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This is the part they don't tell you about camping. On paper everything goes to plan, but uh here we go. Hey, you good? Got the portable light going over here. Here we go. Move. I'm Kobe, an American content creator living in London, and I'm road tripping around Scotland to find out what this land is really all about, led by the brilliant local guide Brian. We've already been up a big hill, drunk some whiskey, and survived the night in a haunted hotel, but now I'm ready to dig a little deeper into Scottish culture and embrace my fascination with mythology by learning about some legendary Scottish folklore
beyond what I've seen in films and on TV. Uh how did you sleep last night? I'll be completely honest. It was a bit eerie knowing someone died there. Wait, is my room haunted? Oh, yeah. Brother. Like I'm actually kind of scared, bro. Like I'm actually scared. Like off camera, like I'm actually scared, bro. But I just generally tried to like ignore it and not And it's Yeah, that's the best thing I could do was try to ignore it. Generally, it was decent. How did you sleep? I'm kind of used to it, so uh it didn't bother me at all. It's not a quite a day for walking in the hills, but you don't have to go too far for a view in Scotland.
Oh, damn. They're like bunch of castles like this kind of scattered all around Scotland like Everywhere, yeah. This one's a bit funny as it was the Campbells coming from the south that wanted to take over this entire area. And what they done was they came down here and built a castle, and that worked absolutely perfectly. 200 years this was their territory because of that. Everything I've heard about like people invading Scotland, I didn't realize sometimes it was like Scotland versus Scotland.
Most of the time it's Scotland versus Scotland. Now we see them as these kind of beautiful picturesque things, but back then it was essential to survival. A lot of them you can just you can still just go inside and you can roam about and nature's kind of taken it over, so it's become this like thing from the past that is now a thing of the present. Oh, that's so sick. So, what are the odds that we can cross this field of sheep and then swim across the moat to get to the castle?
Today, pretty slim. So, Glencoe is probably the first stop for 90% of the people that come here. It's literally the border where you go from Lowlands to Highlands as well. Okay. That little bit there is called the Pap of Glencoe. The Pap. p a p Pap of Glencoe. Pap just means the boob. The boobs. The boob of Glencoe. The boob. Scotland obviously has a lot of stories, a lot of myths, a lot of legends, and loads of history.
I will say Scotland's probably one of the countries I've been to most that like has the most lore or mythical tales. Yeah, I think if we've learned anything so far, it's like Scots love telling a story. They do. They do indeed. And here we go, another mountain mountainous scenery change. So, this one is the tallest mountain in the UK. In the UK? In the UK, yeah. What's the name of it? Ben Nevis. Ben Oh, Ben Nevis, okay. Yeah. Doesn't look like it though, does it? Uh we're actually going up part of it as well, and the view's going to be great from up there.
We're heading up Britain's biggest mountain, Ben Nevis. To meet a storyteller who deals in Scotland's oldest currency, myth, legend, and lore. Woo, we survived. Definitely is a little bit colder here. For sure. Hi Jenny. Hi. This is Colby. Colby, Nice to meet you. Good to see you again. Yeah. Have you been this far north before, or is this might be the most far north I've been in the world, period.
Oh, then he's welcome. Yeah, yeah, it's cold as hell. Every a of hours he'll look at his map and be like, this is the furthest north. Yeah, talk to me about one of the most prominent Scottish mythologies. Well, seeing as we're on Ben Nevis, tallest mountain in all of Scotland, one of the biggest stories we have is of the Cailleach Bheara. She is an ancient Gaelic deity who oversees the landscape and winter in Scotland. And she lives in Ben Nevis. The landscape and the lore are so tightly intertwined, it's it's incredible to sort of discover. Like, the Cailleach herself who lives in this mountain, she made the mountains of
Scotland. And as she walked across the lands of Scotland, she dropped boulders down to make the mountains. And she has this magic hammer that she used to shape all the mountains. This landscape has been carved by glaciers. So, what will happen with glaciers is they rip out boulders as they go along and carry them in the ice. And then when they melt, they just drop the boulders wherever they land. And so, people back in the day would be looking at these and be like, what is this boulder just randomly How did this boulder get here? Obviously, a giant threw it.
Obviously, the only way this could get here is if something incredibly strong put it here. Now, the idea of a glacier to someone who's never seen a giant, you know, 2 km thick sheet of ice just doesn't exist. But giants, however, do. And so, for them, all the boulders that are scattered across the landscape are from big, angry giants. Wow. Much more interesting way of explaining things. It is. It's so much more fun. Do I believe in fairies and mythical gods in Scotland? Part of me wants to. Part of me wants to keep that folklore alive. When you hear such passion from people that speak these stories, you want to believe in it.
The mythology and the stories behind these mountains are always really interesting, but for me it's always been about the mountains themselves, how they look, and getting out here and finding your own kind of peace within them. And uh I think that's becoming really evident in Gobi. That energy that he's got is still there. He's still him, but it's uh it's more flowing, it's more calm. This has been such a nice slow integration just to unplug. I even feel myself going on my phone less. I think maybe it could be Brian rubbing off on me a little bit, or maybe it's the Scottish stories, but like I'm starting to feel a little bit of this
There's no way to put it, but this Scottish feeling that you're getting from all this nature. Do you believe in these fair- fairy tales and myths? I think ultimately I really want to. I want You know, I think it all of us have that desire for these to be true. Do you believe in the Loch Ness Monster is a question? Yeah. You do? Yeah. How could you not? Yeah, I was going to say I like the factual-based stuff, the fact that it's not completely unheard of that something got trapped in there. And when the tectonic plates were shifting and things like that, but I think the
the whole mysticism about it is it's intriguing. With myths and tales of the Cailleach fresh in our minds, we're heading out of the shadow of Ben Nevis to find a nice accommodation and give Kobe another real Scottish experience. There are over 100 bothies spread across Scotland, and they come in all shapes and sizes. Some are built for comfort, whilst others purely for basic shelter. It comes from an old tradition of hospitality and protecting the wanderer. Today you'll find both private and public bothies offering those quiet moments of peace.
The first I'm sending Kobe out to grab some last-minute supplies. How you doing, Robert? Hello. Hi. I'm looking for an umbrella, emergency blanket, a head torch, and a shovel. I think we can help you. Okay, that'd be great. Emergency blanket there. And the umbrella's down here. We'll go with the biggest possible. All righty, so now we need a shovel. I think my biggest question is Mhm. why would we need a shovel for camping? If you get caught short, you can dig a hole. Oh, shoot. So, almost like a little porta-potty. Yes. Have you had to do that before going camping?
You've never? Definitely not. So, it's right on the floor. Just in No, no. That Oh, okay. [clears throat] So, this is probably one of the most quintessential Scottish things that you can do. Take a hike into the mountains, into the valleys, and spend the night in a bothy. Bothies themselves are dotted all over the country. Uh are now just used for hikers. And if ever hikers find themselves in a bit of trouble in the weather, or just fancy not sleeping in a tent for the night, you can find one of these places just open all year round.
Completely for free? Completely for free. Yeah. Insane. All right. You ready for it? Let's do it. Let's go. Got the head torch, got the gloves, got the sleeping bags, mattresses, and most importantly our wellies. The shovel? The poo shovel? I did not, but apparently there is a poo shovel at the bothy. We're just going to use someone else's poo shovel. Kind of disgusting, but it should be good. We're good to go. Other than the uh unwashed poo shovel, I think we're good to go.
All right. Is there anything else I need to know before heading into the wilderness? I think that just knowing that it's all going to be good. It's all going to be a good time. That sounds good enough for me. up tomorrow having fun. Let's go. If you do one of those uh like This is going to click. So, this right here is a kind of uh prime example of our right to roam. Mhm. Everything that you can see is attainable. Generally, if you want to climb this mountain, you can camp at the top of it. If you want to sit in this bog for a day, then you've got the freedom to do that.
I mean, I expected it to go well, and I think it's going better than well. I think he's handling it easy. I should have upped the challenge a little bit. You see some? Uh beetles. There'll be leeches in here as well, so watch out. Oh my gosh. That's a deep bit. Yeah. See some uh sheep poo everywhere. Be careful. That looks like it. Holy cow. This is a freaking bomb. All right, man. We made it. I didn't see the phone. Wow. Okay. This is a old. It really is bare-bones, so it's like a step above two steps above sleeping outside.
Days and days walking through terrain like this. In fact, up mountains, down mountains, through valleys and bogs. Then eventually you find something like this and you're able to get out of the rain a little bit. This probably feels like a freaking Taj Mahal. Exactly. Legit. You know what You've got a fireplace. You've got a little place to make some food. And a lot of the times you're doing this stuff with like your friends. Yeah, yeah. And you're doing like expeditions and you're staying in things like these and you're able to like sit around the fire, have a chat. It's a It's this whole vibe.
We've kept it pretty basic this time with a giant two-burner stove. You could do it a lot simpler, but I think when you get to a certain level, you expect a little bit of luxury. Especially when you've got a guy this size to carry it for you, then you know, why not take a cart? Coffee for the morning and maybe the most essential item of all. Enough whiskey for everyone. I mean that's nuts. You get somebody to do this. Do me a favor, can you just light another one of them? My camera. Of course, yeah. When proofing, idiot proof.
It's the black one, right? This is the part they don't tell you about camping. On paper, everything goes to plan, but uh here we go. A little bit of karma. Yeah. Don't worry, I broke like four trying to do this. Hey, here we go. First time. Of course. I got to force the light one over here. Here we go. Sorry, bro. No, I thought it was fresh. I think the biggest things I see when I look around right now is just nothing but big silhouettes of dark mountains. But it's beautiful, but there's also a slight scary aspect of it. You're
surrounded by nothing. There is absolutely nothing around here. Cuz we're by ourselves essentially. Smells good. Anyone like some bacon and black pudding? Black pudding, how do you feel? I'm hungry, man. Uh yes, please. Thought I was making all this for nothing. A bag of chicken curry, peppers, a slice of pineapple juice, and white rice. I assume basmati. Interesting. Can confidently say it's the first time I've ever had bag chicken curry in a Scottish Bobby. But here we are.
It low-key grows on you, That's the crazy part. Ah, it's proper. That is proper. This is a little smokey. But, uh I think you'll find in this kind of situation you won't really care that much. Remember the word? Slanj over. Feels kind of well deserved, doesn't it? It does. It's uh essentially a charity. The Bothy Association makes sure that all these are kept in really, really good condition.
Like for as basic as it is, like it's in good condition, so you know. I was going to say it really is. Yeah. If there was like, you know, 100 mph winds out there just now, you wouldn't feel it. You'd hear it a little bit, maybe down the pipes. You ever think you'd be doing something like this? No. No, not at all. I was very content working in office 9-5 and uh and doing these things in the weekend. What made you go through that fast-paced life, so to speak, 9-5, the grind, to kind of slower life, moving back to home, relaxing, seeing family? What is it about that made you move back?
Uh it was family. [snorts] Uh I've got uh some much younger brothers and sisters. When they were growing up, I wasn't around. There was one moment actually, no. My little sister asked my little brother, um "Are you excited about Brian coming home for Christmas?" And he said, uh "Not really, because he's never here anyway." And I was like, yeah, that I'm missing all the little bits. I'm missing he won't come around for a cup of tea. He won't go to Debbie's for Sunday uh lunch. That's my little sister. So, that's when I came home, and that's when I realized that this is everything that I wanted.
I mean, I'm constantly away from the home. This is technically the grind, but again, going to places like this really makes me step back and like, okay, you know what? Wait a minute. Maybe there isn't There's more to life than just, you know, putting in so much work. So, you got to think about Kobe's size and where he's going to go. He'll be all right out there, wouldn't I got to get out. Yeah, appreciate it. This is the smallest, flimsiest mat I've ever seen in my life. I mean, this feels plush, brother. Something tells me you like the finer things in life, Brian.
All right. The difference is hilarious. This one feels great. Good god. Oh, man. Kobe, you're all set. Yeah, I'm good to go. Yeah? All right, man. Good night. Waking up to these views, man. Holy cow. Last night we were all startled to uh find a couple of extra guests up here. At the buffet. I think everyone that does this kind of thing knows that everyone else that does it is the same kind of mindset as them.
Hill mountaineering kind of thing. Morning guys. And then Nice to meet you properly. Uh nice to meet you. You woke us up, we woke you up. It's equal. Yeah, I think it's equal now. Who was snoring so loudly? I think it was you. It was me. I think Wait, wait, wait. It's just crazy. It's free and you're staying in the middle of nature and it's like, yeah. Best spots I've ever been to. Like uh This is what other places aspire to be like. Yeah. To have that complete disconnect. People will say we have this, we have that, but when you have just this place in a place like this, that all really matters.
So, what is it you're doing? I'm writing basically what I'm what we experienced. Yeah, just people tell what they've done and what they're doing and what they're going to do. It's pretty funny. There was one story of a kid who was trying to take a outdoors, but then the midges were like attacking him. So, instead of he thought, "Okay, you know, what am I going to do?" So, then he smeared his own face in poop. Oh. Thinking that would like uh help with the midges. So, then he arrived home and then there was like this drawing of his face with like a big arrow saying poop. It was kind of funny.
Oh my god. But, yeah. Just stuff like that you can find in the both of them. All right. What's that? Nice to meet Lovely to meet you, man. Lovely to meet you. Hope you have a fantastic rest of your trip. Enjoy some Scotland. Yeah, let's go. All right. Bye-bye. Let's get it. See you, guys. Bye. You taking a little moment? How you doing, brother? Good, man. Good. Figured it'd be You've earned your stripes, earned your wings. You'll see that everyone that comes here.
Tells their little story. Good or bad or funny or sad. What do you think? What do you think your story's going to be? Cold as hell, but special. Genuinely. You've been kind of thrown into this headfirst. 100%. But handled it like a champ. Appreciate that, man. If you saw a clip of this right now, you'd be like, "I would hate to be sitting in the rain. It'd be annoying experience. You go and try and run inside, but when you're out here and you're doing this stuff, like it's not really a big deal. Mhm. Like, I've been on ones where it's just been torrential rain the whole time, but I think you're getting a really well-rounded picture of what this is,
why people do it, meeting random people in random places, and just letting it all happen to you rather than trying to make something of it. You can't make this up. Yeah.
