Tag Archives: Campervan

Oct7

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

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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

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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.


A few nights, a few hikes, lots of snow and wind… it was a glorious break.

May28

Living my #Van_life

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From 10-May through 18-May, 2024


Somehow, I don’t think I’ve ever really lived out of a van.

I mean… for most people, that’s kind of normal. But for a guy, into the outdoors, who lived in Oregon and had a good paying job? Well, I always kind of felt like I should be buying a van and working remotely while blogging and Instagramming. Like a nerd. Who blogs these days, right?


When I was planning my trip to Iceland, I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do… My friend Bri would be in Iceland the same time I would be, so we’d planned on meeting up at some point – her tentative trip called for a big road trip along the ring road, so renting a car seemed logical to me. When I started looking around, though, I noticed that camper vans weren’t much more expensive than a car rental… and would save me money and chaos on renting hotel or hostel rooms…

I did some digging, looked into options, reserved a van, and my plans were settled.

I had a van, I’d be roadtripping around Iceland, and… well, it was going to be amazing!




The van pickup went easily – the cab to the pickup was a bit insane (thanks, Iceland), but the van pickup itself was simple. I showed up, read my book for a bit, got the van, got a tour of the van, and… suddenly found myself at the helm of a battleship much bigger than I’d expected.

This thing had it all – a bed, a kitchen, a bathroom… fridge, cabinets, everything I could want. I unpacked, put things were they felt like they should go, and suddenly had my moving home ready for an adventure.



My itinerary looked a little something like this:

  • 10-May = Camping near Vik
  • 11-May = Camping at Kirkjubæjarklaustur
  • 12-May = Camping at Kirkjubæjarklaustur
  • 13-May = Camping at Þingvellir (Pronounced Thingvellir)
  • 14-May = Camping at Snorrastadir
  • 15-May = Camping at Reykholar
  • 16-May = Camping at Miðjanes farm
  • 17-May = Camping at Þingvellir again
  • 18-May = Returning the van to its stable


I wasn’t staying at any one spot for too long, but that was totally fine for this adventure – the whole advantage of the van was that I was already unpacked! I didn’t have to stress about making sure I didn’t forget anything… I just kept things where they needed to go, hiked and explored and drove, and let myself float through the adventure.

It was lovely – I heartily recommend IndieCampers to anyone considering this type of exploration through Iceland, and would (and probably will) do it again!



And last, but certainly not least – as is tradition. Food from the adventure! Note that I did cook my own dinner quite a bit in the van – advantage of having the kitchen, which made up for some of the extra costs in gas and eating out other times!