So it seems fitting that the first guest post we have on our site be from my niece who I referenced in a post about How to Help Our Youth Travel More. We ended up giving the gift of travel to her for her high-school graduation. This is her story about exploring Iceland in May with that gift.
Guest Post Author – Jarynn
I would first like to give a huge thank you to my Auntie Nic and Uncle Jamie, without them, I would never have gone on this amazing trip.
Flashback two years ago when I graduated high school my aunt and uncle gave me the most amazing gift, they asked: “Where are you going to go?” And the first thing that popped into my head was Iceland. The more I researched the country the more I fell in love with it. I purchased the [easyazon_link identifier=”1743214758″ locale=”US” tag=”thepaskid-20″]Lonely Planet[/easyazon_link] guide and decided this is where I’m going. The next step was deciding who to go with, I had asked my boyfriend and my best friend but both were unable to make it work so I asked my grandma. I sent her a text message saying “Do you want to go to Iceland with me in May?” She replied “Yes”. And that was it!
We started getting everything together from booking flights, hotels, renting a car and researching what we wanted to do. We decided to go in May because it was before the high season so fewer tourists and hopefully better deals. All in all, we spent about 6 months “officially planning” but it took about a year to get everything together.
Iceland was beautiful beyond belief, the landscape is something out of a movie, but what really got me was how barren and uninhabited the country was. We decided to rent a car and drive around the ring road which goes around the entire island and there would be days we would drive for hours without seeing a single soul. My grandma and I would look at each other like “are we the last two people on earth?” But when we did meet other people they were amazing! We stayed in apartment for our entire stay and that was by far the best experience. One night we spent in Vik and our host gave us the true Icelandic experience by having us eat rotten shark followed by a shot of Brennivin. It was unlike anything I have ever experienced.
My grandmother was such a trooper for the entire trip and I’m really glad we had this experience together. She toughed out the crappy weather and stayed back while I went and hiked craters and I am so grateful that she was there when we were literally in the middle of nowhere on top of a mountain and not being able to see because it was so foggy. It was truly a once and a lifetime experience that I will cherish in my heart forever.
Thank you to my niece for taking the time to be our first guest post! We are so happy that you were able to experience and share your travel adventures of Iceland with our readers!
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