At this point, I honestly felt exhausted. It seemed as if even Google Maps had gone on vacation. I'm still processing all the details, but this is what happened today, the day after Christmas.

My partner and I had a disagreement on Christmas morning; you can read about it here. We talked about it late at night and agreed that it shouldn't have been like this. We slept peacefully and woke up feeling peaceful, ready to embrace the day. Since most places were closed on December 25, our plan was simple: spend time in nature. We wanted to visit the Cairngorms National Park, take a deep breath, relax and enjoy the outdoors.

As soon as we woke up, my partner started making the bed and I joined him. It felt like a small but significant reset. We got dressed, filled the car with gas, stopped at McDonald's for breakfast around 10:45am, and then we were off.

The trip was long, approximately an hour and a half. We moved on, trusting the photos we had seen online and hoping the place would be worth it. Finally, we saw a sign indicating the place. That's where the confusion began. There was nowhere to park properly, no clear driveway, no visible walking path. Google Maps insisted we had arrived, but all we could see was thick forest and fenced land. It didn't match what we had seen online, which showed trails, a castle, and accessible areas.

We drove back and forth several times, trying to make sense of it. By then I was already feeling frustrated. We restarted the map and re-entered the location, but it redirected us to a place we had already visited before. That confirmed that the instructions were wrong.

When we stopped to ask a lovely old man for help, he explained that the park is huge and you can't just enter its general name on the map. You should look for a specific landmark in or near the park, such as a castle or trail. The suggested route from where we were would have taken us another two and a half hours. At that moment I knew it wasn't realistic. Reluctantly, I told my partner that we shouldn't continue.

We tried one more time by driving back to the original sign to look for another access point, but again, there was nowhere to park and no clear way in. Finally, we realized that we had arrived at the right area but on the wrong side. The map had taken us along a secondary route inaccessible to visitors.

On the way back we decided to try another place, the Scottish Wildlife Trust at Loch of the Lowes. The map showed it was open and it was only about 25 minutes away. When we arrived, the parking area was closed. The surroundings were beautiful: rivers, open land, animals, two people walking a dog, and a nearby golf area. But once again, there was nowhere to park, so we stayed in the car the entire time.

By then, I felt overwhelmed. I had hot tea in my suitcase and I barely touched it. It was already around 2:45 pm and we had been out since late morning without really spending time in nature like we had hoped. Since the winter days were so short, I knew the light would soon disappear.

I started crying on the way home. I was disappointed to have missed that quiet Christmas time in nature that I had longed for. My partner remained calm and supportive. He asked me what I needed at that moment and if I wanted to try somewhere else or just go home. I decided it was best to return.

He tried to change the music to cheer me up and after a while I noticed he was moving to one of my favorite artists, Davido. I couldn't resist joining. He smiled and said, “Let's not let today's result drag on for too long.”

Since there were no restaurants open, he asked me if I wanted KFC. We stopped, but the food was poorly cooked and disappointing, so we barely ate it. After that, my companion suggested going to a familiar place by the water where we often watch the sunset. Before heading there, we stopped at Tesco to buy food to cook at home. Watching the sunset helped. It was peaceful and we finally slowed down, talked and laughed a little.

Despite everything, my partner did everything possible to make me feel supported. It reminded me that some days don't go as planned, but they can still be meaningful. We agreed that the next time we visit a new natural place, we will carefully read the reviews beforehand. Other visitors often leave useful details about parking, routes, and what location to enter on the map. Today we were simply on the wrong path and ran out of time.

In the end we spent the day together. We have compensated for yesterday's tension. We returned home, drank wine and chocolate and sat down to watch a movie. It wasn't the day we planned, but it will be one we will remember and laugh about.

If you find this post confusing on its own, you may find it helpful to read my previous post from December 25th. This is a continuation of that story. Thanks to everyone who read and commented. I apreciate it.