Welcome to Solo Travel

My final post on my adventure in Iceland is going to focus traveling solo. I'll be honest, I was a little nervous about going to a new country by myself. Part of the reason I decided to go to Iceland was because it was highly recommended for first time solo travelers.

Solo travel might not be for everyone, but I definitely recommend trying it. I personally think that solo travel is best for people who like to spend a good amount of time by themselves. There were plenty of opportunities for me to talk to people, but the majority of my time was very quiet. I was able to just be imaginative for a while.

I had heard that doing a solo trip was something people should put on their bucket lists. I don't really remember where I heard this from (probably a travel blog on Facebook or from one of my really adventurous friends). Still I put it on my bucket list of things I should think about doing. Then I randomly brought round trip tickets to Iceland. Suddenly I went from thinking about doing it to actually doing it.

To prepare, I did a lot of research. I then chucked most of that research out the window when one of my friends got so excited for me that they basically became my travel agent. This friend had also never been to Iceland, but they had been on solo trips before. They helped talk me into staying at a hostel, which I'm really glad I did. They talked me into going to the Blue Lagoon and the Golden Circle Tour. This friend later decided to also go to Iceland, so I've given them all my tips for when they are there in a few weeks.

I am so glad my friend gave me some of the pushes that they did, otherwise I might not have made some great new friends or done some of the amazing things I did (Golden Circle Tour).

My mom was also a big help finding out information and bouncing ideas off of. She has done a good bit of traveling and she said agreed with my friend on a lot of the things they told me. My mom also gave me the best price of advice. She said that its okay to not have a set plan until you get there because you might find an opportunity you wouldn't have known about until you get there.

It was really good advice for me. I ended up not booking anything (except the Blue Lagoon) until after I arrived. If I had made plans for each day I probably wouldn't have gone to Videy Island or found out about the "free" city walking tour. I only found out about them after arriving*.

I might have been okay with that (non)plan if someone had come with me, but it might not have worked out. Some people just need a plan when they go on vacation. It's not a bad thing to want a solid plan, but it's not for everyone.

So here is my list of why I enjoyed traveling solo. It might not be everyone's reasons for going solo and you can probably do some of them while traveling with one or two friends, but that's why it's my list.

1) Quiet reflection while letting the imagination go wild - I spend a lot of time in my own head just thinking and being in a new place really let my thoughts go wild.

2) Change plans without compromising - this happened several times while I was in Iceland (for example I got lost going to one museum and went to a different one instead). I also sometimes would stumble across an interesting place (the cemetery) and spend time there.

3) Make new friends and talk to new people - yes this can be done with a group of people too, but there's something fun about being asked if I'd like to hang out with someone I had just met.

4) Take my time - since I was setting my own pace I could take as much or as little time as I wanted somewhere. I could also have as much down time as I wanted.

5) Say I traveled solo - a few of my friends said that they wouldn't have had the guts to traveling explore a new country by themselves. It felt like an accomplishment to do it.

Again these are my reasons for taking a solo vacation. I definitely recommend trying it once in your life. You never know who you might meet or what adventures you'll find.

Until next week.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really passed you of) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me. Hopefully I'll be off on my next adventure sooner rather than later.

*I had known about Videy Island before going, but I wasn't sure if I would visit it or not. It wasn't until another person in my hostel room said that they were going too that I officially decided to go. We hiked for four hours and got some of my favorite pictures of the whole trip.

Welcome to the Land of Ice, Fire... and Rainbows?

I couldn't fit my trip to Iceland into one blog post. My time there was very short, but it definitely left an impact on me. Therefore this post  is an addition to last week's post, but with rainbows, lots and lots of rainbows.

I feel this is a good visual of Iceland's philosophy of life, but maybe I'm wrong. I was a tourist after all.

 On all of the tours I went on, Iceland was described to me as the land of fire and ice. This was reflected on all of the other tours I was offered, but didn't go on for one reason or another (time and money come to mind). There are active volcanoes like the one that went off a couple of years ago and grounded all the planes in Europe. There is the giant glacier that provides some of the best drinking water I have ever tasted. There are tours for people to explore both.

Iceland is full of natural wonders. I mentioned in my last post about my Golden Circle tour. The Golden Circle is advertised as a must see if you visit Iceland. There are several tour options, but if you rent a car they aren't necessary (and you can go at your own pace, though you might miss out on the history and geology lessons).

This waterfall on the Golden Circle Tour produced tons of rainbows.

I definitely recommend seeing the Golden Circle at least once if you visit Iceland, especially if you aren't able to go too far outside of Reykjavik. All of the natural wonders are beautiful and allow for some great hiking. I got to see them in my favorite season which added some really pretty colors to my experience.

If there was one natural wonder I think Iceland should add to its list of amazing wonders, it's the rainbow. I don't think I have been anywhere else that has so many rainbows. There was a rainbow the day I landed at the airport, there were tons of rainbows visible when I hiked Videy island, there were rainbows painted on sidewalks and houses, the water falls created tons of rainbows, and there was even a rainbow statue welcoming me back to the airport when I was leaving.

The rainbow when I landed, it rained the rest of the day.

Seriously I saw a rainbow in the sky everyday I was there (the weather is notorious for changing frequently and with little warning).

There might have been a lot of rain, but the city of Reykjavik always had a rainbow after.

Then there are the rainbows you can only see at night. Okay fine, the Norther Lights aren't actually rainbows, but they are a light show like no other and I didn't even leave the city limits. There were only two nights that I saw them. The first night was totally by accident and because another person in my room said you could see them in the park across the street. I personally found that to be amazing. They weren't the brightest from that location and I only had my phone to take pictures. The next night (which was also my last), one of my new friends offered to drive me and another person out to the lighthouse for a better look.

We arrived at just the right time. It was still pretty early and you could see the sun setting in the distance, but the night was alight with vibrant green streaks. I have never seen anything like it before and I truest hope I will see it again someday. I'm sure the lights are a whole other kind of sight if you are out in the middle of no where and don't have to battle light pollution, but for that hour I got to see one of the most amazing natural wonders our world has to offer. It was worth every second in the cold windy night.

Two streaks of the northern lights in the sun set.

 Maybe someday I'll also see the Southern Lights. Anyone want to go to Chile and Antarctica with me?

Along with the natural rainbows, Iceland is very proud (so I was told) to be very welcoming to the LGBT community and very pro feminist. I''m not kidding, there is an amazing example of how much they celebrate their feminist side in the Reykjavik city hall (I will not post pictures, nor will I elaborate). It is not something I would expect to see in a city hall in the USA anytime soon. One of the tour guides had a lot of fun telling us about how they also had the first gay Viking after someone put lipstick on their founder's statue during a celebration.

This wasn't the only house painted like this.

This is why I feel Iceland should add rainbows to its list of descriptive natural wonders (I''m not sure that makes sense, but it's the sentence I'm going with). You can venture into the depths of a volcano in the morning, walk across a glacier in the afternoon, see the northern lights at night, and in between see beautiful rainbows all over the place.

More street art!

 Please add Iceland on you list of places to see. The people are very friendly, the water is some of the best I have ever tasted, and the nature is one of a kind.

The statue outside of the airport.

And no I'm not being paid to say that.

If you enjoyed this post or if it pissed you off, please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me. I'm off to my next great adventure and maybe, just maybe I'll find that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Until next week.

Welcome to Iceland

I decided I needed to go on an adventure. Six months ago, I made the impulsive choice to buy round trip tickets to Iceland. I had never been to Iceland, I had very little knowledge of Iceland, and I was planning on going there solo. I figured the worst thing that could happen was I get kidnapped by trolls.

On Tuesday I returned from that trip.

I can honestly say that I have never been anywhere quite like Iceland. The people are very friendly, laid back, and have one of the best senses of humor I've seen. I felt incredibly safe walking around the city of Reykjavik. One tour guide even told us that if you lost something at a bar the night before, to check the lost and found at the police station the next day. Someone had likely returned it there.

Hey look he's got a pineapple on his sword. Ha Ha

 The Icelanders I met are very proud of their Viking heritage (though one tour guide did admit that they are not the best at being the notoriously bad Vikings). Everywhere I went, I saw images of the Viking culture. The Viking Sagas were sold in stores and gift shops sold small Viking ships.

The city of Reykjavik is amazing. I've never felt so safe in a city and nearly a third of Iceland's population lives in the city. It is easy to walk around. There are also buses, but I rarely saw anyone on them (even during rush hour). I was able to go anywhere I wanted to in about 20 minutes. Cats also seem to rule the city. I spotted many while walking around. There was one in particular who liked to sleep on the shelves of one of the stores during the day. I asked the people working at the counter about the cat and they said he just likes to hang out there during the day and goes home at night.

How to tie a tie three different ways.

Iceland is a beautiful county. There are plenty of places to hike and natural wonders to see. On my last full day, I went on a Golden Circle Tour. The Golden Circle are beautiful geographical locations. Our first stop was a giant crater. The second stop was a field of several geyser. I only saw one of them go off, but it was amazing. People who were standing downwind were splashed with water.

Our third stop were these amazing waterfalls. I'll be honest I wouldn't want to go over them in a wooden barrel. Finally we went to where the North American and European continental plates are separating (and where the Vikings used to gather to make laws).

If there is one thing I really missed from Iceland it would be the water. I went to the Blue Lagoon on my first day and it was very relaxing. My skin felt amazing afterwards. There are more thermal pools (that are a lot cheaper and less touristy) around the city. I'd definitely recommend checking them out if any of you guys go. The drinking water was also so tasty. It came straight from the glacier. Nearly every restaurant had some water for free for customers.

I am happy I went to Iceland. I might have been a bit more of a tourist than I typically like to be, but I don't know if I would have done all the things I did if I hadn't. I honestly hope I can go back again soon.

If you guys have any questions, just let me know and I'll try to answer them as best I can. Don't worry if you wanted to hear more about my trip or solo travel in general. I think this month will be centered around this adventure.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me. Until next week!

Welcome to Risk Taking

Life is full of uncertainty. The unknown is scary. Not having a clear idea of what the future can be really stressful. That doesn't mean I won't try something really crazy and take a few risks.

When I think of the word risk, three things come to mind. The first is the game Risk, which is a much better alternative to Monopoly to kill time and you're more likely to keep your friendships. The second thing I think of is the econmic term "risk" which heavily focuses on making money in the stock market. The saying "greater the risk, the greater the return" is often thrown around, but there is also a higher chance of failure.

The third and final thing I think of are the risks we experience in life. Yes, this definition is very similar to the economic term. The difference is, I either don't always notice the everyday risks or the risk is me leaving what I consider my secure enviornment. I also feel it's very important to take these risks.

Sure these types of risks always have that chance of blowing up in my face (I try to learn from those mistakes), but I like to think the benefits of stepping out of the familiar is far more important than not doing it. These types of risks could be going to a resaurant or bar by myself, moving across country, or even getting into a side car of a motorcycle. All of these things can end in some kind of failure (lets not get into the last one). And that's fine. It's okay to fail every once and a while.

I like taking risks that are within reason (otherwise I wouldn't have moved to New Jersey from Maryland). Sometimes, though, I need someone to give me a bigger push to try new things. I don't think I would have ever ridden in the side car of a motorcycle without my cousin telling me it would be a blast. I probably wouldn't have stayed up until 4am partying without a little encoragment from a friend. I might never have brought tickets to Iceland if another one of my friends hadn't had a great solo trip of her own and told me it would be a great adventure.

Sure not all of my risks have turned out well. Some of them have amazing stories about why I should not have done this action or why another action will not be done again. These stories will not be repeated here.

I want to experience as much as I can from this life. I can't be afraid to try something new. Because then I might live at all.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off), please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me. Until next week!