Hello Folks,
I'm the Renaissance Man. It is nice to meet you! Like my Father before me, I have fallen into the typical pattern that seems to be synonymous with my surname. Jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none. I am addicted to learning new things. New hobbies and skills are what I crave. I can't seem to spend 10,000 hours doing any one single thing so I try to do them all once! Crypto-currency seems to have settled it's barbed hook deeper in my cheek that most. I figured I would begin my contribution to Steemit with a series about a trip I am going to be taking in July, 2017.
If you're like me you spent the first half of your life in an offline world. I didn't have a cell phone until I was driving on my own and had my own car. The world only stretched as far as my legs could walk me or my eyes could see. The only glimpse I ever got of the world beyond my small American town was through books, of which I read hundreds. This is when my addiction to knowledge and learning really began to take hold. I believe it was the lack of knowledge and resources that taught me the value or information. Once we were hooked up to the internet for the first time...I put down the books and started reading the greatest book of all. The Internet. There are few places on earth with pictures more stunning then the ones that flooded (and continue to flood) the internet in those early days....Iceland. Pictures like the one below are where my obsession with the Scandinavian island originated.
Ahhh....Icelandic skies...
Seeing pictures of this place on the internet only piqued my interested in finding the strangest and most unique landscapes on earth. Pictures of those aurora borealis soaked skies caught my imagination and, honestly, pressed the limits of what I thought was naturally possible. I hold nature to be one of the most sacred things that we as human's have ever given a name to. Iceland is a small pocket of nature, not unlike Australia, that has developed while segregated from the rest of the planet. This has created some very unique features and landscapes. The internet seems to love such things. It brings rarities to the surface and makes them seem obtainable. In the case of Iceland, it is extremely obtainable.
Camping in Iceland
One of the reasons that Iceland can be so cheap is that you can camp almost anywhere. There are very affordable camping sites in almost every small town. I made a google map of the island and started adding stops and campsites. After doing the conversions on prices, most of the campsites come out to less than $20 per night. Splitting this with a pal and spending about 10 nights in Iceland brings the approximate cost of lodging to $100 per person..and that's if we don't splurge on a hostel or a night or two.
Iceland is littered with many campsites for less than $20
This means your entire trip to Iceland can be done with just the cost of airfare and a car rental. The two very large expenses of lodging and food become very small expenses when camping in Iceland.
Reykjavik, on the other hand, is one of the most expensive cities in Europe to visit in the typical sense. Beer can cost more than $10 a piece, standard price. Iceland is subject to standard island economy rules and their short growing season makes food availability a little trickier than living in a large country like the United States. I forgot to mention this whole trip is obtainable in an outdoor/camping sort of way. If you're looking for hotel rooms, fine wines and cheeses you're going to be paying more than you would in Paris.
IcelandAir prices for two!
When I first looked into taking a trip to Iceland I thought the same thing I think about every European country. It's going to be expensive. I could not have been more wrong. Icelandair has spent the last decade setting up a very ample amount of direct flights from US cities. The prices are absolutely incredible. Living on the east coast of the united states the distance is comparable to a flight to LA, as is the price. Me and my buddy caught tickets in a good window and paid the above price. I was blown away that this was even possible. Above is the price we paid for 2 round trip tickets out of and into JFK, direct.
The cost of a car rental for twelve days is just under $1000! I couldn't believe this when booking this trip. Overall the cost of transportation to a small European island is less than $1000 per person!
With the average temperature in July ranging from 44F to 55F it is necessary to bring layers and rain gear, but sub-zero camping equipment is not needed. This definitely makes a strong way from being on a beach in Cancun but if you're like me at all, dazzling your eyeballs with fjords and nature's splendor beats starting a bikini-bottoms and umbrella drinks for a week straight. If you're also like me and have been seeing these incredible images of this strange land for over a decade, I want you realize that it's not that mystical. Iceland's tourism industry has boomed over the last decade due to their efforts to make it more affordable and accessible for Americans.
If you've ever been thinking about taking a trip here, start planning one now. You will most likely find that it doesn't take that much effort or money to do so. Shit, if enough people like my posts about it maybe I can fund another trip next year!
As for this series, I went over my introduction to the country and its basic costs. I will do another post about the gear and food I'm taking along (You can bring up to 4kg of food with you to Iceland).If you have any questions feel free to comment then and I'll answer.
I'm just a young man with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and vision. Thank you for welcoming me here at Steemit and I hope to post again for you all soon!
-RenaissanceMan