ICELAND
Language Icelandic, English, Danish
Currency Krona (ISK)
Airport Keflavik International
Time difference from LAX +8 hours
I tuck my chin under the collar of my jacket, shielding my nose from the chilling gusts of wind and slide my hands into my pockets, my fingertips already numb from the cold. As the raindrops trickle faster onto my jacket, my thoughts flash to the warmth of the sun back home.
Why do we leave the comfort of home to travel to unfamiliar places where we’re welcomed with a language we don’t understand and the unsettling thought of the unknown?
Maybe it’s exactly that mystery that pulls us to different corners of the world - that wonder if there is something much more grand than the comfort of the space we’ve always known.
Nature in Iceland is the most ferocious I have seen - winds tear through the terrain, howling as it surges through open fields, rattling everything and everyone in its path. The rain is relentless, coming and going as it pleases, welcoming itself as droplets lightly tap your shoulders before pounding down with full force. We’re invited to marvel at a place that has embraced the gales and storms and blistering cold, to see the beauty of a resilient landscape carved and sculpted by nature’s toughest forces.
Here, we can watch lights dance with the stars across the night sky, witness the sea embrace the mountain floors, feel the salty kiss of the ocean as it crashes against the shores and hear the roar of the wind racing across barren lands, making us envious of the beauty this land breathes.
As the rain clears, I glance upwards at the sky, where an arch of colors forms softly among the clouds. A grin sweeps across my face as I realize that this must be life, peaking its way through the haze of gloomy skies, smiling ever so brightly back at us.
Shot with 35mm / Fujifilm Provia 100F