Some journeys aren’t meant to be paused — they’re meant to be rather fully experienced, breathed in, and lived through in one flowing story. Finishing Abbey’s Way brought a strange mix of sadness and exhilaration. Over the course of nearly a year, I walked its winding path across shifting seasons, moods, and mindsets. Unlike other hikes I’ve done, this one felt different. It taught me differently. It offered insights I hadn’t expected, and gently asked for a kind of presence I wasn’t always able to give.
Breaking the walk into stages taught me something important: I don’t want to hike like that again. The momentum got lost, the magic faded between the pauses. There’s something powerful about pouring yourself fully into each step through blisters, storms, and all. But even with the stops and starts, there was a quiet gift in it. Time. Time to adjust to wild camping. Time away from everyday responsibilities. Time to grow confident in the untamed. That, too, was part of the lesson.
The ancient legends whispered from the ruins of the four abbeys and echoed along the trail, wrapping the path in a timeless story I now carry within me. It’s only now, with the final steps behind me, that the full story has come into view. Not just the story of Abbey’s Way, but the unfolding of my own journey too.
There’s a particular kind of magic in this landscape. It is the kind that inspired the first Scottish muse, that once pulled humans into the land of fairies. It’s a land of poets, storytellers, and dreamers. And I felt that magic more deeply with every step. Now, I know that was the true purpose of this walk: to reawaken the artist within me. The part that longs to write, paint, and create again.
Each stage was a chance to tell a story. A story rooted in experience, because only what is truly lived can be fully expressed. It’s just the beginning, but it’s the beginning I’ve been waiting for. Each part of the trail felt different, and each video I created helped me grow. That growth is most visible in the final video, the closing chapter of a journey that changed me.
I’m deeply grateful to the path itself and to the unseen companions, the fairies and forests, who joined me along the way. I hear you now. And I’m ready to let you speak.
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