A couple of weeks ago I took a whirlwind 4 day trip to Iceland with some friends. Iceland is so beautiful and the trip was definitely worth it! We did go during the rainy season though and there were less than 8 hours of daylight this time of the year, so just be advised if you ever think about going in October-November.

We rented a house on Airbnb, which was super cost-effective and also provided a great, cozy space to hang out, cook, and watch movies. No matter your destination for future trips, I highly recommend that you check out Airbnb.

The only thing truly Icelandic that I ate was Icelandic yogurt called “Skyr.” Skyr is almost like a custard-like consistency but isn’t as sweet as regular yogurt. I had also researched my options for gluten-free food in Iceland and multiple blogs I read advised that you should bring your own food as most places don’t understand the concept of what “Gluten-Free” even is. However, we went to a few grocery stores in the various towns and every store had a designated aisle for gluten-free food. It probably was cheaper for me to bring my own bread and stuff, but if you’re limited on space–don’t be too worried about not finding something because I’m pretty sure you will.

Here are some of my favorite pictures of things that I saw on the trip:

Gulfoss Waterfall

Selijalandsfoss Waterfall

Gulfoss Geysir

Kirkjufell Mountain

Glymur

Icelandic Horses

Hallgrimskirkja Church

Solheimasandur Plane Crash–FYI if you’re thinking about going here and if you read any website that says it’s only a 10 minute walk–they lied. It was about an hour trek to get to the plane and that doesn’t take the weather into consideration. It was still pretty interesting to see this crash site on the black beach and right next to the ocean.

The weather ranged in the 30s-40s and it was pretty rainy, windy, and icy at times. I really thought that I had over-packed but I was happy to find out that everything I packed was worn on the trip. I took a few long sleeve shirts, a couple of pull over sweaters, a fleece Columbia jacket, a puffer vest, and my Columbia parka–which were the perfect layers. I also took 2 pairs of jeans but I also took a pair of waterproof hiking pants, which were the ones that I wore the majority of the time. Running pants under the waterproof pants were the perfect combination for warmth and definitely dried faster than jeans. I only took 2 pairs of shoes– a pair of tennis shoes for the airport and my Teva hiking boots for everything else in between. I also took the cold weather essentials like a beanie hat, gloves, and a scarf–although I didn’t wear the scarf because it rained so much. If you ever plan on going to Iceland during October-November, just stick to this packing list and you’ll probably be just fine.

I’m so thankful that this opportunity came up and that we were able to see some pretty amazing things. I also got a few more stamps in my passport! I remember when I used to be absolutely terrified to travel and now it seems that I just can’t get enough. I can’t wait to see where the next adventure will take me and I hope you’ll stay tuned, as well, to find out!

Love from, Amy.