It’s Official! I’m going back to Scotland.

Image of Edinburgh Castle by Jorg Angeli (Unsplash)

It has been a while… But I’m officially going back to Scotland this summer.

I’ll be honest… For the past two years, I have been painstakingly paying back my backdated taxes. That’s a big mess of a story for another time, but let’s just say, it was not easy. Essentially, I have just been head down and work, work, work for the past two years. I couldn’t miss a payment, and for a while, most of what I make every month has been going to the government (between a student loan, GST payments, backdated taxes and saving for the next year’s taxes).

It was hard to see anything outside of the here and now. I was so focused on one payment at a time, I couldn’t look forward to the future. I wrote about this in the last blog. Go check it out!

But I am officially done paying that back, and now I get to be excited and look toward the future! I get to start saving again, I get to be excited about my work and my goals again.

And since I’m done… That means I get to start travelling again.

If you’re not new here, you’ll know that Scotland is my favourite place in the world. I have been three times, and when I’m not in Scotland, I just think about how much I want to go back.

All three times, I have gone with my pipe band (yes, bagpipes and drums. No, I do not play the bagpipes). Twice was for the World Pipeband Championships. Eventually, I’ll make a blog post about World’s Week, but let me just say that it’s an unbelievable time to be in Glasgow.

I teach in a kids’ band as well, and my best friend’s daughter is one of my drummers (I might have forced my bestie to bring her down because, in the beginning, I didn’t have any kids who wanted to play my instrument). Well, it turns out she’s actually really naturally gifted at this instrument. The problem is… Because she picks it up quite easily, she doesn’t practice to work on her technique or memorization (she’s still young, too).

My best friend and I have always joked about travelling together, but she has two kids, so in the end, it’s usually just us sending reels back and forth and dreaming.

However, this time, we decided to make those dreams a reality.

We finally made it official, my bestie and I are going to Scotland for the World’s next year… And we are bringing her daughter!

We decided that since the kids are getting a little bit older, it’s a good time to take them travelling, but we wanted to treat each kid to their own trip. We wanted to choose a trip that would be meaningful to each of them.

So, for little E we decided to take her to the World Pipeband Championships in Scotland next summer. Our hope is that she gets inspired by what she sees. We want her to experience the culture, the community, and everything that makes the pipeband world so great. We wanted her to see what she could accomplish… If she’s willing to put in the work and practice.

Scotland is the place that means the most to me. And I can’t wait to get to experience it through her eyes. I can’t wait to show her and my bestie all of my favourite places, share all of the memories I made there and to make some of our own.

Greyfriars Kirkyard–Photo taken on iPhone XR

So now, I get to start saving up for my next trip!

I’ll be working hard to save everything I can to make this trip the best one yet. There is so much that I still want to see of Scotland (hello Highlands!) and, of course, reexperiencing all of my favourite places with two of my favourite people.

I also want to get E something really special from the trip. Something that she can cherish and use to remember her time for years and years. But I haven’t yet decided what that will be.

What about a short story of my first time at the World’s?

The joy and the energy that filled Glasgow Green on the day of the World’s was incredible. I really can’t describe it to you, but it was infectious. It made you want to be there; it filled you with uncontained joy.

When you compete, you do a qualifier in the morning. In my grade, there were two heats. The top 6 from each heat qualify and move on to the final competition. In 2017, we did not qualify, so when we went back in 2019, the stakes felt high, and we were all hungry to experience qualifying.

At a certain time after all of the bands in your grade have competed, you go and stand by this large screen where all of the bands who have qualified appear, one-by-one. In 2017, we waited and waited, and our name did not come up. It felt devastating after all of our hard work. In 2019, we were far more nervous after not qualifying 2 years before. So, again, we waited and waited, and finally, the second-to-last name to appear on the screen was ours.

All of us lost our minds. We screamed, we jumped, we hugged. It felt like the greatest moment of our lives. But that meant that it was time to get to work.

In 2017, when we didn’t qualify, it meant we were done for the day. Most of my band wandered off to the beer garden. I, however, immediately went and watched the Grade 1 competition. Bands I had only ever seen on a screen were suddenly real. I was not missing that opportunity. I do not regret watching the Grade 1s instead of hanging out in the beer garden. It completely blew my mind to see that much talent in one arena.

In 2019… It was right back to work because in only a few hours’ time, we would be playing our set once again for the big stakes.

The way the World’s finished (up until this past year, 2025) was by having every band do a march pass to march in and to their spot. The first bands to enter the field are the top 6 Grade 1 bands. They were also the only bands to play while the other bands marched on.

In both 2017 and 2019, we were incredibly lucky to get a spot directly behind that front rank of grade one bands. In 2017, I had no idea that would end up being the most amazing experience of the entire trip. When they announce the winners, they start with the lowest grades and work their way up to the professional, Grade 1s (yes, I know that can be confusing, as my kids’ band kiddos have told me).

When we finally got to the grade one competition, the field was silent, expectantly waiting for the result. When they announced the winner, the official Champions of the 2017 World Pipeband Championships as Inveraray and District Pipe Band, we happened to be standing one band over from them.

There is nothing quite as amazing and thrilling as being that close to the best pipe band in the entire world when they win the World’s… For the very first time.

Do you want to know what’s even funnier?

When we came back in 2019, we, once again, were right behind that front rank of Grade 1 bands (this time we were directly behind Inveraray and District). And while we only came 10th that year, Inverarary won the World’s once again. Check out the photo of them upon hearing they won (it’s in the slide show below).

They have since won two more times, and both of those times, members from my band happened to be in attendance at the World’s in some capacity. At this point, members of my band have been there every single time they have won the World’s… They really should start paying us to come at this point. We are clearly their good luck charm.

They won in 2024 and 2025. I will be there in 2026. Do you think they can win a third year in a row?

I can’t wait for my best friend and her daughter to experience the energy and the thrill of the World Pipeband Championships.