Alastair Scott was born in Edinburgh in 1954.
After university
and training as a photographer, he set off on a five-year hitchhiking
journey round the world, for the most part wearing a kilt.
Visiting and photographing sixty countries on six continents
provided the foundations of a trilogy of travel books: Scot Free, A
Scot Goes South and A Scot Returns.
Subsequent journeys have included cycling 5000 miles behind
the Iron Curtain shortly before it fell, a winter dogsled traverse of
Alaska (Tracks Across Alaska) and a journey around ‘familiar and
foreign’ Scotland (Native Stranger).
As well as the solo circumnavigation of Ireland described in this
book Alastair’s sea voyages include an Atlantic crossing and a
solo circumnavigation of the Faeroes.
He now lives, with his wife Sheena, on Skye, working as a photographer,
writer, broadcaster and sailing instructor and plotting
further bouts of vagrancy.
Books by Alastair Scott
Scot Free: A Journey From The Antarctic to New Mexico (1986)
A Scot Goes South: A Journey From Mexico to Ayers Rock (1987)
A Scot Returns: A Journey From Bali to Skye (1989)
Tracks Across Alaska: A Dog Sled Journey (1990)
Native Stranger: A Journey in Familiar and Foreign Scotland (1995)
Top Ten Scotland (2003)
Stuffed Lives (2004)
Salt and Emerald: a hesitant solo voyage round Ireland (2008)