ICELAND

ICELAND

Man! What a wild ride. I decided on a Wednesday to hop over to Iceland and check it out and look for the northern lights. I try to travel as much as possible and usually ask a few people to join. Most often it’s a no, but to my surprise, my friend cleared her schedule and came to!

I used Delta for the flight with one stop in JFK from Jax. It’s a quick travel time actually. 11 hours or so? And it’s through the night so just pick a seat with empty space around you and sleep through the night. (or try) Once we landed in Reykjavik Iceland, our rental car was offsite. Taking the shuttle over and getting it rented was probably the most aggravating thing and took forever. Next time (and yes there will be a next time), I’ll book a car from the airport and jet out quickly. Also note, make SURE you get a car with unlimited miles.

Iceland is a relatively easy trip. If I waited until I had a plan for travel, I would never go. I just don’t have the time. When I’m home, my head is down and I’m working non stop. Work hard play hard. So if I needed a travel plan or itinerary, it just wouldn’t ever get prioritized. I have a few friends that had gone, and they sent their word documents. And I was meeting a friend (she’s actually my dental hygienist and we became friends), so she sent me a spreadsheet itinerary of her group’s plan. They were getting started on the Ring Road a few days earlier than me so our plan was to go the opposite direction and cross paths.

We landed and were exhausted so stayed one night near Reykjavik in a cute, fun Viking Hotel. The next morning we hit it on out of there and started an unknown journey. I love having nothing booked each night so if we get in an area and really love it, we can stay. Over it? Leave. So we went clockwise around the island, and the first stop was Snæfellsnes Peninsula. There’s little hikes, seal hideouts, a famous mountain from game of thrones you can hike. (I don’t want Game of thrones so sorry for not any info on that), tons of waterfalls.

We drove on that night to the northern part of the island where there’s less going on, but met up with the group who was also trying to cover some ground. We stayed that night at a hostel they had booked. We had a joined kitchen and living area but each in private rooms. So it was great getting to meet that group, see my friend, catch up, yet have our own space when ready to go to bed. There was another couple there from France that got bombarded with our group. But they were great to meet too.

The next morning we visited with the group then headed out to some nearby attractions. And by attractions I mean the icon on google maps you can go see cool stuff. Nature. We saw waterfalls, geothermal baths, did a hike, hung out with some sheep. Epic and long day of exploring.

(North Island: Grjótagjá, Námafjall Hverir Viewpoint, Krafla Lava Fields, Stuðlagil Canyon, Hengifoss just to name a very few)

The next morning were my first glaciers! The glaciers are on the West and Southern part of the island. I’ll be real honest, I knew nothing of Iceland before arriving. Once there I was shocked out how diverse the land was. I had envisioned just very cold and rainy and similar terrain from day to day.

I could have not been more wrong. The geothermal pools wires similar to Yellowstone, and I had no idea there was a national park that was A GLACIER. I think glaciers were my favorite part just because I’ve never seen them before. My brain always aw glaciers as chunks of ice in the ocean. But Iceland has mountains that are glaciers. So much to learn and know…

(West Side of the Island: Breiðamerkursandur, Fjallsjökull, Múlagljúfur Canyon, Grófarlækjarfoss, Svínafellsjökull Glacier, Haoldukvisl glacier, Fjaðrárgljúfur, Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon just to name a very few)

Like I mentioned above, we had no lodging set until the day before. So we found our places as we were going. One was a guesthouse on a horse farm. It was so beautiful. We met a couple from Scottsdale there. Their children were off to college and they were trying to take several big trips a year and make up for lost time of not being able to travel. They put 10 folded pieces of paper in a jar each having spots in the world they want to see. Every few months they pull out a random piece of paper, book and plan a trip to the said spot. And then they add in another favorite. So they always have 10 places they want to go in that jar. They were super fun to meet, and the wife just fell in love with that guesthouse as being the most favorite place she’s ever spent.

Tonya Beaver Photography Studio Location: Jacksonville Beach, FL

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Hi, I’m Tonya, a Jacksonville Florida Photographer. I specialize in photographing weddings, families, and babies. I would love to hear all about your photography needs to see if we’re a right fit for each other. As a photographer, I get to capture the most exciting and life changing experiences in people’s lives. 

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