A year in review 2017 part 1

I traveled. That is an understatement. I traveled alone. To ICELAND!!!!! I can’t even begin to tell you how insane that was. I rented a camper van and drove the ring road.

It was bonkers. All alone in a foreign land with my camera. The friends I made were four legged. Sheep. The most adorable horses. Reindeer. The reindeer absolutely stunned me. They were in a herd roaming in a circle. I pulled over with a few other cars and snapped a couple pictures and rejoiced. Randomly having a magical experience over reindeer.

My van was from Kuku Campers. Camper Van life was not without it’s challenges. I fully embraced the life of camping in their easy to find campgrounds and having access to showers, fresh water and facilities.

I saw more waterfalls in my ten days there than I’ve seen in my whole life. Huge ones, small ones. Water just gushing from the earth. I stood behind a waterfall and tears leaked out of my eyes as water spray misted over me.

The horses were a treat. They were everywhere. Contrary to popular belief they are not wild but roam freely and are gathered up each fall. So yes, they are all owned and easy to pet.

On one adventure I took my van down a dirt road full of bottomless water filled potholes to photograph an abandoned home near a cemetery. Spooky and beautiful.

The places that stay with me still are the glacier lagoons. The first one I stopped at had very few people and I sat right on the shore and stared at the floating ice for hours. I saw not one but two glacier lagoons and the second Jokulsarlon had a black sand beach!

The most exciting thing I witnessed,which I never would’ve thought I could, was the aurora borealis, and I photographed it! In the north after a long day of driving the east through the scariest tunnel of my life I camped in Akureyri. An adorable town on top of the world. Also my first hot meal in days. A bottle of Jameson and I waited in the cold camera at the ready when I thought how annoying the lights were across the street coming from a building. Then the light wavered then exploded across the sky. Bursting fluorescent green flashed, danced and wowed me. A group of German tourists had laughs as I ran screaming into the campground drunk on the spectacle and the Jameson. tears streamed down my face as I cheered on the lights.