Ahh traveling... good times! @pinmapple team and @haveyoubeenhere community have created a cool contest for the celebration of 1 thousand #traveldigest posts and the topic is read the title.
As long as I have known myself, I have always liked the idea of traveling and seeing our planet earth as much as possible. However much I love world exploration, a full-time worker like me can't find enough time for this nor do I have endless funds. Covid situation definitely doesn't help and in present-day pretty much makes enjoyable traveling almost impossible.
This of course doesn't mean I can't imagine going on a journey with $1000 in my pocket.
Over the years I have been to Spain, Cyprus, Iceland, USA(Florida), drove from Estonia to Germany's alps and of course to countries close to me( Latvia, Lithuania, Finland and Sweden).
For a couple of days now I have wondered about, where should I go when I had 1000$ just for traveling. Today I came to a conclusion. I would go back to ice and fire, Iceland.
Yeah, you might want to ask but why would you go back to where you have already been. I got some reasons for ya.
- I absolutely love Iceland
- I get to use my own photos in this post
- I know what I am talking about
- I want to go back there anyway, at some point at least.
When I say I love Iceland, by that I mean the absolutely gorgeous landscapes and wilderness all over the country and the people are also great. Out of all the countries I have been to, no other place left me with this kind of emotion. When looking back to my pictures, I can't help it but incredibly miss hiking in Iceland every freaking time.
However, there is one big problem... Iceland is one of the most expensive countries in Europe and $1000 definitely isn't going to cut it really to enjoy this Journey. The last time I was there a little over 5000$ was spent on a 10day stay, of course, this was for 2 people and we did try to make it as cheap as possible. The camper car rental already cost me 170$ per day. I don't typically want to travel alone, I want to share the experience with someone but for the sake of $1000 I will go alone this time, and for 5 days, let's see if I can survive this.
So the plan begins...
I would go in the summertime because it's always bright outside and I can hike at 12AM during sunset, taking most out of the time being there.
Let's get the biggest expenses out of the way first.
For plane tickets there and back $380 as of lowest prices now.
I could get the cheapest rental car for $120 for 5 days without insurances. Iceland definitely requires a car if you want to travel around freely. I am also sleeping on the seat, no way my budget allows accommodation. Of course, it's not comfortable but about 4 hours of sleep and back to traveling again. I can live for 5 days like this.
Approximately $100 for gas.
Taking my own portable gas stove and living off the noodles and gas station hot dogs (they are amazing by the way). About $20 a day for food. Just for the record, a 2-course meal in a regular restaurant costs $60 on average, in Reykjavik prices are even higher.
This makes a total of 700$ already
So let's see where would I go. Firstly, I probably would go hiking in some mountains near the lake Krysuvik that is not too far away from Reykjavik.
There are several paths I can take and I have only walked one last time I was there. In the area are geothermal areas with boiling water and sulfur smell. I can still remember the smell, like rotten eggs or something.
The place where one of my goals is to go is Ejyafjallajökul. Ever heard this name? It's a mountain that erupted back in 2010 and left many nearby areas under thick volcano dust. It also severely disrupted air traffic all over Europe. Some locations on the mountain changed totally, even lakes disappeared and glaciers transformed. I want to explore this place close up and go walk on the ice cap of this mountain. I would not be able to go there independently because I don't have a 4WD car, even then I don't know if it's possible at all. I know that there are tours with a small group that explore this area and they actually go to the top and see the crater. I would definitely go there and this will cost me 200$. I am more than sure it is worth it. This trip will cost me almost an entire day.
Last time I drove past of the mountain and have a shot taken from below.
With my extra time in the area, I would visit Seljalandsfoss and chill watching the midnight sunset. For sure one of the most scenic locations to do it.
Maybe even give a quick visit to Skogafoss that is also nearby.
Can you see how small the people are ? Puts the size in perspective
For the third day, I would make my way to the Skaftafell area with its many glaciers and walk on the several hiking paths found in the region. I probably wouldn't have the extra money to go on a glacier hike so I would take trails nearby of them. It's a shame I spent so little time there when I was in Iceland, time was a valuable resource I didn't have enough of. When I have a whole day there then I have plenty of time to hike and just enjoy the sceneries like this.
The famous Svinafellsjökul where interstellar was filmed.
You are actually allowed to hike glaciers yourself but it's extremely dangerous, especially without equipment. Better not to do it if you don't want to end up like these guys. You may fall into a ravine and never be found nor heard again.
When I have had enough of walking I just take out my portable stove, make some noodles while looking at a view like this.
After waking up early I would take a 4-hour scenic drive and gladly accept the challenge of the Glymur waterfall hike again. I have already done it once but I would really love to spend more time in the area and take a different path up.
Glymur is the second-highest waterfall in Iceland falling 198 meters down into the Canyon. The hike is not too hard but the terrain is pretty rugged so I would not consider it easy. Definitely a trail where an average tourist won't go.
Better watch your step because if you make a mistake you fall 200 meters to your death. It made my stomach weird standing on the edge.
It doesn't look nearly as deep on a photo but believe me, it is frightening.
Up there I would not stop, I would go further to the lake that supplies the water to the river.
Last time I was there we didn't see anybody else on this trail. That's what I love about Iceland. If you go off the beaten track or at late times even in popular places. You are alone with the epic nature, breathing clean air, enjoying the calmness( except when the wind is extreme, which often is in Iceland). It's difficult to prevent jaw-dropping around every corner, wondering how beautiful earth can be.
At this point, I would be done with my short Journey to the land of ice and fire. I think it is possible to do it with 1000$ but of course, the reality is you will have unexpected expenses and so on.
If you are reading this and wondering whether to go then 5 days is only enough for nearby areas to Reykjavik and not nearly enough to see what Iceland has to offer. I was there 11 days and did a circle around the country but I only scratched a surface. Iceland is small but there is so much more to see. In my lifetime I definitely want to go back there several times more. After traveling there I just started to love this country, it's hard to describe.
Overall I am interested in arctic landscapes like this and I definitely want to go to Norway and even to the Faroe Islands and Svalbard. The world has so many incredible places and as I said in the beginning, I try to do everything I can to see it as much as possible in this life.
Without much further text let's wrap this up, I have spent 3 hours making this post and researching prices 😅.
Anyway, this is what I would do with my $1000 for travel. I had fun making this post and thank you for the contest @pinmapple.
I will also leave a couple of links I have pinned on the map from 2 years ago, from some of the places in Iceland I did not mention in this post.
@greddyforce/dynjandi-waterfall-6-more
@greddyforce/on-top-of-the-hverfjall-volcano-explosion-crater-iceland
@greddyforce/fjadrargljufur-iceland
@greddyforce/the-almighty-geyser-iceland
