3-9 September 2026 | Register by June 1st with $500/£500
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Wild Writing Adventure Retreat in the Scottish Highlands
A SEVEN-DAY JOURNEY INTO WILD LANDSCAPES & INNER WISDOM
Trip overview
Some landscapes hold memory in their bones. Scotland is one of them 🏴
Our journey takes us into the very heartland of Caileach, the wise woman of Celtic mythology - a true heroine of self-knowledge and deep intuition. In the shadow of two mountains named in her honour we will soak up her wisdom and exhale onto the page in daily wild writing circles.
Using inspiration gleaned each day from the wild landscape, Celtic myths and fairy tales, we will write in short, timed sessions, building a safe, supportive cauldron of wisdom, creating our own mythology for life.
Wild Writing is a practice to generate and unblock, not to finesse skills, so no experience is necessary - other than a desire to dig deep into your own soul’s journey.
We start in: Inverness, Thursday 3 September 2026
We finish in: Edinburgh, Wednesday 9 September 2026
This retreat is for you if…
Are moving through a major life transition — an inner reckoning, a loss, or a season where an old chapter is ending and something new is asking to emerge
Feel called to reconnect with your voice, creativity, and intuition, and want to explore your inner world through writing, myth, and reflection
Are carrying deep questions about identity, purpose, belonging, or the shape your life is taking
Long for spaciousness away from noise, performance, and constant productivity
Crave authentic connection and conversations that go beneath the surface — sisterhood rooted in honesty and care
Sense that we are living through a larger collective transition, and want to live more consciously within it — present, rooted, and in relationship with the living world
You do not need to be a writer.
Only willing to listen.
Wild Writing
Each day, we will gather in a circle to write in short, timed sessions, guided by prompts inspired by the surrounding landscape, Celtic myths and fairy tales, and stages of the Heroine's Journey. Within the sacred, trusting circle, you are warmly invited to share your written journey, with no pressure and no critique.
All that's required is curiosity, honesty, and a willingness to show up as yourself. Together, we create a safe, supportive container, a living cauldron, where words can rise freely and the soul's truest voice can finally be heard.
About the Heroine’s Journey
The Heroine’s Journey is an archetypal path of descent, transformation, and return.
Unlike traditional narratives built around conquest, performance, and external achievement, the Heroine’s Journey invites us inward — toward intuition, interdependence, embodiment, and wholeness.
It asks different questions:
Not How do I succeed?
But What is life asking of me now?
Not How do I control the path?
But How do I learn to trust it?
When we enter the Heroine’s Journey, we cross a threshold into unfamiliar terrain. The old maps no longer fully work. Certainties dissolve. Something essential begins to unravel — and something deeper begins to emerge.
In that space, writing becomes a way of listening.
Through wild landscapes, myth, reflection, and shared experience, we begin to reconnect with the quiet inner knowing that can guide us through uncertainty, grief, transition, creativity, and becoming.
This retreat is not about fixing yourself.
It is about remembering yourself.
What you’ll receive
A deeper relationship with your own voice
Through daily wild writing circles, reflection, and storytelling, you’ll reconnect with the parts of yourself that often get buried beneath expectation, busyness, or self-doubt.
Space to navigate change with greater clarity
Whether you’re moving through a transition, loss, creative crossroads, or inner shift, this retreat offers space to pause, listen deeply, and meet yourself with greater honesty and compassion.
Creative awakening and renewed inspiration
Immersed in the raw beauty of the Scottish Highlands, you’ll reconnect with imagination, curiosity, and the generative power of nature, myth, and writing.
Emotional exploration and integration
The retreat invites gentle but honest engagement with the emotions many of us carry quietly: grief, fear, uncertainty, longing, anger, tenderness, and hope. Not to force healing — but to create space for truth and integration.
Meaningful connection and shared humanity
In a carefully held group container, you’ll experience the nourishment that comes from authentic conversation, mutual witnessing, and walking alongside others on their own journeys.
A renewed sense of inner direction
Rather than offering rigid answers, this retreat supports you in strengthening your relationship with intuition, self-trust, and the unfolding path ahead.
Memories, words, and experiences that stay with you
From the cliffs of Skye to the streets of Edinburgh, this journey is designed to leave traces — in your notebook, your body, your imagination, a new community, and the story you carry forward afterward.
Listening to the Land & Collective Intention
Alongside writing and exploration, this retreat also creates space for quiet ritual, reflection, and shared intention.
The Scottish Highlands carry an ancient presence — one that invites stillness, reverence, and deep listening. This journey is not only personal. Together, we will also hold space for the collective: for the grief, uncertainty, beauty, possibility, and larger transitions unfolding in our world.
Somewhere between the mountains, the myths, and the page, something essential begins to remember itself.
Day 1: The Threshold
Arrival in Inverness → Scenic journey to Skye
Our journey begins in Inverness, the cultural heart of the Highlands, where we gather for the first time with the quiet excitement that comes from standing at the edge of something new. From here, we travel westward, watching as the landscape opens into wider skies, deep lochs, and the rugged silhouettes of ancient hills.
Crossing onto the Isle of Skye feels like stepping into a story, one shaped by sea winds, shifting light, and the kind of wild beauty that invites you to exhale. By the time we arrive in Portree, with its pastel harbour and salty air, the rhythm of the island has already begun to settle around us.
After checking into our accommodation and taking a moment to breathe in our new surroundings, we come together for a warm welcome. This first gathering is gentle and grounding: introductions, shared intentions, and the invitation to slow down.
Day 2: The Call
Old Man of Storr
No trip to Skye would be complete without the Old Man of Storr, perhaps the island’s most iconic landmark. Rising dramatically from the Trotternish Ridge, this jagged pinnacle of rock was formed by an ancient landslide, leaving behind a skyline so striking it’s become a symbol of Skye itself. Myths tell of a giant who once lived here, and when he died, his thumb remained jutting from the earth, the “Old Man” still keeping watch. The hike up winds through rolling moorland and steep slopes until the rock tower looms above you, with sweeping views across the Sound of Raasay and the islands beyond. A place of legend and geology, of grandeur and grit, the Old Man is as unforgettable as he is unmissable.
Day 3: Into the Wild
Fairy Pools and Neist Point
Another of Skye’s unforgettable highlights is the Fairy Pools. Nestled at the foot of the Black Cuillin mountains near Glenbrittle, these crystal-clear cascades and turquoise pools look like something out of a dream. Fed by mountain streams, the water is so pure you can see every stone glimmering beneath the surface. Legend has it the pools are enchanted, home to fairies who once danced in their mist. Today, brave souls dip into the icy water for a wild swim, while the rest of us simply marvel at the colours, reflections, and sheer magic of the place.
Later in the day, we journey west to Neist Point Lighthouse, perched at the edge of dramatic sea cliffs. Here, the land falls away into the Atlantic, and the horizon seems endless. The walk out to the lighthouse is windswept and exhilarating, with seabirds wheeling overhead and waves crashing far below. Standing at the very tip of Skye, we find ourselves at a natural place of reflection, a reminder that writing, like travel, often takes us to the edge of the known, where new possibilities open out before us.
Day 4: The Preparation
Fort William
Leaving the Isle of Skye behind, we board the bus southward, watching Portree’s colourful harbour and rugged peaks slip from view. As the wild coastline gives way to deep valleys, a sense of anticipation grows: we’re travelling toward one of Scotland’s great mountain towns, and the promise of a new challenge ahead.
Known as the gateway to Ben Nevis, the UK’s highest peak, Fort William is a bustling Highland town where mountains meet loch. It’s a natural pause point on our journey, a place to refuel, look up at the surrounding peaks, and feel the scale of the landscape that cradles it.
For those wanting to soak in more of the area, there’s plenty to explore: a stroll along the loch, a visit to the old fort, or simply time to rest and gather our strength. Tomorrow, the mountain awaits. But tonight, we arrive, ground ourselves, and let the anticipation build.
Day 5: The Summit
Ben Nevis or Glen Nevis
Today, we split into two groups, each guided and supported to find their own pace. Those eager for a challenge may choose to summit Ben Nevis, Scotland’s highest and most celebrated peak. Rising from sea level to 4,409 feet (1,344 m), this is a bold, demanding climb, and an unforgettable achievement.
For those who prefer a steadier rhythm, the alternative route leads us into the lower reaches of Glen Nevis, through wild meadows, ancient woodland, and on to the dramatic Steall Falls. This rugged glen has stolen the spotlight in films from Braveheart to Harry Potter, its cinematic beauty as stirring in person as it is on screen.
After a day on the trails, we return to our guesthouse, where our guide introduces us to the world of Scotch whisky. A tasting reveals smoky notes, rich histories, and the Highland spirit in a glass. As evening falls, we head to a lively local pub to share stories, laughter, and a well-earned celebration of our time in the mountains and moors.
Day 6: The Descent
Fort William→ Edinburgh
We leave Fort William and travel south, our private bus winding through some of Scotland’s most iconic landscapes. First comes Glencoe, its towering ridges rising on either side like guardians of the glen. A brief stop here lets us step into the grandeur of it. The road then carries us across the vast sweep of Rannoch Moor and on to the gentle shoreline of Loch Tulla, where the Highlands soften into loch and light. Continuing south, we follow the edge of Loch Lomond, pausing at Inveruglas to take in the still waters and the quiet presence of Ben Lomond across the way. As the hills give way to rolling farmland, we make one final stop beneath the walls of Stirling Castle, a glimpse of Scotland’s layered history before the journey’s end.
Our journey ends in Edinburgh, Scotland’s capital and the world’s first UNESCO City of Literature. Cobbled streets wind beneath the gaze of the castle, and every corner seems steeped in story, from the closes and wynds of the Old Town to the elegant Georgian terraces of the New. Writers have long found inspiration here: Sir Walter Scott, Robert Louis Stevenson, J.K. Rowling, and countless others who wove the city’s moods and myths into their words.
Day 7: Closing the Circle
Departure from Edinburgh
After days immersed in wild landscapes, we return to a city built on imagination and storytelling. Here we gather for our final evening, reflecting on the words we’ve written, the paths we’ve walked, and the stories we’ll carry home. Edinburgh is more than an ending, it’s an invitation to keep writing the next chapter.
This is a pause with purpose.
A chance to step away from the noise, listen more deeply, and consciously write the next chapter of your life.
Your guides
Lorna French
Wild Writing Guide and Author
Lorna French is an author, teacher, and certified Wild Writing guide who helps people listen for the true note of their soul and give it voice on the page. She has written eight contemporary novels translated into over fifteen languages, and spent decades holding creative spaces rooted in the belief that the stories we tell today carry the same power as the myths and fairy tales of earlier cultures. Through Wild Writing, Lorna leads intimate groups into the rich terrain of the unconscious, inviting participants to write beyond polish and performance and uncover what has been buried beneath habit, expectation, and fear.
Christine Raine
Facilitator, Empathy Activist and Trip Curator
Christine Raine is a facilitator and empathy activist who guides people back to self-love, inner authority, and meaning using the Heroine's Journey framework. A cancer survivor, her facilitation is informed by lived experience of descent and return, bringing depth, sensitivity, and integrity to every space she holds. She hosts The Heroine's Journey podcast and believes deeply in the power of empathy, presence, and storytelling to transform not only individual lives, but the collective worlds we create together.
Nicole Skinner
Logistics Lead and Emotional Fitness Guide
Nicole Skinner is the calm force behind the scenes, making sure all the moving parts of the journey flow with ease so everyone can relax into the experience. If something needs organising, smoothing, or quietly taken care of… Nicole's already on it. Alongside logistics, she brings a background in science communication, emotional fitness, and intentional living. Throughout the trip, she'll offer simple, optional grounding practices and reflections to support presence and integration, tending the space so the journey can unfold with ease.
Trip Cost
Cost: US$3300 / GBP £2700
Reserve your spot with just $500 / £500
Think of it as a lifelong investment, because it is.
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Feel the calling?
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