Affordable Globetrotting: 07/18/17

Black Sand Beach, Vik

Iceland. A country not many people have on their top 10, or most likely their top 20 places in the world they would want to visit. Just a few months ago I, too, was part of this majority of ignorant people who thought Iceland was nothing more than just an island that consisted of ice and snow. So it was to my unpleasant/shocking surprise when my husband told me that he bought two plane tickets to Iceland one day while we were both at work. At that moment, I briefly thought that maybe our spontaneous attitudes and prior agreement of jumping on any intriguing, great airfare deal was a regret.

That day at work I remember trying to picture myself in what I thought looked like Iceland. I imagined myself wearing an Eskimo coat, shivering in the middle of a blizzard, in a place that resembled Antarctica (assuming I also knew what Antarctica looked like). I recall that it was on my mind all day. Now, really, overall, I consider myself to be pretty spontaneous, adventurous, and a semi-positive person (this is an area I need to work on), so I tried my best to cancel out the negative, invented thoughts of Iceland and look at it like it was going to be a new experience. A challenge, most likely. An unforgettable trip.

Fjadrargljufur Canyon

I went home that day and decided that I should probably thoroughly educate myself about Iceland since we were heading there in only a short couple of months. I hopped online, and soon after, to my relief I found out not only good news, but amazing news about Iceland. I found out that Iceland, during the summer months, is more like a green land (not to be confused with Greenland) in many of its areas where the fields, hills, and mountains are filled with beautiful flowers and grass as green as Ireland and Scotland. In fact, many of the pictures I came across reminded me of Ireland and Scotland. And I LOVED Ireland and Scotland's green! I researched more and more about Iceland and to my surprise, I also discovered that Iceland is starting to become a popular travel destination because all of its natural beauty. Now, it may also have something to do with the recent and incredible offers WOW airlines are frequently running. The more I researched Iceland, the more excited I became to go there. Because Iceland is a island of endless natural beauty, I knew in my heart that this trip was indeed going to be unlike any other we have ever done. And it was. It really was.

To experience Iceland, you have to explore past Reykjavik. Don't get me wrong, Reykjavik is a charming and beautiful city with lots to do. However, we all know that in order to really experience a place, you have to explore outside of the city (and at times, outside of your comfort zone). Therefore, we thought in order to really see Iceland, we should rent camper van. So we did just that. We rented to use one for 4 of the 6 days we were in Iceland. Though we were slightly nervous to drive this big van in an unfamiliar area, in a foreign country, it became the best decision we had made on the trip. When it was all said and done, we were able to see about half of the island in this Air BnB rental in the little amount of time we had for our trip. We didn't even have to rush (we never do).

Seljalandsfoss

Side Notes:
- In Iceland, you can camp in your camper van almost anywhere, anytime. How would you like to wake up to the sight and sound of a waterfall? It was one of my highlights of the trip!
- With the summer solstice, the camper van allowed us to literally stop or pull over at any time of the day/night to sleep since the sun is present at all hours anyway. This meant having the opportunity to explore any natural site at 11pm or later-avoiding other tourists AND allowing us to alleviate time needed to recover from jet lag since we didn't have to adjust our sleep schedule.
- I can't forget to mention that with the camper van, we were, as always, super stoked to save money on hotels, restaurants, and tours. Also, 99% of the nature sights we stopped to see were absolutely free! More money saved there! Woo hoo!

As usual, time is always the enemy. Therefore, we had to miss out on the north and west part of Iceland. I know there is so much more to see in northern Iceland. Fjords, national parks, puffins, whales, etc. (Sigh). There is always so much more to see and do. I also know we missed a few sights on our travels down Route 1. No worries, though. As we always say, "Until next time (name of country). We will be back."........Until next time Iceland. We WILL be back.

Dear Iceland,

Skogafoss

After coming home, thinking about my previous foolish thoughts about you, and reflecting on our trip, I would like to apologize for being so ignorant and quick to assume that you are a country with nothing more than wasted land full of ice and snow. You are so much more than these gorgeous icebergs and glaciers in which I was too single-minded to even imagine were beautiful. You are stunning, bright- green mountains with sheep and their lambs on ledges. You are fields of endless gorgeous purple Lupine flowers. You are massive craters with vivid blue water. You are absolutely breathtaking, powerful and peaceful waterfalls that are either too massive to miss or easily left alone, hidden between crevices and around corners. You are endless hiking trails that make you feel as though you are the first to leave footprints on their paths. You are perfect temperature geothermal rivers where you can sit and literally soak in the scenery. You are massive geysers that make you wonder how the world works. Iceland, you are open pastures with free-roaming, docile Icelandic horses. You are ravines and canyons with crystal clear water. You are beaches with sand the color of coal. You are rock formations you must touch to believe are real. You are volcanoes that will intimidate and frighten, yet excite you. You are fields of sacred, yellow-green moss. You are the sound of thousands of puffins frantically flapping their wings, coming and going to bring food back to their families in the cliffs. You are a sunrise/sunset (or lack thereof) that will throw off your sense of time. And, Iceland, we can't forget that you are also a not-so-big country, still growing, that feels safe and makes you never want to leave. In my mind, Iceland, you are utopia. Yes, Iceland, we will be back. We will not only explore the north coast, but we explore the glacial interior, west fjords, and we will again explore the south coast simply because I could look at you over and over again.

Thank you, Iceland, for showing us real, natural beauty in many different forms. Thank you for making me think of you when I hear the term, "natural wonders of the world." Thank you for proving me wrong. Thank you for proving me right. Above all, thank you for a trip of a lifetime and allowing us to have "a trip unlike any other."

With Love,

Veronica Wagner