A MUSSELBURGH grandmother with a passion for travel is on a new journey as an author in the hope of inspiring others with multiple sclerosis to enjoy a taste of adventure.

Dr Margaret Halliday, 67, decided to take up writing seriously five years ago when she was unable to live the same lifestyle because of her condition.

An avid writer of diaries throughout her life, during which she saw the world, she planned to expand them into short stories when she retired.

Dr Halliday has now published three autobiographical books – Prana Soup, an Indian Odyssey, which describes her travels around India; Good Vibrations, which tells the story of a single 1960s mum in Scotland; and WWOOFing North and South, which relates her experience as a worldwide worker on organic farms in Scotland and New Zealand.

Born in England in 1949 with “green fingers and itchy feet”, she undertook a year’s training in Hastings Alexandra Park, followed by a horticultural course at the West of Scotland Agricultural College.

She fell in love with Scotland, married a Scotsman and raised two children while working in scientific research and studying up to doctorate level.

She qualified as a teacher of biology and chemistry and taught in various schools and colleges in Edinburgh.

Dr Halliday said her marriage broke up in 1986, partly because of her “itchy feet”, and she went to live in Istanbul in 1988, where she taught biological sciences at Marmara University for five years.

Following this she taught English in Budapest and Damascus, exploring the countries and their environs in her holidays. Then she returned to Turkey and taught biology at a school for gifted children near Istanbul.

At the age of 50 she ventured as far as India, undeterred by being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis soon after her marriage break-up and the onset of osteoarthritis.

She continued to travel extensively and, between her trips to India, cycled round Ireland and the Scottish Highlands, despite her arthritic knees. She then spent a year flying round the world, spending time in Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Bali and New Zealand, as well as visiting friends and relatives in Hungary, Turkey and Canada.

While in New Zealand she became a ‘wwoofer’ – a worldwide worker on an organic farm – spending five months on both North and South Island. She returned for a further six months the following year when she bought a small van and travelled to locations off the beaten track.

Back in Scotland, she continued life as a ‘wwoofer’ for three more years, travelling to places from the Scottish Borders to the islands of the Hebrides. She worked in the walled garden of the Beshara School near Hawick, where she later did a six-month course in esoteric education, studying Ibn ‘Arabi and Rumi amongst other spiritual masters.

Dr Halliday said: “This experience has enriched my world tremendously, giving me the inner strength to live with the pain of osteoarthritis and MS.”

She added: “I wrote the books partly to relive my adventures now I’m less able to walk but also to hopefully inspire folk with MS to have adventures.”

She moved to Musselburgh two years ago, setting up home opposite Fisherrow Links, to be nearer her daughter, son-in-law and two young grandsons.

Her books are available on Amazon as ebook and paperbacks. Her website is margarethalliday.moonfruit.com