If you have $640 in your savings account, spend 600 on a round trip flight to Reykjavik and 40 on a Northern Lights tour. I’ll wait while you go and book it. I am only half joking. I looked up the price of a flight out of Boston this weekend, and it’s significantly more than $600 to take a jaunt to Iceland on such short notice. However, if you book a month or two in advance as people normally book their vacations, $600 should be enough. Grace and I booked the Northern Lights Mystery tour with Iceland Excursions in association with Gray Line, a company that runs tours in many…
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What I ate in Reykjavik, and so can you!
If you visit Iceland, you’ll hear about some local delicacies you must try, such as puffin (too cute to eat? think again!), hakarl (fermented shark), and brennevin (strong Icelandic alcohol similar to vodka). Despite these foods being “can’t miss” Icelandic experiences, I didn’t try any of them. Grace did order a stew with lamb in it one evening, and supposedly Icelandic lamb is something one ought to try. I can vouch for the fact that it was tender, and delicious. It may also make you feel slightly guilty because you’re eating a baby animal. Just saying… Regardless, here are some of the interesting places I ate and enjoyed in Reykjavik.…
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Iceland: First Impressions
My friend Grace and I arrived in Iceland around 11pm. After quickly getting our passports stamped and collecting our baggage, we headed out into the parking lot to meet the bus that would take us to our guesthouse in Reykjavik. This is Grace, by the way. She’s been my travel buddy in Iceland. Don’t be deceived by how sunny it is in that photo, Iceland is freezing. We knew summer had ended here, but, when we walked out of the airport, it felt like winter–a harsh change from just a few days earlier when I’d gone swimming at the beach in Rhode Island. After registering the cold, the second thing…
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Weekly Travel Inspiration: I’m in Iceland!
At the risk of appearing self-centered, this week’s travel inspiration is a photo I took today in Iceland. It’s of the geyser Strokkur (which means “chum” in Icelandic) erupting. This geyser erupts every 4 to 8 minutes and is located next to Geysir, also known as The Great Geysir, which is the geyser from which all other geysers get their name. Geysir hasn’t erupted in a long time, and as we stood beside it, our guide cheerfully informed us that if it happened to go off while we were standing there, we would all die. I’m not sure if this is actually true considering many people have witnessed its eruption…
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On My Way
Yesterday morning, I left my mom’s house in Rhode Island to begin The Great European Adventure! Ever the procrastinator, I left packing until the night before, but I think it turned out well. I arrived safely last night in my first stop: Reykjavik, Iceland! And, this morning, I’m ready to start exploring!
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Tea Tuesday: Also Tech Tuesday
Today’s Tea Tuesday is doubling as Tech Tuesday because this post is being written on my new iPad. I didn’t want to take my heavy Macbook with me on my trip so I decided to invest in an iPad and use it in lieu of a laptop for the duration of The Great European Adventure. So far, I’m enjoying it, although, it is an adjustment from my Mac, which has all my photos, music, and bookmarks from the last 4 years of my life. It feels a little strange to start over on a new device; but, then again, I often jokingly call myself a luddite because I adapt to…
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Why Italy isn’t a part of the Great European Adventure
You may have noticed that Italy isn’t on my itinerary for the Great European Adventure, and that was a conscious decision. I’ve stressed to friends and family that I’m keeping my plans open; so, who knows, maybe I’ll end up spending weeks sunning myself on the Amalfi coast or gaining weight in Tuscany. However, there’s a reason that isn’t in the original plan. I have been to Italy once. When I was studying abroad in Barcelona, I challenged myself to stay in the city for the first month. I was giving myself time to adjust to my new home, and proving to myself that I could do this. I could…
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Announcing…
The Great European Adventure! This is the trip that prompted the birth of this blog. It will be my first solo trip abroad, and I can’t wait. My itinerary is below, but let me stress that it is tentative. It outlines the plan for where I will go if I meet no one interesting who asks me to go elsewhere. This is where I’ll be if I never fall in love with a city and need to stay longer, and if I never hate a city and have to get out early—all of which seems very unlikely given what I’ve read on other travel blogs (see: China is what happens…
