THE REMOTE HOSTEL MANAGER

“THE FIRST COUPLE OF WINTERS HERE, I READ A LOT!”

A love of walking in the mountains inspired JAN ROBINSON to live a life much more in tune with nature. Located 15 miles from the nearest road and surrounded by mountains and moorland, she found happiness 10 years ago when she began managing the remote and inaccessible Loch Ossian eco youth hostel in the Scottish Highlands.

Iguess you could say I’m an old hippy really! Growing up in Sheffield in the 1950s I discovered a love of the mountains from a young age. Before moving to Loch Ossian, I lived in an ‘off-grid’ community in the north-west of Scotland, where you had to cross by boat or walk-in about 8 miles, so

I was used to living remotely – car-free, wind turbines, composting toilet and so on. When I saw a job advertised at Loch Ossian, I submitted an electronic application, was interviewed by phone the next morning, and walked in here in the middle of a blizzard to start work. That first walk up the track from the station was so amazing, I felt really lucky.

Loch Ossian hostel has changed so much in the 10 years I’ve worked here. Initially we had only wind power. If the wind didn’t blow, you either turned on the generator, or sat reading with a headtorch on. I think it’s good to be aware of where your energy comes from. No TV or radio signal, no central heating or showers, gas bottles to hump about, wood to chop, coal scuttles to fill. The first couple of winters here, I read a lot! Three years ago, we got connected to hydroelectricity and life was really transformed. Hot showers, laundry facilities, electric kettles and fridges, central heating, even Netflix and iPlayer for the staff flat (although still no Wi-Fi!).

The hostel is only a mile from Corrour train station. But certainly in the winter when I get off the train in the dark, and it pulls away and leaves me in what feels like a huge, uninhabited, silent darkness, it’s a powerful feeling. I can’t afford to be afraid of the dark, or intense weather, or daunted when things go wrong – like power cuts, minor repairs, rail closures. I’m pretty self-sufficient, but Hostelling Scotland and the Corrour Estate help with technical problems, or calm me down on the phone when I’m sat in the middle of a massive gale, wondering whether a tree’s going to fall on us!

There’s no vehicle access to Loch Ossian apart from for contractors and I love to promote car-free tourism. Living a long way from the shops and having to carry shopping in a rucksack on the train and then up the track makes it easy for me to resist buying rubbish. I find it incredible that of all the materials flowing through the consumer economy, only 1% remain in use six months after sale, because they are designed to break quickly or become unfashionable.

I work three weeks on and one week off, so I do get to visit family and friends, and for my ‘big holiday’ I go chasing the sun! But being in nature is good for us mentally and physically and living at Loch Ossian Youth Hostel you experience silence and natural light, moonlight, starlight, rather than being constantly exposed to stress, traffic and pollution. The best things in life are free. And it doesn’t get much better than this.