Pre-Trip Planning

Hello! Welcome to my first entry of my Iceland Adventures blog.

Aside from a trip to The Netherlands when I was 8, and a drive from Toronto to L.A. when I was 18, this is my first real vacation. Why am I going to Iceland? Well, thanks to a recent influx of "extra" cash, I had a choice of either saving it ...(umm, yah) or spending it; so what to spend it on? A down payment on a house? Nope; they don't look favourably to those in my position when granting mortgages, (even though my credit score is excellent). Pay off some of my student loan? Yawn... Buy another little yappy dog? Tempting...but I need another pet like a hole in the head. So...I read a book called "Eat, Pray, Love", and immediately after, another book called "The Geography of Bliss", and I think--I gotta travel! I have had 3 travel plans be kiboshed by ex's in the past, so I know I have to travel alone this time (if I want to do something right, I gotta do it myself!) As a Scorpio, I need to travel to where there is lots of water, and little tourists. Not an easy task in February. So I scan the globe, and see Iceland, way up there in the North Atlantic. Hmm...Iceland in February? Yah! If I'm going to do something, I'm going to go all the way! And what's more extreme than Iceland in the Winter? (Australia in February with 45 degree celcius heat waves and rampant wildfires sound intense, but I couldn't handle the 30+ hrs of flight time...) So: about 6 hrs total flight time, a rapidly declining Icelandic Kronur, off-season rates, famously gentle horses, friendly sledding dogs, limited daylight, northern lights, whales, world-renown geographic wonders, and infamous roaming weekend parties, lead me to the decision that Iceland is the place for me! Add one very generous friend who is actually looking forward to house/pet-sitting (my animals love her more than they love me, I think!), and other friends who are kindly taking care of my various other responsibilities, and off to Iceland I go!!!

I plan to take in many day tours, including: a whale-watching boat tour, riding Icelandic Horses, a tour of Geysir and Gulfoss (Icelands' most famous geiser and waterfall), a drive into the countryside north of reykjavik to see the Northern Lights, Dog Sledding (!!!), a tour to Icelands' southern wonders, including the black sand Beaches of Vik (currently seen on the Dentyne "Make face Time" commercials), the waterfalls and glaciers in the Vik area, caving in the lava tunnels under Iceland, and a trip to The Blue Lagoon (mmm). Some smaller adventures include trips to the Reykjavik Zoo, the Fleamarket, Parliament, and the many geothermically heated outdoor swimming pools. I hope to sample some Icelandic Gastronomic rarities, while avoiding whale, reindeer and puffin. Of course, Reykjavik is known for their incredible all-weekend-long pub crawls, so I should probably indulge in that, too...*s* As it is winter, travel into the interior may be limited, but I am hoping the weather is stable enough to travel a bit.

I will be leaving in 12 days, on Thursday February 12, 2009, @ 3:29pm from Toronto. Then, I arrive in Boston @ 5:05pm, with a 3.5 hrs layover, leaving for Iceland @ 8:35pm. I land @ Keflavik on Friday @ 6:40am GMT (Iceland is 5 hrs ahead of Toronto time). Hopefully, I can sleep a bit on the plane! Unfortunately, the sun isn't rising in Iceland until around 10 am, so I will probably not see any of Icelands' incredibly beautiful geography from the plane.

My plan for arrival day is to check in early at my hotel in Reykjavik (if they will let me), and take a quick nap. As check in isn't until 2pm, I may have to leave my bags at the hotel and explore a bit. Maybe take in a swim at a local geothermically heated outdoor pool, or find a bite to eat. I am looking forward to going on a whale sight-seeing boat tour on Saturday, and I was advised to call on Friday, as the winter weather will dictate if a whale tour is running the next day.

I have a chronologically ordered folder of my upcoming adventures (with all the pertinent contact info), a new memory card for my camera, 6,000 Icelandic Kronur (about $64CDN) for incidentals like the city bus, a VISA card ready to get more worn out than it already is, a new warm/windproof/waterproof coat, comfy new Croc Winter boots, a cute little black swim-dress, new wool socks, wool gloves, and a warm hat (that I made). All I need to do now is be patient for another 12 days!