This summer, I set off on one of the most exciting adventures I’ve had yet: I hiked all 96 miles of the West Highland Way in Scotland! This was a stunning trek, through unbelievable scenery in the Scottish Highlands. I kept track of all of my expenses, to be able to give a realistic budget… Read More How Much Does it Cost to Hike the West Highland Way in Scotland?
Thinking of an incredible adventure through the Scottish Highlands? The West Highland Way is a 96-mile, long-distance trail running through Scotland. It starts in Milngavie, heads up past the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond, and through Rannoch Moor and Glencoe to finish in Fort William. It’s the trip of a lifetime – and one of… Read More A 7-Day Itinerary for Hiking the West Highland Way
7 years ago today, I bought this little space on the internet. My goal was to share my travels with other people, to have a space to offer travel advice, to inspire others to travel, and to (hopefully!) let more people go away with Maja. As I write this post, I don’t think there’s been… Read More 7 Years of Away With Maja: My Blog-A-Versary!
I’m lucky enough to call Yorkshire home, and have spent years exploring this incredible part of the country from top to bottom. The Yorkshire Dales National Park is full of beautiful places – from dramatic summits and pretty waterfalls to historic castles and abbeys. There are many different and distinct dales, but the main areas… Read More The BEST Places to Visit in the Yorkshire Dales
This summer, I finally ticked a major item off my bucket list: I went on a hot-air balloon ride!!! This has been something I’ve wanted to do for ages, and of course I wanted to see my beautiful city of York from above. After several re-bookings, I finally got to go on my spectacular hot-air… Read More Up, Up, and Away: A Hot-Air Balloon Flight in York
Scotland is easily one of my favorite destinations in the world, and I’m constantly discovering new incredible places around the country. I visited Glen Affric several years ago, on the way to the Isle of Skye, and knew it was a place I’d have to come back to. I recently revisited on my way up… Read More Hiking in Glen Affric, Scotland: The Loch Affric Circuit
I’ve been lucky enough to have lived in Yorkshire for 6 years now – this region is absolutely full of amazing places and experiences. A visit down Gaping Gill, one of the biggest caves in the country, has been on my Yorkshire bucket list for years. It’s located in the Yorkshire Dales near Clapham. This… Read More How to Visit Gaping Gill Cave in the Yorkshire Dales
As a born and bred Minnesotan, I spent most of my life living in an extreme winter climate. I’ve done a few winter hikes on my own as an adult in MN, but the majority of my winter hiking experience has now been in the UK. When winter weather hits, this country goes crazy (or… Read More My Top Tips for Winter Hiking in the UK
My trip to Orkney was one of the best of my life. There is so much to see and do on this cluster of islands, just off the north coast of Scotland. I had 8 days to explore Orkney, and packed in a lot into this short amount of time! While I loved my adventures… Read More The Complete Orkney Guide: An 8-Day Itinerary for the Orkney Islands
2022 has been a wonderful year, filled with so many adventures. I’ve traveled loads this year, and ticked some major items off my bucket list! Back in 2019, I wrote a post about how I maximized my time off work to travel. Ignoring the shitshow of 2020, and most of 2021 – and the fact… Read More How I Maximized My Time Off Work to Travel in 2022
2022 has been an incredible year for travel. After two difficult years during the pandemic, travel is back with a vengeance – and I took some of the best trips of my life this year! I always like to write up one of these yearly recap posts about the best places I visited during the… Read More The Best Places I Visited in 2022
This is always everyone’s favorite post of the year – all my worst travel experiences! I’ve already written about my top travel experiences of 2022, but it’s important to remember that travel isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Blogging and social media tends to be only the highlight reel. But I always like to keep it… Read More My Worst Travel Moments of 2022
2022 has been an amazing year of travel and adventures for me. It’s been a while since I’ve written one of these yearly recap posts – I skipped 2020 and 2021, for obvious reasons. But travel is certainly back post-pandemic, and I loved getting to look back at my favorite travel experiences of the year.… Read More My Top Travel Experiences of 2022
Westray is one of the small North Isles that make up the Orkney archipelago, off the north coast of Scotland. So many people skip these islands or don’t have enough time to visit – but I absolutely recommend visiting, and staying the night here to maximize your time! If you’re planning a visit to Westray… Read More What to See and Do on Westray, Orkney
Well, well, well. I finally let the cat out of the bag this week. I’ve just quit my job and I’ll be moving abroad – again! I’ve got a one-year visa and I’m moving to Australia!! I am equal parts excited and scared shitless. I’ve never been to Australia, and at the moment I have… Read More Surprise – I’m Moving to Australia!
Papa Westray is one of the smallest inhabited islands in Orkney, the incredible archipelago off the north coast of Scotland. It’s only about 4 miles long, and 1 mile wide at its longest point – but there’s plenty to see here. I made it out to the North Isles and Papa Westray (also known locally… Read More A Travel Guide for Papa Westray, Orkney
Like so many others, I visited Orkney in the hopes of seeing the Old Man of Hoy. At 449ft (137m), this is the tallest sea stack in Europe. It’s located just off the island of Hoy, which is just south of Mainland Orkney. So when I was planning my trip to Orkney, I knew I… Read More Hoy, Orkney: Visiting the Old Man of Hoy and Rackwick Bay
Yorkshire has been my home for 6 years now, so I’ve spent a lot of time exploring the Yorkshire Dales. One area that has eluded me for so long is the Howgills, in the part of the Yorkshire Dales National Park. This part of the Dales is partly in the county of Cumbria – it’s… Read More How to Spend a Weekend Around the Howgills, Cumbria
My trip to Orkney in June was one of the top highlights of my year, my (nearly) 6 years living in the UK, and possibly my life in general. I chose to visit in June specifically for wildlife, and really – to be honest – because I wanted to see puffins. I love puffins! They’re… Read More Where to See Puffins on Orkney
One of the top reasons I was obsessed with visiting Orkney? I wanted to take the shortest commercial flight in the world, which is between two of the small islands – Papa Westray and Westray. This was something I’d dreamed of for years, since I found out it existed. Here’s everything you need to know… Read More The World’s Shortest Commercial Flight: Papa Westray to Westray With Loganair
