Iceland | The land of fire and ice

We checked off another bucket list trip, this time North to Iceland. Known as the land of fire and ice, or in summer, also the land of the midnight sun. We spent 10 days traveling the country in a camper van. We rented our unit from Kuku Campers, which was one of the more affordable companies we found. Our van had a whopping 1200km on it, so pretty much brand new. This would be our home on wheels, our snail shell, our comfort from the cold winds for the duration of our trip. Embarrassingly enough, I’m 34 and still don’t know how to drive standard. First gear and me just don’t jive well, which ultimately meant Will was behind the wheel the whole time, and I took the role of navigator.

The Icelandic landscapes are diverse. Harsh and barren volcanic deserts, black sand beaches, deep fjords, glaciers, snowy mountains (many that looked like they’d previously had their peaks blown off), and beautiful cascading waterfalls. A land where the lava meets ice.

Being there end of May beginning of June, meant 20 hour days of sun. Although the sun just slightly tucks itself below the horizon, before rising again, so it never gets dark. This made for some long days exploring, and we managed to cover a lot of ground within those 10 days. The ring road, to a portion of the West Fjords, and the Snaefellsnes Peninsula. Checking off most of the things we wanted to see, minus a few things that were still closed for the season.

We hiked, bathed in geothermal rivers and pools. We saw so many waterfalls, almost to the point of becoming desensitized to them. We experience the bitter cold wind that everyone always talks about, and the gusts that feel like you’re going to get blown off the roads.

I think my favorite thing, were the sheep. May is the high lambing season which I didn’t even know until I just looked it up. Apparently there are almost half a million sheep in Iceland, outnumbering the human population. I think they are just adorable, and I was slightly obsessed where them bouncing all over the place.

It was beautiful, and like no other trip we’ve done. Living out of a van for 10 days, kinda makes you want to buy one for home.

Here are some of the many photos I took.