Becoming a tourist guide
A series of coincidences introduced me to the idea of becoming a tourist guide. I’d been a teacher for so many years, it felt like that would be my only job, but the universe had other ideas and finally, I listened.
Becoming a tourist guide ended up being the most natural decision of my life. Here’s how it happened.
Discovering tourist guiding
On holiday one year I went to Alaska, and on a tour at Denali National Park, the guide spoke very well about the bears. At one point I asked her about wolves, and she said she did not know as much about wolves as she did about bears, but would do what she could. Then she added that if I had time at the end of the tour, she would arrange for someone who knew a great deal about wolves to talk to me.
As good as her word, there was the wolf expert waiting to speak to me when we got back to the Visitor Centre. Her talk was excellent, and as I left, I remember thinking what a wonderful thing to do - to offer to visitors who have chosen to come to one’s country what they want to know. I was never leaving teaching, but if I did…
Looking for a change in direction
Time rolled on, and gradually I became restless. I was ready to move on. My long love affair with education was not coming to an end, but was changing direction. Denali National Park came to mind. I explored the idea of re-training as a tourist guide in order to give to visitors what I had been given there- knowledge they have come to seek.
I loved the studying, particularly in the areas of knowledge outwith my comfort zone.
The thrill of revealing secrets
People would ask me all sorts of questions, that require different skills and insight:
’Why is that rock pink and that one black?’ Geology.
‘How did they get that castle to stand on that rock?’ Medieval engineering.
Once I started guiding it very quickly became clear to me what I enjoyed most.
I love guiding the land with all its stories - who had lived here, why they had left and where they had gone. Even the glaciers played their part in making this land special. Visitors gasp in amazement when we stop at a certain highland loch for the view, and suddenly they realise this is a very specific view. The loch had been carved by the ice into the shape of the map.
Revealing secrets as a tourist guide around Scotland
I have favourite castles-they are the ones with the best human stories. Stirling Castle was lived in by thirteen Scottish monarchs. Marriages, baptisms, murder, and King James VI as a little boy sledging on the carcase of a bull he had acquired from the royal kitchens.
Our small towns and villages are so varied they are each a joy to explore. Crafts, coffees and scones in centuries old buildings, the unexpected round so many corners, makes touring Scotland a journey of discovery. And then there are the accents, the languages, the music, the pubs and the people.
Many Scots have emigrated and our influence is felt all over the world. Discussing this with visitors, making links with where their ancestors came from is a daily pleasure as a tourist guide.
At the end of the tour I like to send my visitors home with the best souvenirs they could possibly have: the knowledge they came for, and the memories they cherish.
Discover more about Scotland
If you would love to learn more about Scotland by taking a tour with me, please get in touch.