Fair Isle: Britain’s Final Outpost
Fair Isle Adventure
Where Scotland meets Scandinavia and the North Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean
2020: Ultimate Social Distancing
Where Scotland meets Scandinavia and the North Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean...
Collected these memories in our trip reports: Not So Fair Isle.
Click Here
to access the stories and images and recollections.
2020 is hindsight and was also the middle of the global pandemic. Yet that didn't stop us from traveling. We took social distancing to the nth degree and self isolated on Britain's most remote inhabited island, Fair Isle, population 45.
Fair Isle, Shetlands UK
45
Population
20
Minutes by Plane
115
Total Shetland Islands
15
Inhabited Islands
Landing on Britain's Most Remote Island
We flew in this morning from Shetland Mainland, on a 7 seater puddle jumper single prop plane. The 20 minute ride was smooth and fast. It feels like we are walking into a painting. Think Norway meets Hawaiian islands and Father Time and Mother Nature have a field day.
📺 Thanks to the popularity of the TV Series Shetland, we have had it on our radar as places to visit this year!
No man is an island, as John Donne wrote, but, north of the border, you can live on one. Scotland's. The Shetland's is good like that, with 15 inhabited ones to choose from. We are here in Fair Isle. Britain's most remote one. It feels like we are moving through paintings as the ever changing weather lights the landscape in unique and splendid ways.
Fair Isle Landscapes
Island Exploration
Remote Island Life
The Journey to Fair Isle
2020 Pandemic Travel Timeline
Step 1
First, Sarah and I flew into Lerwick, Shetland's mainland via Edinburgh, Scotland.
Step 2
Next, we got a PCR test for Covid (Think Positive Test Negative).
Step 3
Then, we followed-on to Fair Isle, population 55, now 57! What a place to self-isolate during the global pandemic!
PCR Testing - Pandemic Protocols
FAIR ISLE: Are we there yet? Being there.
Transportation: Take It or Leave It
Option 1: Puddle Jumper
A 20-minute straight run aboard a 7-seater fixed-wing plane from the mainland of Shetland – a twin engine prop plane - heart-in-the-mouth flight - up-close and personal with the pilot and his control dashboard.
Option 2: The Good Shepherd IV
A converted fishing vessel, the only other alternative, a notoriously 2 hour rough crossing aboard the island's ferry. Sometimes the North Sea is even too rough for the ferry.
Flying to Fair Isle
Living Off The Grid And Living On The Edges
Fair Isle Electricity Company (FIEC)
Fair Isle is not connected to the National Grid. Energy is generated on the island using sustainable sources and stored in a battery backup system. We brought torches (flashlights), as there is zero light pollution or street lights.
Wind Turbines
Solar Panels
Battery Storage
Sustainable Energy on Fair Isle
South Lighthouse - Josie and Dave's place
Living Off The Grid
Ed and Sarah - 2020 Pandemic Travel Adventures
2020: What A Year!
It was the best of vibes. It was the worst of vibes. We waited for 2020 to have that perfect vision. Nobody could predict what they'd be seeing and doing this year - washing their hands, wearing a mask and social distancing because of the global pandemic.
2020 - What a year!
🌍 2020 Adventures: Yellowstone National Park (WY not?), Fair Isle Scotland (Shetland), Dover England (White Cliffs) via Orlando (Disney) and South Florida. It started with Christmas and New Years sailaways on Disney Cruise Lines in The Eastern and Western Caribbean. Then Covid hit, and travel changed forever...
Other 2020 Adventures
Yellowstone National Park - The Grand Daddy of National Parks
Castaway Cay - Disney's Private Island
DON'T GIVE UP THE SHIP. or the goal of taking a vacation... You can't deny gravity, or the gravity of the situation, and traveling these days will never be the same. I'd have to get resourceful, resilient and drive somewhere long distance in an automobile.
Complete 2020 Trip Reports
Explore our complete collection of 2020 pandemic travel adventures
Yet we managed to finish the year out on Britain's most remote inhabited island, population 45,
taking physical distancing Uber seriously.
🏝️ From the rugged isolation of Fair Isle to the geothermal wonders of Yellowstone, 2020 proved that adventure finds a way - even in the most challenging times. Sometimes the best journeys are the ones that teach us to find extraordinary beauty in the most remote corners of our world.
Comments
Post a Comment