Sunday, September 4, 2016

Iceland is Our Land: Our Itinerary, Photos, Packing List, and More

I'll be honest. When Zach first told us we were taking eighteen people to a mostly-unpopulated country with a different language and different currency, I thought he was crazy. But our Iceland trip ended up being one of the best trips of our lives (mostly thanks to the 18 people who made our adventure extra special)!


Zach spent countless hours on the itinerary, and it ended up being perfect for our 6-day trip. Most of the rest of this stuff we figured out as we went, which only added to the adventure. But as several of our friends and family are also planning trips to Iceland, we decided to write it all down for you!

OUR ITINERARY

Iceland is Our Land: Day 1 (BWI to Keflavik, plus The Golden Circle)
Iceland is Our Land: Day 2 (Seljalandsfoss, Myrdalsjokull Glacier, Dyrholaey, Vik, and THE ENGAGEMENT)
Iceland is Our Land: Day 3 (Solheimasandur plane crash and Fjadrarglijufur Canyon)
Iceland is Our Land: Day 4 (Kirkjufell, Saxholl, Snaefellsjokull National Park, Songhellir, the Black Church)
Iceland is Our Land: Day 5 (Hot River in Hvergerdi and Reykjavik)
Iceland is Our Land: Day 6 (Reykjavik and back to BWI)


PACKING LISTS AND THINGS TO KNOW

Things to Know Before You Go: Helpful tips for cell phone plans, credit cards, and more
What to Pack for Iceland in the Summer: A packing list to avoid extraneous baggage fees

To see our trip from other perspectives, search for #icelandisourland or #operationpetapuffin on all social media outlets. Also, enjoy this SUPER WICKED AWESOME drone video from Max!


Iceland is Our Land: What to Pack for Iceland in the Summer

Before I give you my Iceland packing list, you need to know a few things about me:

1) I am a minimalist at home as well as abroad,
2) I am perfectly content wearing the same articles of clothing over and over, and
3) We were traveling with a group of 18, so some things we planned ahead and shared.

Outfit of the Day: Day 1
That said, I'll give you the list of everything I used (and didn't use) during our 5 day (+2 days of travel) adventure. Now that WOW Air recently upped their carry-on weight allowance from 11 pounds to 22 pounds, I will most certainly not be paying for the extra baggage fee again. (Side note: WOW Air is incredible, and we will most certainly be flying with them again! Hence knowing I will not pay for the extra bag in the future.)

Outfit of the Day: Day 2
Here's the thing: As your time in Iceland will be a LOT of walking and hiking, most people in Iceland are dressed far more for comfort than style. In the summer, highs are in the mid-to-high 50's, and lows dip down to the mid-40's, which was bearable even coming from 95+ degrees and 90% humidity. It rains most days, at least for a few hours, so if there is one article of clothing you absolutely must pack, its a raincoat. In fact, a raincoat is 100% non-negotiable. I picked one up at a local North Face outlet right before we left, and I wore it 80% of the trip. Speaking of rain: As cute as your skinny jeans are, leave them at home, because wet denim is miserable, and you will get wet. (Ok, ok, I have to add that some of our group did wear jeans, but personally I would have died.)

Outfit of the Day: Day 3
I bought a pair of Hunter rain boots for this trip, and I didn't once regret them. For more strenuous hiking and climbing, I'd recommend a back-up pair of running or hiking shoes, but only one hike we took had me wishing for shoes less clunky than my boots (and more than once I was thankful for how dry they kept my feet, so it was worth the trade off). We covered about 8-12 miles per day of walking, and even still my running shoes stayed in my bag until the return trip home. That said, if you are only taking running or hiking shoes, I'd suggest two pairs, because one will inevitably get wet (and they don't dry nearly as fast as rain boots). 

Are you with me so far? North Face rain jacket and red Hunter boots. No jeans. Alright, here we go -- your packing list for Iceland in the summer. 



A few notes: 
  • The AirBNB had a hair dryer, which proved to be invaluable for flash-drying shoes and socks, as there was a washer but not a clothes dryer where we stayed.
  • I also borrowed a curling iron one day and brought a straightener (which I didn't use, because #raineveryday), but I could have gone without both. 
  • Gloves would have been nice one of the particularly windy and rainy days, but I didn't feel like they were essential enough to buy a pair (and they are everywhere if you need them). 
  • We did not end up going to the Blue Lagoon, as we forgot to pre-book and it was full, but that may have been an opportunity to use the flip flops. 
  • We also packed Clif bars, protein bars, protein powder, and gluten free bread, but we could have gone without everything but the GF bread. Food is expensive in Iceland, but we ate less than we thought and would have been better off not paying the baggage fee (and honestly, was it just our group or does everyone's appetite have a one-Clif-bar-a-day limit?).
  • Thanks to the trusty rain coat I know you're going to pack, you're going to look mostly the same in each day's pictures anyway. So pack light, enjoy the journey, and avoid those extraneous baggage fees. :)

Outfit of the Day: Day 4. Which looks exactly like Day 1 thanks to my raincoat and 2 pairs of identical leggings. Did I mention you need a raincoat?

Iceland is Our Land: Before You Go to Iceland

Iceland's official language is not English, they don't take the American dollar, and most cell phone plans do not work in Iceland (or are SUPER expensive to activate). So I thought I'd give you a few tips and tricks to save you money and worrying before you head out to Iceland!


  • Internet and phone usage. If you have access to an unlocked smart phone, buying a SIM card in the Keflavik airport is the way to go. 1 GB of data cost us 20,000 ISK, which equated to about $18 USD, which was far less than the GPS rental for the week. Waze worked wonderfully in Iceland and helped us find our way from place to place.
  • Walkie talkies. We were traveling with a group of 18 people, so communication was at a premium. One of our group members brought four Walkie talkies, one for each rental car, and they were AWESOME to prevent having to buy SIM cards for everyone. Walkies obviously aren't necessary, but if you have more than one car traveling together, they can make your life so much easier.
  • Credit cards vs. exchanging cash. Credit cards were accepted literally everywhere we went, so we never even exchanged the first USD for ISK. From gift shops to grocery stores to food stands, chipped credit cards were the gold standard for transactions. That said, you will need a debit card (or some sort of PIN on your credit card) to use the gas pumps at most stations. With the exception of one station, the pumps at most gas stations required a PIN with a card transaction and would not let us simply bypass this step like in America. Seeing as our credit card had no PIN, the pumps kept declining the transaction and we had to use someone else's debit card. Another option would have been to pre-pay inside the station (but keep in mind most of them are NOT open 24-hours), and I believe most chain gas stations had pre-paid gas cards to purchase, though we did not end up using them.
  • Food (or lack thereof). Keep an eye on the time for food and plan ahead, as we didn't find a single 24-hour grocery store or restaurant. Most closed by 9, which sounds late, but when it stayed light until 10 or 10:30, we often kept hiking and missed dinner. Stock up at a BONUS early in the trip, because it's way cheaper than any food around! We were sad to find our first BONUS (and see that we paid double the prices at a local grocery store in Laugarvatn) on the very last stop of our trip.
  • Respecting the land. Icelandic culture places a very high value on preserving nature, and they consider it disrespectful to ignore posted signs warning visitors not to cross roped areas. That said, many places we went had an open policy when it came to exploring on the land, so you just have to feel it out and note if the signs are meant to warn of potential danger or simply to preserve the land (if the latter, stay off). Also, Iceland's safety standards are obviously lower than the U.S., so it's always up to you to keep yourself safe.
  • Emergencies. The emergency number is 112.
  • English. Nearly everyone spoke some English, but the locals did seem to appreciate our attempts to use basic Icelandic words, like saying "takk" for thank you. Overall, we didn't feel like the Icelandic natives or the international tourists had a particular liking for Americans, so try to avoid the stereotypes that we are loud and rude and ignore rules (see "respecting the land" above). Also, just FYI, the words "stupid Americans" are cognates in many languages, so it's pretty easy to tell when they're mad at you.
  • Gluten free. Eating gluten free can be a challenge in Iceland, particularly when you are stuck eating food from a gas station on long days, but most restaurants at least knew what it was (although they use the word "celiac" to describe a wide array of food intolerances). Some restaurants had marked gluten free dinners, and our local grocery store did carry one option for GF bread. That said, I absolutely did not regret packing a loaf of GF bread from home.
  • Drinking the water. Our shower and taps were fed by local hot spring, so all of our water smelled and tastes like eggs. Sulfur water is safe to drink, but we learned to let the cold water run for 3-4 minutes before drinking to make it more palatable.

Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Iceland is Our Land: Day 6



Waking up in Reykjavik was one of the highlights of the trip. I only wish we could have stayed another 3 days or so in the city! Mostly I’d like to come back because our AirBNB was one of the most incredible places I've ever stayed. There were a few smaller rooms for the guys, a big open room with 6 or so beds for the girls, and a perfect room for Brian and I overlooking the sidewalk just out our window (we were the only married couple at this location). The owners were a husband and wife who lived upstairs, he a former headmaster in England and she a native of Iceland who had both moved to Reykjavik after retiring. They also had a cat named Pumpkin, who was accustomed to sleeping in our room and snuggled with us most of the night. I would literally be tempted to come back to Iceland just to curl up in this BNB with one of the many sheep's wool blankets, Pumpkin, and a good book. I never thought I'd love a city this much, but Reykjavik won me over!

Our room at the AirBNB, PC: Brian T
Snuggling with Pumpkin, PC: Brian T
The living space just outside our room, PC: Brian T
The outside of our AirBNB, PC: Brian T

We explored a little more of Reykjavik before heading back to the airport in Keflavik.

Main street of Reykjavik, PC: Brian T
This bakery smelled heavenly. They were literally baking bread right in front of us. PC: Callie T
Brian with his bread, PC: Callie T
Reykjavik, PC: Brian T
They had these trolls EVERYWHERE in the city, PC: Brian T
Guessing which breakfast sandwich he wanted, PC: Brian T
Gluten free crepes!, PC: Brian T
Cathedral of Reykjavik, PC: Sam W
Driving one last time through Reykjavik, PC: Sam W
We said "see ya later" to Iceland, boarded our plane on the runway just as we had landed, and took off for good ol' America.

Boarding our plane, PC: Landry J
Our trip wouldn’t have been complete without getting stuck in customs waiting out a vicious storm in Baltimore! Though we didn’t get back to Lexington until 6 a.m., we enjoyed these last few unexpected hours together. :)

Stuck in BWI, PC: Jane B