April 29, 2025 • 32 mins
The endless horizon stretches between volcanic plains and glacier-topped mountains as we journey through Iceland, a land where fire and ice create one of earth's most breathtaking natural canvases. What makes this Nordic island nation so remarkable isn't just its visual drama but how its landscapes become a powerful catalyst for personal healing and renewal.
My solo adventure through Iceland revealed a country of startling contrasts - snow-capped peaks beside dramatic coastlines, black sand beaches against emerald farmland, geothermal springs bubbling near ancient lava fields. This environmental diversity creates an almost otherworldly experience, like visiting multiple countries without ever crossing a border. Each vista offers a different perspective, making Iceland an ideal destination for those seeking nature's transformative power.
Traveling in April provided remarkable solitude, with empty roads and tourist-free vistas creating space for deeper reflection. While summer offers milder temperatures and lush landscapes, there's something magical about experiencing Iceland's raw beauty in relative isolation. My most unexpected gift came at midnight when the Northern Lights appeared outside my farmhouse window - a phenomenon locals assured me was extraordinarily rare for April. These serendipitous moments exemplify how travel delivers its most precious gifts when least expected.
Iceland presents practical advantages for solo travelers: it ranks among the world's safest countries, offers stunning natural attractions from the Blue Lagoon to countless waterfalls, and provides varied accommodation options from hotels to guesthouses. While expenses run high, the payoff in natural wonder and personal growth proves immeasurable.
My journey reinforced how intentional travel becomes a powerful vehicle for transformation. By setting clear objectives before departure - seeking restoration, reconnection with nature, and digital detachment - I created space for meaningful insights about incorporating elements of this experience into daily life back home. This process forms the foundation of healing through travel, a practice I now help others discover through my coaching program launching May 27th.
Have you considered how a thoughtfully planned journey might address your own needs for renewal? Whether you're recovering from burnout, seeking clarity following life changes, or simply craving deeper connection with yourself and the natural world, Iceland's diverse landscapes offer the perfect backdrop for transformation. Join me in discovering how intentional travel can become your most powerful tool for personal growth.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Imagine yourself driving down this single lane
road and in front of you arethese snow-capped mountains and
to your right, along the coast,is the sea.
You run across lakes along theway and rocky cliffs, with the
water below, and farmland withcows and horses and sheep
(00:25):
abundantly throughout thecountryside.
Where do you think you aredriving?
Welcome to Solo TravelAdventures.
I'm Cheryl Esch and I willshare today where exactly I am
describing.
Well, this place is oftencalled the land of fire and ice,
(00:48):
but I was remarkably just blownaway by how incredible and
diverse the landscape was.
I am speaking of Iceland andit's fire and ice because there
are volcanoes on this island andthis in this country, but
there's also glaciers, and sothere's just this huge dichotomy
(01:11):
of differences and everythingin between.
I feel like I tried to describeto somebody that parts of
Iceland felt like I was.
You know, looking at the RockyMountains and seeing the barren
sort of rocky landscape remindedme of Big Ben, kind of hitting
(01:34):
together.
And then you see cliffs andblack sand beaches which remind
me of the Cliffs of Moher inIreland, and then you have
volcanoes and mountains andgeysers which really could
remind you of Yellowstone orHawaiian Islands or anywhere
(01:57):
else that has volcanoes andgeysers.
There's just such a world ofdifference, you know, basically
from almost like one side of theisland to the other, and it was
just marvelous.
And so today I'm going to sharewith you my experience in
Iceland what you can do there,places to see, what to expect
(02:21):
and just some basic, you know,just recommendations for you.
If Iceland is on your bucketlist Well, it had been on mine,
especially since a year ago myson went with his friends and I
just I saw his pictures.
I just was marveling at justeverything that he saw and was
(02:42):
kind of jealous.
So when I saw a really goodflight deal come about I think
it was around February I saw itand I had been trying to plan
something someplace to go for mybirthday in April, and
originally I was trying to do acruise because, because of where
I am in my life, so often Iwill evaluate how I'm feeling.
(03:04):
Because of where I am in mylife, so often I will evaluate
how I'm feeling what are myneeds for this next trip and I
was really kind of burnt outfrom just different things that
were happening and just workinga lot, you know, striving a lot
in my job that I felt like Iwanted to really have a time
where I didn't have to think ordo too much planning whatsoever.
(03:25):
But I say, luckily I did notfind a cruise deal that worked
for me, because getting toIceland and having the
experience I had was exactlywhat I needed and I'm so
grateful I went and thelandscape I love being outdoors
(03:47):
first of all, so that was, youknow, part of sort of I love to
use travel for a time for, youknow, whether it's renewal, for
healing, to kind of restoremyself often is how I use travel
, and this was a perfect exampleof a place that you could do
that, especially if you like tobe outdoors and you love nature.
(04:09):
There's nothing else for you todo in Iceland except to be
outdoors and in nature andthere's plenty to do, plenty to
see if that is your cup of tea.
So I didn't even think aboutyou know when is the best time
to go.
I just kind of jumped on thischeap airfare that I encountered
(04:29):
and I'm actually glad I wentwhen I went, although it was a
little chilly it was roughly 32degrees to about 45 on most days
there, and so that's a littlechilly for me being a Texan, uh,
but I'm glad I did take, youknow, a lot of winter clothes
(04:51):
and you do need to dress.
Even in the summertime youprobably still need some layers
because I found myself, you know, doing certain hikes and you
know, one minute I'm really warmbecause the sun is rather warm.
It felt really good.
But then the wind.
So March and April are verywindy months up there in Iceland
(05:13):
and so the wind was very wickedand cold and biting and so you
do have to consider weather.
I'm glad I went in Aprilbecause there were almost no
crowds at all.
Oftentimes I found myself beingalmost the only one on some of
the roads and some of the biggercities.
(05:33):
Of course, you know, reykjavikand Vik in the South part, uh,
were probably the most denselypopulated, um, as far as people
and even tourists, becauseoutside of Vic is where most
people will catch some of thoseadventure tours or trips, such
as the ice cave tours or anykind of those glacier tours, the
(05:59):
fun jeep tours, the hikingtours and the horseback riding
tours.
So there's lots that leave outof Vic.
So Vic was rather busy when Iwas there and Reykjavik, of
course, being the capital, alsohad more tourists than any other
place.
I was in Iceland Now I lovedthe solitude and the quietness I
(06:22):
mean the whole country when Iwas traveling and it was rather
just there was this quietnessabout it and part of it was it
was not busy with tourists and Iwas talking to locals.
Obviously, summer is their bigtime because summer provides,
honestly, the best weather.
So if I were to do it again,the best time to go would be
(06:45):
summer, as long as you don'tmind crowds, although I don't
think these crowds are going tobe anything compared to crowds
you might encounter, say, inEurope during the summer months.
So, for example, some of theweather January, march, it's 27
degrees to 39 degrees.
That's like a negative threeCelsius to four Celsius.
(07:06):
And then April, when I wasthere again, it was like about
32 degrees to 45 degrees.
May gets just a little bitwarmer, but still not too warm.
It's 37 to 48.
And then June to August it canroughly be about 45 to 57
degrees.
Didn't ever see, I mean theymight have an anomaly of a
higher than 57, but that's kindof going to be a roughly where
(07:31):
that temperature stays.
Seven Celsius to 14 Celsius isthat range in the summer months.
And then, of course, september,october gets, starts to get
cool again 36 degrees to 50degrees and November starts to
get cool again 36 degrees to 50degrees.
And November December is alsorather cold, just like January
through March.
Now, uh, if you are looking tosee the Northern Lights, though
(07:54):
which is a lot of reason whypeople will go to a place like
Iceland or, you know, sweden,finland, places up there where
it is a little easier to see theNorthern Lights, that happens
in the winter months.
I was there in April,technically too late to see the
(08:14):
Northern Lights.
Why?
Because there is so muchdaylight.
For example, when I was there,there was approximately 16 hours
of daylight, so it never reallygot dark.
Dark until after 1030 at night,and it was light at like 530 in
the morning roughly.
(08:35):
So that is why you can't see,because the Northern Lights, you
know, obviously, when it'sdarker, that's when you're going
to see them the best.
So I do recommend going in thesummer months, plus the
weather's not as cold, andthere's actually I also
encountered I went off season,so there were some things that
(08:58):
were closed.
For example, the Viking Museumwas closed when I was there, so
there were other things thatwere closed that had signs.
Their season typically is May15th to September 15th is what
the sign said.
So it had its pros and cons,obviously, I liked the solitude,
(09:22):
I liked not having to deal witha whole lot of crowds.
However, I did miss out on afew things.
It got a little dicey in someof the cities that I did stop
the towns, I should say, becausethey're really small, that
almost nothing was open, and Igot lucky a few times where
there might have been onerestaurant or establishment open
(09:46):
during the time that I neededsome food.
But it's definitely summer.
I would say go in thesummertime and you know you're
going to get to see the lushgreenness there and some of the
flowers in the fields.
I did not see any of that, butI did enjoy many of the sights
getting outside.
So how do you get around?
(10:06):
Well, it's highly recommendedthat you actually rent a car.
Now you could also rent acamper van, which I saw tons of
people uh doing the camper vanthing, which I was kind of
thinking, oh, I should haveprobably done that, Um, so that
could also be youraccommodations.
(10:28):
So what about accommodations?
Well, I personally just usebookingcom and got all my
bookings through there and foundsome, uh, you know, some hotels
.
Some they call them guesthouses.
Um, there's a of those, andthose are a little less
expensive than the hotels andthere's some nice ones, one of
(10:50):
my favorite places I stayed, andI'm just going to make a little
plug for them.
It was a last minute booking.
So I had one day I had plannedmy whole trip and I used that
fabulous app, wonderlog.
Um, and if you have not triedit, I'm not don't have affiliate
(11:11):
with it or anything like that,but I'm just so in love with the
app right now because itplanned.
I planned my whole trip on thatapp.
But I had one day where I didnot book accommodations prior to
leaving and that was because Iwas going to be driving all the
way out to Diamond Beach, whichis pretty far southeast in the
(11:32):
country, and that was going tobe my furthest point and I
didn't know where I would end upthat evening.
So I waited and I got myselfback to Vic and decided, oh,
I'll just see what is aroundhere, and I ended up pulling up
a last minute deal.
So of course they discountedbecause they're you know, it's
7.30 or eight o'clock at nightand I hadn't booked anything yet
(11:57):
and, of course, they're justtrying to fill their rooms.
So I found this fabulous placeand again making a plug, not
affiliated, but I have to say itwas serendipitous.
I always have these momentswhen I travel and this
particular one was remarkableand, as someone had said to me
(12:18):
when I was sharing the wholestory, they said well, it's
almost like it was a kiss fromGod, and I'll explain all of the
things that fell into place forthis actual stay.
So I booked this place it wascalled the Drangshilio Inn by
(12:38):
Our Hotels and the serendipitousthing about this place was, on
my way to Vic I'm on my firstdays I drove past, you know, I'm
driving past these beautifulfarmlands and in the middle of
this like grassy farmland, ofcourse, there's, you know, these
rocks and you know hillsides.
(13:02):
There's this huge rock just inthe middle of this field and
inside this huge rock is somelittle sheds or what might have
been homes that were used maybelong time ago, homes that were
used maybe long time ago insidethe rock.
So you can barely see them andI thought they were so cool and
(13:22):
I really had wished I hadstopped to take a picture, but
there are no places really topull over when you're driving in
Iceland.
So I will tell you that, noberms for you to pull over, and
especially if you are on thewest side of the country, where
you know there is all that lavaland there again, they don't
want you pulling over anyways.
(13:43):
So I, you know, whizzed past itand was like, oh, that's so
cute, and really didn't thinkmuch of it.
And then, when I was in Victrying to find a place to stay
this particular night, I bookedat this place and as I was
pulling in, I love the picturebecause it's like you know, this
(14:05):
place is set back against, youknow, the cliffs there, the
rocky, and across the way is thewater on the other side and
it's a farm.
And so I had been wanting tostay in sort of like this farm
stay kind of place, or B&B,let's, on a farm, that kind of
(14:25):
thing, or guest house.
You see lots of signs for themalong the way, places that are
not going to be particularlylisted on like a website.
So you may even, you know, bedriving by and find a place
especially if it's off seasonthat you could possibly stop in
and ask if they had a room.
Anyways, I pull in and there isthat rock formation that I had
(14:51):
seen on my way a few daysearlier and I was staying there
at this inn.
I will say it was a fabulousinn.
It was so clean and the staffwas so nice.
It was the best place.
I stayed my whole time.
I was in Iceland, and what Imean by someone said it was like
(15:12):
it was a God thing.
And I got a kiss from Godbecause that night something
awakened me around midnight, alittle after midnight, and I
happened to peek out the windowand lo and behold, what do I see
is the Northern Lights.
And I waited about a half hourand they got even more beautiful
(15:36):
with, you know, more of thegreen streaks in the sky, and I
was just in awe.
I stepped outside, took somepictures and just basked in that
because, as I spoke to a localthe following day and asked
where I could see more, gave mea nice dark place like last
(15:56):
night, and he said you won't seeNorthern Lights this time of
year, it's too late in theseason, it's like too light, too
long.
And so I showed him my pictureand he just was like that is
rare and you got lucky.
So I like to say that that wasjust an awe moment for me.
I loved it and I plugging thatplace.
(16:19):
They had a beautiful, uh spreadof breakfast.
It was beautiful breakfastspread and they had some
homemade breads, because they're, of course, um, on a farm there
.
Now, uh, goodness gracious, thistrip there was so much that I
did see.
I again used the app Wonderlogand saw so many.
(16:44):
You know there's tons ofwaterfalls in Iceland that you
know many people go about andthey sort of chase the
waterfalls.
Well, I did see quite a few ofthem and I did do one of the
sort of very touristy activitiesthere.
I did do the Blue Lagoon, whichwas a fabulous thing to do
(17:07):
right after I got off the planebecause it was close to the
airport.
It's very close to the airport,maybe a 15, 20 minute drive
from the airport, and so I so Ispent, you know, kind of that
afternoon after a long flightand just soaked up into those
geothermal springs.
There are other ones.
There's the sky lagoon as welland there are some other ones,
(17:32):
but those are kind of thepopular ones and they're all
kind of over in that area of theisland because of that thermal
activity that happens over thereon that side of the island, the
country.
So I don't even know where tostart, I would say, as far as
(17:55):
how long you should stay, I wasthere technically six days.
I think a seventh day wouldhave probably satisfied me.
I didn't see the whole island.
There is what's called theGolden Circle and there are some
things along the Golden Circleto see that's kind of very
popular to see.
(18:20):
That's kind of very popular.
However, I took I guess theycall it the ring circle, where I
did that.
It's called the route one,basically that takes you all
around the edges of the islandand I would say probably did at
least half of driving around theisland that way.
But there was certain sectionsway up north and east I did not
(18:45):
get to, and so there's plentymore I could have seen and if
you plan to really see it all, Ithink 10 days would be
sufficient if you were drivingand trying to see everything.
Reykjavik, the capital, probablythe biggest city in the country
(19:06):
, you probably only need a daythere.
It's a rather in my experienceit's, you know.
You can walk it very easily.
There's great shops, of coursethere are.
There's the famous church thereI was there on Easter Sunday,
(19:30):
which made it a littlechallenging.
I actually had to go back thefollowing day because a lot of
things were closed when I wasthere, but it was, you know, a
great little town.
You can go down by the water.
I can share at a later date myitinerary and I can just pull
(19:53):
that from my app and eventuallyshare that with you folks.
But if you are planning to go toIceland, I did end up finding a
wonderful lady who's actuallymoved to Iceland.
Um, I haven't met her, butshe's got some great resources
out there.
Uh, her name is Elisa and it'sher Instagram page.
(20:15):
If you want to go and find her,elisa, that's E-L-I-S-A.
Underscore in underscoreIceland.
She has some great eBooks on,you know, iceland trips, some
itineraries, and she's got somegreat recommendations.
So if you are looking to plan atrip to Iceland, she's got some
(20:40):
great ideas and greatitineraries.
But I will, at a later date,once I get mine together, share
with you where I went.
Just little tidbits of someinformation is, first of all,
iceland is safe, safe, safe ithas.
Honestly, I think it's thesafest country I have felt I've
(21:02):
traveled to.
Very safe for solo travelers.
It was clean and safe.
So Iceland, great for solotravelers.
But on the flip side, it isexpensive.
So traveling with anotherperson would bring that cost
down right.
So it could be a great idea, forI did see a lot of couples and
(21:25):
families traveling and that iswhy a lot of them chose the
camper vans which I mentionedearlier.
A great way to travel, but alsoa great way to save money on
accommodations, because youwould end up sleeping in your
camper van.
However, uh, some of theaccommodations, two of the
camping sites that I saw, um,because it was off season, one
(21:47):
campsite the facilities wereactually locked, meaning the
bathrooms, so there was nobathrooms and had they had very
limited um plugins, limitedplugins for power for some of
those camper vans.
And then another one I sawdidn't have any facilities and
it was just a gravel parking lot.
So you just have to you know,if you're okay with that, know
(22:10):
that sometimes when you'recamping, there might be limited
accommodation, like as far asbathrooms or power for your van.
One thing I did notice inReykjavik so, say, you're
someone like myself who lives ina warmer climate and does not
typically have a lot of winterclothes, you can actually rent
(22:34):
outdoor wear in Reykjavik.
There's a store there that youcould rent, you know, those nice
Arctic jackets and maybe kindof snow pant things Probably
anything you need because,especially if you're planning to
do like one of those glaciertours, you do need like warmer
clothing.
(22:55):
So I thought that was a greatoption, especially for people
like myself that didn't don'twant to buy things like that
Cause I would not have a needfor it once the trip was over.
So there's a few extra littletidbits If you do want to plan
to go to Iceland.
Some important informationthere for you.
(23:16):
And when I do each trip, Ialways take a moment before I go
and set an intention and I wantto share a little bit of my
process, as I am a certifiedtravel coach now and I am
offering a coaching package forthose that want to find some
(23:36):
assistance in planning maybeyour first solo trip.
You're feeling stuck.
I am focusing more on thehealing aspects of how you can
utilize travel and you know,kind of moving forward in any
kind of healing journey that youfind yourself in.
That could be just could begrief, that could be stress,
that could be a trauma, anythingthat might be holding you back
(24:00):
from taking that first trip andutilizing that trip to grow and
heal and being intentional withyour travels.
So this is a little taste ofwhat I do in my travels and what
I help guide my clients throughas they are trying to also, you
(24:21):
know, be intentional abouttheir travels and utilize them
for some growth in their ownpersonal life.
So, each trip I take, I firstset an intention and, as I
shared early on in the episode,one of my intentions was because
I've been going pretty hard and, just like this whole striving
mentality of my work, I needed abreak and I needed to kind of
(24:46):
detach and also, you know,almost even, uh, I did post to
social media at least once a day, but to not have that, those
distractions, not have thatthose distractions, those, uh,
electronic distractions, andreally spend some alone time and
(25:06):
to be in nature, um, and so Iask lots of questions.
Um, I won't get into all ofthem, but one of the main things
that I will share is when I getback, is when I do a lot of
also I I journal while I'm thereand so there's a lot that I,
you know, learned about myselfwhile I was there and you know,
(25:30):
I remembered I was reminded ofthe fact that when I'm needing
sort of restoration in my lifewhether it's physical, mental or
even spiritual that the bestplace for me.
I thrive better in nature andbeing active in nature.
That seems to.
As I've heard someone say, it'sa tonic for their soul, and I
(25:56):
loved how they phrased that,because that's exactly how I
felt when I was in Iceland.
It was a tonic for my soul andbeing exposed to this beauty and
nature, uh, just really on adaily basis, just got me to
think about how can I bring thisback.
So this is my reflection partof my trip how can I bring some
(26:20):
of that back that I encounteredin Iceland, back to my daily
life back here in the US?
And so I was reminded that toreally make it more intentional
about getting outside in natureon a daily basis if I can help
it, and whether it's just takinga short 20 minute walk if I
(26:44):
can't find a park, you know,even just a walk outside is
beneficial to me, and bothphysically, mentally and
spiritually.
So that was a question I hadasked and you know, thought
about how can I implement someof this into my daily life as
well.
I did that after the Camino,seeing how quiet and slow things
(27:11):
moved in Europe and how I lovedthat pace of life.
And one thing I did when I cameback from my Camino and
implemented it, and I've kept itrather, I'll say, sacred, in
that I try to protect this timeas much as possible but to have
a sort of a quiet morningroutine, meaning I'm going to
(27:32):
take it slow, I'm going to notagree, I'm going to say no to
these early morning.
You know classes, because Iknow I'm not at my best.
And then you know keeping thatsacred time where I have coffee
and I just kind of sit in themorning and reflect and pray,
(27:52):
and so that's very importanttime for me and so that was
something I brought back afterthe Camino that I try not to
compromise.
So that would be a question whenyou go on a travel and you have
these aha moments, somethingthat you marvel at, something
that you know was a positiveexperience for you while you
(28:14):
were there, is that somethingyou could bring back?
Is that memory something thatyou could certainly hold on to
in some way shape or form?
And then I always ask you know,what did I learn about myself
while I was there?
And I always learn somethingnew about myself every time I
travel, or it might just be alittle reminder of something I
(28:40):
had forgotten about myself, andso travel can do that.
Travel can transform us in manyways, and I want to offer that
to you, and I think I'm hoping,as you listen to my story of my
Iceland trip and you've listenedto past stories of my Camino
and other stories that I haveshared about how I've utilized
(29:03):
travel in many seasons of mylife and how travel has helped
me whether it's for a physicalreason, mentally or even
spiritually finding thattransformation, that time to
heal.
I want that for you as well.
(29:23):
So I'm hoping you're inspiredby hearing my story and even
last week's story with my friendDanielle and other people that
have gone out and have takenthat leap.
They've used travel, whetherit's a first time, getting their
confidence back after, maybe, adivorce and, you know, getting
(29:45):
that confidence to get back outthere and do something on their
own Um, that's a big thing too,and I want to help you with that
.
So I'm launching my healingthrough travel program, travel
coaching program, and I want youto be a part of it, and so
(30:07):
right now I am taking people ona wait list and you can book a
call with me to see if this isthe right program for you.
But it will officially launchon May 27th.
Where the program will beavailable, you'll be able to
start scheduling coachingsessions with me, one-on-one,
(30:30):
and getting you to that placewhere you are feeling ready and
confident to take that leap intoa solo trip that has intention
to use it as transformation,healing, whatever your intention
is right, we're going to besetting that together, um,
through the coaching sessions.
(30:50):
So take a moment, in the shownotes there is a link where you
can book a call with me.
It's a through my calendar andit will be as a zoom call though
.
So, um, I know we have someinternational folks out there,
and so this offers you that uhopportunity to get online with
me in a way, uh, that we canchat just for a short little 15
(31:13):
minute um chat to see what yourgoals are and how I can help you
in that process.
So, sisters, I hope you'reinspired to add Iceland on your
bucket list.
It was on mine and now I cantruly say honestly, I think so
(31:33):
far that's probably been myfavorite place.
I say that now and that couldchange, that could change next
month, but right now, iceland isreally, really special to me
and I I encourage you to find aplace just like that for
yourself.
All right, sisters, get outthere and have that adventure.
(31:54):
And again, you're interested?
Book that call and let's justtalk, all right.
Imagine yourself driving down this single lane
road and in front of you arethese snow-capped mountains and
to your right, along the coast,is the sea.
You run across lakes along theway and rocky cliffs, with the
water below, and farmland withcows and horses and sheep
(00:25):
abundantly throughout thecountryside.
Where do you think you aredriving?
Welcome to Solo TravelAdventures.
I'm Cheryl Esch and I willshare today where exactly I am
describing.
Well, this place is oftencalled the land of fire and ice,
(00:48):
but I was remarkably just blownaway by how incredible and
diverse the landscape was.
I am speaking of Iceland andit's fire and ice because there
are volcanoes on this island andthis in this country, but
there's also glaciers, and sothere's just this huge dichotomy
(01:11):
of differences and everythingin between.
I feel like I tried to describeto somebody that parts of
Iceland felt like I was.
You know, looking at the RockyMountains and seeing the barren
sort of rocky landscape remindedme of Big Ben, kind of hitting
(01:34):
together.
And then you see cliffs andblack sand beaches which remind
me of the Cliffs of Moher inIreland, and then you have
volcanoes and mountains andgeysers which really could
remind you of Yellowstone orHawaiian Islands or anywhere
(01:57):
else that has volcanoes andgeysers.
There's just such a world ofdifference, you know, basically
from almost like one side of theisland to the other, and it was
just marvelous.
And so today I'm going to sharewith you my experience in
Iceland what you can do there,places to see, what to expect
(02:21):
and just some basic, you know,just recommendations for you.
If Iceland is on your bucketlist Well, it had been on mine,
especially since a year ago myson went with his friends and I
just I saw his pictures.
I just was marveling at justeverything that he saw and was
(02:42):
kind of jealous.
So when I saw a really goodflight deal come about I think
it was around February I saw itand I had been trying to plan
something someplace to go for mybirthday in April, and
originally I was trying to do acruise because, because of where
I am in my life, so often Iwill evaluate how I'm feeling.
(03:04):
Because of where I am in mylife, so often I will evaluate
how I'm feeling what are myneeds for this next trip and I
was really kind of burnt outfrom just different things that
were happening and just workinga lot, you know, striving a lot
in my job that I felt like Iwanted to really have a time
where I didn't have to think ordo too much planning whatsoever.
(03:25):
But I say, luckily I did notfind a cruise deal that worked
for me, because getting toIceland and having the
experience I had was exactlywhat I needed and I'm so
grateful I went and thelandscape I love being outdoors
(03:47):
first of all, so that was, youknow, part of sort of I love to
use travel for a time for, youknow, whether it's renewal, for
healing, to kind of restoremyself often is how I use travel
, and this was a perfect exampleof a place that you could do
that, especially if you like tobe outdoors and you love nature.
(04:09):
There's nothing else for you todo in Iceland except to be
outdoors and in nature andthere's plenty to do, plenty to
see if that is your cup of tea.
So I didn't even think aboutyou know when is the best time
to go.
I just kind of jumped on thischeap airfare that I encountered
(04:29):
and I'm actually glad I wentwhen I went, although it was a
little chilly it was roughly 32degrees to about 45 on most days
there, and so that's a littlechilly for me being a Texan, uh,
but I'm glad I did take, youknow, a lot of winter clothes
(04:51):
and you do need to dress.
Even in the summertime youprobably still need some layers
because I found myself, you know, doing certain hikes and you
know, one minute I'm really warmbecause the sun is rather warm.
It felt really good.
But then the wind.
So March and April are verywindy months up there in Iceland
(05:13):
and so the wind was very wickedand cold and biting and so you
do have to consider weather.
I'm glad I went in Aprilbecause there were almost no
crowds at all.
Oftentimes I found myself beingalmost the only one on some of
the roads and some of the biggercities.
(05:33):
Of course, you know, reykjavikand Vik in the South part, uh,
were probably the most denselypopulated, um, as far as people
and even tourists, becauseoutside of Vic is where most
people will catch some of thoseadventure tours or trips, such
as the ice cave tours or anykind of those glacier tours, the
(05:59):
fun jeep tours, the hikingtours and the horseback riding
tours.
So there's lots that leave outof Vic.
So Vic was rather busy when Iwas there and Reykjavik, of
course, being the capital, alsohad more tourists than any other
place.
I was in Iceland Now I lovedthe solitude and the quietness I
(06:22):
mean the whole country when Iwas traveling and it was rather
just there was this quietnessabout it and part of it was it
was not busy with tourists and Iwas talking to locals.
Obviously, summer is their bigtime because summer provides,
honestly, the best weather.
So if I were to do it again,the best time to go would be
(06:45):
summer, as long as you don'tmind crowds, although I don't
think these crowds are going tobe anything compared to crowds
you might encounter, say, inEurope during the summer months.
So, for example, some of theweather January, march, it's 27
degrees to 39 degrees.
That's like a negative threeCelsius to four Celsius.
(07:06):
And then April, when I wasthere again, it was like about
32 degrees to 45 degrees.
May gets just a little bitwarmer, but still not too warm.
It's 37 to 48.
And then June to August it canroughly be about 45 to 57
degrees.
Didn't ever see, I mean theymight have an anomaly of a
higher than 57, but that's kindof going to be a roughly where
(07:31):
that temperature stays.
Seven Celsius to 14 Celsius isthat range in the summer months.
And then, of course, september,october gets, starts to get
cool again 36 degrees to 50degrees and November starts to
get cool again 36 degrees to 50degrees.
And November December is alsorather cold, just like January
through March.
Now, uh, if you are looking tosee the Northern Lights, though
(07:54):
which is a lot of reason whypeople will go to a place like
Iceland or, you know, sweden,finland, places up there where
it is a little easier to see theNorthern Lights, that happens
in the winter months.
I was there in April,technically too late to see the
(08:14):
Northern Lights.
Why?
Because there is so muchdaylight.
For example, when I was there,there was approximately 16 hours
of daylight, so it never reallygot dark.
Dark until after 1030 at night,and it was light at like 530 in
the morning roughly.
(08:35):
So that is why you can't see,because the Northern Lights, you
know, obviously, when it'sdarker, that's when you're going
to see them the best.
So I do recommend going in thesummer months, plus the
weather's not as cold, andthere's actually I also
encountered I went off season,so there were some things that
(08:58):
were closed.
For example, the Viking Museumwas closed when I was there, so
there were other things thatwere closed that had signs.
Their season typically is May15th to September 15th is what
the sign said.
So it had its pros and cons,obviously, I liked the solitude,
(09:22):
I liked not having to deal witha whole lot of crowds.
However, I did miss out on afew things.
It got a little dicey in someof the cities that I did stop
the towns, I should say, becausethey're really small, that
almost nothing was open, and Igot lucky a few times where
there might have been onerestaurant or establishment open
(09:46):
during the time that I neededsome food.
But it's definitely summer.
I would say go in thesummertime and you know you're
going to get to see the lushgreenness there and some of the
flowers in the fields.
I did not see any of that, butI did enjoy many of the sights
getting outside.
So how do you get around?
(10:06):
Well, it's highly recommendedthat you actually rent a car.
Now you could also rent acamper van, which I saw tons of
people uh doing the camper vanthing, which I was kind of
thinking, oh, I should haveprobably done that, Um, so that
could also be youraccommodations.
(10:28):
So what about accommodations?
Well, I personally just usebookingcom and got all my
bookings through there and foundsome, uh, you know, some hotels
.
Some they call them guesthouses.
Um, there's a of those, andthose are a little less
expensive than the hotels andthere's some nice ones, one of
(10:50):
my favorite places I stayed, andI'm just going to make a little
plug for them.
It was a last minute booking.
So I had one day I had plannedmy whole trip and I used that
fabulous app, wonderlog.
Um, and if you have not triedit, I'm not don't have affiliate
(11:11):
with it or anything like that,but I'm just so in love with the
app right now because itplanned.
I planned my whole trip on thatapp.
But I had one day where I didnot book accommodations prior to
leaving and that was because Iwas going to be driving all the
way out to Diamond Beach, whichis pretty far southeast in the
(11:32):
country, and that was going tobe my furthest point and I
didn't know where I would end upthat evening.
So I waited and I got myselfback to Vic and decided, oh,
I'll just see what is aroundhere, and I ended up pulling up
a last minute deal.
So of course they discountedbecause they're you know, it's
7.30 or eight o'clock at nightand I hadn't booked anything yet
(11:57):
and, of course, they're justtrying to fill their rooms.
So I found this fabulous placeand again making a plug, not
affiliated, but I have to say itwas serendipitous.
I always have these momentswhen I travel and this
particular one was remarkableand, as someone had said to me
(12:18):
when I was sharing the wholestory, they said well, it's
almost like it was a kiss fromGod, and I'll explain all of the
things that fell into place forthis actual stay.
So I booked this place it wascalled the Drangshilio Inn by
(12:38):
Our Hotels and the serendipitousthing about this place was, on
my way to Vic I'm on my firstdays I drove past, you know, I'm
driving past these beautifulfarmlands and in the middle of
this like grassy farmland, ofcourse, there's, you know, these
rocks and you know hillsides.
(13:02):
There's this huge rock just inthe middle of this field and
inside this huge rock is somelittle sheds or what might have
been homes that were used maybelong time ago, homes that were
used maybe long time ago insidethe rock.
So you can barely see them andI thought they were so cool and
(13:22):
I really had wished I hadstopped to take a picture, but
there are no places really topull over when you're driving in
Iceland.
So I will tell you that, noberms for you to pull over, and
especially if you are on thewest side of the country, where
you know there is all that lavaland there again, they don't
want you pulling over anyways.
(13:43):
So I, you know, whizzed past itand was like, oh, that's so
cute, and really didn't thinkmuch of it.
And then, when I was in Victrying to find a place to stay
this particular night, I bookedat this place and as I was
pulling in, I love the picturebecause it's like you know, this
(14:05):
place is set back against, youknow, the cliffs there, the
rocky, and across the way is thewater on the other side and
it's a farm.
And so I had been wanting tostay in sort of like this farm
stay kind of place, or B&B,let's, on a farm, that kind of
(14:25):
thing, or guest house.
You see lots of signs for themalong the way, places that are
not going to be particularlylisted on like a website.
So you may even, you know, bedriving by and find a place
especially if it's off seasonthat you could possibly stop in
and ask if they had a room.
Anyways, I pull in and there isthat rock formation that I had
(14:51):
seen on my way a few daysearlier and I was staying there
at this inn.
I will say it was a fabulousinn.
It was so clean and the staffwas so nice.
It was the best place.
I stayed my whole time.
I was in Iceland, and what Imean by someone said it was like
(15:12):
it was a God thing.
And I got a kiss from Godbecause that night something
awakened me around midnight, alittle after midnight, and I
happened to peek out the windowand lo and behold, what do I see
is the Northern Lights.
And I waited about a half hourand they got even more beautiful
(15:36):
with, you know, more of thegreen streaks in the sky, and I
was just in awe.
I stepped outside, took somepictures and just basked in that
because, as I spoke to a localthe following day and asked
where I could see more, gave mea nice dark place like last
(15:56):
night, and he said you won't seeNorthern Lights this time of
year, it's too late in theseason, it's like too light, too
long.
And so I showed him my pictureand he just was like that is
rare and you got lucky.
So I like to say that that wasjust an awe moment for me.
I loved it and I plugging thatplace.
(16:19):
They had a beautiful, uh spreadof breakfast.
It was beautiful breakfastspread and they had some
homemade breads, because they're, of course, um, on a farm there
.
Now, uh, goodness gracious, thistrip there was so much that I
did see.
I again used the app Wonderlogand saw so many.
(16:44):
You know there's tons ofwaterfalls in Iceland that you
know many people go about andthey sort of chase the
waterfalls.
Well, I did see quite a few ofthem and I did do one of the
sort of very touristy activitiesthere.
I did do the Blue Lagoon, whichwas a fabulous thing to do
(17:07):
right after I got off the planebecause it was close to the
airport.
It's very close to the airport,maybe a 15, 20 minute drive
from the airport, and so I so Ispent, you know, kind of that
afternoon after a long flightand just soaked up into those
geothermal springs.
There are other ones.
There's the sky lagoon as welland there are some other ones,
(17:32):
but those are kind of thepopular ones and they're all
kind of over in that area of theisland because of that thermal
activity that happens over thereon that side of the island, the
country.
So I don't even know where tostart, I would say, as far as
(17:55):
how long you should stay, I wasthere technically six days.
I think a seventh day wouldhave probably satisfied me.
I didn't see the whole island.
There is what's called theGolden Circle and there are some
things along the Golden Circleto see that's kind of very
popular to see.
(18:20):
That's kind of very popular.
However, I took I guess theycall it the ring circle, where I
did that.
It's called the route one,basically that takes you all
around the edges of the islandand I would say probably did at
least half of driving around theisland that way.
But there was certain sectionsway up north and east I did not
(18:45):
get to, and so there's plentymore I could have seen and if
you plan to really see it all, Ithink 10 days would be
sufficient if you were drivingand trying to see everything.
Reykjavik, the capital, probablythe biggest city in the country
(19:06):
, you probably only need a daythere.
It's a rather in my experienceit's, you know.
You can walk it very easily.
There's great shops, of coursethere are.
There's the famous church thereI was there on Easter Sunday,
(19:30):
which made it a littlechallenging.
I actually had to go back thefollowing day because a lot of
things were closed when I wasthere, but it was, you know, a
great little town.
You can go down by the water.
I can share at a later date myitinerary and I can just pull
(19:53):
that from my app and eventuallyshare that with you folks.
But if you are planning to go toIceland, I did end up finding a
wonderful lady who's actuallymoved to Iceland.
Um, I haven't met her, butshe's got some great resources
out there.
Uh, her name is Elisa and it'sher Instagram page.
(20:15):
If you want to go and find her,elisa, that's E-L-I-S-A.
Underscore in underscoreIceland.
She has some great eBooks on,you know, iceland trips, some
itineraries, and she's got somegreat recommendations.
So if you are looking to plan atrip to Iceland, she's got some
(20:40):
great ideas and greatitineraries.
But I will, at a later date,once I get mine together, share
with you where I went.
Just little tidbits of someinformation is, first of all,
iceland is safe, safe, safe ithas.
Honestly, I think it's thesafest country I have felt I've
(21:02):
traveled to.
Very safe for solo travelers.
It was clean and safe.
So Iceland, great for solotravelers.
But on the flip side, it isexpensive.
So traveling with anotherperson would bring that cost
down right.
So it could be a great idea, forI did see a lot of couples and
(21:25):
families traveling and that iswhy a lot of them chose the
camper vans which I mentionedearlier.
A great way to travel, but alsoa great way to save money on
accommodations, because youwould end up sleeping in your
camper van.
However, uh, some of theaccommodations, two of the
camping sites that I saw, um,because it was off season, one
(21:47):
campsite the facilities wereactually locked, meaning the
bathrooms, so there was nobathrooms and had they had very
limited um plugins, limitedplugins for power for some of
those camper vans.
And then another one I sawdidn't have any facilities and
it was just a gravel parking lot.
So you just have to you know,if you're okay with that, know
(22:10):
that sometimes when you'recamping, there might be limited
accommodation, like as far asbathrooms or power for your van.
One thing I did notice inReykjavik so, say, you're
someone like myself who lives ina warmer climate and does not
typically have a lot of winterclothes, you can actually rent
(22:34):
outdoor wear in Reykjavik.
There's a store there that youcould rent, you know, those nice
Arctic jackets and maybe kindof snow pant things Probably
anything you need because,especially if you're planning to
do like one of those glaciertours, you do need like warmer
clothing.
(22:55):
So I thought that was a greatoption, especially for people
like myself that didn't don'twant to buy things like that
Cause I would not have a needfor it once the trip was over.
So there's a few extra littletidbits If you do want to plan
to go to Iceland.
Some important informationthere for you.
(23:16):
And when I do each trip, Ialways take a moment before I go
and set an intention and I wantto share a little bit of my
process, as I am a certifiedtravel coach now and I am
offering a coaching package forthose that want to find some
(23:36):
assistance in planning maybeyour first solo trip.
You're feeling stuck.
I am focusing more on thehealing aspects of how you can
utilize travel and you know,kind of moving forward in any
kind of healing journey that youfind yourself in.
That could be just could begrief, that could be stress,
that could be a trauma, anythingthat might be holding you back
(24:00):
from taking that first trip andutilizing that trip to grow and
heal and being intentional withyour travels.
So this is a little taste ofwhat I do in my travels and what
I help guide my clients throughas they are trying to also, you
(24:21):
know, be intentional abouttheir travels and utilize them
for some growth in their ownpersonal life.
So, each trip I take, I firstset an intention and, as I
shared early on in the episode,one of my intentions was because
I've been going pretty hard and, just like this whole striving
mentality of my work, I needed abreak and I needed to kind of
(24:46):
detach and also, you know,almost even, uh, I did post to
social media at least once a day, but to not have that, those
distractions, not have thatthose distractions, those, uh,
electronic distractions, andreally spend some alone time and
(25:06):
to be in nature, um, and so Iask lots of questions.
Um, I won't get into all ofthem, but one of the main things
that I will share is when I getback, is when I do a lot of
also I I journal while I'm thereand so there's a lot that I,
you know, learned about myselfwhile I was there and you know,
(25:30):
I remembered I was reminded ofthe fact that when I'm needing
sort of restoration in my lifewhether it's physical, mental or
even spiritual that the bestplace for me.
I thrive better in nature andbeing active in nature.
That seems to.
As I've heard someone say, it'sa tonic for their soul, and I
(25:56):
loved how they phrased that,because that's exactly how I
felt when I was in Iceland.
It was a tonic for my soul andbeing exposed to this beauty and
nature, uh, just really on adaily basis, just got me to
think about how can I bring thisback.
So this is my reflection partof my trip how can I bring some
(26:20):
of that back that I encounteredin Iceland, back to my daily
life back here in the US?
And so I was reminded that toreally make it more intentional
about getting outside in natureon a daily basis if I can help
it, and whether it's just takinga short 20 minute walk if I
(26:44):
can't find a park, you know,even just a walk outside is
beneficial to me, and bothphysically, mentally and
spiritually.
So that was a question I hadasked and you know, thought
about how can I implement someof this into my daily life as
well.
I did that after the Camino,seeing how quiet and slow things
(27:11):
moved in Europe and how I lovedthat pace of life.
And one thing I did when I cameback from my Camino and
implemented it, and I've kept itrather, I'll say, sacred, in
that I try to protect this timeas much as possible but to have
a sort of a quiet morningroutine, meaning I'm going to
(27:32):
take it slow, I'm going to notagree, I'm going to say no to
these early morning.
You know classes, because Iknow I'm not at my best.
And then you know keeping thatsacred time where I have coffee
and I just kind of sit in themorning and reflect and pray,
(27:52):
and so that's very importanttime for me and so that was
something I brought back afterthe Camino that I try not to
compromise.
So that would be a question whenyou go on a travel and you have
these aha moments, somethingthat you marvel at, something
that you know was a positiveexperience for you while you
(28:14):
were there, is that somethingyou could bring back?
Is that memory something thatyou could certainly hold on to
in some way shape or form?
And then I always ask you know,what did I learn about myself
while I was there?
And I always learn somethingnew about myself every time I
travel, or it might just be alittle reminder of something I
(28:40):
had forgotten about myself, andso travel can do that.
Travel can transform us in manyways, and I want to offer that
to you, and I think I'm hoping,as you listen to my story of my
Iceland trip and you've listenedto past stories of my Camino
and other stories that I haveshared about how I've utilized
(29:03):
travel in many seasons of mylife and how travel has helped
me whether it's for a physicalreason, mentally or even
spiritually finding thattransformation, that time to
heal.
I want that for you as well.
(29:23):
So I'm hoping you're inspiredby hearing my story and even
last week's story with my friendDanielle and other people that
have gone out and have takenthat leap.
They've used travel, whetherit's a first time, getting their
confidence back after, maybe, adivorce and, you know, getting
(29:45):
that confidence to get back outthere and do something on their
own Um, that's a big thing too,and I want to help you with that
.
So I'm launching my healingthrough travel program, travel
coaching program, and I want youto be a part of it, and so
(30:07):
right now I am taking people ona wait list and you can book a
call with me to see if this isthe right program for you.
But it will officially launchon May 27th.
Where the program will beavailable, you'll be able to
start scheduling coachingsessions with me, one-on-one,
(30:30):
and getting you to that placewhere you are feeling ready and
confident to take that leap intoa solo trip that has intention
to use it as transformation,healing, whatever your intention
is right, we're going to besetting that together, um,
through the coaching sessions.
(30:50):
So take a moment, in the shownotes there is a link where you
can book a call with me.
It's a through my calendar andit will be as a zoom call though
.
So, um, I know we have someinternational folks out there,
and so this offers you that uhopportunity to get online with
me in a way, uh, that we canchat just for a short little 15
(31:13):
minute um chat to see what yourgoals are and how I can help you
in that process.
So, sisters, I hope you'reinspired to add Iceland on your
bucket list.
It was on mine and now I cantruly say honestly, I think so
(31:33):
far that's probably been myfavorite place.
I say that now and that couldchange, that could change next
month, but right now, iceland isreally, really special to me
and I I encourage you to find aplace just like that for
yourself.
All right, sisters, get outthere and have that adventure.
(31:54):
And again, you're interested?
Book that call and let's justtalk, all right.
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