Iceland – Departure Day

Our completely unplanned trip to Iceland came about in a matter of days. Jenny had a weeks vacation with plans for one of her best friends to visit from the States; but her friend’s planned trip to Europe was cancelled so the additional week added on to visit Jenny was also cancelled. An alternative plan was hatched for Jenny to head to Marseille to visit a girl that had been our French Exchange Student when Jenny was in tenth grade. She and Clara became fast friends over the course of her six night stay with us, and just as with everybody Jenny makes a connection with, she relishes maintaining a relationship with them, so a chance to reunite was exciting but, unfortunately, those plans fell through too and Jenny found herself with a week’s vacation and an itch to go somewhere further than a bus would take her. So what’s a travel-loving, doting mom to do? Exactly! She’s meant to offer up her time as a travel companion and once accepted, figure something out and fast!

Initially, Jenny suggested Croatia but logistically that was going to be more of a challenge. I suggested Morocco which I thought for sure she would jump at but there was some concern about us traveling as solo females. A very quick discussion on Italy had us realize that eating our way down the Amalfi Coast was to be avoided. So, I suggested Iceland – we actually had a substantial amount of Icelandair vouchers to use from a prior planned trip and it was as close to a half way point as we could get (well maybe the Azores would have been more in the middle) but Jenny said Iceland was perfect – she said she felt like time hiking and being submersed in raw nature was just what she was looking for.

Anybody who knows us, or who read our Alaska blog, knows we love road trips. We are not afraid of hours behind a windshield and seldom, if ever, find the scenery boring. Jenny’s favorite part of our drives cross country to the cabin is the part from Oklahoma City to Albuquerque- a wasteland by most accounts, but she sees beauty in it. She loves the vastness of the prairies and the far-as-you-can-see horizons. So she asked if we could do the Ring Road drive, basically circumnavigate the whole of Iceland, minus a few of the outlying areas. She knew it meant more time driving and less time on foot; more time packing and unpacking and less time relaxing; more time feeling like nomads and less time being settled but that’s what she wanted- so that’s what I planned.

Iceland’s tourist infrastructure is limited and by many accounts is overstretched with the numbers they have arriving on a daily basis- tourists far outnumber locals on many days. Finding lodging as we moved nightly in a clockwise direction certainly had its challenges but I managed to get it all booked, even if I was doing so up until two days before departure.

The day before departure I received an email that my planned afternoon flight was cancelled. Like every trip we have taken in the last four years- none have gone off without a hitch and this one too, was to be no different. But, I was rebooked on an overnight flight- far from ideal as I had planned to actually have a full night’s sleep before heading off to drive in a foreign country, deciphering foreign signs, navigating foreign roundabouts, and most likely facing some challenging weather conditions. But, not to be defeated, I decided to keep to the original plan and hope that after checking into the hotel at 8:00AM (ten hours after my original planned time), I would be able to grab a couple hours of sleep before heading out to pick up groceries and then head back to the airport to pick up Jenny before starting the trek towards the first night’s stop on the Snaefellsnes Peninsula.

If there is anything we have learned from all of our trips around the globe is if you aren’t flexible, adaptable and amenable, you are DOA before you even make it out the door.

The one good thing about my flight being changed, was we could enjoy a leisurely evening the night before to celebrate Billy’s birthday and Billy didn’t have to make the four hour round trip to Boston as the Amtrak schedule worked perfectly.

I was hauling an extra bag that I normally wouldn’t take but all, and I mean all, of the clothes Jenny needed to be properly outfitted for our trip, including her cumbersome hiking boots, were home in Connecticut so I had to pack for two. And since I had to pay for a second bag, I decided to bring along some easy to make food stuff for the airbnbs we would be staying in so as to cut down on costs (Iceland is ridiculously expensive) and allow us to not worry if we wanted to stay out til midnight exploring in the long daylight hours- as I knew then we would always have some food stuff to eat. Not the usual way we travel – we are foodies – but we liked the option of being self sufficient. We actually tossed around the idea of getting a camper van but the no bathroom thing with the potential for having to traverse through horrendous weather was a deal breaker for me.

So, after an uneventful train ride to Boston South Station I showed up at the peak of rush hour traffic. There is some sort of bus/train line I could have taken to Logan but I hadn’t researched it well enough beforehand so I planned on a taxi. The cabbie warned me there was a lot of traffic and it could take 30 minutes but he told me he’d drive as fast as possible. I said, “ok” and got in and then he asked me what time my flight was. I mistakenly said 6:50 (which was only 25 minutes from that point) to which he replied, “Holy hell lady! I said I’d drive fast but I can’t fly!” We both laughed when I corrected myself and he laughed all the way to the bank when he pulled up to the departure hall 10 minutes later and ran my credit card for $58! Ouch – and I was worried Iceland was going to be expensive…