Jack goes to great lengths to get his Wednesday post up this week – –

Wendy and I just arrived in Knoxville so completing the first stage of our journey to Scotland. Tomorrow we fly from here to Atlanta and then overnight direct to Edinburgh.

Apart from during the Covid 19 pandemic I’ve organized small group tours of Scotland every year since 2009. Two years ago I decided to stop, but requests kept coming so here we are again; the second final tour! There are already requests for the date of next year’s Third Final Tour.

They take a lot of liaising with an agency over there to organize bookings for hotels, ferries and visits. I also have to coordinate with my driver for the minibus. My longtime driver was an old friend, Colin, who sadly died a few years ago. Colin was much more than just a driver – a great singer and historian. However I had become good friends with another great singer and historian in the form of Alan Reid. He was one of the founding members of the well known ’Battlefield Band’, traveled the world with them and often drove their band bus. So a perfect fit!

Once I’m confident I have all the ducks in something resembling a row, I then start sending regular emails to the paying customers with travel tips and information about the tour.

Finally I have to start thinking about travel arrangements to Scotland for Wendy and me. Checking flight times and prices and deciding where to stay for a couple of nights before the tour starts,

Then I start to worry about whether I’ve thought of everything and what might go wrong, because there’s always something. We’ve had everything from an overnight hospital stay, an emergency dental visit, a ferry strike and bags that didn’t make it with their owner. We even had a family who missed a flight connection and arrived into Edinburgh on the second day of the tour!

But heck – once you’re three hours away from home there’s little point in worrying!

Whit’s fir ye will no gang by ye – que sera, sera – what will be, will be. Hi Ho Scotland here we come!