Iceland. Land of glaciers, hot springs and geothermal pools. Green where its neighbor is icy, it’s a jewel in the North Atlantic. The area surrounding ReykjavÃk, the capital city, contains more than 2/3rds of the population of the entire country, all of whom could comfortably rent a 2-bed, 2-bath apartment in the Valley and we wouldn’t even notice a bump in the traffic.
Long, long ago, way back in the annals of history, I used to take trips places just for fun. Maybe I wasn’t the world traveler on my own dime that I have become on someone else’s, but I’m still proud of the trips I took and the choices I made to do it. It’s not often that I get out on the road for my own fun anymore, but this time, old pal Tim and I made it happen.
In that vein, I want to present to you a long-overdue, and thus quick, recap of a visit to Iceland I made 2 years ago, during the early summer of 2017. This is partially in honor of WoW air, the Iceland-based discount flyer whose cheap-ass fares brought a generation of people to Iceland and helped make the island nation the trendiest hotspot of the decade. While I may have missed the trend by a smidge, I still loved the trip.
Because of how many pictures there are and because I’m so bad at WordPress, this gallery is only roughly in reverse chronological order. As is sort of uncommon, these pictures have been on Google for a long time, as part of a share that I did with my travel partner, Ye Olde Tim. Anyway, if you want to look at the pics there, you’re welcome to. It’s only more words here, as you’d expect.
Speaking of words, I’ll continue this story after the pictures, if you have the time and patience to scroll past 350ish pictures. I know it’s too many, but I hate going through pictures.
It all started with some wanderlust, as usual, and, on a whim, I asked Tim if he wanted to go somewhere. Shockingly, he said yes, so we got to planning. My only rule was that I wanted to go someplace new (although I think I may have suggested Paris at first, because when do I not suggest Paris?), and we decided on Iceland. This was sort of like the cruise from May – I didn’t really believe it was going to happen, then it did. Go figure.
Anyway, first we visited the Blue Lagoon, which was touristy, but impressive nonetheless. And much bigger than I’d anticipated. It really feels like a rite of passage, but I don’t need to go back again. Next time I’m in Iceland, I’m going to try another hot spring or two. Maybe something without tour buses dropping folks off. Maybe the one in the Muscleboy video. I’d have to work out a LOT more before I went there, but still.
My favorite part, honestly, was almost an afterthought. We got directions to a hot river, and man was it amazing. The hike in was a hard uphill first, but then a nice hike to the hotspot itself. Once there, we took our time laying in various pools and soaking up the warmth as the mist closed around us. Of course, I couldn’t resist trying a little engineering with the pool shapes, re-arranging the rocks and trying to find new ones to make my favorites of the pools just a little deeper, maybe a little rounder. Regardless of my general failure to effect a change in any of the pools, I had an amazing time anyway.
We also did a glacier walk, which was excellent, and involved the use of crampons. We visited a ton of waterfalls across the southern road and ended up at an inlet where chunks of glacier, finally giving up the fight against global warming, slid down into the sea. That part was beautiful, with the crystal clear ice floating in the sky blue lagoon, but boy, was it cold.
Anyway, thanks for checking out my trip, and sorry it was so wordy. I try not to make every post turn into a tome, but I don’t always succeed.
