The hills of Appalachia or the Highlands of Scotland?

Have you ever been in the passenger seat of a car listening to music and watching out the window when all of a sudden you feel like you have experienced the exact same scenario before? Have you had that particular déjà vu experience?

My most vivid memory of experiencing déjà vu while travelling happened three years ago. I knew for a fact that I hadn’t had the exact same experience before because I was on a different continent in a place I had never visited before.

It was around this time three years ago; I was less than halfway through my study abroad semester at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. 

The leaves there, much like in Kentucky, were beginning to change. The weather began to cool and the constant drizzle became downright cold. 

St Andrews, a small seaside town on the east coast of Scotland, doesn’t feature the mountains like most people envision a Scottish town would, but it actually features three beaches. 

While it became my home in Scotland, it wasn’t until I began travelling the country that I truly found my home away from home. 

Part of the ‘perks’ of studying abroad is preplanned trips coordinated by the study abroad agency. For one of our first trips, my fellow study abroad students and I loaded up onto a charter bus and we headed west towards Stirling. 

Stirling was the home of William Wallace, and probably more importantly was home to the Stirling Old Bridge. This bridge played a key role in several battles over the centuries including the Scottish war for independence in 1297.

If forces could breach the bridge, they could successfully travel north into the highlands. 

As we travelled through the area, the foothills of the Highlands looked and felt more like the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. 

Everywhere you go in Scotland, you find small shops that sell a variety of greeting cards. One of the most common cards I found had a saying, “My heart is in the Highlands.” 

I was getting ready to figure out just how true that statement is.

From Stirling, we travelled north towards Inverness, the capital of the Highlands. 

I got lost in the scenery. 

The mountains were absolutely breathtaking. One reason I was so attracted to them was because, in the uncertainty of living alone on the other side of the world, they felt safe and comfortable. 

Why? The mountains, again, looked like the Appalachian Mountains. 

What I didn’t realize was I was travelling through the Cairngorms mountain range, which was reportedly formed as a result of the Caledonian Orogeny. 

The Caledonian Orogeny is reportedly the event that created a mountain range that runs from Norway to the Appalachian Mountains.

The reason the Cairngorms mountains were so comforting was because it was the same mountain range I had grown up with in Southeastern Kentucky.

From that point on, any excursion I could take that would send me back to the Highlands I booked.

Fast forward three years and I travel the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains daily. I have found that one of the most comforting drives is taking Hwy. 26 from Corbin to Williamsburg. 

At several points along the route, there are open fields and areas without buildings or homes.

If you look at hillsides, especially now that the leaves are changing, their resemblance to the Scottish Highlands is unmistakable. 

Several times while making the drive, I have experienced déjà vu and I have to stop and ask myself, ‘Are these the hills of Appalachia or the Highlands of Scotland?’