberfeldy.

After ten minutes an elderly lady stopped and gave me a lift to Killing, the sun broke free from the clouds as we passed through Kenmore.

I took some time out of hitchhiking to walk along Loch Tay and then onto Docart falls.

Acquired a lift from a couple in a transit van, and they took me to a small town named Callander. After a short walk through town, I found a park to dry my tent, still wet from the morning.

Woman got stopped by police after pulling over for me, anyhow she took me to Cumbernauld junction. Last liift of the day came from a taxi driver; went out his way to get me to M74 Bothwell services.

3rd

Skye revealed himself to be a guy who believed I was a prostitute. Today I have left his house because he offended his hospitality. Am on the road again, poorer (flat broke) than when I met him.

Before leaving Oban at midday I chose to have a walk around on my own time.

I sent several texts to Skye but received no reply; could not make up my mind if he was a friend or foe, but his perspective was useful.

The first lift came from an elderly woman going to Glasgow; the wrong way. The next lift dropped me in Appin beside the Caledonian way.

A young couple gave me a lift to Ballachurish then a man drove me to Speen Bridge via a meal at Mcdonald’s drive-through in Fort William. Not my choice but was starving hungry and received a fillet-o-fish and fries.

I had planned to go to Inverness but the next lift, from two elderly ladies, took me to Newtonmore. I had a walk around the Clam MacPherson museum, but took no pictures because I no longer like them.

I got a lift to Aviemore from a hill walker and walked through the town before leaving via a layby on the A9. The next lift dropped me in Stirling and came from a Rugby referee. He didn’t seem to like me very much but talked more towards the end of the lift. I walked clockwise the river miserable and emptied, before pitching down my tent on some grass.

“Skye got back via fb messenger and sent some sweet texts, but his conversation is much to offhand and illusive to gain any meaningful affirmation. We’re going nowhere but perhaps that was the idea; I suspected him recovering from drug induced psychosis.”

The rain poured down as a rested my head on a pillow made from my spare clothes. Unsafe here but at least I am dry, I thought.

2nd

Woke up this morning uncomfortable with my face dug into the cushion of the sofa but at least the migraine has gone. Getting older is starting to show, my focus is getting lengthier and my eyes are less reactive to changes in light. My skin is less tight (largely down to sun/wind damage) and although my agility is not affected I am sleeping more. I have a feeling I will be leaving Oban soon, this morning Skye jumped at my presence and turned away from me; today I have been blipping about in Skye’s car, looking a lot better than I did in Ayr.

Planning on doing some mountain walking over the next few days, maybe through Glen Coe.

Got a few texts from the Ayr Buckie monster, he believes treating people as shit who are trying to help him is acceptable. He is dead in my mind so won’t be responding. Tonight Skye pushed me away into his spare room, whilst he fell asleep on the sofa.

1st

Woke on a housing estate about half a mile away from the centre of Oban. My new friend’s name is Skye, he’s a local to Oban.

He has been very kind to me and his hospitality is generous and unreserved. Later Sky took me to see the view of Oban from McCaig’s Tower.

After some shopping at Tesco (where I was stalked by a weeble-shaped old man sporting a huge eighties magnum moustache, who purchased two of everything) at checkout with an unfriendly cashier, my friend drove me to another viewpoint. At Skye’s flat I enjoyed another fish pie, still have a huge migraine so chose to rest my head for a wee while at 8 pm, but then woke 6 am the next day.