Edinburgh
The starting and ending place of this journey is Edinburgh. Their first experience of the city is normal, and in fact it sort of defines their opinion of "normal," since that is where their daily life occurs. Edinburgh is the setting for their experience of community, and when they are in Edinburgh, they are known by many people. They have jobs in Edinburgh, and roles in their neighborhood. When they return to the city, Boswell revisits the imagery with full appreciation for it, having come back to the city from the wild.
The pastoral imagery
When Boswell and Johnson move through the country, they travel through long stretches of pastoral scenes. These are beautiful, but to Boswell, the mountains are where nature's true brilliance is most evidence. Therefore, the imagery starts to represent the tedium of travel. The scene seems sleepy at times. Pastoral hills and plains seem latent and timeless, as if they are not moving sometimes. They pass farms and estates which brings them in close proximity with rural life, when they are more accustomed to urban life.
The Hebrides
When they finally reach their destinations throughout the mountain range of the Hebrides, Boswell finds his hearts desire—the imagery of mountains. The mountains are tangible reminders of nature's wild essence, to Boswell. He sees something critical in them, and when he travels through the mountains, their travel becomes significantly more challenging, so simultaneously, he has to work harder, but for a reward that is truly inspiring to him. This imagery is so attractive to him that when Johnson begs him to go into towns to have fun, he stays the course to find these mountain vantages.
Auchinleck
He visits his home estate in Auchinleck. The imagery is the imagery of his childhood, and so the sights and sounds of Auchinleck take him backwards in time to the life he used to lead. The imagery stands as a visual reminder of time, because it is undeniable that the estate has changed through time. He doesn't stay here, which means that although this is the most intimate, well-known imagery of his life, he doesn't feel at home in Auchinleck nearly as much as he does in Edinburgh, or more importantly, the way he feels at home in nature.
