I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to travel to Scotland last week and it was amazing! I highly recommend Scotland in the shoulder season.
I did not expect to find efficiency as an underlying theme. I planned the trip in what I think was an effective and efficient manner. I set up the hotels in areas that were the most efficient for the activities that we wanted to do and transportation to be the most efficient use of time. I planned the trip using the tools like Google sheets and Wunderlist. So, even though I planned the trip in an efficient manner I did not expect it to keep popping up on the trip.
There are the obvious efficiencies that come about because of how long the area has populated with a large population density. This long-term use of resources has forced the people too become efficient. They have put this into practice for a long time in multiple ways. My favorite gruesome efficiency quote was from our Mercat Tours guide Mark in Edinburgh where he talked about how the Edinburgh government revamped its hanging technique so that they could make the process more efficient and effective so they could get more people “served”. The Real Mary King’s Close is an excellent example of efficiency. Whole entire neighborhood built in a small area one top of the other. The tour guide made the observation that Edinburgh built the building up higher because of the geography and because “they hated to waste space”. In modern day Edinburgh we saw that efficiency in work in the shops that used all their vertical space for stock freeing up floor space and in how the local train station was run the platforms assigned right before the boarding time to avoid congestion on the platforms. While driving around Scotland we saw the efficiency in use of land by how narrow the roads were, they didn’t waste any space on shoulders, and efficiency in time in how they employed roundabouts. I know people are very opinionated about roundabouts but by not having as many red lights and being able to stay in motion I felt like I was moving from point to point more efficiently.
Scotland is proud of its whiskey as it should be. They have been making the golden elixir since before 1494 when it was first mentioned. Because they have been at it for so long and had limited resources they are quite efficient in their production. The barrels are used multiple times and the raw materials are sourced locally which is always more efficient in time and transportation costs. During the whiskey tours and tastings, the guide talked about how they have improved and implemented automation to improve their efficiencies over the years.
It was a genuine pleasure to see Scotland and talk with the locals the added bonus was when they talked about efficiency with no prompting from me I promise.
What efficiencies have you seen or experienced on other countries? Comment below and tell me about them.
Equitable Efficient Effective 