As an introvert, I regularly need my peace to recharge my batteries. Unlike extroverts, any contact with other people costs me energy. I generally enjoy interacting with other people. I’m neither shy nor socially awkward. But there always comes a time when I need my peace and quiet. How quickly my energy is used up depends on the quality of the interaction with others. The more hectic, the shallower, characterised by half-knowledge or, from my point of view, pointless or uninteresting the conversations are, the faster my reserves are used up and the more unsociable I become.

That’s when I have to withdraw. Unfortunately, I can’t always do that. In everyday life I often only have short breaks in which I am for myself. These are often not enough to fill my energy stores again. So it was a relief for me to seek and enjoy the absolute solitude of the Scottish Highlands, the Isle of Skye and the Outer Hebrides. Being in one place for hours, watching the light of the sun move across the landscape in the morning and just listening to the absolute silence was incredibly invigorating. This silence, probably oppressive for extroverts, is something I miss far too often.

I spent a whole week travelling through Scotland. Accompanied by a photographer friend – Tobias. We slept on our reclined seats, cooked our meals in the boot of our car in heavy gusts and rain, and used the days to photograph as much as we could. Almost every day we woke up between five and six o’clock and often arrived at the next place late in the evening. One week was all about photography and during this week there was almost no sign of rain. It couldn’t have been better, only longer.