About Five Senses
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Five Senses is a unique approach to experiencing and living the history, culture and environment of Scotland.
Take a quick mini-tour of the courses and tours we offer and our approach.
Based in Orkney, we provide tours and courses which combine ancient culture and history together with the simple pleasures of country life. |
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Malcolm grew up in North Wales, beside the sea and the beautiful Snowdonia National Park. “My childhood was one of playing on the hillside, exploring nature and getting lost in my imagination.”
Holidays were either camping or at a remote cottage, "with wood fires and smoky tea, candle light and rattling windows, … days spent sawing logs and cutting grass, the sun and nettles stinging my skin, … the boat on the river and the timeless meandering of summer. |
"This all affected me profoundly. Sounds and smells take me back in an instant. What was then a backdrop and often under appreciated is now the foundation for Five Senses.”
Malcolm left school and went into engineering because of a love of mechanics and design. This creative thinking is evident today in understanding pre-historic crafts, problem solving and outdoor skills.
“I ended up following my own path into the mountains where I taught navigation. I managed a youth hostel and took my Mountain Leadership Certificate. I enjoyed catering and worked as a chef, then managed a hotel and various hostels in Scotland, the home of my ancestors.”
Out of an interest in navigation and ‘moving as one’ with nature, grew an interest in history, the lives of ordinary people and their past interaction with the world.
“During my student days I had studied the psychology of leisure and hit upon a new way of thinking and living. I saw a connection with primitive societies and how I wanted to live – and I discovered they were not so primitive.
“My childlike enthusiasm for exploring is matched with my awareness of the environment and ability to find my way, naturally, simply. Firelighting and teaching complements navigating and outdoor life. My love of invention and design is helping to get inside the minds of Stone Age builders – creators of our world. My joy at using all five senses is opening a whole new world and helping others find it too.
Quite simply, I am in my element! I am thriving!”
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I first came to Scotland from Washington, DC in 2003. I spent six months planning a four-week solo adventure, including driving from Edinburgh to Orkney clockwise around the country. Three days into it, I met Malcolm.
Two weeks later, we were engaged. |
I've been lucky enough to travel extensively around the world, and so I know what I want out of a travel experience: to get to know a culture in a meaningful way, its customs and lifestyle, and to be changed by the experience.
I am particularly interested in enabling individuals to reconnect with their surroundings and gain confidence and knowledge that enables them to move freely in the world.
I believe learning about our history as humans -- Scots are, after all, a mixture of many successive cultures from Picts to Celts to Vikings -- and re-learning such basic things as how to gather wild food from around you gives you that confidence.
Five Senses is a way of living for Malcolm and me, and something we continue to develop. We learn from every person we work with.
We look forward to meeting you. |
