February 03, 2017

Edinburgh to Inverness: Scotland by train

February 03, 2017/ Gunjan Virk

Scottish Highlands. Image©thingstodot.com

Scottish Highlands. Image©thingstodot.com

Hi friends! Here are some photos that I shot while on train (ScotRail) from Edinburgh to Inverness in Scotland. However, I have to confess that no photos can do justice to the beauty of Scotland - from seas and rivers to the Scottish highlands, each view is breathtakingly lovely. The highlands dotted with castles, cattle, picket fences and wild flowers are mind blowing! If you haven't already been there, I highly recommend Scotland as your next holiday destination. People are friendly, the vibration is lovely and there is beauty all around - even though the Scottish accent is hard to get at first!

North Sea, Scotland. Image©thingstodot.com

North Sea, Scotland. Image©thingstodot.com

Scottish Highlands. Image©thingstodot.com

Scottish Highlands. Image©thingstodot.com

Scottish Highlands. Image©thingstodot.com

Scottish Highlands. Image©thingstodot.com

Scottish Highlands. Image©thingstodot.com

Scottish Highlands. Image©thingstodot.com

Scottish Highlands. Image©thingstodot.com

Scottish Highlands. Image©thingstodot.com

Scottish Highlands. Image©thingstodot.com

Scottish Highlands. Image©thingstodot.com

North Sea, Scotland. Image©thingstodot.com

North Sea, Scotland. Image©thingstodot.com

Edinburgh to Scotland by train. Image©thingstodot.com

Edinburgh to Scotland by train. Image©thingstodot.com

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Things to Dot

Dots. The Sun appears a dot from the far away galaxies. The Earth appears as a tiny dot seen from about 6 billion kilometers. When you travel, you appear as dots on the navigator. This website is about Dotting the Map Of Life.

About me…

I am a solo-traveler, blogger and photographer based in India and traveling the world. I am also a TEDx speaker. I was raised in India, went to design school in Italy and learnt German language in Germany. Besides German, I also speak English, Hindi, Italian and some French. I draw my inspiration and courage to travel alone from meditation. Things to dot is my blog about Dotting the Map Of Life.

Dots. The Sun appears as a dot from the far away galaxies. The Earth appears as a tiny dot seen from about 6 billion kilometers. When you travel, you appear as dots on the navigator.

Instagram @thingstodot

My first time stand up paddle boarding! If you don’t mind falling in the water (a lot!!) while learning how to balance yourself on the board, it can be a pretty amazing experience. Here @chilby_photography snapped my shattered pride as I slipped and fell in the water yet again trying to balance myself on the board 🙈

A closing thought: using technology is ok but don’t get used by it! I spent all my time yesterday on Instagram and by the end felt so crappy that it has taken me well over 24 hours to recover 😳 Anybody had this experience?!

I remember back in the days when I had started Instagram, I connected with a social media marketing guy to help me figure out how this worked. He began our meeting by saying that the reason I am not successful....I said in my mind, ‘Wait! Wait! Wait! I am already successful! What I gain or loose in this world does not define my success!’ I didn’t meet him again because we were not on the same page. The idea of success that we have in our minds, that I can be successful and happy only if I reach a certain goal or accomplish something in this world, is not success! I think it would make life very unfair! What happens to those people who are not in a position to pursue their dreams or passions, does that mean they can never be happy! This would make our Creator indeed very partial to a few because happiness is the birthright of every soul, and true happiness leads to true success! I spoke about this and a lot of other things in my TEDx talk earlier this year. You can watch the full talk on YouTube, the link is in my Story Highlights.
Be happy now, be successful now ✨🤗
Photo: @adisumerta

Every now and then I get a question or two on relationship problems, and even though I am only a travel blogger and not a relationship expert, I can tell you about 4 things that life has taught me.
First, if I value a relationship whether personal or professional, it’s important for me not to become too familiar. I can’t emphasize more the truth in the phrase ‘familiarity breeds contempt’. Our personal space, our most private space is reserved only for us and our higher self. And the quicker we find out, the better it is for us because we can then save ourselves from enormous suffering, caused by warped expectations.
Second, when I tend to become too needy around people, they feel it, and instead of giving me what I want, they run miles away from me! Now whenever I feel ‘needy’, I withdraw for a time, meditate and practice silence, or just practice silence, and reconnect with my self. It works like magic. The ‘neediness’ goes away and instead of the ‘wanting’ kind of person, I become the ‘giving’ kind of person, and people are attracted to that quality. I become the person people want to be around.
Third, learn from the experiences of others. We can avoid a lot of suffering if we start learning from others’ mistakes and not repeat those same mistakes in our own lives.
Fourth, problems cannot be solved in the same level of consciousness as they are created. I love this wisdom from Einstein. How many times I have tried to solve a problem with my mind and how many times I have reached a dead end! But when I withdraw from the world, relax and let go, meditate and pray, my consciousness is raised, and I suddenly get a Divine insight in how to solve a problem.
Photo by @chilby_photography , wearing @creamclothing

I woke up this morning thinking how much travel and my blog has changed me as a person. ‘Change’ in the sense that it has helped me to mature and grow as a person as nothing else in the world ever could! I remember back in the days when I was a teenager. I went to an all-girls convent school and my parents never allowed me to mix with boys. I never went to parties, never had a mobile, and would have secret crushes on my elder brother’s friends (gosh! I hope they are not following me here 🤦‍♀️!) Most of my growing up years were spent in the company of my school text books, even though I knew (even at that time) that books wouldn’t help me realize my dreams. Even at that age I couldn’t imagine myself living a normal life, getting married and having children (it’s great if that’s what you want!). I was looking for something deeper, something so utterly fulfilling that would consume my whole being and drive me to do my best! And even though I have found that fulfillment in my blog and travel, life still would have been completely empty and desolate if I didn’t have a connection with my higher self. And so it is today, thanks to my blog (and lately public speaking!), I have overcome that shyness and lack of self-confidence that I experience as a teenager, but my higher self that has groomed me to the person I am today! This is the most personal thing I have ever shared on Instagram and social media!
I can’t thank Brad from @chilby_photography enough for this shot - it’s really one of my favorites! And that sun flare is not photoshopped! Thanks Brad! #thingstodot

Hi friends! How are you today? I was wondering if you would like to join me in a 21 day #feelinggrateful challenge?:) Starting today I want to write one thing everyday that I am grateful for, and I will share it in my Stories. If you want to do this with me, write one thing you are grateful for everyday for the next 21 days and share it in your Story with the #thingstodotfeelinggrateful . I will follow this hashtag and see what you posted in your story. We can all follow this hashtag and see what we are grateful for everyday. When we make a conscious effort to look for things we are truly grateful for, we can become happier and contented beings. Who is participating in this 21 day experiment on happiness? Drop a heart if you are!
Photo: @chilby_photography

My version of the iconic #wanakatree . When I asked a photographer friend based in New Zealand, if he could take me to ‘the Wanaka tree’ and help me shoot it, he literally covered his face with his hands! He told me to look for something unique to shoot in NZ, and not shoot something that had already been shot hundreds (if not thousands) of times!! Then he added that if I ever got there, I should either swim in the water or climb the tree, so that it wouldn’t just be another photo of the tree! I didn’t know whether climbing the tree or swimming in the water was allowed but one thing I knew was that I wanted to get there! Imagine as a travel blogger how empty my trip would feel, without getting a photo of one of the most famous Instagram spots in the world!Thank you @robbrownphotonz for bringing me here and for your invaluable photography lessons to shoot this tree! While editing this photo, I just noticed that there are two birds sitting in the tree - and they are indeed quite sharp. It’s a wonder they were sitting so still because this is a long exposure shot!
Can you spot the two birds 🐦?! It’s actually the cutest thing I came across today! 🥰
#thingstodot #nevergiveup @newzealandphotographyworkshops

For me the whole magic of travel blogging lies in being able to turn your dreams into reality. Picture this: you see a photo of a #beautifuldestination , and you are inspired to travel there and create your own memories of that place. You spend weeks researching that place, and how to get there. You make a list of the best locations to visit. You connect with photographers who would be willing to take your pictures. You make reservations in hotels, you book your tickets, and apply for your visa. Then one day you are finally there. What you saw in a photo a few months before, has become a reality for you. Then follows a feeling of contentment that takes over your being, and something within you tells you that you can accomplish anything in life you put your mind to! Not only this, you develop incredible amount of will-power, patience, perseverance, and endurance, and you are ready to face greater challenges!
This is how a beautiful photo on Instagram changes my life, and brings out the best in me! What does it do for you?😀
Photo by @chilby_photography and edited by me ✨ This was the view from my room at the @blueorchidresort

So many times people ask me if I am not scared to travel alone. I do get travel anxiety a couple of days before I have to catch a flight somewhere, but when I arrive at my destination I am so filled with energy and enthusiasm to take pictures and explore the place, that there is no room left for worry or anything else! Of course I do exercise caution, and usually don’t go out anywhere after sunset. One thing I have to say is that I have been practicing meditation and yoga for several years now, and it has given me immense courage to travel alone to different corners of the earth. Are you scared to travel alone?:)
Btw. this photo is from my resort in Philippines. This view is just outside my room window! 😲
Photo: @chilby_photography

I was wondering today what it means to have a successful life. Success in your chosen field of work does not necessarily make you a successful person if inwardly you are not happy. For me happiness comes from having a balanced life, having enough time to do all the things I want to do while at the same time working on myself and my bigger goals. What is success to you?:)

Just spent the last one week struggling to get internet at a lonely island in Phillipines. In the beginning it was frustrating not to be able to connect and share my Stories as I travel, but it eventually ended up being a really good break, away from social media and close to nature...What have you guys been up to?:) Photo: @adisumerta , edited by me.
#thingstodot

Some people come in our life for a reason, some people come in our life for a season, and some people come in our life to stay! Thanks @ruchi_makeup_ for sending me this beautiful quote - you are definitely in my life to stay ❤️ Tag somebody who is in your life to stay! .
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Photo: @adisumerta #thingstodot

Hi friends, my Bali blogpost is finally live on my website. Click in the link in bio or check out my stories to read it! I have included details about everything in my article, the places I visited, the photographer I hired, the driver I used, where I stayed etc. etc. I hope you will find it helpful to plan your own Bali trip.
I have to confess that it has taken me forever to publish this post, and the reason for this delay has been excessive indulgence in social media over the past couple of months. I am trying to discipline myself by maintaining an introspection chart that tells me how much progress I am making towards the accomplishment of my goals. After following it for a week, I realized that whatever can be measured, can be improved! Cheers to all of you who are going ahead in the direction of their goals! And cheers to Bali - what a lovely island 🌴
Photo: @adisumerta #thingstodot

Just this afternoon, I was talking to somebody who wanted tips on how to grow an Instagram account. In fact this is one question I get asked over and over and over again. I usually answer this by asking some questions first: What is your goal? What is motivating you to be on Instagram? Do you want lots of followers and become an Instagram star (which even though misguided is still a goal), or whether you are looking to just earn money from your social media? Before even thinking of how to grow your Instagram, it’s super important to identify your goal. Let’s say this - your goal is actually to become an Instagram star. What next? Are you ready to dedicate a good part of your next five years to growing and developing your feed? Are you ready to make this your priority? Are you ready to sacrifice your desires so that you can focus all your energies on doing this one thing? Are you ready to do this day after day after day without seemingly getting anything in return? And most importantly are you ready to conquer your bad habits that are actually the greatest hindrances to achieving anything in life? If your answer is ‘yes’ to all of them, then I have to pat you on your back. The next thing in becoming an Instagram star is actually giving up the idea of becoming a star, and throwing yourself into your chosen field of work knowing that there is a huge possibility that all this may go waste and that you may never become a star. Do you know the people who actually become stars are the one who take the greatest risks. In fact the greater the risk, the greater the possibility that you will become a star, because very few people actually take that risk! And who actually do, sometimes don’t actually want to become stars - life is a paradox all along the way ✨
Photo: @adisumerta
#thingstodot

Hi friends, my TEDx talk is finally live and you can watch it on YouTube, link to the talk is in my Bio and also my Stories. The talk is on how to choose your vocation in life and is titled 'Doing the right thing in the right way for the right reasons.' I was inspired to talk about this after I received an email from a young girl who wanted to go abroad to study. She told me that her goal was to get a great job at the end of her course so that she could make money and travel. After exchanging a couple of emails, I realized that she was not so interested in the course itself but what it would bring her - money and travel. Usually when our motives are not right, and our goals are misplaced, we don't become very successful in what we do. We also become very unhappy. This girl's motive should have been the course itself, and not what it would bring her. Those things would have eventually come to her if she had the right motive. Hear what I have to say on doing things with the right motive and having the right goals. Also, I would really like to hear what you think in the comments below. .
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And something on this photo: taken on my trip to Bali. I was staying in Ubud but I drove here with @adisumerta who also took this picture. This is also where the Bali swing is. We met a lovely Japanese couple and another couple from the US! While we were waiting our turn to get on the nest and take pictures, we heard this Indian girl on the swing shout to her friend, ‘Photo! Photo! Photo!’ Guess whatever nationality we have or whatever maybe the color of our skin - we are all the same people - we all want photos! The whole experience was so exhilarating 😃👌
#ppcircles

Hi friends! I haven’t been much on Instagram the last couple of weeks. I realized that it was becoming too addictive, and I needed to do take time off. I’ve had an amazing last few days connecting with myself, my family and my friends. I also celebrated my birthday at the @theoberoisukhvilas . What an amazing hotel it is - perfect for an overnight stay or a solo spiritual retreat. Even their day spa is amazing, and I strongly recommend dinner at their Indian restaurant! Thank you to the GM @ablodha for organizing my special day! You guys do it the best 👍👏 Check out my Stories for more!
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Btw. I also wanted to say that I am finding it increasingly difficult to reply to your DMs. I get insane number of messages and replying to each and every one of them is practically impossible. Please check my Q&As in my Highlights (have done two of them), that answer most of your questions ☺️.
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Also, I will be soon putting up for sale all my dresses I have been wearing on my photo shoots. Will post a link in my Stories soon - stay tuned! The dress I am wearing in this picture is also up for sale.
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Photo: @adisumerta , #thingstodot

One of the most popular Instagram spots in Bali is the Handara Gate which is actually the entrance to a golf resort. The gate designed in the traditional Hindu style, symbolizes the entrance from the restless outer world to a place of peace (mostly a temple). Swipe left to check out the drone video. Have you been here? 😀
Photo & video: @adisumerta
#thingstodot #handaragolfresort

Carrying forward from my yesterday’s post on not quitting, somebody asked me if that meant to do something you didn’t like just because you didn’t want to fail. According to me, it’s a matter of honoring your commitment, and never leaving anything half-finished. We do have to understand that life is not a fairy-tale and more than once we will be in situations we don’t like, or work with people we find it difficult to get along with. Victory lies not in escaping but in conquering. .
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And finally got my photo of the Bali swing! An interesting incident happened at this place. A young Indonesian man whom I met for the first time there asked me to marry him! I told him that he must be the age of my son, to which he said, ‘No! I am the age of your husband!’ 🙈😂 Photo: @adisumerta
Dress: @labelritukumar
#thingstodot #baliswing

The other day I got a DM from this young person saying that he had just started his new job but already wanted to quit! I met another person today who told me the same thing...seriously guys my heart breaks every time I hear people tell me about how they want to quit even before starting out in life!
I will tell you a short story about myself. When I was 17, I left home for fashion college. It was the first time I was going to live away from a super-protected and a super-comfortable environment. My college hostel was really bad, the food was pathetic, and I fell sick with typhoid. I resented every moment I spent there, and decided to quit. I decided to come back home, give up fashion, and study something in the local college. At this point, a dear friend wrote me a letter telling me how he looked up to me, and how he always found inspiration from how I was going ahead with my dreams! And he told me not to quit. He begged me. He showed me the light. And I went back to fashion college. The next two years in college were so hard, I thought I would die. Despite the constant pressure from meeting project deadlines, I met with an accident, I got chicken-pox...but I kept on...and on my graduation day I was awarded the Best Design Collection, and invited to participate in bigger fashion shows. And because I didn’t quit, I developed a sort of resilience and inner strength that carried me forward, and that helped me to take my first trip alone to Italy and Europe when I was 20...and because I didn’t quit, I can dance around in rice fields in Bali today...and share my story with you! And now I realize that if I had quit, I would have been haunted with a feeling of failure for the rest of my life. @vicksit , remember those days!!!! Photo: @adisumerta
Dress: @labelritukumar
#thingstodot #ubudricefields

Just the other day I was watching a video on YouTube called ‘The Truth on Travel Bloggers’ by @ventureaddicts and couldn’t agree more with it. A lot of young people these days want to get straight out of college and become a @samkolder , not knowing the years of painstaking effort it takes to become a @samkolder . We see a beautiful photo on Instagram and want to lead the so-called dream life of a blogger, and if we don’t get it immediately we become depressed, and sometimes even angry and insanely jealous! What we don’t see is the persistent struggle, the sleepless nights, the poverty experiences and the will to keep on going even when results are not forthcoming, not for one year or two years or even three, but for many years in a row, that has made that photo possible. Did you guys know that Sam Kolder started editing when he was 12 years old?! I think everybody who get success has deserved it. Nothing in life comes for free. And no effort made in the right direction ever goes wasted! What goes around comes around. Tag a friend if you agree with me 😎 .
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And about this photo: it’s not just another beautiful photo on Instagram. Everything was co-ordinated from the dress, the location, the photographer, the timing...and the air-tickets, and the hotel bookings...and the jet lag...and the endless hours spent by me sitting in front of my laptop learning how to edit photos...and...and...and...! Thank you @labelritukumar for the lovely dress - definitely a part of your #labelsquad (Check this out @rabiamakeupartist @junebiswas )
And thanks @adisumerta for snapping this for me, and turning my dreams into reality!

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@thingstodot instagram

My first time stand up paddle boarding! If you don’t mind falling in the water (a lot!!) while learning how to balance yourself on the board, it can be a pretty amazing experience. Here @chilby_photography snapped my shattered pride as I slipped and fell in the water yet again trying to balance myself on the board 🙈

A closing thought: using technology is ok but don’t get used by it! I spent all my time yesterday on Instagram and by the end felt so crappy that it has taken me well over 24 hours to recover 😳 Anybody had this experience?!

I remember back in the days when I had started Instagram, I connected with a social media marketing guy to help me figure out how this worked. He began our meeting by saying that the reason I am not successful....I said in my mind, ‘Wait! Wait! Wait! I am already successful! What I gain or loose in this world does not define my success!’ I didn’t meet him again because we were not on the same page. The idea of success that we have in our minds, that I can be successful and happy only if I reach a certain goal or accomplish something in this world, is not success! I think it would make life very unfair! What happens to those people who are not in a position to pursue their dreams or passions, does that mean they can never be happy! This would make our Creator indeed very partial to a few because happiness is the birthright of every soul, and true happiness leads to true success! I spoke about this and a lot of other things in my TEDx talk earlier this year. You can watch the full talk on YouTube, the link is in my Story Highlights.
Be happy now, be successful now ✨🤗
Photo: @adisumerta

Every now and then I get a question or two on relationship problems, and even though I am only a travel blogger and not a relationship expert, I can tell you about 4 things that life has taught me.
First, if I value a relationship whether personal or professional, it’s important for me not to become too familiar. I can’t emphasize more the truth in the phrase ‘familiarity breeds contempt’. Our personal space, our most private space is reserved only for us and our higher self. And the quicker we find out, the better it is for us because we can then save ourselves from enormous suffering, caused by warped expectations.
Second, when I tend to become too needy around people, they feel it, and instead of giving me what I want, they run miles away from me! Now whenever I feel ‘needy’, I withdraw for a time, meditate and practice silence, or just practice silence, and reconnect with my self. It works like magic. The ‘neediness’ goes away and instead of the ‘wanting’ kind of person, I become the ‘giving’ kind of person, and people are attracted to that quality. I become the person people want to be around.
Third, learn from the experiences of others. We can avoid a lot of suffering if we start learning from others’ mistakes and not repeat those same mistakes in our own lives.
Fourth, problems cannot be solved in the same level of consciousness as they are created. I love this wisdom from Einstein. How many times I have tried to solve a problem with my mind and how many times I have reached a dead end! But when I withdraw from the world, relax and let go, meditate and pray, my consciousness is raised, and I suddenly get a Divine insight in how to solve a problem.
Photo by @chilby_photography , wearing @creamclothing

I woke up this morning thinking how much travel and my blog has changed me as a person. ‘Change’ in the sense that it has helped me to mature and grow as a person as nothing else in the world ever could! I remember back in the days when I was a teenager. I went to an all-girls convent school and my parents never allowed me to mix with boys. I never went to parties, never had a mobile, and would have secret crushes on my elder brother’s friends (gosh! I hope they are not following me here 🤦‍♀️!) Most of my growing up years were spent in the company of my school text books, even though I knew (even at that time) that books wouldn’t help me realize my dreams. Even at that age I couldn’t imagine myself living a normal life, getting married and having children (it’s great if that’s what you want!). I was looking for something deeper, something so utterly fulfilling that would consume my whole being and drive me to do my best! And even though I have found that fulfillment in my blog and travel, life still would have been completely empty and desolate if I didn’t have a connection with my higher self. And so it is today, thanks to my blog (and lately public speaking!), I have overcome that shyness and lack of self-confidence that I experience as a teenager, but my higher self that has groomed me to the person I am today! This is the most personal thing I have ever shared on Instagram and social media!
I can’t thank Brad from @chilby_photography enough for this shot - it’s really one of my favorites! And that sun flare is not photoshopped! Thanks Brad! #thingstodot

Hi friends! How are you today? I was wondering if you would like to join me in a 21 day #feelinggrateful challenge?:) Starting today I want to write one thing everyday that I am grateful for, and I will share it in my Stories. If you want to do this with me, write one thing you are grateful for everyday for the next 21 days and share it in your Story with the #thingstodotfeelinggrateful . I will follow this hashtag and see what you posted in your story. We can all follow this hashtag and see what we are grateful for everyday. When we make a conscious effort to look for things we are truly grateful for, we can become happier and contented beings. Who is participating in this 21 day experiment on happiness? Drop a heart if you are!
Photo: @chilby_photography

My version of the iconic #wanakatree . When I asked a photographer friend based in New Zealand, if he could take me to ‘the Wanaka tree’ and help me shoot it, he literally covered his face with his hands! He told me to look for something unique to shoot in NZ, and not shoot something that had already been shot hundreds (if not thousands) of times!! Then he added that if I ever got there, I should either swim in the water or climb the tree, so that it wouldn’t just be another photo of the tree! I didn’t know whether climbing the tree or swimming in the water was allowed but one thing I knew was that I wanted to get there! Imagine as a travel blogger how empty my trip would feel, without getting a photo of one of the most famous Instagram spots in the world!Thank you @robbrownphotonz for bringing me here and for your invaluable photography lessons to shoot this tree! While editing this photo, I just noticed that there are two birds sitting in the tree - and they are indeed quite sharp. It’s a wonder they were sitting so still because this is a long exposure shot!
Can you spot the two birds 🐦?! It’s actually the cutest thing I came across today! 🥰
#thingstodot #nevergiveup @newzealandphotographyworkshops

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