Home, Perhaps

“Home is not where you were born; home is where all your attempts to escape cease.”

— Naguib Mahfouz —

If you were to name your favorite place in the whole wide world, a country, a region other than your home, what would you say? Would you even know? I realize this may be a bit of a futile exercise, for the reasons we think we like a certain place that we have visited may not hold true under close scrutiny. But all of that aside, have you ever gone anywhere far away from home that strangely felt like, well, “home?”

For reasons I cannot fully explain, I get that warm fuzzy feeling whenever I’m in Scotland, particularly in the Northwest highlands. And, perhaps paradoxically, the more miserable the weather, the more it feels like a place I may have called home in a previous life. Possibly in a life as a black sheep. 🤣 Don’t worry if you don’t get the joke; fellow photographers that have traveled with me certainly will! 😊

Anyway, I remember one recent trip to the Assynt area in particular. We, meaning a group of good friends, had rented a house for a week in early December of 2024. We went out every day before sunrise and came back after sunset, shooting and walking during the day, cooking, editing and, you guessed it, drinking at night. It was a fantastic trip, mostly because of the group experience, but also because it is such a beautiful area to be in.

In particular, we were looking to get some moody images at Loch Assynt. The weather didn’t seem willing to play ball on the first couple of days, so we just scouted potential compositions, hoping for some morning mist on one of the later days. And sure enough, one morning when we arrived around sunrise, there was a thick mist hanging over the loch. There was no wind whatsoever, providing for some perfect reflections. We ended up spending a good 2–3 hours there, shooting away and just enjoying being in this spectacular place before we finally packed up and rewarded ourselves with some of the almost legendary pies at Lochinver Larder, also known as Pies By Post. If you’ve ever tried one of those babies, you’ll know what I’m talking about…

Before you ask: No, it’s not the pies that make me feel right at home in this particular stretch of the world. I couldn’t even put my finger on exactly why I do. But then again, the heart doesn’t always need an explanation. It just feels. And that’s a good thing…