Scotland’s Planner Meet – Travels Across Scotland

The last thing I said on here was that I had no further travel plans, but lo and behold, I didn’t think about the fact I was going to Scotland’s Planner Meet just two days after posting! Obviously it was still travel within Scotland, but I think it should still count!

Am I going to go?

I’m not going to lie; I almost didn’t go. I had been ill for a couple of weeks, and my cough was unbearable. I was worried about flying while being fat, having coughing fits in public, peeing myself (Mums will know!), being someone that other people wouldn’t want to be around and generally just being away from home while feeling poorly causing my agoraphobia to flare horrendously. It was touch and go right up until it was time to leave for the airport, but ultimately I talked myself into it and I’m so glad I did.

Not only was I flying, but I live in Orkney so the planes out of here are tiny, as the majority are just small services to the rest of Scotland. I’m the size of two passengers, so I was worried that it was going to be a problem on the flight. Even while we were ascending, I had it in my head that my weight being towards the front of the plane was going to cause it to tip, which is so silly! But these are the anxieties you have to live with when you’re this size. I followed the advice of Kirsty from Plus Size Travel Too and I asked for a seatbelt extender as soon as I got on the plane, and the cabin crew were happy to oblige. In fact, on the way back, the air hostess asked if I had flown before and was sure I needed one – she was right, the seatbelts were very generous, but I did still need one.

Back ‘Home’ to Glasgow

Scotland’s Planner Meet was held in Glasgow, which is where I lived when I met my now-husband back in 2010 when I was at college studying journalism. I moved there in the Summer of 2009 to a small flat that was within a 3 minute walk of the SPM venue, so I was quite excited about seeing my old stomping ground – not only that, but the hotel it was being held in was one that my husband and I would often stay in when he came to visit! We were long distance – I was in Scotland, he was in England – and I lived in student halls, which don’t have the best bedrooms for new couples to share! So I knew the trip was going to hold lots of memories for me. I paid the £3682962 to get the bus in to town (it wasn’t that expensive, it was about £17, but they sure now how to capitalise on people not being local because there will have been lots of non-airport-buses going exactly the same way that cost about a quarter of the price!) and decided to get off as soon as we arrived in the city centre and walk the rest of the way to George Square.

This is a huge thing for me, because a year and a half ago I struggled to walk from the carpark to my office without taking a break. But here I was, on a muggy Glasgow afternoon, taking a 20 minute walk with a hoodie and luggage on my back. As you can imagine, I was drenched by the time I arrived at the hotel! Even when it rains in Scotland, it can be quite warm. I challenged myself not to look at Google maps to get there to see if I still remembered my way around 15 years later, and I was pleased to say it was like nothing had changed. Glasgow is probably my favourite city in Scotland if not the whole UK; the vibe in Glasgow is unmatchable. There’s a certain cameraderie around the streets of Glasgow, and while I know I was seeing everything with a tinge of nostalgia, I do think its the kind of city that can make everybody feel at home.

Scotland’s Planner Meet

Scotland’s Planner Meet itself was great! On the night before the actual event there was a ‘pyjama party’ in a meeting room at the hotel. We wore PJs, chatted and had snacks, and the hosts had arranged a Taskmaster style game night – and I actually won! I was so surprised to win overall, especially as one of the tasks was physical and, again, something I couldn’t have done 18 months ago at all. I know I don’t talk about my weight loss on here very much but I’m struggling a bit with it at the moment because I reached 100lbs lost in May and just haven’t moved since then. But I need to focus on days like this, where I can see the differences in my mobility, and think about how its more about the experiences I am allowing myself to have than the number on the scale.

On the day of the event, Tilly and I went for some breakfast and then headed in to the event. We were able to do a bit of shopping; I had won a £10 credit for any shop the night before, which I put towards the purchase of a Scream-themed offbrand Stanley cup. I also got some lovely die cut stickers, some for my husband too, and a gorgeous travel journal that I intend to be filling for the rest of my life, on trips to Scotland and far beyond. In the afternoon there were crafts, talks and a raffle. I ended up winning the raffle a total of six times, which sounds fantastic, but honestly got embarrassing and for someone who struggles hugely with anxiety I was starting to get upset by some comments I could hear people whispering to eachother. For one or two of them, Tilly actually pretended that she won and went up instead of me because she saw that I was getting distressed by people muttering about me. Most people were great about it though, and we made good-spirited jokes about it that were reinforced by a joke from the previous day that the small plane I’d been on from Orkney looked like I had hired my own private plane to fly across Scotland come to the event. So a couple of people being salty and rude wasn’t enough to ruin my experience whatsoever!

In the evening, Tilly and I got some takeaway food ordered to our hotel room, and we went through all of our freebies from the day and separated them into piles of what we wanted to keep. I have a friend in Milton Keynes who has just started junk journaling, so I put aside a pile of things to post to her the next morning that she would be able to use better than I would. What I ordered from the takeaway ended up being gross and I didn’t eat it, which was a shame, as I had a huge craving for mac and cheese and what I was sent was cold pasta with mayonnaise and chives! Bit weird! We also did face packs that we had got from the pyjama party the night before, but were also both quite socialised-out so enjoyed just sitting in silence, scrolling on our phones and watching TV. We watched the ITV2 reality show about bad boyfriends, which was exactly the kind of trash we felt like watching, and have decided that once all episodes have aired we should binge it ‘together’ remotely.

Flying across Scotland

The way back up to the north of Scotland was, in a word, a shitshow! I had a lovely morning. Tilly left before me so I packed my things and sorted the room at my own pace, then after I checked out I went for a wander to the post office to send my friend the bits for her junk journaling. I got the bus out to the airport and went over to a bar and the first thing I did was order a childs portion of mac and cheese to satisfy my craving from the night before, I had a bit of a wander around the airport while waiting for my plane, and at lunch time I found a pancake shop that made the most soft and delicious pancakes. I think mine was with mascarpone, chocolate and caramel – I can still picture the texture now, it was gorgeous! When it was time for the flight I went to the gate, and we all boarded the flight as normal. During the announcement, the pilot said that the cloud was lying as low as it could be for them to be legally allowed to land in Kirkwall so there was a high chance we would get there, not be able to land and come back again, and they had brought enough fuel for that eventuality. In the end, we did use the extra fuel, but not for that reason – one of the radio sensors went down about 20 minutes into the journey and they explained they legally need to have two, so back we went. Communication really fell away at this point. The time of our next flight was changed and changed and changed again. Then we were going to have to stay overnight. Then we weren’t. People were looking at other airports in Scotland but it was late so there weren’t many options. Then this issue had happened this morning and was fixed but not properly, so they needed engineers. Then they had fixed it but had no crew. The gate changed 3 or 4 times, so we were running back and forth between two gates. Hours later we finally boarded a plane that had been there all afternoon, but unfortunately the captain announced to us once again that the cloud was still too low so there was a high likelihood we would be unable to land and turn around yet again. While this was happening there were also two huge douchebags behind me who were incredibly loud, shouting, drunk, had only just discovered the ‘hawk-tuah’ girl about 6 months after the rest of the world and were shouting it repeatedly and making themselves fall about laughing, and also kept complaining about my coughing being too loud. I know, the irony! So by this point I was just over the day, and thankfully we were able to land and I was incredibly pleased to be home.

All in all Scotland’s Planner Meet was a great day and I’d love to come back next year! I’m so glad I pushed through my anxiety and was able to go, and seeing noticeable differences to my life is what Make Life Feel Better is all about.