Iceland, land of Sagas, the midnight sun, and all my travel dreams. From the moment my plane touched down in its foggy nesting ground of Keflavik Airport, the Icelandic Adventure threw on the drama + breathtaking landscape and did not let up. I could hardly catch my breath as I breezed through customs and out into the deep blue fog. The fact that I was alone and entirely free to spin in any direction I chose crashed down with terrifying elation. I felt daunted and overwhelmed, completely out of my depth, but there was nothing to do but plunge forward.
Another passenger asked if I was excited as I walked out into the hazy midnight at the airport. I replied, “Yes. Excited and terrified.”
That moment defined the trip. Me, feeling like an incapable small fry taking on what was, in the moment, unthinkable obstacles and scaling everything that loomed in my path, then leaping forward into a wave of elation.
Nothing has rang more true in this trip than the phrase, "Everything good is on the other side of fear."
I met other campers, hitchhikers, and a few native Icelanders who were both bemused and annoyed at the swarm of foreigners falling over their primordial landscape.
If I learned anything it is this; Do the impossible. The thing you’re certain you can’t. The reward is a beautiful moment of understanding that nothing is truly under our own control so you might as well follow the thunder and attempt the dream that dares you with its impossibility.
There was a loneliness to travelling by myself that I first found difficult, but then grew to love. It was good to join the workshop at the end of my solo travels, but part of me regretted leaving the isolation behind.
I wish I could go back again to experience the thrill and intimidation of traveling in a strange county alone, but I know without any doubt that the same wave never comes twice and to allow myself to experience that high of adventure I'll have to push deeper in and beyond my comfort zone into uncharted territory.
I collected scraps of metal, volcanic rock that crumbled in my coat pocket, and a tattoo as I traced along the western coast. There is so much I left undone, but I hope I will return. If not, the magic of Iceland will remain in my rear view as I continue on, moving toward other journeys and adventures.
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