For several months now, I have been anticipating my visit the land of fire and ice. Nearly every day I have been confronted by images of stunning, other-worldly landscapes from people I follow on Instagram. With each new picture, excitement builds. Now that my trip is complete and I have returned home, all I can say is that Iceland completely exceeded expectations. The pictures I have taken and stories I can tell will not do it justice, but will at least give a flavor of the journey.

Joining me for the adventure was my friend, Cooper. We booked the majority of our lodging in advance, plus two excursions, but the rest of the trip we pretty much winged-it as we went. For me, that is a much more enjoyable way to travel. We had a bias for avoiding touristy locations like the Blue Lagoon (and in fact, we didn’t go).

We did know that we would drive Iceland’s Ring Road, and we knew we would not be driving in the highlands on the F-Roads, which require 4×4 vehicles, since we were rolling in this bad boy.

Not only did we not have 4×4, but we also lacked cruise control and air conditioning. Yay.

Here is our post-trip itinerary, since we didn’t plan it before.

Day 1 – The Golden Circle, Skogar, and hike to Seljavallalaug Hot Spring
Day 2 – Hike Fimmvordhals Trail from Skogar, Vik Beach
Day 3 – Dyrholaey, Fjaòrárgljúfur Canyon, Ad-hoc Glacier Hike, Hofn
Day 4 – Kayak Glacier Lagoon, Skaftafell Hiking, Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon
Day 5 – Drive to Egilsstadir, Eastern Fjords, Stordur Hike, Vinland Camping Pods
Day 6 – Kraffla Lava Flow, Myvatn Nature Bath, Lake Myvatn
Day 7 – Bjorbodin Beer Bath, Western Fjords, Snæfellsnes Penninsula
Day 8 – Explore Reykjavik
Day 9 – Snorkel at Silfra, Reykjavik
Day 10 – Landmannalauger and Laugavegur Hike
Day 11 – Return to Atlanta

Hopefully this will be helpful to anyone looking at a ~10-day trip. I highly recommend exploring the country and not isolating to Reykjavik-based day trips. There is so much more to see.

A few more fun facts before you go…

• I love languages, but I never learned to pronounce a single Icelandic word on this trip. Every time someone spoke, I couldn’t even make out what they were saying. Icelandic is difficult! Any time we tried to pronounce a name, we usually just made a slur of random sounds on purpose. I never encountered anyone that didn’t speak English though.
• There are tons of young kids working in gas stations, restaurants, grocery stores, etc. The legal working age in Iceland is – I think – 13 years old. I would google it for you but I have a whole slew of blog posts to write.
• Hot dogs in abundance. I ate at least 50 hot dogs on the trip. They’re great – made of lamb meat instead of whatever we do in the US. The usual preparation is with two different types of onions: crispy and “raw”. Hot dogs are the cheapest option for a quick meal as food prices in Iceland are outrageous. I was in Manhattan for 3 days before I left for Iceland, and I found myself thinking Manhattan was cheap. A hot dog at the N1 gas station (that’s where you get them, trust me) runs around 395isk, which is ~$3.50.
• Rental cars are pricey, especially the insurance. While our trip was incident free, there are horror stories all over the internet about cars in Iceland. Don’t be nervous about it – driving was pretty simple. The main roads are fine. Just take it slow and try not to get two flat tires at the same time or get stuck in the middle of a field of flowers (both of which we saw others do).
• A lot of the water smells, and tastes, like Sulfur. Yum. This seemed especially tre on the south and west coasts, but less so on the north and east. Sulfur showers are amazing.

Alright, check back shortly for part II, which will cover the first few days of the trip.