Liz Lister

Jaggy Thistle Tours

Born in Lanark to the west of Scotland and over the course of her life, although Liz Lister has travelled extensively, she has never lived anywhere else. You can take the girl out of Scotland but you can’t take Scotland out of the girl!

Over 30 years, Liz’s previous career spanned every sector of the education scene . From early childhood she has always had an interest in the world of nature and after studying for a degree in Biology with Education at the University of Stirling she started teaching Biology in a local secondary school. After a career break on the birth of her daughter Liz returned to teaching adults. This led to her becoming a Development Officer for a widening access initiative promoting higher education to adults with few if any previous qualifications. From this came a lifelong commitment to inclusion, diversity and equality of opportunity – something she continues to live by in her guiding.

Liz’s career developed into the world of higher education – latterly as Director of Recruitment and Admissions at Heriot-Watt University and then the University of Edinburgh, regularly ranked one of the top twenty universities in the world. This period presented tremendous opportunities for travel as the world of international student recruitment burst onto the scene. Liz has been fortunate to have travelled extensively throughout Asia, North America and Europe, but having spent some considerable time in a similar role her feet were getting itchy for change. While Liz travelled the world representing Scottish Higher Education, she became acutely aware of how little she knew about her own country. She had studied little if any Scottish history and knew next to nothing about its art and architecture, culture etc. Then she heard about the Scottish Tourist Guides Association and Blue Badge Guides and decided to take the plunge and to pursue new challenges.

Studying for this qualification became her bridge between employment and retirement. Liz graduated in 2012 and since then she has found her niche - after the critical world of academia, she travels the country with people who are interested and appreciative - how she loves this job! Liz started by leading local tours and in 2013 she was invited to become a Rick Steves Europe guide – she still holds the distinction of being the only guide to have had the man himself along as a Tour Member on her first tour (and to survive!).

Winter is the time when Liz indulges her own passion for travel with her husband. They are fortunate to own a cottage in the Highlands of Scotland - spending time there with family and friends is another great source of joy. She retains her love of nature and nothing gives Liz greater pleasure than walking or cycling through beautiful countryside – she’s created a blog at www.stravaigingwithliz.com where you can join her on her wanders (stravaiging is a good old Scottish word to describe strolling or wandering aimlessly) .

Liz’s website describing the services she offers can be found at Jaggy Thistle Tours
You can follow her blog Stravaiging with Liz.