Iceland - Oct 21
I first went to Iceland in 2009. I was no longer living with my children full time and I wanted to do something with my son, something that he would remember.
At school he was doing projects about volcanos and was fascinated by them, so I booked a trip for the two of us to Iceland. I wasn’t expecting much. I preferred hot holidays anyway I told myself. But I was blown away by the beauty of the place.
I ended up writing a photo story of that holiday which is now on this site here.
Like many people who live on isolated rocks you can feel the independent spirit of Icelanders which is reflected in their attitude and their fashion. They can wear thick Arron jumpers and still come across as cool. They go out to bars and relax without the edge and nastiness that you can sometimes get from certain small minded drink or drug fuelled Brits.
I returned to Iceland in 2014 to watch the band Portishead play live at a disused NATO airbase.
That was pretty cool, the sun didn't set, instead it changed into the weird half light that happens when the sun skims to horizon before rising again into the sky.
I returned again in October 2021 and the island still had its magic, maybe more so. The island still smokes and bubbles away, volcanos still going off waterfalls of glacial water still pouring down mountain sides.
Some places hype themselves up as tourist attractions. New York for example. “The greatest city in the world”. It’s not. It’s far from it. But Iceland, “The land of fire and ice”. It more than exceeds any hype. Iceland has an understated humility, they don’t rave on about how cool the country is, but they quietly know it is. And it is.
Like I said above, I always think to myself that I prefer hot holidays. But whenever I visit Reykjavik I can see myself spending time here. Its safe, its relaxed and friendly, and the food and drink places are great. Perhaps the future of working from home will be 3 months here, 3 months somewhere hot and 6 months in the UK (the summer months).
Perhaps this is just a dream that won’t come about. but it doesn’t matter either way. It’s better to have dreams that don’t come about than have no dreams at all. And even if some dreams don’t come true, that’s better than not having any dreams at all.
Dreams are essential ingredients to knowing what’s in your heart and who you are. Some people say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one
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