I See Iceland (Get it...? 'Cause it's Icy)

When I left for Iceland, I was incredibly excited. However, another part of me was so full of happiness and wonder from all of my other experiences abroad that I didn’t know if Iceland would maintain my travel high. To be honest, it didn’t.

It surpassed it.

After landing, I took the fly bus for an hour in order to get into Reykjavik. I ended up sitting next to a young guy who looked normal enough for a long bus ride. We got to talking, and I learned that he had also grown up in Portland, had lived in Seattle, and now was working for a theatrical management company in New York City! I was dumbfounded by how small of a world we really live in, and how two strangers can have lives that so seamlessly overlap in the strangest of ways.

I got to my hostel carrying probably twice my weight’s worth of worldly possessions on my back, exhausted but surprisingly not at all intimidated by the prospect of traveling solo for the next few days. The good thing about having been on the move so much recently is that I just sort of not only became accustomed to it, but I began to start welcoming it as well.

The Galaxy Pod Hostel is a new feature in the Reykjavik city accommodations scene, and honestly I can’t recommend it more. It was clean, it was quiet, and the people were absolutely lovely. I talked with the Icelandic receptionist Linda for a good hour on my first night. We conversed about all different sorts of aspects of living in Iceland, from the insane number of recent summer tourists to dating apps specifically designed for Icelanders so they can discover if the person they’re sleeping with is closely related to them or not. (That last example sounds crazy, I know, but with a fairly isolated population of only 320,000 in the entire country, it makes a lot of sense.)

Spacey vibes

My first day in Iceland was probably the craziest. I’d decided that I wanted to do something wildly adventurous, and so I chose to go snorkeling. In a volcanic crevasse. In between the North American and European tectonic plates. In Iceland. In the dead of winter.

To be fair, booking it from the safe comfort of my warm bed made it seem like a quaint adventure. As I was stripping down to my base layer in the negative fourteen degrees Celsius chill of Þhingvellir national park, however, my happy-go-lucky perspective dipped. Instead, my thoughts shifted to revolving around the intense fear that I’d just paid $150 to die of hypothermia.

My heart was wildly thumping as all of my common sense screamed at me not to plunge my body into barely above freezing water temperatures. Maybe it was the adrenaline coursing through my veins, or maybe it was the combination of two pairs of wool socks, an insulation layer, and a wet suit that was actually doing its job, but I ended up feeling pretty okay. Not entirely comfortable, but not on the verge of a Titanic tragedy, either. Either way, for a half hour I was able to swim in water that was so blue and clear and cold that had I simply fallen in to the water without any of my layers I would have died after about four minutes of submersion.

Even more interesting during this excursion was the fact that I got to bare witness to a local diver’s association’s Christmas tradition. Every December, there is one day where they bring a fully decorated Christmas tree out into the Silfra canyon, plunge it into the pure glacial water, and haul a generator next to the surface to serve the dual purpose of lighting the tree while simultaneously playing Icelandic Christmas music through underwater speakers. It was probably one of the most surreal experiences of my life to be gasping for breath above the surface of this ancient volcanic fissure only to plunge my head downwards and see the underwater festivities taking place below me.

The snorkeling adventure was only a half-day excursion, so with the remainder of my afternoon I thawed out indoors in a local flea market on the wharf. I loved being able to explore this market because it wasn’t a tourist trap. It was run by and for Icelanders, with all different sorts of foods, tchotchkes, and second hand clothes to rifle through. I sampled some local pastries, and got up the courage to consume both fermented shark (a strange Icelandic favorite) as well as the Black Death (a famous Icelandic spirit).

 So koselig at the flea market!

The next day was much tamer, with a more extensive jaunt into the national park. Everyone always recommends partaking in the Golden Circle tour upon arriving to Iceland, and I figured I would be remiss if I didn’t do it as well. The tour takes you to three major stops: Geyser—similar to Old Faithful of Yellowstone park, Gullfoss—a stunning half frozen waterfall, and rift valley—an overlook of the famous park. We ended the tour by stopping at the Secret Lagoon, a small geothermal bath that has been naturally heated by underground lava. I also went to the more famous Blue Lagoon before I left for the airport, and while it was beautiful I didn’t think that it was as nice as the Secret Lagoon, mainly because of all of the obnoxiously loud British and American tourists. (But I guess technically I’m one of those too. A tourist, that is. I try as hard as I can to not be an obnoxious human. Although sometimes I’m more successful about it than at other times…)

Gullfoss waterfall

The site where Viking parliament took place (up top) and park overlook (below)

Waiting for the geyser to erupt

Walk to the geyser

Beautiful stream

We found Icelandic horses along the way

Such sweet but goofy creatures

Couldn't resist a little selfie up top

Our Icelandic tour guide for the Golden Circle was a hoot! His name was Aðal, and he was an older man with a thick Icelandic accent who would spontaneously burst out into Christmas songs. I’ve never seen anyone drive a bus so terrifyingly fast through such small streets as Aðal did. I also learned some really cool facts about Iceland from his tour. For example…

•      Did you know that Iceland is the youngest landmass in the world, at about 18 million years old? It’s also constantly growing apart and getting bigger by about 2 cm a year since it straddles two divergent tectonic plates. The youngest Icelandic landmass is an island that formed in 1967!
•       Icelandic as a language is fascinating because it is the closest language to what the Vikings spoke—it hasn’t been significantly influenced by other languages or really changed in the past 1100 years!
•       My guide could trace his family’s lineage back to 790 ACE! Originally, there were around 400 Icelandic settlers, and they were very good at writing down their records. But still, that’s over 1200 years of family history! And I thought that my family tree went far back because we have records from the early 1800’s…
•       McDonald’s hasn’t existed in Iceland since 2008 because they wanted to import US beef into the country, and Icelanders refused (Go Iceland!)
•       Over 70% of Icelanders believe in elves, and there are 13 Christmas elves (called the Yule Lads) that are celebrated in the 13 days leading up to Christmas. Our flight crew on the flight back to the states just came on to the intercom to talk about how the first Yule Lad had come for a visit last night! Basically, elves are serious business.

Christmas, by the way, is a very big deal in Iceland. People aren’t particularly super religious anymore, but I think that without having something bright and festive to look forward to in the darkness people would surely go insane. I know that I felt very disoriented in my brief time in Iceland because of the darkness. The sun rises at 11:30 am and sets around 2:30 or 3 pm right now, so daylight is very precious. To make up for this, though, Icelanders in Reykjavik have lots of amazingly vibrant colors and street art peppering the downtown area. I have to say, it certainly made me feel a whole lot cozier. I was also surprised by how hip Reykjavik is. It’s an oasis for artists and creators, with tons of amazing galleries and boutiques. And because Iceland is so isolated, they heavily stress the importance of sustainability, which, being the little tree hugger that I am, I adored.

Reykjavik street art part I

Reykjavik street art part II

Reykjavik street art part III

The stunning Hallgrimskirkja

My last full day in Reykjavik was dedicated to noodling around the city on my own time frame. I met up with my friend Megan from Seattle who was also studying in Oslo and stopping in Iceland on her way home, and we went for a lovely walk around the town. We even got stopped by a photographer from a New York City shoe fashion magazine! She asked to feature a picture of us in her article, which I thought was pretty neat! Megan left around lunchtime to catch her flight, and I walked to the shoreline to have a picnic by myself.

Picnic views

The walk back into town

After lunch, I went to the Saga Museum. This museum was so quirky and cool. It consisted of the history of Iceland from early formation and settlement starting at 500 ACE and covered up until 1500 ACE, all made entirely of life size wax dioramas. After that museum, I wandered over to the Phallological Museum, which, as you might have ascertained from the name, is a museum dedicated entirely to penises. It was here that I saw more penises than I ever imagined my eyes could take in (over 285, in case you were wondering) from all different animals around the globe. I learned with abject horror that I am smaller in size that a grown whale’s penis. If you were to ask me what I gleaned after going to a phallological museum, it’s mostly that I still find dangly bits to be slightly terrifying and strangely fascinating. As a psych major, I also couldn’t help but wonder if the owner of the museum had some sort of intense penis envy. I guess I’ll never know. And frankly, I’m fine with that.

An intimate look into the museum. How many penises can you spot? 

(Hint: They're all penises)

Gift shop goodies. Icelanders certainly have a good sense of humor.

To celebrate the last night on my first solo trip, I took myself out to a nice traditional Icelandic meal of lamb and vegetable soup. The restaurant was small and brightly light. With a warm belly and a tired body, I sat in a cozy window seat and savored my copy of Siddhartha by Herman Hesse.

Although I’ve been alone in Iceland more than I have in my entire time abroad, I haven’t felt lonely. If anything, I’ve felt more connected to the people and places I’ve been because there hasn’t been anything or anyone distracting me from taking it in. Granted, traveling with other people is an amazing and fun experience, too. I’d just never experienced anything else except that joint involvement up until this point.

To be honest, traveling totally alone was always something that terrified me. I didn’t think that I was strong enough or brave enough or smart enough to do it. As it turns out, I was wrong. Having the chance to solely come to terms with what this trip has meant to me enhanced my experience and perception of who I am as a person. If anything, it fueled my courage and wanderlust.

I’m so not ready for this adventure to be over. But I guess that’s the wonderful thing about adventures. When one stops, another starts. The end is never the end. Although this is the finale of another travel blog (woot woot!), I have a feeling that a new beginning is right around the corner…

Thank the Icelandic elves for that!