photo courtesy of Melanie G Photography

10 Reasons I’m Itching to Visit Iceland

Iceland has been a big travel hot-spot in recent years. And I’ve been paying attention.

After all, Iceland can easily catch one’s attention. Such a physically unusual, culturally unique and exotic destination – a solitary island situated all alone way, way up north near the arctic circle.

Several of my well-known travel blogger colleagues, non-blogging travel friends and even my own brother have explored Iceland in the past few years. I’ve been awed by their photos, jealous of their unique adventures and excited by their stories.

Among all of Iceland’s unique cultural, culinary and natural intrigues, what really has me itching to visit Iceland asap is the island’s incredible natural world. Dubbed the ‘Land of Fire and Ice’, Iceland has geothermal areas & volcanoes heating up its crusty, mountainous island as well as icebergs, walls of ice, ice caves and arctic-loving birds & animals.

photo courtesy of Melanie G Photography

It’s not surprising that I should be so excited to get there. Anyone who knows me or has been following my travel blog knows that above all I’m a huge fan of nature & outdoor adventures. I’ve also been devotedly developing my photographic skills, becoming more and more enamored of travel photography.

As it turns out, Iceland not only has incredibly diverse, outstanding natural environments, it possesses several natural phenomenon, creatures and sights that I have never yet seen in all my years of world travels.

Iceland also has phenomenal, unusual natural light that is raved about by outdoor photographers.

So, as a nature lover and travel photographer, Iceland amounts to a dream destination for me.

Following are the top 10 reasons I’m most dying to explore Iceland. They are all natural phenomenon that I have yet to experience in my life, but which are high on my ‘must see/do world travel life’ list.

Besides these, Iceland has many other spectacular natural wonders that I have already experienced elsewhere, but would love to see/do again. I’ll summarize those briefly at the end of my Top 10 list.

For now, without further ado, here’s why I can’t wait to go explore Iceland:

photo courtesy of Melanie G Photography

1. Amazing natural light for photography

Iceland is one of the most famous countries among photographers for its unique natural light. There are several reasons for that special light, but in general terms it all boils down to Iceland’s location in the very far northern hemisphere. Specifically, the country primarily lies between 63-66.5 N Latitude. The northernmost points touch the Arctic Circle.

What that means, in terms of light, is that during several months per year, the sun sets for only a few hours in the middle of the night. The phenomenon is known as the Midnight Sun. And what that means for photographers is that the famous Golden Hour (providing the best light for photography) which comes immediately before/after sunrise and sunset, is a much longer, extended affair in Iceland.

During Midnight Sun months, sunsets take hours, during which time colors, tones and light quality change very slowly and subtly. The same is true during sunrises, just a few hours later.

Thus, there’s much more time for photographers to capture the most beautiful light of the day, while simultaneously capturing more subtleties in color and light than most other places on Earth.

In addition, the astounding Aurora Borealis illuminates Iceland’s night skies in winter months, when Iceland stays dark all the time, save for a few hours in midday.

On top of all that wonderful light, Iceland offers its stunning natural wonders to photograph: volcanoes, geothermal phenomenon, icebergs, waterfalls, rivers, wild coastlines, caves, walls of ice, arctic birds and Icelandic ponies.

photo courtesy of Melanie G Photography

2. Northern Lights aka Aurora Borealis

I’ve been dying to experience the phenomenal Aurora Borealis for years and years. In my estimation, witnessing the Northern Lights must be one of the top experiences on our entire planet.

I even wrote about it in this article a few years back, for which I researched extensively about best locations to view the Northern Lights as well as what causes the incredible natural color displays. Check out that post to learn more.

Sadly, I have yet to witness Aurora Borealis.

But as I discovered, Iceland is one of the best countries for viewing the Northern Lights because of the great winter weather conditions (clear, unpolluted skies with little precipitation) and the short distances visitors have to travel from the main city of Reykjavik. In several other countries, locations for viewing the Borealis are quite remote, making access long, relatively difficult and expensive.

Volcanic eruption in Iceland 2010 – photo by Soring on Flickr CC

3. Volcanic eruptions and lava flow

I have experienced more than my fair share of volcanoes over the years. Having lived in Japan for six years, roamed around Indonesia for many more years, explored New Zealand for six months and Guatemala for two months, I’ve been visiting volcanoes for over 25 years.

I’ve experienced volcanoes just about every way possible. I have admired them from panoramic distances, peered down into volcanic craters, seen boiling muddy hot crater lakes as well as stunning turquoise lakes.

I’ve watched volcanoes spew thick gray clouds, summit-ed several high volcanic peaks and walked around the base of others. I’ve smelled heavy sulfuric gases, watched workers collect & haul huge sulfuric rocks, seen volcanic salt production. I’ve luxuriated in hot springs created by volcanic heat.

But I have yet to ever witness a volcanic eruption or seen lava flow. Darn it.

Iceland offers that chance. With 30 volcanic systems around the island, volcanic eruptions generally occur every 3-5 years in Iceland. The last one happened from August, 2014 – March, 2015. Prior to that, there was a huge eruption in 2010.

That means another volcanic eruption is due sometime between 2018-2020. Well hey, 2018 is just 1 ½ years from now! Looks like there’s just enough time to plan my trip.

photo courtesy of Melanie G Photography

4. Entering a volcano!

Iceland is the only place on Earth where people can actually go inside a volcanic cone. It’s a dormant volcano, of course.

Visitors must join a tour to experience that unique adventure, not surprisingly. Who could hope to climb inside a volcano un-aided?

My independent travel friend, Melanie Garrison, who has graciously provided most of the stunning photos in this article, joined one of those tours last time she visited Iceland. Thanks to her, we have this great interior shot of adventuring inside a volcano. Thanks Melanie!

I can’t wait to climb inside that same volcano myself one day soon!

photo courtesy of Melanie G Photography

5. Icelandic Horses

One of the very first inspirational photos I saw of Iceland a few years back was an amazing image of a super-furry Icelandic horse standing in a fog-shrouded field. The landscape was surreal. The light phenomenal. The horse quite peculiar.

That image further sparked my desire to visit Iceland.

Since childhood I’ve loved horses. One Christmas, in true storybook style, I declared to my parents, “I only want a horse for Christmas. If I can’t have a horse, I don’t want anything.”

Quite unfortunately, my wish went unfulfilled since my family lived in town with nowhere to stable or ride a horse. Instead I researched and studied all the different breeds of horses. Then I took up animal anatomy drawing, primarily to draw horses.

Later I managed to take weekly riding lessons for two years. Then in my 20s I spent one year living on a homestead, helping care for horses and riding nearly daily on forests trails. Simply put, I’m a huge horse lover.

Icelandic horses are a unique breed. They are rather short & stout with extra long fur. They’re well-tempered, friendly and love interacting with people. Most intriguingly, they have five gaits rather then just four.

Icelanders are very fond of their sturdy horses and have put strict rules in place to ensure that their bloodlines remain pure. Any Icelandic horse that leaves the island can never return. And no other horses can be imported into Iceland.

Visitors can enjoy Icelandic horses in many different ways. The simplest is just watching them or stopping to interact and photograph them around the island. With over 80,000 horses on the tiny island, it’s apparently difficult to not meet some while exploring the country.

Horse lovers can also join a huge variety of riding tours through many of Iceland’s unique terrains – lava fields, volcanic landscapes, black sand beaches, open meadows, UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Tours also visit waterfalls, hot springs, geothermal zones and caves. On many rides, visitors get a chance to experience the Iceland horse’s fifth gait, ‘tölt’.

photo courtesy of Melanie G Photography

6. Icebergs

Icebergs are another amazing natural feature that has eluded my experience thus far.

I have seen glaciers in New Zealand and climbed a very steep, high mountain snow field in the Northern Alps of Japan.

But I have yet to see actual icebergs.

Considering the various locations of icebergs around the planet, Iceland must be one of the easiest & least expensive places to see and photograph them. Certainly much easier and more economical than, say, Antartica or the Arctic Circle.

Even better, Iceland has not only surreal icebergs, but also huge walls of ice, crazy chunks of ice resting on sandy beaches and…

Ice Cave in Iceland – photo by Alison T30 on Flickr CC

7. Ice Caves

I’ve visited many, many caves in my life. Caves of all sizes and shapes.

In high school I joined the Spelunking Club, so I’ve wiggled through tight, dark cave holes. I’ve also walked through massive cave systems like Carlsbad Caverns in the USA and ‘religious’ caves full of Buddhist or Hindu statues temples around SE Asia.

As a PADI Dive Instructor, I’ve also dived through many caves – well, caverns technically. More recently I’ve swum in cavernous cenotes in Yucatan, Mexico.

So my next big caving experience will be checking out Ice Caves in Iceland.

photo courtesy of Melanie G Photography

8. Puffins

Puffins are unique cold-loving birds that live almost entirely in the far northern hemisphere. They can be seen in places like northern Europe, Canada, Maine, Greenland, Iceland and islands near Russia & Japan.

Since I have spent almost zero time in such cold northern climes, I haven’t had the opportunity to check out these cool odd-looking birds. But as a huge bird fan, I’m eager to watch and photograph them asap.

Iceland will offer my big chance.

9. Reindeer

I’ve seen moose, elk and deer in the wild. But reindeer? Not yet.

Iceland boasts a herd of 3000 wild reindeer that roam the highlands and valleys of Eastern Iceland. These large deer relatives were introduced to the island from Norway in the late 1700s and have been roaming freely ever since.

Iceland is one of the easiest places to see reindeer in the wild because of the large herd, their steady territory and the short distance of their domain from the capital.

10. Dog Sledding

I’ve never visited a place where people participate in dog sledding. But as a huge outdoor adventure lover, I’m itching to try it as soon as I get the chance. Do I hear dog-sledding on glaciers in Iceland? I think I do…

photo courtesy of Melanie G Photography

Summary

So, as you can see, Iceland will give me the opportunity to finally enjoy several amazing natural experiences that have eluded me thus far in my world travels. Equally exciting, I can photograph them all with Iceland’s unique & amazing natural light.

In addition, Iceland has many natural environments that I’ve already enjoyed somewhere in the world but would absolutely love to do again. Things such as:

Soak in natural hot springs, witness strange geothermal pools & earth, see a few more glaciers and volcanoes, enjoy more stunning waterfalls and possibly even see whales again.

Wowie, I think I’ll start planning my trip right now! Anyone else want to come along?

Best way to explore Iceland

Iceland is an extremely expensive and extremely cold country. Even summer months are very cold, as I learned from a good travel friend who tried camping in Iceland. She actually loves cold weather, so thought she’d be ok camping there in summer.

But on her first night in the tent she discovered that it was too cold even for her! After that, she stayed in small hotels and guest houses as she and a friend drove around the island in a rental car. Of course, paying for hotels was an even bigger expense than camping.

It seems to me that the ideal way to get around Iceland, exploring all its natural wonders and being able to get of the beaten path, is to rent a campervan rather than a car. That way, you’d have wheels and warm accommodation all in one!

Surely a campervan would be more expensive to rent than a car, but you’d save a lot of money on accommodation, making the overall expenses much lower. So whenever I finally get the chance to visit Iceland, I’ll check into renting an RV or campervan.

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Special thanks to my great world travel friend & adventurer, Melanie Garrison, for graciously supplying all these striking photos from her two recent trips to Iceland. Thanks Melanie! You’re a star!

Find more of Melanie’s superb photography at Melanie G Photography.

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QUESTIONS:

Have you been to Iceland? If so, what did you like most?

If not, which of these amazing natural experiences would you most like to have?

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You might also enjoy:

Dreaming of Viewing the Northern Lights

Confessions of a Cold Weather Hater

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