Watching bright red magma begin to bubble and flow over the basin of barely cooled, yet already black and hardened, rock was a moment that reminded me of what it means to be alive. As the lava gushed upward, arcing through the air so gracefully and so deadly, the rock beneath it pulsed like the heartbeat of the earth- waking up after an eternity.
Stare was all that any of us could seem to do as we stood at the top of an active volcano. Mesmerizing doesn’t begin to touch how that moment felt.
Later, looking down at the water of the blue lagoon in the dark of night, only to see the reflection of the volcano erupting in the semi-distant night sky, knowing that we had stood there no more than 3 hours before, I was really reminded of how so much in life is down to chance. The way we walk into a room at the right time or happen to meet someone that turns into a lifelong best friend, maybe just the way that we seem to have control but really never know what is waiting around the corner.
In the Land of Fire and Ice
Iceland: the land of fire and ice as it is so aptly named. A magical place filled with waterfalls and rainbows and coasts every which way. There are glaciers and volcanoes and hot springs, geysers that spray so suddenly.
The geysers mirror the volcanoes, though enough of either one’s liquid center could destroy the other.
The glaciers are like a distant cousin to the thermal waters that can be found across the island, opposite but the same.
Nature, so old that it is incomprehensible, manages to be so truly tangible in this place full of wonder.
1- Arriving to Iceland
On our first day in Iceland, we hiked a waterfall with not a soul else in sight. It felt like we were ready to take on this place that had so much to offer, as the spray of the waterfall turned into mist on our faces and we talked about how we had finally made it. The northern lights had welcomed us to this island from our plane, during our pre-dawn traverse of the ocean, and it was a beautiful beginning.
We were exhausted, and a little delirious, even, but we were together on a new adventure. My childhood best friend was finally getting to meet some more of my other closest friends, and vice-versa. It was a day filled with possibilities, even found in the mundane, as we inspected our camper van and grabbed some groceries at a local chain store.
2- Icelandic Tomatoes
Day two consisted of touring the Golden Circle, but even the most well-known part of the country felt secluded, real. Walking around the crater and watching a geyser erupt, before walking so close to a waterfall whose power put our day 1 destination to shame, it was like those moments were made for us. We marveled at the beauty we encountered at every turn and reveled in the moments in between, there in the camper van that was everything we could have asked for.
Visiting a tomato farm seated in a greenhouse, with unlimited tomato soup on hand, only made things that much better. The table with the soup warmers and fresh bread reminded me so deeply of the setup that we used to frequent during our time living and studying on the ship where most of us met. It was comforting and nostalgic and gave us a beautiful moment of warmth as the air outside remained cold and damp.
3- Glaciers Upon Glaciers
The third day brought us to the biggest glacier in Europe, but not until after we had ventured alongside a canyon that was as deep as it was green (and that means very.) Somewhere in between those two destinations, we hiked to a small glacier that was connected to a section of the huge main glacier. Experiencing that insanely secluded glacial space, alone again, before taking a boat tour in the more well-known lagoon, served to set the tone that this nature is such an intricate part of the landscape in Iceland.
Not every glacier is made into a tourist destination because, though they are surreal and beautiful and ancient, they are just one part of a whole that is the island itself. That was proven again as we walked along the black sands of Diamond Beach, where the glacial ice chunks float to sea, all at different stages of slow yet steady erosion. Time is one thing that cannot be escaped- it always catches up, sometimes more quickly than not.
4- All of the Nature
Day four consisted of mountains, a hike to a waterfall, and lunch with a clear view of the same glacier from the day before. That meal felt like the most idealistic parts of watching people who live in vans full-time and though I’ve always been intrigued by that lifestyle, it made me think that maybe I will try it out for myself, for real, one day.
The waterfall was surrounded by beautiful columns of rock, akin to the Giant’s Causeway in Ireland, clearly created by the volcanic forces of the island. To see volcanic creations so near to a glacier which is so unimaginably large was another moment that made me indescribably grateful. It made me think about how absolutely breathtaking and complex our world can be when it is left as it was created.
That night, the stars above our campsite stirred up something else entirely in me. It felt just like a moment I had experienced just under 3 years earlier, among the rocky islands of Vietnam’s Halong Bay with people that I had met at the same time as the friends I planned this trip with. The synchronicity of the similar-looking rocky shadows against a night sky blanketed with the constellations was something that brought me an immense sense of peace. All was right in the world because I’ve been lucky enough to create a life that I am constantly in awe of.
Almost poetically, it turned to a new day as I stood under the stars. A day exactly 3 years since I’d embarked on the greatest journey of my life so far, on a ship that circled the globe. The anniversary of a day that serendipitously caused the chain reaction that had placed me in the exact spot that I was standing at midnight on September 9th in the mountains of Iceland.
5- A Plane and a Pool
Five days into our trip, we woke up surrounded by the peaks of a mountain whose embrace we had slept in. Later in the day, we saw the blue ocean water crash against black sand beaches and the decades-old wreckage of a small plane crash that has become a staple of Icelandic tourists’ Instagrams. The warmth of the morning inside the mountains coated in bright green continued to keep me warm even as we found ourselves in the cold wind near the coast.
Our day was supposed to end at a hot spring that we had long-awaited, but the idealistic image was not quite met when we finally arrived. That subtle misfortune later brought us to a community pool in a town called Hella where we were fortunate to meet other travelers and learned about the Scandanavian spa circuit. We had a chance to interact with those around us more than we had yet to on the trip and remembered that we were just a few of many on a similar path- literally.
6-Into The City
After a night of new experiences, we spent a beautifully overcast morning in the cafe of another area on the way back West, where we’d hoped to find a hot spring. It was there, but our timing was a little less up to par. Still, sitting in that cafe for a while reminded me so much of a morning I’d spent in the rain outside of Zion, still ‘out West’ just on another continent somewhere else entirely.
We finally ventured into the streets of Reykjavik for an afternoon of exploring before our first and only night out. The grey cast from the rain was contrasted by the famous rainbow street and shops that were both warm and inviting. At night, we danced and we sang and we fell asleep to the pouring rain as it hit the metal shell of our ever so temporary vehicle of a home.
7- Water and Magma Both Flow
Day six, our last, was the coolest of the trip and one of the top days of my life. Hiking a volcano to see the magma flow was followed by a dip in the stunning Blue Lagoon, and it was all rounded out by the volcanic eruption seen from a safe, but still incredibly close, distance. The words are difficult to find, but the feeling of walking a few feet back to the trail, before inevitably turning back to stare at the flowing magma for just one more second is one that I will not soon forget.
Sheer awe, admiration, and gratitude to be in such a deeply beautiful and moving place ran through my veins as we ran down the path on the side of the volcano that we had just hiked. I felt like I was flying as the wind rushed by and strangers laughed at the little group of twenty-somethings letting gravity pull us back toward our van, hurrying to make our reservation at the lagoon just a little later than intended.
Then, just like that, it was over. Another moment in time passed, left to the clutches of a memory that is fueled by the photos and videos and iPhone notes I jotted down when I reallllly wanted to make sure that I remembered something.
That’s the beauty of it. I always try so hard to find a balance- between documentation and presence, between the now and the future I know that I will be experiencing nostalgia in. I documented this trip, but I also lived it so consciously and purposefully. Just me and 3 of my best friends, in a van, letting life take us where it would.
Our General Iceland Itinerary
Sunday 10/5:
Arrive in Reykjavik
Snaefellsnes Peninsula
Bjarnfoss Waterfall
Londrangar Rocky Point by the water
Svörtuloft Lighthouse
Monday 10/6:
The Golden Circle
Kerid Crater
Fridheimar Tomato Farm
Geysir Geothermal Area
Gullfoss Waterfall
Tuesday 10/7:
Vík Church/Town
Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon
Svínafellsjökull Glacier
Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon
Breiðamerkurjökull Glacier
Diamond Beach
Wednesday 10/8:
Vík Camping
Vestrahorn Mountain
Stokknes
Svartifoss
Svínafellsjökull
Thursday 10/9:
þakgil Camping
Dyrhólaey Viewpoint and Lighthouse
Sólheimasandur Plane Wreck
Skógafoss
Seljavallalaug Swimming Pool
Hella Community Pool
Friday 10/10:
Hella Campsite
Reykjadalur cafe
Reyjkavik
Rainbow Street
Hallgrimskirkja (Largest Church in Iceland)
Omnom Ice Cream (As seen on Down to Earth with Zac Efron)
KiKi Queer Bar
Saturday 10/11:
Fagradalsfjall Volcano
Langihryggur Ridge (of the volcano listed above) in the Geldingadalir Valley
The Blue Lagoon
Vogar Campsite
Sunday 10/12:
Flying back home
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