Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/01/28/great-article-about-bothies-t.html
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The photography was really nice for that piece. I want to go there.
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Best soundtrack for hiking to the next bothy: Bothy Culture by Martyn Bennett.
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Ha. Well done sir.
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Like restaurant reviews, once a good one comes out the next day it’s next to impossible to get a table.
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Why not bothy?™
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Look. If you plan ahead, you just prepare Leomund’s Splendid Condo as one of your spells each morning and can have a private shelter for the night anywhere you go.
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So, nobody technically owns these, right? So I could, hypothetically, list them all on Airbnb and collect some rents?
I’ve reached an age where something like this is very appealing. Unfortunately, I haven’t reached an income level where’s it’s even remotely possible.
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Or carry a bothy bag in your pack as Plan B, if you don’t want to shlep a tent.
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Technically the Queen owns them, because technically the Queen owns all of the UK and leases parts of it out to other people for a really long time.
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I actually did it at an age when it was very unappealing. 14 year old me didn’t like being taken away from civilisation.
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I would be right there with you at that age. Now? I’ve had about enough of civilization.
Not that I wouldn’t just straight up die in the woods if I were left there, but damn it’s draining living in the "civilized’ world.
I’m entering the Murtaugh phase of life, and I don’t have a boat.
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Immediately to mind comes The Bothy Band from the late 1970s (Irish traditional music)…Were they named for that? Wikipedia doesn’t tell me.
Wikipedia does tell me about bothy bands (Scotland), though.
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There is a lot of crossover between Scottish and Irish culture, so they probably were. Most likely is the related concept of the bothy band that you linked to.
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A cottage industry? 
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Hmmm, I wonder if I could file one of them fake deeds like the Philadelphia guy and claim the place? Worked for Cecil Rhodes, right? Her Majesty probably never even checks with the court house!
Anybody who likes these kinds of places, and particularly pictures of them, might very much enjoy the following website, as I very much do:
Ha! Two problems with that:
In the small, densely-populated UK, almost all land will be owned by someone (more specifically than “the Queen owns it all” 
) and most bothies do have owners, who are simply willing to let people use them. Especially in England and Wales, I think, due to legislation around ‘right to roam’ and camp. I’m a bit shaky on the specifics, but it’s something like:
- Scotland: absolute right to roam and ‘wild’ camp discreetly.
- E&W: qualified to roam freely on open moorland and cross agricultuural land solely via designated footpaths; no right to ‘wild’ camp (though it’s tolerated in places).
So if camping in E&W technically must be with the landowner’s permission, I suppose bothies there must be owned by someone able to give that permission.
Please correct me if I’m wildly wrong!
You know they don’t have electricity or even water, right? And that if you were charging, you’d be expected to do some cleaning and maintenance?
That’s a serious point, that bothy-users need to be clear on: bothies aren’t hotels/hostels. There’s no-one to clear up after visitors or collect rubbish. ‘Tragedy of the commons’ makes me slightly worry about press coverage!
That said…The Guardian also covered bothies on Friday: Mountain rescue: Why bothies need a helping hand – a photo essay | Travel photography | The Guardian
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Meanwhile, on the other side of the world …
All yours, for the princely sum of $5/night. Of course, getting there is a bit of a challenge.
Or this
A bit more expensive, and even harder to get to, but it does have heating.
There are 1,000 of these things, scattered up and down the place.
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