Alexis and I traveled to Iceland last June, and I finally just got around to finishing an edit of the adventure. Always been intrigued by how strange the natural landscape looked there. Like something from an alien planet. I can say after the fact, unlike a lot of things in life, the expectation and reality, turned out to be pretty aligned.
We actually had soft plans to go back in 2020, but a global pandemic had thoughts about that. Then, I’m horrified to write the words but, the years just went by. Seemingly faster than a blink. That realization lit some kind of fire, and I ended up buying our plane tickets less than three weeks before our departure. And off we went.
The 7 hour ahead time difference took some adjusting. Adding to that, we were there during The Midnight Sun, which is 24 hours of daylight. Circadian rhythm be damned. It hit Alexis harder than me, which is saying something because I was totally exhausted at the start. We got it figured by the end though.
We were there for 8 “nights” and every day had a lot of structure to it. We slept every night in Reykjavik, Iceland’s largest city, but we alternated days between exploring the city and all-day excursions to experience different parts of the country. The itinerary of these excursions were packed to the brim, with pretty early start times. Following those days up with some exploration in the city at our own pace was a welcomed remedy to the sleep deprivation.
We saw and experienced so much. We abided with the dude at a Big Lebowski themed bar. We walked a guided food tour through Reykjavik that concluded in eating fermented shark chased with a shot of “Black Death”. We floated in geothermal lagoons. Saw mountains and moss covered lava fields as far as the eye could see. Got a good look at some glaciers. Walked on a black sand beach. Trekked coastlines that felt like they shouldn’t exist on our planet. Saw geysers erupt. Shared a meal with strangers on a farm, and more interestingly, in a cave. We explored museums and got close enough to lava to feel its heat, which turns out, is not very close at all. Got some Sun sipping beers on a patio at 11pm. And there were waterfalls. Countless waterfalls. We even ran through one. We took to a boat in search of puffins. And on the topic of animals, Alexis made sure to pet every one she came across. I could’ve made the entire edit of just her petting animals.
In the end, it was an adventure filled with natural wonders and culture different than our own. The best ingredients for a trip of this nature. Very humbling, and very inspiring. Couldn’t capture it all, but even still, the footage will do a better job than my words. Skál!
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Alexis and I traveled to Iceland last June, and I finally just got around to finishing an edit of the adventure. Always been intrigued by how strange the natural landscape looked there. Like something from an alien planet. I can say after the fact, unlike a lot of things in life, the expectation and reality, turned out to be pretty aligned.
We actually had soft plans to go back in 2020, but a global pandemic had thoughts about that. Then, I’m horrified to write the words but, the years just went by. Seemingly faster than a blink. That realization lit some kind of fire, and I ended up buying our plane tickets less than three weeks before our departure. And off we went.
The 7 hour ahead time difference took some adjusting. Adding to that, we were there during The Midnight Sun, which is 24 hours of daylight. Circadian rhythm be damned. It hit Alexis harder than me, which is saying something because I was totally exhausted at the start. We got it figured by the end though.
We were there for 8 “nights” and every day had a lot of structure to it. We slept every night in Reykjavik, Iceland’s largest city, but we alternated days between exploring the city and all-day excursions to experience different parts of the country. The itinerary of these excursions were packed to the brim, with pretty early start times. Following those days up with some exploration in the city at our own pace was a welcomed remedy to the sleep deprivation.
We saw and experienced so much. We abided with the dude at a Big Lebowski themed bar. We walked a guided food tour through Reykjavik that concluded in eating fermented shark chased with a shot of “Black Death”. We floated in geothermal lagoons. Saw mountains and moss covered lava fields as far as the eye could see. Got a good look at some glaciers. Walked on a black sand beach. Trekked coastlines that felt like they shouldn’t exist on our planet. Saw geysers erupt. Shared a meal with strangers on a farm, and more interestingly, in a cave. We explored museums and got close enough to lava to feel its heat, which turns out, is not very close at all. Got some Sun sipping beers on a patio at 11pm. And there were waterfalls. Countless waterfalls. We even ran through one. We took to a boat in search of puffins. And on the topic of animals, Alexis made sure to pet every one she came across. I could’ve made the entire edit of just her petting animals.
In the end, it was an adventure filled with natural wonders and culture different than our own. The best ingredients for a trip of this nature. Very humbling, and very inspiring. Couldn’t capture it all, but even still, the footage will do a better job than my words. Skál!