English person moving to the Highlands

[CindyTrevaskis]

So DH and I are planning to move to the Highlands in a few years. We want to open a B&B somewhere in the countryside.

We have been told that we will not be welcomed by locals from others. I have said I find this ridiculous and that this idea of ‘get out of my village’ is an outdated and judgemental view. I’ve never found an issue whenever I’ve stayed up there for holidays, everyone is always lovely.

Please tell me I’m right and that it won’t be a problem? I’ve loved Scotland since I was a little girl and this is my absolute dream.

@reprehensibleme @NotSoLongGoodbye
I think there's a difference between being hostile to other cultures, and simply wanting to protect your own? So say a family from Wales moved in... it would be just grand for them to celebrate a Welsh holiday and invite friends over etc. What would not be okay would be if they went around saying that their Welsh ways were much better than our Highland ways. If they refused to join in with any Highland cultural events but instead only socialised with other Welsh people who had also moved in. If they took seats on the community council and started imposing Welsh ways on the whole community etc. I think they should continue to celebrate being Welsh, but also accept that they have chosen to move to a different culture and do their best to join in with it.
Not at all picking on Welsh people, just an example - substitute Welsh with any culture/nationality you like!
I think if people don't try to fit into an existing culture when they move into it, it's really flipping rude. It doesn't matter if that's UK expats in Spain or people moving from Pakistan to France (random selections) or even fleeing conflict. Whatever reason you moved for, respect the culture you now live in, learn the language if appropriate, and get to know people. I really don't understand why people don't want to do that? I understand wanting to continue to remember and 'practise' the culture you came from, but I strongly believe you can do both.
I'm sure people will disagree with me and that's fine. I don't think this opinion is in any way racist though - I apply it to all cultures equally.

But I don’t see anyone on here saying they would go into a highland community and try to impose their ‘Welsh’ ways. They can only be part of the community if the community is let’s them be. The situation you described the community seemed nothing of the sort.

Okay, we will have to disagree. I'm either not articulating very well what I'm trying to say, or we just have different viewpoints. I feel bad for unintentionally derailing the OPs thread a bit, so I'm leaving now! :)

@Iwouldratherbesailing

But I don’t see anyone on here saying they would go into a highland community and try to impose their ‘Welsh’ ways. They can only be part of the community if the community is let’s them be. The situation you described the community seemed nothing of the sort.

yeah but I think part of what @FeistySheep was saying is that some people don't even realise that they are "imposing" their ways, that they can't even recognise that there is a different culture...

I live on the edge of the Highlands and am of a central-belt culture where of course you lock your doors but I worked quite a bit in more rural/remote areas and there is a different culture. Which can be invisible if you're only there between April and October because it's the winter months where people have to depend on their own local community, and where it tends to only be the locals that are there.

I think it is a bit of a town/country divide. I now live in the central belt and am amazed that my neighbours who’ve moved from towns are obsessed with alarms and cctv though we live in a quiet low crime area. And they’re horrified by my more chilled approach.

in England people were denigrated for saying immigration was impacting local culture, called racist and accused of xenophobia, yet in Scotland it seems to be acceptable because it's maintaining tradition and culture.
This is a good point.

I think for people to know about local customs and traditions they have to be told in the first place it's unreasonable to just expect them to get it! We don't lock our door when in but it took me a while to get my head around this as I grew up in a city!

I remember being in our local pub when we first moved here and a guy got a bit ranty (beer probably a factor) when he found out what house we had bought, similar thing of taking away from locals etc only for half of the locals to laugh and say no locals live in the old Town anymore it comes with too many problems especially that house (it has needed a lot of work!) 8 years later and it's very true only the old been in the same property for generations or "incomers" live in the old town. Majority of the other locals moved to the newer part of town with newbuilds/parking on drives!

I do think the whole idea of people buying up property for holiday homes (either for themselves or to let) is morally wrong.