Iceland in a Nutshell
Soooo I’m legitimately about to cry writing this out (also I’ve had a few beers but it’s fine.. I’m fine - happy Monday lol). How on earth was I in my most favorite place in the world two years ago to this day?? And today here I am sitting alone drinking a beer, just drooling over my own pictures and memories, wishing I was able to book a plane ticket somewhere (literally ANYWHERE !) and get away.
Seriously this was my favorite trip to date. The memories came up on my snapchat and instagram the last couple of days so I decided to write all about it since I’m just over here all up in my travel dreaming feels.
Two years ago I was in Iceland with my best friends. We spent 7 days hiking and driving around the most magical place I’ve ever stepped foot in.
If you aren’t sure what Iceland looks like… please let me enlighten you, from my perspective of course.
Iceland was the place I didn’t know I had been dreaming of visiting my entire life. It was like I had a premonition and knew I would end up in this place that would somehow have a huge impact on me.
When we touched down in Iceland, I actually cried. I was elated beyond measure. As we began to trek around, I felt a sort of internal peace I had honestly never known before then.
… I realize how cheesy and funny that sounds but I have literally never felt so at home and in my own element in a place I have never been before, especially being somewhere I don’t even know how to speak the language.
Driving around that country, you would see beautiful wild animals around that you could safely interact with, without disrupting them in the slightest - they seriously could not be bothered. You would find unbelievable black sand beaches and waterfalls around every corner. Glaciers and beautiful snow just hours up the coast.
The people were so nice and the air was the freshest I have ever breathed. Oh man, I long for that fresh air you find while standing next to the ocean, on a small island. Feeling a sense of small-ness that makes your heart and soul open up and feel bigger somehow.
Things I didn’t know before traveling to Iceland:
It’s actually fairly expensive there. I was surprised by this because we got super cheap flights from the midwest directly to Iceland - I’m talking like $330 round trip.
The country literally runs off tourism, so it’s pretty crowded but also everything is accessible because of this. If you’re thinking of traveling there, keep in mind because their economy basically runs off tourism, everything is pretty pricey when it comes to things like eating out, shopping, renting a car, paying for air bnbs, etc. We saved a LOT of money by grocery shopping and lived off sandwiches and ramen noodles.
Justin Bieber apparently filmed a music video in a nature spot in Iceland which ended up generating a lot of tourism to that spot and eventually they had to shut off access because all of the traffic through the area, it was starting to make a detrimental impact on the natural environment and they wanted to preserve it. We got to see it while it was still accessible and let me tell you - absolutely incredible. (it might be opened back up, I have no idea now)
Almost all of their vehicles are manual - we actually weren’t able to rent an automatic. Only 2/5 people in our group knew how to drive a manual (lol yikes).
PUFFINS ARE TINY. SO SMALL. I naively assumed they are a little smaller than penguins…. when I finally saw them at the end of the trip (after trying to find them for a week straight) I bawled when I saw them LOL. They are the size of a small bird. SO TINY AND SO CUTE.
There are a ton of volcanoes in Iceland. I learned I don’t know that much about volcanoes but I still found this surprising and fascinating.
Anyway, I could probably go on and on and on and onnnnnnnn about the wonders of Iceland, but let me tell you, once travel opens back up and it’s safe to travel again (one day, I am praying to the sun & moon gods), if you’ve been wanting to travel somewhere and see the most beautiful land and natural beauty you’ve ever seen, you should book a trip to Iceland immediately. I’m going to leave it at that and share some more of my favorite pics to swoon over later.
P.S. If the last year and this pandemic have taught me anything, it’s that life is too freaking short to wait for something you want. If there’s something you want to do (like I said previously, once it’s safe again to do so) BOOK YOUR TRIP. Do whatever it is you want to do. Holding off is only holding you back. Just. Freaking. Do. It.
Then thank me later and send me all your pics lol.
