Dear Scotland

My name is Dave. I’m a travel photographer, among other things, and I am currently in Scotland testing my van. I built out a Mercedes Sprinter to be my base and I’ll be spending this winter in the Nordic countries but I wanted to see your beautiful lands before I left. My van is named Kofifernweh - it translates to ‘the cabin with the desire to travel.’ 

Last night I had the pleasure of sleeping at Skerray Pier, where I explored on arrival and found the beautiful bay to be full of wildlife and absolutely serene during the sunset. In the bay I noticed a desolate building with no roof. Curiosity got the better of me and I ventured inside, and I’m glad I did. The floor space was occupied by two old, wooden boats. The walls were adorned with beautiful paintings, but there was an empty picture frame on one wall facing the bay. 

I’m a big supporter of the ‘leave no trace’ philosophy and, in fact, I believe it should be stepped up a gear and us humans should leave every place better than we find it. I have to apologise because I did actually leave something behind. 

With the empty picture frame playing on my mind I decided to fill it. I grabbed my camera and took a stroll down to the beach to make a photo for that bare frame. I set up my tripod and composed a scene of Skerray Pier, gathering the prettiest rocks I could find on the foreshore to put in the scene. 

I took my camera back to the van and processed the photo, then printed it off on silky paper with the photo printer I designed into my van. I hustled back to the empty frame and put the photo inside with a little note of thanks. 

I’m sorry, but I left a trace. I hope that just this once, it’s ok that I left something behind. 

Much love

Dave