Our recent travels had a lot to do with our decision to move to the mid-coast of Maine in November 2019. We know friends and family were concerned by what seemed like a tendency to make major life decisions on the spur of the moment, and we’re not sure they bought it when we said “it just felt right.”

It’s true, Maine was simply a place of interest when 2019 began, just as far flung places like Costa Rica, California and Scotland had been in previous years. It was a place where we could find much of what we wanted in a new home—affordability, quiet, beauty, a cooler climate and proximity to the ocean.

Then, on a trip in August, we visited the mid-coast where we found a house with a view over Penobscot Bay and it brought back memories of our trips to Scotland’s Western Isles, especially a cottage we rented in September of 2017 and 2018 on the east coast of Iona with a lovely view of the Isle of Mull.

Now, six months later, with spring and the pandemic upon us, we’re here, happy, enjoying the view and planning trips in better times.

Traveling in and from Maine

The Mid-Coast has plenty to offer us within a 15-minute drive, from the charming harbor towns of Rockport and Camden, to Lincolnville Beach and Belfast. A hike to the top of Mt. Battie in Camden Hills State Park for a view of Camden Harbor, or a ferry to Isleboro are just a start.

Heading northeast is what’s called the Down East, that stretch of the eastern coastal region that covers Washington County and Hancock County beginning in Ellsworth and stretching to the East all the way to the Maritime Provinces. Bar Harbor, Mount Desert Island and Acadia National Park are just over an hour away.

For longer trips, the state has much to offer and we’re only a few hours from Canada. When the time is right, we’ll plot a course northwest to Montreal, Toronto and Quebec City or northeast to New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.