Moving to Orkney: Life on a Scottish Island

By Rhonda Muir

An expat's guide to moving to the Orkney Islands, with how-to resources and advice.

 

It's all well and good to look at pretty pictures of Orkney on the travel websites, but that's just a beginning. It gets the dream started. If you're thinking about actually moving to Scotland, particularly to the Orkney Islands, you'll want guidance from someone who's been through it and lived to tell the tale. That's where I can help.

I'm an American expat living in Scotland's Orkney Islands. How in the world did I end up here, and more importantly, is it possible for you to move to Orkney?

My husband, Tom Muir, is an Orcadian storyteller, folklorist, historian and writer. We met by email in the early 2000s when I was researching a novel set in the Rackwick Valley on the island of Hoy. Many years later, I was planning to visit the beautiful place I'd fallen in love with but had never seen when I got back in touch with Tom. The rest is a happy story of falling in love, marrying and my subsequent move to Orkney.

Of course, it wasn't quite that simple.

It sounds like a fairy tale, and it kind of is. But in real-life fairy tales, you still have to figure out how you're going to tell your family that you're moving so very far away, what to do about beloved pets and - if you're not from the UK - how you're going to figure out the whole visa thing. You have to decide how you're going to move your entire life over the ocean, because everyone who moves here has to cross at least one ocean. And if you make it that far, there's a lot more to know about living happily on a Scottish island and becoming knit into a close-knit community.

I created this ebook (please note, it's digital-only at this time) to give people who are considering a move to Orkney some solid grassroots information, to bring up topics you might want to think about before you decide, to help you with logistical considerations, to give you an idea of everyday life in Orkney and to offer lots of resources for further help.

Probably the most unique and valuable part of this moving to Orkney guidebook is the contribution of a helpful insider's chapter from my husband, Tom, where he explains the Orcadian view and gives tips for fitting into your new home as an "incomer."

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rhonda Muir
• Release date: May 23, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201152215

Book preview

Moving to Orkney: Life on a Scottish Island

a guide

Rhonda Muir

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Copyright © 2022 by Rhonda Muir

All rights reserved.

No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author, except as permitted by UK copyright law.

What's Inside

Preface

1. My Orkney Islands dream begins

2. Challenges and blessings of island life

3. We're not remote, you are!

4. Mainland Orkney or North & South Isles?

5. Resources

6. For those coming from outside of the UK

7. A word from Tom

8. Random questions we've been asked

9. Reflections for those seeking a new rhythm of life

Stay in touch

Preface

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Most people instinctively understand that a decision as seemingly radical as relocating to the Orkney Islands (or any island, for that matter) is not one to be made on a whim. It might not be obvious at first just how many additional tasks and expenses are involved in such a move, but following the initial season of excitement, doubts may begin to haunt and uncertainties multiply as the logistical nightmare takes shape.

Moving to Orkney is definitely more challenging than the average relocation. It’s not easy shifting your entire household to an island, though strong motivation will help you get through difficulties with grace. Additional challenges arise if you’re moving to the Orkney Islands from outside of the UK as a non-citizen. (I’ll cover this in a separate chapter.) When you finally arrive here, you’ll no doubt discover that everyday life on an island has its quirks, some which you may appreciate knowing about ahead of time.

The big question is, is it worth it?

I’m just going to go ahead and say yes. All those surveys naming Orkney as the best ... most romantic ... safest ... happiest ... they’re more or less true, at least for me. As of this writing I’m more than six years into my adventure, and I’m still enthused about being here.

On the other hand, there have been – and continue to be – real sacrifices, both in terms of life on an island and living far away from many of those I love most in the world. Honestly, I don’t think I could have withstood the pressure of living so far away from my family and leaving everything and everybody I’d ever known behind if I’d been moving here for any lesser reason than to be with my husband. Covid only intensified normal feelings of island-isolation. I had promised my kids when I moved that if they ever needed me I could be with them in a day – a promise I couldn’t keep during the pandemic, along with the rest of the world. We hope this kind of thing will not happen again in our lifetimes, but it does serve to point out that distance can still be a difficulty, even in an age of easy travel.

This isn’t about me, however; it’s about you. I’m no expert, but I have managed to survive the complicated move from America to Orkney, jumping through bureaucratic hoops all the while. I know it’s possible, and I can give you a little guidance. I’ll do my best to help you think this through.

In this book, we’ll discuss these topics and more:

The process of moving to Orkney from overseas ... because everyone who moves to an island has to cross at least one sea!

Ongoing and expensive visa issues that some folk will have to tackle before being allowed to move to the UK.

Challenges that we face when we settle far away from family and our homes of origin.

My personal reflections about life on a Scottish island.

Best practices for finding a warm welcome as an incomer and a neighbor. (Hint: you will always be an incomer, but that doesn’t have to be a bad thing.)

Adjusting to a new culture, coping with challenges and learning resilience.

Insights into Orkney history and culture, and how to fit in nicely.

A bonus chapter where my husband, an Orcadian, offers his insights.

Challenges and blessings, as put forward by the incomer community.

Q & A: Things folk have asked me about moving to Orkney and what it’s like to live here.

Resources that may be helpful to those contemplating the radical upheaval of moving to an island in Scotland.

For simplicity, I’ll mostly stick with the terms expat or incomer to describe people living in Orkney outside of their native culture, whether their stay is permanent or temporary. Neither of these descriptions are meant to be disrespectful in any way. While this book is mostly geared toward living in Orkney’s Mainland, much of my advice is also applicable to other Orkney Island communities. The other inhabited islands will be briefly covered as well.

In the end, the most important question to mull over is: will moving to Orkney be a good decision for you? Everyone in Orkney knows people who moved here hastily, suffered through a year or two, hated it, and perfunctorily decamped. I hope the information and experiences I outline here will equip you to consider carefully before you decide and go to all the trouble of moving to Orkney. And if you turn out to be one of the many who find a sense of true home and community in these islands – well, welcome home.

Stromness Harbour

Stromness Harbour

My Orkney Islands dream begins

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It’s a chilly autumn evening. I am sitting on a fallen standing stone at the Ring of Brodgar in Scotland’s Orkney Islands, reflecting on the incredible turn that life has taken.

My husband has told me this circle of stones were once giants. Long, long ago they’d become caught up in their revelry and had been turned to stone by the rising sun. Now I wait with the stilled giants, silent in the dusk, barefoot to soak up the earth’s energy. Time pauses, as it will do in a liminal place. I settle into the mysterious splendor of the ancient ceremonial valley nestled in Orkney’s West Mainland.

I’d been trying to photograph the full moon rising over the magical Ring, but a shrouding mist came sliding into the valley, hiding the moon. I don’t mind. I can come back another time for photos, since the magnificent Ring of Brodgar is just a few miles from my new home in Stromness. Tonight, I will simply be.

A middle-aged couple breaks into my peace, wandering around the stones’ perimeter and talking softly. I’m usually friendly, but not tonight. I want solitude. I ignore them, and they wander away at last. I’m right in guessing that other visitors will wait for more comfortable conditions to visit. I have the precious stones all to myself again. I settle in and let my imagination flow.

Ring of Brodgar in the misty moonlight