Customer Reviews

The Creaky Traveler in the North West Highlands of Scotland: A Journey for the Mobile but Not Agile

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THE CREAKY TRAVELER provides an amazing amount of detail (including maps) about a small part of the northwest highlands of Scotland. Mr Rovetch has a friendly and somewhat avuncular writing style which verges on the pedantic at times. He obviously kept a diary of his travels from which this text has been extracted (the minutia could only be recorded not remembered). I found some of the detail annoying for "armchair travel" but useful for objectively planning road travel in remote Scotland. After using it to plan a trip,THE CREAKY TRAVELER is the sort of book one reads a chapter a night on the road to scope out the next day's adventures.

Rovetch and his wife Gerda who prefers the sobriquet "G" are in their late sixties-early seventies and still mobile, though as he says "not agile." Although Rovetch provides helpful hints for "older" folks, younger adventurers may find many of the suggestions useful. I bought the book because I have been seriously contemplating visiting the highlands when I travel to the UK this summer. Rovetch has convinced me road travel is the only way to go, and road travel in northwest Scotland cannot be knocked out in a few days. Also, if you truly hope to "see" anything, high summer is probably not the very best time to go.

Rovetch suggests limiting the miles covered to under 20 per day given the condition of the roads (the path is narrow and the way is hard) and the joy of slowly savoring one of the world's most beautiful rural areas. Rovetch and G made their several week journey in May when the countryside was filled with new lambs and few tourists. The places they stayed were picturesque and relatively pricey. This is a good guide for the practical traveler.

If you love Celtic music and myths, if you are interested in a slower kind of vacation that allows you time to connect with local people and savor their life and culture, if you love the idea of exploring a wild, primitive, spiritual land, but you'd still like to be comfortable on your journey, then you will find a lot to enjoy in Warren Rovetch's Creaky Traveler series, even if you are not yet "creaky" or old.

Warren Rovetch's The Creaky Traveler in the North West Highlands of Scotland: a Journey for the Mobile but Not Agile was written after Rovetch and his wife Gerda, both old enough to consider themselves "creaky", visited the most northern sliver Scotland, what the book calls Great Britain's last wilderness . They took a month and meandered along Scotland's north Atlantic coast, staying in small hotels, bed and breakfasts and guest houses that were almost always in view of both mountains and sea.

The first and longer part of the book, titled "A Journey of Discovery", describes the trip Rovetch and his wife took. Their activities and lodgings, the roads they traveled, the scenery they saw and people met are all described in interesting detail. Like the Rovetch trip, the book takes its time. Each area they visited has its own chapter so there is room for discussions of geology, recent and ancient history, and local myths, customs, economies, governments and quirks, including a mention of the Toad Crossing warning sign they came across on one of their drives.

The second smaller section of the book, "On Being a Traveler", gives practical information about how Rovetch and his wife planned their journey to be both adventurous and comfortable. Tips for "creaky" travelers are included, along with a quiz to determine just how "creaky" you are.

Warren Rovetch targets "the mobile but not agile" traveler, but even the most agile reader can enjoy his vivid descriptions and perceptive insights into the people and the landscape of the Scottish Highlands. Apparently he only spent a few weeks passing through this magnificent region where I lived for three years, yet he pegs it perfectly! Reading "The Creaky Traveler in the North West Highlands of Scotland" is almost like living there again, with all its visual pleasures and human delights. For anyone planning to explore the Highlands, either by road or armchair, I recommend this book.

Jack Maloney, author, "The Wee Mad Road."

This is an interesting and well written guidebook. It was mentioned on NPR I think once and it was well deserved. Finally a guidebook for active but not agile among us. A must have for any trip to Scotland.

I enjoyed the book and wish there were more books like it. His pleasure at contemplating the scenery and appreciating the graciousness of his hosts fits with my own attitudes towards travel. I am off to Scotland to sing with the Berkshire Choral in Edinboro and plan to go early to immerse myself in the culture and scenery. I recommend his story to anyone who wants more than sight-seeing and adventure from a journey.

The Creaky Traveler In The North West Highlands Of Scotland by experienced world traveler Warren Rovetch is a personal memoir and engaging travelogue of Britain's coastal wilderness. Penned with insight, charm, and vibrant impressions of culture, natural beauty, and the unique feel of the land itself, The Creaky Traveler is a very highly recommended, expressive, and readable Scottish Highlands guide for vacationers and armchair travelers alike.

Yes this is a travel book with advice on how to get there and what to see, but really it is a book about our nature in seeking the unusual by seeing the common in a new way. It also happens to be just plain good writing-- a joy to read and to savor, like the travels in the wilds of Scotland that the book describes.