Scottish Wildife Trust's ranger job on Handa Island sounds like the perfect way to get away from it all – Scotsman comment

Who among us can truly say we have never been gripped by a desire to “get away from it all”?

A wildlife ranger is need to work on Handa Island, off the coast of Sutherland (Picture: Roger McLachlan/Creative Commons)

Given BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs has, to a degree, played on the romantic attraction, if not the reality, of a simpler life for some 80 years, it must be fairly common.

So the Scottish Wildlife Trust may well receive more than the usual number of applications for a ranger’s job on Handa Island off the west coast of Sutherland.

The successful applicant would live in a purpose-built bothy, free of charge, where they could listen to their favourite music or indeed Desert Island Discs. Taking a few luxuries is also allowed.

The weather would be far from tropical; visitors are advised it is “very important... to take warm, waterproof clothing, even in midsummer”. But the dramatic sea cliffs and extraordinary wildlife – seabirds like guillemots, razorbills, and fulmars, and the dolphins, whales and basking sharks that swim nearby – would no doubt more than make up for that for some.

It sounds like a stunning place with few equals as a place to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city and commune with nature.

However, for most of us, dreams of such a life will remain just that and we will carry on with the daily grind, getting stuck in rush-hour traffic and so on.

But then, most of us do this for a reason, to be among friends and family, to make money to improve our lives, to be at the centre of the action. So maybe “it all” is not so bad as we occasionally might think.

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