Scotland was another one of our early digital nomad stays, and for reasons I still can't fully explain, we chose to do it in the middle of winter.
We spent a couple of weeks living in Edinburgh, working remotely during the day and exploring the city whenever we could pry ourselves away from coffee shops and layers of winter clothing.
Edinburgh has one of the strongest personalities of any city we've visited. Dark stone buildings, castles, old churches, narrow alleyways, and hills everywhere. In winter, the entire city almost blends into the same palette of gray and brown stone, which somehow makes it feel even more atmospheric.
Most of our evenings and weekends were spent doing the classic Edinburgh things: wandering the Royal Mile, touring Edinburgh Castle, hiking Arthur's Seat, and taking walking tours through the Old Town. One thing I really liked was how different the two sides of the city felt. The Old Town has this dense medieval layout where everything feels layered on top of itself, while the New Town feels far more orderly and Georgian.
And yes, we also made sure to find Highland cows, which was near the top of Jessica's Scotland agenda.
Like Amsterdam, Scotland became tied to that early season of life where we were deep in business-building mode, working full days and squeezing in sightseeing whenever we could. Morning coffee, working from cafés or coworking offices, late dinners, repeat. Looking back, those routines are honestly some of my favorite travel memories. There's something different about experiencing a place when you temporarily settle into daily life instead of trying to rush through a checklist of attractions.
Scotland felt distinctly different from England in almost every way — the architecture, the atmosphere, the humor, the weather, even the energy of the people.
Cold, but worth it.