Putting Scotland on the Map
When I was approached by the Vario Marketing team to contribute an article to the Vario blog, I was advised that the topic choice should be relevant and interesting to our audience, not necessarily law related. With this in mind, I thought of topics close to my heart and immediately came up with… Scotland!
I was born and bred in Glasgow, however I have lived and worked in various other locations across Scotland and I can safely say that I hold this place dear. Many friends have come and gone over the years, moved to sunnier climes or ‘down south’, but I have gone against the grain in a way and resisted the lure of more far flung places. When I was younger I used to dream of living abroad and I have done my fair share of travelling, but the older I get the more I see the benefits of living in Scotland and the more I realise how lucky I am!
I have opted to stay here in ‘Bonnie Scotland’ for many reasons, including the following:
1. Space
It is so much less crowded here than many places, which is particularly beneficial for the commute to and from work. I even almost always get a seat on the train! And if the cities and towns are still too busy for you, there is also a vast amount of beautiful rural areas where you can get away from it all, such as Loch Lomond, the Trossachs, East Lothian, Glencoe and the Outer Hebrides to name a few. Most of these areas are fairly accessible, allowing plenty of opportunity to bag a few Munros* in your spare time.
2. Commute time and work life balance
On the subject of commutes, travel time into work is generally fairly short (mine being 30 minutes door to door for example). People often find it a drag if they have to commute to Edinburgh from Glasgow or vice versa more than once a week, which just goes to show how rare this can be here. Naturally, less commute time means more free time and a better work life balance, something which we the Vario team and Pinsent Masons as a whole are keen to promote.
3. Local feel, welcoming people
I think the word ‘local’ sums up Scotland’s atmosphere as a whole. The people are extremely approachable and friendly. For example, you will almost always find a wee old granny or two standing at the bus stop ready to strike up a conversation with you, particularly in Glasgow. However it is worth noting that there is a bit of friendly rivalry between Glasgow and Edinburgh. You will often hear it said in Glasgow that ‘you will have more fun at a Glasgow funeral than an Edinburgh wedding’!
4. Local produce, global reach
We have excellent produce that is exported world wide, in particular our Whisky which is second to none. As you no doubt already know, there are many distilleries throughout Scotland that you can tour, sampling a ‘wee dram’ along the way. There is also the lesser known ‘square sausage’ which is essentially a flat, square shaped sausage that is particularly good in the morning and especially after a night out! This is generally consumed in a ‘buttie’ (morning roll) together with ‘red sauce’ (tomato ketchup) or brown sauce depending on your predilection. If you are feeling particularly wayward, this can also be accompanied by a ‘tattie’ (potato) scone…yum!
5. Work ethic
However it’s not all about the ‘bevy’ (alcohol) and fried food. We are an extremely hard working, driven nation with many successful individuals and organisations in many industries. There are also countless companies and organisations that have a strong presence in Scotland, Pinsent Masons and Vario for one! Vario are constantly growing within Scotland and beyond, with several Varios choosing to base themselves here. Scotland lends itself well to freelancing, allowing for Varios to find meaningful work balanced with their favourite hobbies/interests.
I could go on, but I think you can see that I am very fond of the country and I hope it gives you a flavour of what Scotland and living in Scotland is about. If you have never visited before, it is definitely worth doing so and you never know, you might want to stay!
*A Munro is a Scottish mountain over 3,000ft. The term ‘Munro bagging’ means to have successfully climbed a Munro and many aim to complete all of them (of which there are 227).
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