Holy crap….what can I say about Iceland that hasn’t already been said? It is the most beautiful country I have ever had the pleasure of exploring. It was on the bucket list for a while, after seeing Instagram photo after Instagram photo of amazing shots, I needed to get some of my own! Tickets purchased and rental car reserved, we patiently waited until the day we finally left. 

With zero accommodations booked, we were fully prepared to sleep in the Jeep and that is exactly what we did. The first day was spent getting acquainted with the new and beautiful country. Made our way out of Reykjavik and headed toward magic! Stopping at lava fields, a hot spring river, and waterfalls. We decided to sleep in the parking lot of Seljalandfoss (the waterfall you can walk behind). Seeing the incredible Aurora Borealis was of the highest importance for us. If we left without seeing her, we would have been EXTREMELY disappointed. We made a plan to set alarms every hour starting at 1a.m. to make sure we didn’t miss her. The first alarm went off and what do you know? There she was! We hopped out of the car to gaze at all her beautiful glory. It was truly a sight to behold. Green and purple dancing across the sky, it’s almost like you could feel her moving through you. Lucky for us that wasn’t the only night she made an appearance!

I won’t go day through day, because we were there for two weeks. But man, there is so much to see! We did our best to make it to every waterfall and hot spring. Out of the two weeks, we slept in a hostel a total of three nights. We had to shower at some point! Eating as cheaply as we could, we mostly ate gas station hot dogs and they were delicious! Speaking of gas stations, gas is not cheap. So be prepared for that. 

I HIGHLY recommend getting a portable wifi device. This made it SO easy to post and share while we were out in the middle of nowhere. And get directions…that’s probably more important to most people. We rented it with our car and there were no issues! 

You’ll often feel as if you’re on another planet while driving through Iceland. The expansive landscape changes so drastically. In one day you could go from giant fields of green to complete black. The sheep…don’t get me started on the sheep. They have the cutest little legs. You’ll hear the “bahhhh“‘s and want to die. If I could fit one in my backpack, I certainly would have tried to take one home to keep as my own…and name it Reginald. 

Out of everything, I would have to say my favorite stops were The DC-3 plane wreck, Seljavallalaug hot spring, although the water temperature wasn’t real hot, it was great for photos and a really pretty sunrise walk, and Landmannalauger! That place alone is insane. The winds blew so hard I thought I would get knocked out by rocks but it would have been worth it.

10/10 Recommend. I can’t wait to go back!