On a tight budget, we stayed in a bothy, climbed a mountain, looked for Nessie and – best of all – made memories that money can’t buy
‘T
here! There – I can see it!” The cries of my four-year-old echoed around the ruins of 13th-century Urquhart Castle, causing a group of US tourists to come running over to the corbelled bartizans (overhanging turrets) where we stood. “It’s Nessie, I saw her,” he insisted, pointing at the ripples spinning out from the back of a sightseeing vessel on Loch Ness.
This was day four of a budget, week-long Scotland adventure for the two of us, and we were spending the day in Drumnadrochit, on the shores of the country’s most famous body of water, looking for the fabled monster.
It wasn’t the first time that reality and wishful thinking had seemingly combined on this holiday. When I told people I was going to take my son on a week-long trip across Scotland and my budget was £500, they were sceptical – especially as we were travelling in the school holidays. But as a woman who likes a challenge, I was up for proving them all wrong.
