Category Archives: International Travel

Oct9

A visit to Germany for the Christmas Markets

Posted on October 9, 2025 by perfectusvarrus

Friday, 27-Dec-2024 through Sunday, 29-Dec-2024

After the cold and snow of Iceland, I headed East to an incredibly warm welcome – Andrea, meeting me at the airport in Dusseldorf!

With Christmas over, and my energy being nicely regenerated by the solitude and snow of Iceland, I’d hopped on a plane to Germany to meet Andrea and her family for some lovely post-Christmas adventure. The flights were smooth, and reunion was just as glorious and full of happy hugs and excited exclamations as one would expect. Really, it was a beautiful extension of the break that I’d been on – but with good company and slightly warmer weather.

The Christmas markets were winding down, as one would expect from the days following Christmas itself, but they weren’t quite done yet. We had a lovely time wandering through the stalls, finding a super cool little pop-pop boat that I sent to a friend and his son, alongside a super cute mug of cocoa where I got to keep the mug!

It was lovely – not a adventure, per-se, but more of a relaxation and chance to spend some time together away from Dublin, in preparation for the semester to come.

Quick fun link for pop-pop boats, for those curious: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pop_pop_boat

Oct7

An accident at the end of the world. Or, Icelandic roads are icy, and winds treacherous.

Posted on October 7, 2025 by perfectusvarrus

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Thursday, 26-Dec-2024

There was an incident driving back to the airport in Iceland.

Now, let’s be clear here. I was safe, I was uninjured, and I wasn’t in a rush. This happened a day before my flight – I knew there was a risk while driving on the icy roads of the North, and so I planned in quite a bit of extra time. I was FAR below the recommended speed on those roads, doing 30kph vs. the official 80kph… or the 70kph of the people passing my plodding van. I had studded tires, an emergency beacon, and plenty of food and water.

All I didn’t have was a level horizon.

With that out of the way, let’s begin at the beginning – I had packed up camp and hit the road a day before my flight was due to take off from Reykjavik, planning on taking 3hrs to do the 1hr drive from Thingvellir back to Blue Lagoon, before heading the 20min to my campsite for the evening.

I made breakfast, had coffee, and locked everything down before heading onto the icy highway… carefully testing the road and the brakes before leaving the national park. The road conditions looked good on the Icelandic website that tracks those things, and I was feeling optimistic that I’d be sitting in a hot spring within 2hrs… maybe 2.5hrs.

Unfortunately, an errant wind gust (or possibly a surprise break in the wind) sent the van slowly and steadily sliding off the road and into the fluffy embankment of snow off the side.

A call to the rental agency.
A call to the towing agency.
Calls to Andrea, and my folks, to keep them in the loop.
Waiting. Lots of waiting.

2 hours later, a wrecker truck appears through the drifting snow… and an hour after that, the van is back on the main road.

Then, I’m on the path again… but this time, with the wrecker behind me just in case. And a rather hefty sum of money no longer in my account… but, I’m back on the road.

Oct4

At the end of the world, for the end of the year

Posted on October 4, 2025 by perfectusvarrus

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Monday, 23-Dec-2024, through Friday, 27-Dec-2024

I didn’t quite want to fly back to the United States for Christmas. Flights were long, they were expensive, and there weren’t any really good options that stood out to me.

Andrea was in Germany with her family, but we were still a bit too early in our relationship for me to join them. The invitation was there, of course, but it felt a bit intrusive for me to be a part of their Christmas celebrations this soon.

Staying in Dublin was an option, of course. But it didn’t quite feel right either… I’d been staying in town quite a bit, and I wanted the chance to see the Northern Lights, if at all possible… not something particularly likely on the Irish Island, regardless of how far North I went.

My thoughts strayed to Norway, to Finland, and to Lapland. Good options, but complex in terms of transit and connections.

Finally, a plan settled in for Iceland – a country I’ve been to, and rented a vehicle from, and knew at least vaguely well. Flights were booked, a campervan reserved, and campsites selected from the few still open in the long cold dark of Icelandic winter.

My bags were packed, my plan confirmed, and soon enough I was on my way.

I don’t mind the solitude – I really don’t.

It was calm, cold, and quiet… After the intense socialization of the MBA, the quiet and solitude was incredibly welcome – as was the cold, after the consistently mild temperatures found in Dublin proper. I took my time with walking around Thingvallir, with watching the latest Star Wars series on Disney, and with catching up on some blog posts.

I read, I relaxed, and I soaked up the glorious cold and the snowy environment.

I didn’t quite make it out to the hot springs, unfortunately, but I was able to catch a small glimpse of the Northern Lights one evenings, through a small gap in the clouds… They weren’t quite the intensity that I’d hoped for, unfortunately, and so my quest continues.