Solo Travel Iceland- Getting Comfortable with Discomfort
Hello Beautiful Souls! I am back from my exciting Iceland trip! WHAT AN ADVENTURE! This trip was possibly the most nerve-wracking, emotionally exciting, and possibly the most uncomfortable trip I have ever been on!
The topic I want to stress in this blog post is DISCOMFORT. Iceland is the land of fire and ice, and just like those polar opposites that is how the trip was for me. Stressed out as I drive in a foreign country but was immediately rewarded by the country’s beautiful landscape.
WHY ICELAND?
Iceland is one of the safest countries for solo women travelers. This was really important to me but the real reason I went was to see the Northern Light. I saw a TikTok that said the best time to visit Iceland was in March. LIES! NEVER TRUST TIKTOK! It was possibly the worse time. I drove in the worse conditions you could think of.
WHY ARE THE NORTHERN LIGHTS IMPORTANT
Since I was a child, I was always fascinated by the galaxies. My father (God rest his would) and I would spend hours watching cosmo documentaries My solo travels started because I wanted to pay tribute to him by traveling to all the places we talked about. Leading up to my trip to Iceland was a bit painful, I would cry thinking about how I will experience the lights without him, but I knew I had to do it.
DRIVING IN ICELAND.
Ice, wind, snow, rain, and roundabouts, YES ALL THAT, I had to drive through. You need to rent a car in Iceland. The public transportation is limited and there is NO UBER. Just FYI, since no one told me. I didn’t book a car in advance, I waited until I landed in Reviyvack. (bad idea) All the cars were booked. I had to walk 1 mile IN STRONG WIND SNOW conditions just to find a car. Finally found one, and of course, I got stuck in the snow before I left the parking lot. Luckily they helped me out. I booked with Enterprise.
HOME: THE RETREAT
Now, this place was possibly my favorite place I stayed in so far. The feeling I had here allowed me to heal. Nested with 360 views of the ocean and mountains, Fisherman Village was literally the highlight of my trip.
As a Design Psychologist, I know the importance of how staying in a place can enhance your travel experience, simply by how the place is designed. And at the Fisherman Village, I was delighted by every inch of detail. I mean I saw the NORTHERN LIGHTS through my skylight and windows facing the ocean while I lay in bed! And one night I saw a shooting star while laying in bed! What more can you ask for!
The establisment had hot tubs and a sauna facing the ocean and moutains. Something you definitely need to unwind after your adventures. 100% recommend staying here. It is 30 mins outside of the city but they also have a sister company in Reykjavik called Hotel Viking. A Viking-themed hotel and restaurant. I ate at the restaurant on my last day and felt like I stepped into a different world.
My only mission on this journey was to see the Northern Lights unfortunately for the whole week I didn’t see it until the last night which to me was the best way to end my trip.
Since I had only one mission I didn’t plan anything, so I googled things near me to do.
On the first day, I went to see a Volcano. Drove about 30 mins, the roads were clear. I walked a good few miles alone not sure if I was at the right place and before you know it I was accidentally walking on hardened lava haha.
Luckily it wasn’t fully active but I was amazed at the heat amongst the ice. I finally understood why it was called the land of fire and ice. I saw people climbing a mountain and thought they might know something better than I do since I was the only one near the volcano.
As I climbed the mountain I started having negative self-talk “ maybe I shouldn’t do this” “I am not wearing the right shoes, this might take a while.” I saw people coming down and asked them if it is worth it and they said “yes you see panoramic views of the mountains and ocean, but you should go because you aren’t wearing the right shoes.” I thought to myself maybe I should just try so I kept going up every step I took I replayed my negative self-talk and what the people said. The air was getting thin and I was getting thirsty and hungry, clearly, hiking was not in my mind when booking this trip.
I came across a couple and asked them if it was worth and they said “ya you see the mouth of the volcano”. Told myself, ”while now I have to go.” After what seemed forever, I reached the top and screamed “I AM ON TOP OF THE WORLD!!” But now I faced a greater problem, how the heck am I going to get down. It was harder to get down because of how steep the mountain was, I thought that I should probably slide down and I tried that but it was too rocky. I prayed to God to somehow get me down this without breaking my ankle and before the sunset. I turned around and saw two ladies angelically smiling at me and said “do you want to use these?”, in her hands were spikes you can attach to the shoes. The two ladies were suddenly putting these spikes on my shoes. Two angels literally sent from God. My prayer was suddenly answered.
I had my moment and was proud I ignored the negative talk of myself and others. And it taught me a lesson in life that you will face these types of talks in ANYthing you try to achieve wheater it be people, yourself or both something will stop you from the achieving your goals and the only way you can do it is if you trust in God and yourself that you can do this. Just put your intention in what you want and God will meet you there. Just like these two ladies randomly showing up in my time of need.
After the mountain experience, I saw the blue lagoon which was only 10 mins away. I didn’t go inside the lagoons because I didn’t have a swimsuit but you can walk around the area and see the lagoons.
I then visited a Horse Farm and Cathedral. Spent the last day in the loft.
MIND: How to get comfortable with discomfort.
As humans, we are ever-evolving “The practice of being uncomfortable teaches us to stay connected with ourselves, to be curious and open. It teaches us to be relaxed and surrender to the discomfort. The more we want to control our discomfort, the more stuck we become. Allow discomfort to be part of your experience.
I was nervous about my trip to Iceland, simply because of the driving situation. I typically hate driving and I most definitely hate the cold. However, I wanted to get myself out of the funk. Prior to my trip, I was feeling of uncertainty about where my life was heading. It put me down a spiral, and I knew this will lead to the road of depression. *que in discomfort
When you find yourself falling into this pattern you should break the cycle, and the best way is to do something different. Enhance your life experience and the best way to do is to get comfortable with discomfort. Life is filled with uncertainty and although it isn’t ideal to book a ticket to a different country, you can find simple ways to be uncomfortable, maybe talking to strangers is something you are afraid of or working out for an hour while you sweat in pain is uncomfortable, whatever it is DO IT, and watch how your mind, body, and soul will change.
I am happy Iceland allowed me to heal and share special moments with my father’s soul. Iceland will forever be the country that taught me to be comfortable with the discomfort.
LINKS TO THE PLACES:
Fisherman Village-
https://www.fishermansvillage.is/
Hotel Viking-
https://www.fjorukrain.is/
Fagradalsfjall Volcano-
https://www.visiticeland.com/article/fagradalsfjall-eruption/
Blue Lagoon-
Horse Farm-
https://www.ishestar.is/?gclid=CjwKCAjw6dmSBhBkEiwA_W-EoHaIPuVjcPoRLt1y7_St8SRuv9ZggLvTmEV9QsL_8JhV8TS5UFuhxBoCHeUQAvD_BwE
Cathedral-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallgr%C3%ADmskirkja
WATCH IT
WHAT TO WEAR:
