Iceland gallery

I recently went on a 10-day trip to Iceland and between the scenery, natural beauty, variety of hikes, food and local culture it was an amazing experience!

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It was a very spontaneous decision...my uncle unexpectedly called me asking if I wanted to go we brought up the idea to my sister Kailee, a few of Jason's friends; Mark & Karmen and within a few short weeks...we were all on a plane! 

 

We wanted to see as much of what Iceland has to offer so we rented a camper van and drove around the edge of (almost) the entire island. We did a ton of hiking; most hikes were around 2-3 miles round trip. We aren't big on touristy attractions, so we stayed away from most but found a ton of hidden gems! The total driving time is roughly 17hrs nonstop (this does not include the extra driving to specific attractions). To keep ourselves busy in the car, we spent our time looking up all there is to know about the history of Iceland, and past Icelandic culture - modern day. It blew our minds the things we found!

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Here’s a few random facts I found very interesting:

- They have some of the purest water! Meaning, you can drink from the tap and even most running water sources like the rivers and waterfalls. 

- There is roughly 30 "active" volcanos & a total of 130 on the entire island!

- It's the safest place in the world! They don't have an army, air force, or a navy. They only have police officers (they do not carry guns) a coast guard, & a small peacekeeping force. 

- The only native animal is the arctic fox. Otherwise, all other wildlife has been imported but none are particularly threatening.

- Iceland has a 99.96% renewable energy supply which is mainly produced with geothermal energy.

- I also found the history of how Iceland was discovered and the previous living conditions super fascinating! That is a story in itself, so I will leave you to do the research if you’re interested :) 

- 80% of Iceland is uninhabitable due to the raw lava fields, volcanos, glaciers, rivers and serene valleys! A large reason the beauty is so well kept is because it's untouched and undeveloped by humans.

- Alcohol was banned in 1915. In 1922, wine was was lifted and in 1933 so were spirits but beer was still banned until 1989!

- Despite how expensive it is, the poverty is very low! We were told by a local that there was only 8 known homeless individuals BUT they all get assistance other then 1 individual. 

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Unfortunately, when we arrived our shuttle driver noted that none of the volcanoes were actively erupting so it wasn't worth the drive to visit (the most recent had stopped about 5 weeks before our arrival). We also didn't make it to the Westfjords region, this area is where the puffin birds are currently migrated too. With the extra driving time, we decided against it. 

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I won’t get into all the details, but I hope you enjoy a small portion of what I captured!