Surprises I had while touring Iceland

In an effort to further specialize in the Active/Adventure niche of travel, I’ve began pursuing a specialization course that will require over 200 credit hours of work. One of my assignments within the specialization course is to experience an active/adventure tour myself. I chose to do so in Iceland, using one of my favorite tour companies: G Adventures. In this blog, I’m going to focus on Iceland itself, and in subsequent blogs I’ll talk about G Adventures and more about my specialization program.

There were several aspects of Iceland that I was pleasantly surprised with, and one that hit me as a shock. Overall though, it was an awesome experience and one I’d recommend to everyone. Iceland has a wonderful natural beauty, and everywhere I looked it seemed to be a perfect postcard shot.

Couldn't even tell you where this is, I took the photo from the van while it was driving.

Pleasant surprise #1 - everyone spoke English fluently

As much as I’d like it to be true, I have to be honest and say I don’t speak any other languages fluently. At times this has made travel difficult (particularly through more rural areas), and more often than not charades have been used to communicate. This is definitely a trait many people in the US share with me (being mono-lingual), so this may be a huge selling point of Iceland: everyone grammar school age and above that I came into contact with, regardless of the size of the city or town, spoke English as well as I do. This made communication easy, and limited the amount of miscommunication when asking for help from a local. 

Pleasant surprise #2 - having 24 hours of sunlight wasn’t that bad

I had prepared myself with an eye mask, earplugs, and a basic resignation to the fact that I would have a hard time sleeping as Iceland is basically never dark in early July. The opposite was true! Because I had a long travel day to Iceland (leaving at 10p Minnesota time and only getting 4-ish hours of sleep before a full day in Reykjavik), getting to sleep was easy as pie. I even forgot to wear my eye mask and earplugs the first night, and though I woke up several times briefly (I was staying in a hostel, so heard my roommates enter and get ready for bed), it wasn’t bad. I woke up refreshed and ready to tackle the already bright day!

Pleasant surprise #3 - tenting for your first time in a foreign country that has a high probability for rain isn’t terrible

Part of my tour included two nights at a campground sharing a tent with a fellow tour participant. I have not done much camping in the states, and the few times I have gone it’s mostly been car camping——where you have your car at the ready if it rains or is too uncomfortable to stay. So, needless to say, I was a bit hesitant about the aspect of staying in a tent. I’d also heard horror stories of tents leaking and all your stuff being soaked, so I was a little nervous. However, the tents that G Adventures provided were great, they kept us and our stuff dry and were actually very comfortable to sleep in.

#1 greatest shock - food is RIDICULOUSLY expensive. Let me spell that out again: Ri-dic-ulously.

I had read that Iceland was an expensive place to visit, so had upped my normal budget by 25-50%. I was not prepared for restaurants to charge at least double to what I have come to expect in the states. For some perspective: 1 beer (small) = $15, 1 glass of wine = $16, 10” personal pizza = $26, farm-to-table hamburger meal = $36! The glass half full way to look at these prices though, is to consider the flavor and quantity of food you get. That $36 burger was literally the best I can ever remember having. The pizza, though probably not historically something the Icelandic people have made, was delicious. I didn’t partake in any alcohol, so I can’t speak to them, but my fellow tour participants all seemed to enjoy what they ordered. One thing that Icelanders and travelers to Iceland alike seem to do is to buy the alcohol they wish to consume at the duty-free shop in the airport. I saw several people with shopping carts full or the stuff!

My $36 hamburger meal. Expensive, yet scrumptious. (that is soft cheese on the hamburger, not mashed potatoes, FYI)

Iceland, regardless of the expense incurred while staying there, is a beautiful country with amazing scenery. Stuff you can’t find many other places. I’d definitely recommend it to you!