Before concluding our travels together, Trinity and I made a trip to Iceland. With flights from USA<Iceland priced at under $400 we thought this would be a great excursion before she headed back to the states.
Little did we know how expensive Iceland actually is. I’ll warn you, be prepared for everything to be double the price you would pay in the USA.
Don’t despair though….even though it was expensive, Iceland will forever be one of my favorite destinations. We spend a week living out of an SUV, road-tripping around this beautiful country. We had the pleasure of warmer weather due to the timing of our visit. In addition, we had 24hrs of daylight! This was great for exploring but not so hot for sleeping!
Highlights
Sunrise & Sunset
We ended up taking advantage of the nearly 6 hour long sunset/sunrises and then spent the peak tourist hours sleeping. This allowed us to have most sites totally to ourselves. From about 10pm until around 4am, the sky lit up with multitudes of colors. Just imagine….6 hours of ‘golden hour’!
Horses
Before this trip, Trinity told me that she was ‘afraid’ of horses. Having never really been around them, she had a reasonable fear of their power and thus avoided them. Iceland is full of horses. To help her get over her fears, I bought a box of sugar cubes at one of the road-side gas stations. We spent countless hours stopped on the side of the road petting and feeding sugar cubes to the local horses. Needless to say…she is no longer afraid.
Views
It didn’t matter where we were or where you looked….the views here are outstanding! From magnificent waterfalls, gorges with crystal clear glacial rivers, basalt columns, and fields of lava there wasn’t anywhere you looked that wasn’t picture-perfect.
Getting Lost in Search of Hot Springs
I love going off the beaten path. Visiting the Blue Lagoon (although I’m sure it’s great), just wasn’t in the cards for me. I wanted to find something authentic, remote, and natural without all of the tourists. I asked locals everywhere…and finally found someone that had the local scoop and was willing to share it with me.
We had stopped for a bite to eat, and after asking about hot springs the owner of the restaurant we had directions and were excited to adventure out. “…head out to the town next to the airstrip. The hot spring is just behind the airstrip. Stop in town and ask anyone if you can access the hot spring. They will direct you.”
We managed to find the airstrip and the town without any issues. There was literally no one in town to ask, but the directions were simple, right? Just behind the airstrip. So we ventured out to the back-side of the airstrip and parked. The whole area was a huge lava field full of marsh, rocks, and tiny streams of water.
We wandered around the backside of the airstrip for quite a while. We would find small streams that would just disappear after following them for a bit. We were both keen on keeping an eye out for one another and keeping track of where we had parked. With bolders and small hills, we could see the car one minute and it would disappear the next.
At one point, I found a stream that was consistently getting warmer…I was on the right path. I knew It! So I followed it, not paying nearly enough attention to where I was in relationship to the car. I was still confident that I was fine, the car was *there*. I had it’s location fixed in my head. Trinity was on a ridge line a bit distant, and I kept checking to see her every few minutes as I continued to follow the small warm stream.
Suddenly….I looked around and neither her or the car were visible. I was cold, wet, and ready to give up on finding the hot spring. I turned and began walking toward the car, right where I had it fixed in my head *there*. I still couldn’t see either her or the car but confident in my direction so I plundered along. After about 10 minutes I realized that I was lost…I had NO idea where her or the car were and there were no signs of them. Internally, I began to panic. I didn’t have my cell with me, couldn’t see/find any landmarks (like the airstrip), I was cold, and tired and the fog was moving in.
I spent another 20 minutes (that felt like forever), yelling for Trinity, panicking, and hurrying from one peak to another searching for signs of life. I was certain that I was going to be spending a long cold night lost in the swamp. Finally, I spotted the vehicle – in the complete opposite direction of *there*
Trinity was waiting patiently for my return. Lesson: Stay on the Path!!
Diamond Beach
The glacier pieces that wash up on Diamond Beach were amazing to see. They really do look like diamonds on the black sand beaches. We actually went here twice! See full edited Gallery HERE.
The massiveness of the Glacier is indescribable.
Logistics & Tips
We rented our outfitted SUV from Camping Iceland The Cost was around $1400 for a full week with extras like sleeping bags, and cooking equipment. NOTE: When we were there, it was quite windy and finding a place to be able to light our camp stove for meals was very difficult – read, NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE.
Rent a 4 wheel Drive so you can explore the ‘F Roads’. Some of our best experiences were wandering off the main road onto the F Roads.
Always fill up your gas tank when you pass a station. These are few and far between once you get out of Reykjavik.
Check out this travel map (items with a heart are places I’ve visited and liked, stars are places I want to go)
