We are meant to be searching for Mr Rankeillor's house in South Queensferry, but instead we've settle for a jar at the Hawes Inn, sitting outside and watching the sun go down over the Forth.
I've made it! All the way from Earraid to South Queensferry, tracking pretty much exactly the locations and the dates as set down in the book. That one sentence has so much to answer for:
Why did Stevenson feel the need to write that? Why be so specific about dates when he didn't need to be?
I sense it might be because Stevenson really did walk that trail, day by day, in his head, dreaming of his childhood and the wild untamed Highlands whilst eking out a seemingly dull, sickly existence in 'civilised' Bournemouth. You see? This book is not just for and about the Scottish. It suits the imagination of softy Southerners too!
Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed taking this book out into the wilds with me and plotting it out. As Jo has already suggested, I am hoping to develop what I've done here into some kind of mobile application that *you* can take out onto the Trail, helping others to engage with the book in the landscape it describes, and allowing you to share your own thoughts online whilst still walking out on the wilds (subject to mobile/wireless net access).
I'm also interested in publishing our own version of 'Kidnapped' as a print-based 'mashup' and great big poster-sized map of the whole trail. Also, all thoughts you have about how to create a richer, more playful and more social trail for next year, please let me know.
Who knows? Perhaps we'll bump into each other in a bothy, play blind man's buff on Mull or hide-and-seek across Rannoch Moor, start a poker night in a cave by Loch Ericht, toast Rob Roy with a dram in Strathyre or share a bowl of white pudding in Limekilns. It all goes to prove that a book can take you to amazing places where you will meet amazing people.
So happy reading - and happy trails.
an extraordinary feat, beautifully executed. what happens next?
Posted by: nickynorth | 08/31/2009 at 10:40 PM
hi tim, thanks for your kidmapped trail. i've really enjoyed following the story, and assembling my own version of the kidmapper story, especially through the youtubes.
as someone without a holiday this year i've loved sticking my headphones on and listening as i get down to some writing or other work of my own.
i think a mobile app and a printed product of some kind would be awesome. two ideas sprang to mind for enriching the experience/making it more social:
1. taking all the geotagged stuff on flickr within say, a five-mile radius of points along the trail and pursuing some of the stories you might be able to find through them. could they relate to the novel in some way?
2. taking the model (if not the actual device) of something like yellowarrow.net, how about you set some tasks or embed some stories of your own into the trail? perhaps it's something your readers/viewers have to track down/interpret/modify themselves.
pretty obvious ideas, really, and i'm sure nothing you hadn't considered yourself. but i'll be tuning in again if you do something similar next year.
best,
james
Posted by: james | 09/02/2009 at 11:03 PM
Well done Tim! You have indeed been to "a great many strange places"....Am excited to see how the adventure translates into print/mobile etc. At the moment it is a fantastic world to get lost into and it feels like a part of you and your hat will always be trailing across Scotland.
Posted by: Polly | 09/10/2009 at 04:37 PM
Hi Tim,
Congratulations once again on the great project. Would you be interested in coming along to the launch of the new Stevenson website in November? - if so get in contact via my email address.
Richard
Posted by: Richard Dury | 09/21/2009 at 07:19 PM
Hi Tim,
Congratualation to your project. I was even verry keen to watch your kidmapped side, espevcially because I could not go to Scotland this year.
Next year I plan to go on my own Kidnapped Trail end of may to mid june. May be I meet someone on the way.
Ursula
Posted by: Ursula Ritzmann | 10/09/2009 at 02:24 PM