I have to thank all of you for the support you have given me on my decision to close Up and Doon for the season 2020.
I really have been blown away by the messages of support and reaction to my decision.
I was moved to write down my feelings and share with you how I came to this difficult decision.
One thing I want to make clear from the start is that lots of tourism businesses are struggling to stay afloat and indeed need the cash to survive the winter.
I am in a very privileged position in comparison to most of these people. I live a relatively simple life where I can get by on a smaller income than most people would find possible. I don’t have a mortgage or rent to pay, and I don’t have kids to feed. So I am very, very lucky in comparison. So please don’t judge the people who are only doing what they need to do to survive financially over the coming months.
This is a tale of 3 ladies who have been very supportive and kind to me over the years I have been a guide. It was them that made me think of my responsibilities and indeed put a face on the risks I could potentially be putting them in by guiding this season.
I was due to be guiding my first trips of the season in the Cairngorms. I was really looking forward to this trip.
It was going to be one of the best starts of the season ever. Not only was I going to be meeting my Dad beforehand.
I was going to be walking with two ladies both previous clients as separate trips back to back.
In total it was five very good days guiding in the most excellent company.
The first lady I was guiding for two days. She is a lovely lady and this would have been our 3rd trip together.
Over the years we have built up a good rapport and we have really interesting conversations when we are out on the mountain. I always look forward to hearing from her when she is booking a trip as I know I am in for a pleasurable experience.
Our last trip together had been to the wee village of Braemar on Royal Deeside. For many years my clients have stayed in a wee hostel called Rucksacks run by a kind lady called Kate.
Kate is quite the character and she disnae hold back when discussing many of the things that she is passionate about.
We have had many a blether over the years and we have a good laugh blaming each other for the amount of time spent chatting.She is engaging company and can chat about the mountains and the impact of tourists till the sun went down. I love staying here and I really wouldn’t send my clients elsewhere. It’s a one off of a place and that’s all down to Kate.
My returning first lady was going to be arriving from London. So she booked her accommodation as always at Kates. However Kate raised the point with my lady that if she had symptoms of Coronavirus and had to self isolate what would she do and where would she go? That she would need an emergency plan of some sort to get home or find somewhere to isolate for the two weeks required.
The emergency address was a difficult one to circumvent but even harder was the getting home part if needed. My client, who is not a driver, would have to use public transport to reach the safety of her home in London. How many people would she encounter on the journey? How many places would she pass through?
So the lady from London and i had a chat on the phone. I agreed that she would have to self isolate if she had symptoms of the virus. I joked I was more than happy to lend her a tent for the duration of her self isolation if required.
We talked about other options that were possible. This included staying on the other side of the Cairngorms in Strathspey.
There are numerous walks for folks of all abilities there. Indeed it is a joy to guide there as there are so many good options within easy reach.
After this was discussed we had a wee natter about possibly cancelling the trip anyway till either later in the autumn or till next Spring.
During the evening and the next morning I was thinking quite a lot about this and I had a bit of a realisation.
My next lady I was guiding for 3 days was also a returning client. She is not even a client anymore really. More of a friend. She has been walking with me sometimes 4 times a year for the last 7 years of my business. During the time we have climbed countless peaks, been soaked numerous times and indeed had a blast. We know all about each other’s families and have built up quite a friendship. She lives fairly locally to Braemar so if she had symptoms self isolation wasn’t an issue. She could just drive home if need be in less than an hour.
I suddenly had the thought.What if the lady i was guiding first was asymptomatic with Coronavirus?
What if I caught it and gave it to my second lady unwittingly?
As a grandmother she is well within the bracket of people that have died from contracting the virus.
I then got thinking about Kate in the hostel and her reaction to my lady from London staying there.
There was genuine fear in what she was saying. I could tell she was trying to get the balance between salvaging something of the season and not putting herself or her community at risk in the process.
Kate is not just a hostel owner she is an active member of her community. She is always out helping the elderly and folk in need in Braemar and indeed seems to know everyone in the village. I know that she would feel terrible if folk ended up dying in the village as a result of her actions.
What if she caught the virus as a result of my clients? Braemar has a very high proportion of elderly and retired residents. All it would take would be me passing this virus either directly myself or through my clients. It then would have the potential to spread through the village.
I started thinking about myself. Usually when i travel for guiding i make the most of all the local shops and usually visit a chipper at least once for my dinner.
If i did all the normal things i do that could also mean that i am passing the virus on.
My work usually takes me dotting walking in the Highlands all summer. I never stop and my guiding takes me to places that are considered remote even by Highland standards.
Where would I be potentially spreading the virus to?
And what about my clients who come from all over the world?
Where were they coming from?
Was the virus gone from their community?
Would they be honest about symptoms of Coronavirus if they had any?
Would I be putting myself at risk?
Would I also be putting these remote beautiful places populations at risk too?
It dawned on me that I would be imposing a level of risk on these places that are unasked for. All to help my financial wellbeing.
After months of lockdown people are still scared of this virus and will be for a long time to come. We have just entered Phase 3 in Scotland on the journey back to some sort of normality after all these months. We have all suffered be it through not seeing families and friends or losing our jobs and income.
People have made massive sacrifices in not spreading this virus.
My gran died right at the start of lockdown. I was able to attend her funeral.
However most of the family who live further afield couldn’t be there even though they wanted to very much. They sacrificed saying goodbye to someone they love to help surpress the virus.
How many other people have had this experience?
How many other people have died with no family in attendance?
Now we are supposed to be welcoming tourists back!
To me it seems premature to be doing this.
I believe that firstly we should go back to our normal lives as much as possible. Then once we see the result of this and how the virus behaves we would be in a much stronger position to judge whether now is the right time for tourism or not.
Unfortunately economics seems to be the driving force behind this decision and not people’s lives.
The lack of government help for affected people and businesses means that we are reopening. I can understand fellow tourism operators and the hospitality industry’s need to reopen. Many people are suffering extreme financial hardship as a result of losing a season.
However we should be questioning the government and holding them to account for not supporting these folk properly leaving them with no option but to reopen.
Not only putting ourselves at risk but the communities we live and work in.