Iceland Challenge Overview

7 day stopover with Young Adventuress via Icelandair; 4 girls. 1 island. 7 days. #IcelandChallenge was filled with adventure, surprises and many great memories. There is so much footage and stories to tell you guys so I decided to start with an overview post. Over the next few weeks we will update you with blogs about each day. In the mean time enjoy this one and stay tuned for more to come…. Cheers, Inga

It’s a test of my memory to consolidate everything we did on the #Iceland Challenge into a single overview post. But before we upload the longer posts, I wanted to share with you guys few fun facts and photos. This trip would not have been possible if it wasn’t for a few key sponsors: Icelandair, Icelandair Hotels, Hotel Edda & Sixt Car rental. They deserve a shout out so I hope you guys will check them out before planning your own adventure around the country.

Okay, SEVEN days and SIX nights. Let the challenge begin! After greeting and picking up Liz and her friend Marika at Keflavik airport it was time to drive to Laugarvatn. The thing I loved right away was that there was no awkwardness between the four of us. We started talking in the car as if we had known each other for years about blogging, traveling, and our mutual love for Iceland. The ladies were greeting by typical Icelandic “FALL” weather (FYI our trip was in mid July = should be great weather in Iceland), but thankfully I had packed a big bag of warm clothes and rain jackets. This led to a mini photo shoot in the rain in the middle of a deserted road. It was extremely windy with rain coming from every direction, but I think it was good shock to their system and the perfect cure for jet-lag.

Since our goal was to travel off the beaten track, we decided against the Golden Circle, but it is a must-see for travelers that only have 2-3 days. Instead we drove up through the Laugarvatn area which is known for its geothermal hot spots.

Day 2 started bright and early with Ice-cream at 10am. You wouldn’t imagine having ice-cream fully dressed in warm clothes, rain jacket but there is an ice-cream phenomenon in Iceland and most people join along for the ride. I will explain this more in another #IcelandChallenge blog post or maybe I should make a post just about Iceland & Ice-cream? What you guys think?

After our morning desert, we had a very packed day of exploring as we drove from Laugarvatn to VÍK. I have driven along the South coast many times and it is filled with dramatic cliffs, waterfalls, volcanoes and black sand beaches. Everyone’s eyes were glued to the windows and we rarely set down our cameras with so many beautiful landscapes to capture. To attest to our adventurous spirits, we almost ran out of gas after trying to cram too many activities into one day, whoops! It was around 7-8pm when we rolled up to a gas station in Vik. We all heaved a sigh of relief and exhaustion. It was only the first day and it felt like a week. That night we were greeted by the lovely staff at Hotel Edda VÍK with the news that the hotel manager was expecting us for dinner. He even had a surprise trip planned for us, but more on that later 🙂 Honestly, I forgot about how tired I was that very moment and smiled. This is what Icelanders are all about, the hospitality and warmth of Icelanders is something I have heard repeatedly from travelers when they look back on their #TripinIceland.

Day three came around and started with a decent size portion of Icelandic Lýsi (fish cod oil) which I consider Viking magic—it keeps you strong and healthy! Although it’s excellent for your immune system, Liz and Marika’s facial expressions clearly expressed otherwise. Their general disgust was priceless! Since Liz and Marika were former Medieval Studies majors, we took the opportunity to hike up a Viking mountain after breakfast. I had calculated that we would spend about two hours there but the hike lasted a bit longer than we had anticipated due to some unexpected events. A little behind schedule, we hit the open road driving along the south coast.