Embracing Winter In Scotland

Writer Helen Moat talks about the trip that changed her life – and drew her to the Highlands

- by LAURA COVENTRY

AS the autumn months faded along with the sunshine, a feeling of dread would regularly come over Helen Moat. Suspecting seasonal affective disorder (SAD), the travel writer experienced crippling symptoms as winter took hold, some so severe that she often “couldn’t get out of bed”.

Helen, who lives in Broughty Ferry, said, “In the last five to 10 years it has got worse – this has crept up on me. At the beginning of September, I started feeling dread and really haven’t looked forward to winter.

“I had a severe case of ‘winter blues’, it definitely affected my mood, especially when there was a long period of rain with no sunshine.”

As a freelance travel writer who hates wintry, dark, cold climates, you would imagine that Helen always opted for press trips to hot and sunny locations abroad – but in 2019 she pushed herself out her comfort zone and headed north to the Arctic Circle! And it was an experience that not only changed her perception about winters in Scotland, but her life as a whole. Her destination was Finland for a travel writing assignment. There, Helen learned a lot about the Nordic culture which inspired her to start to appreciate the winter months. The trip sparked an idea for her second book. Helen explained, “I went to Levi in Finland, and it was amazing. The sun never got above the horizon, so you were either in dusk or in dark.

“On that trip, I learned that people who live in the Arctic Circle tend not to suffer from SAD. This intrigued me – if it is all about darkness and lack of light, why don’t people in the Arctic Circle seem to be affected by it?”

After that trip, Helen went back to Finland, where she spoke to more people about their culture and how they find positives in the winter, darkness and adverse weather conditions.