"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness… Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime" – Mark Twain
We finally decided on our next destination. Me being me, I have been planning my next vacation since the day I got back from my last one, but I changed my mind about every week until a few days ago. Seriously guys, I’m ridiculous and incapable of making decisions on my own.
A few days ago, my daily check (ok, fine, thrice-daily) of air ticket prices finally sprung me into action- tickets to Guatemala had dropped for the dates I wanted. I jumped on it, and here I am, finalizing all the plans and details that I had been half-ass working on for months. WOOHOO!
Guatemala will be an entirely different trip from Iceland. Iceland was fairly cold (obviously) and packed full of adventure– which I absolutely loved (like, really loved). But I love other things too, which is why I decided my next trip would be warm, relaxing, and filled with fascinating culture.
From my previous travels to Central America, I already knew that the area is extremely cheap to travel to and around, but Guatemala is even cheaper than most of the other countries. A lot of people have this idea that it is dangerous, and so tourism has not really picked up as much there. While there are certainly parts of Guatemala that I will want to avoid, as long as you are smart, there’s really no more danger there than anywhere else. Since it is so cheap, I will be able to afford nicer accommodations and personal transportation. Because this girl is not jumping on a chicken bus town to town. No thank you.
Guatemala is also a cultural gem of Central America. There is still a large indigenous Mayan population, particularly in the highlands. There are many local markets, like Chichicastenango, full of colorful woven textiles, fruits, and vegetables. Old colonial cities like Antigua are full of charm, and Lake Atitlan, one of the most beautiful lakes in the world, is surrounded by small Mayan villages. There are also several Mayan ruins, including Tikal, a major site in the middle of the jungle.
While I hope to relax quite a bit on this trip- do some yoga on my terrace, sit on my dock and sip coffee with my feet in the water, curl up next to the fireplace in the cooler evenings and read a book-, there are also plenty of activities I look forward to as well. I plan on hiking a volcano or two, maybe doing a canopy tour, kayaking around the lake, and definitely jumping off a cliff and paragliding.
Because YOLO ;).
I remember reading about the hot springs and waterfalls of Iceland when I was younger, and deciding that I needed to visit someday. Where I live, everyone leans toward warm beach getaways for their vacations, and I, too, am typically a fan of more tropical weather. However, as a lover of all things nature, I was gravitated toward this little island with a fraction of the population of the city I live in.
At the end of December, I was ready to get away. I suggested to Anthony we go to Iceland over his spring break, and a week later, our plane tickets were booked for one week in March. I knew I wouldn’t have the time to get as much out of Iceland as I would have liked, so I decided to focus on one area of it. Fortunately for us, one small portion of one small island happened to have plenty of beauty to be seen. One week after returning, there are many sights/activities/moments that really stand out to me.
The Highlights
Peace and Solitude– A lot of people would prefer to stay in the city and experience the nightlife and the excitement, but I loved staying on the coast 20 minutes from town. There was no light pollution, no noise pollution… nothing but stars (when the clouds dispersed) and waves. We kept ourselves so busy, that it was refreshing to get back to the house and just breathe and feel the power of the wind across the ocean.
Golden Circle– The Golden Circle includes Þingvellir National Park, Geysir, and Gullfoss waterfall. There are many tours that will take you along this route which, unfortunately, meant that there were a lot of other people at these sights while we were there, but there’s a reason for that: They are gorgeous. The drive alone to Þingvellir was enough to take our breath away, especially since we were making it at dawn. And Gullfoss was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.
Snorkeling Silfra– Clear water and incredible visibility, all while knowing that you are swimming between two continental plates and feeling like you’re a total badass for being in 2 degree C water (no matter that you can’t feel it). Not to mention, it makes such a great story.
Hiking– It was exhilarating having no real time constraints and being able to just stop and explore when we found something of interest. There were times when we knew exactly what we would find during or at the end of a hike which brought us much excitement, and there were other times when we had no idea and felt like we were just stumbling upon something wonderful. Amazingly, the latter can happen quite frequently in Iceland.
Seljalandsfoss– You get to a point when you’re in Iceland where waterfalls start failing to impress you. It’s just another waterfall. We’ve already seen 100 others. Seljalandsfoss, on the other hand, still very much impressed. It was tall. It was powerful. It was stunning. And we could walk behind it. I stood behind it for so long that my face was numb from all of the cold spray, but I didn’t even notice. Probably my favorite moment in all of Iceland.
Dyrhólaey– There is something so surprisingly meditative about the force and power you experience at Dyrhólaey. Standing on top of cliffs that shake with the force of waves crashing into them was somehow calming to us. The views were spectacular, and we just could not help but be impressed by how violent the water was.
Driving While Listening to Of Monsters and Men on Repeat– Sometimes, it’s the small things. Maybe it’s a silly, touristy thing to do, but Of Monsters and Men is one of our favorite bands, and they also happen to be from Iceland. Throughout the whole trip, we listened to their album on repeat, and somehow, it just fit. The music was the perfect soundtrack to the vistas around us. And looking back on those moments, driving through mountains and breathing in crisp, cool air while listening to them, just brings such a smile to my face.
I move slow and steady
But I feel like a waterfall
Yeah, I move slow and steady
Past the ones that I used to know
My dear old friend, take me for a spin Two wolves in the dark, running in the wind I’m letting go, but I’ve never felt better Passing by all the monsters in my head
I move slow and steady
But I feel like a waterfall
Yeah, I move slow and steady
Past the ones that I used to know
Glacier Hiking– I was not really looking forward to hiking a glacier. I didn’t think that walking on ice sounded all that cool, and it was really just a time filler for while we were in the area. In fact, we almost cancelled it. But, I am so glad we didn’t. The glacier was so beautiful glistening under the sun, and getting those views and the history while stomping through ice wearing crampons was such a unique experience.
What I Would Do Differently
There are so many ways of doing Iceland.
You can do a short trip, staying in Reykjavik with day tours to different target sports.
You can go in the summertime, rent a car, bring a tent, and drive the ring road, stopping to camp when you get tired.
You can go in the wintertime with the primary intent being to see the Northern Lights, rent a car, and head wherever they may show up that evening, getting accommodations once you arrive.
For me personally, I like the flexibility of those options, but I would prefer not to fight the crowds in summer and would prefer to have more daylight than in winter. Early spring or late fall seems ideal to me, but next time, I would aim for the “summer season” (April-September) so that I could do a boat tour of
Jökulsárlón and a whale watching tour with a good possibility of seeing humpbacks, minkes, dolphins, and puffins.
The southwest and south coast were out-of-this-world beautiful, but I couldn’t help but feel I was missing out by not seeing the rest of the country. So, I would really try to have enough time to drive the whole ring road, with excursions to the west fjords, Snæfellsnes peninsula, and the Golden Circle.
I would also allow much more wiggle room in the schedule. That way, I could stay longer in one particular area if it’s really speaking to me, or I could go chase the Northern Lights elsewhere if there is a good possibility of seeing them.
Lastly, I would try to allow more time to visit the natural hot springs in Iceland. We didn’t make it to any until our last day in Iceland, and we had to rush through them to get to the airport. There is nothing quite like stripping down in the middle of nowhere in a cold country, changing into your bathing suit, and hopping into a natural hot spring with nothing and no one to be seen other than mountains, streams, and waterfalls.
Interesting Sidenote: Did you know that there are many scenes in the HBO series Game of Thrones that were filmed in Iceland? You were seeing the Lake Mývatn area in Season 3 when the characters were “north of the wall”, and Season 4 will bring you sights of the Golden Circle for Westeros.
And that’s not the only fame Iceland has been experiencing. One of our hosts informed us that the new movie Noah was also filmed in Iceland. It’s easy to see why. The varying landscapes, stormy skies, and tumultuous waves fit the picture perfectly.
Our final day in Iceland was bitter-sweet. The trip was fantastic, but fast. We were certainly exhausted but not ready to be back home. We joked about staying, or maybe hopping on a different plane going anywhere but back.
We let ourselves sleep in a little bit and woke up to another delicious breakfast by our host. Afterward, we packed up our stuff and started driving back West.
While driving, we saw a beautiful valley between mountains that had around 10 waterfalls flowing into it, so we turned down the gravel road to check it out.
We reached the end of the road and parked, seeing a river to hike along. After awhile we saw some steam, so we decided to go as far as that before turning around. That’s when we saw the hot pool in the ground. We stripped down and changed into our bathing suits to hop in.
The water was a bit cooler than we would have liked, so we didn’t stay in very long. We changed again and started our half hour hike back to the car. We still had a few hours until we needed to be at the airport, so we decided to take a detour to a small village called Flúðir that we had heard rumor was hiding a small hot spring of its own.
It took some searching but eventually we found a small parking lot in the middle of nowhere and decided to park and hike over the hill to see if the hot spring was there. We got over the hill and saw a river which sparked our excitement, but it was freezing. We continued on over another hill, and there it was. A beautiful, clear hot spring with steam coming from it that flowed on as a stream. We changed back into our wet, cold suits and hopped in.
The water temperature was perfect, as were the views.
We knew we didn’t have long, so we soaked it in quickly and got back out to head on our way. We had spent more time there than I had planned, so we started rushing to the airport.
Unfortunately, our GPS got us lost in Reykjavik, causing me to enter freak-out mode. We finally found the highway we needed and sped to the airport, stopping just to gas the rental car back up.
My concern was for naught as we had no problems returning the car and making it to our air terminal before our plane took off.
Once back in the air, we bade farewell to magnificent Iceland and its blue ocean, volcanic landscape, and white mountains.
