Standing on the summit of my new local Munro, Ben Wyvis, just a week after moving some 200 miles from the city I’d called home for 25 years, I smile to myself.

The smile becomes a grin as I turn a full circle, drinking in the spectacular views of numerous peaks, wide glens, glittering lochs and ribboning rivers spread out before me.

It is exactly where I dreamed I might find myself on a mid-week summer’s evening just a short drive from a new home in the Scottish Highlands, but it had taken many years and a long search for the right property, as well as several extra ingredients, including luck, guts and determination, to be here.

Now the weeks have turned into almost three months and I’m even more convinced that the big move north from Glasgow with my husband Gordon has been exactly the right thing to do.

Of course, there have been times of doubt, anxiety and some tears shed since we packed up our suburban family house and headed to a rural cottage on the Black Isle.

I’ve felt homesick for the company of old friends. I miss my daughter, who is now a three-hour train journey south, rather than an hour north.

I’ve wished for the easy familiarity of long-term neighbours, my triathlon club and knowing exactly which shops sell what and where they are. Maybe one day, super-fast fibre broadband will reach our hamlet, too, so my freelance work is a little easier.

Being a newcomer has also reminded me of the (several) times I was the awkward new kid at school. I’ve had to step outside of my comfort zone and talk to strangers, force myself to make polite introductions to locals and attend sports clubs where I know no one.

But the effort has paid off and already I've gained lovely new friends and met fantastic neighbours. Gordon and I are generously welcomed by almost everyone we meet and I do think this has been easier because we have made a new home in the Highlands, rather than being part-time dwellers in a holiday house.

We’ve realised how little we need a big city and, that with a bit of planning, country life can run fairly smoothly.

Best of all, though, is a new-found proximity to a vast and exciting outdoors playground that normally required a long drive and a weekend, or week, away from home.

Now, in every direction and rarely more than an hour's drive, there are myriad mountains to summit, hills to climb, coastlines to explore and islands to visit. I’ve joined a coastal rowing club and a group of hill runners, swam almost daily in a loch, checked out the local canoe club and bagged many new Munros and Corbetts.

I run from our house through pretty woodlands to clifftops with glorious sea views and stroll with our old whippet along the nearby shore of the Moray Firth. A vast network of off-road trails and quiet roads have encouraged me to ride my bike again.

And because we’ve bought a home with spare bedrooms, we have a steady stream of friends and family to stay. Instead of the usual quick catch-ups of old, I now enjoy extended time with my favourite pals.

Just before we moved a friend messaged to say: “Fortune favours the brave.” Back then, my doubts and worries clouded my hopes and dreams. Today, I couldn’t agree more.

Now, do excuse me while I check my OS Map for tomorrow’s mountain trip.