Caledonia, you're calling me.....

......now I'm going home!

A great tune by Dougie Maclean and one that firmly sums up how I feel about Scotland.

I am far from home now, and not likely to return permanently for a long time.  I am far from my family and everyone else I love and care for.  But no matter where I go, no matter how far I travel, this song taught me to remember where I came from.  This song was written as Dougie was travelling and felt homesick.  Every time, I feel slightly homesick I stick this on, it makes me feel proud of where I am from and it makes me proud to tell people I am Scottish.

There is a line in the song which is quite poignant:

'And if I should become a stranger, you know it would make me more than sad.'

I would hate to become a stranger to Scotland. So come February, I will have been away from home for a year, and personally, I think that is long enough!  So I will be back, only for a while though.  I plan to come visit for about 3 weeks and then head back to Sydney.  The flights are booked, the time off work has been sorted.  So keep the month free, I will be visiting edinburgh for a few days, but mainly staying in Irvine. Plenty of catch up drinks are to be had and maybe the odd Killie game.

I think this ad from the early 90s sums up how most Scots feel when they are away from home for too long, it was also one of the first ad's I remember as a kid on TV, and partly inspired me to get into advertising:

But let's just be clear, I'm not coming home just for a pint of Tennents...............well, I may have to have one or two! ;-)