Tag Archives: Roadtrip

Stathur Harbor

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Stathur Harbor

Thursday, 16-May-2024


After taking a walk down the nature trail, I headed out onto the road again, to explore the little corner of the WestFjords that I’d brought myself to. There wasn’t much, truth be told – a few farms, some cliffs and waterfalls, and a small harbor at the very end of the road.

Well, that makes exploration quite easy, doesn’t it? A single road, with an interesting thing at the end… Yeah, okay. I can work with this!

I drove, making mental note of all the interesting places that I’d aim to stop by on my way back. I checked out a few as a drove, but mainly just headed straight in for the harbor.
(Ed Note: Many of these small views got bundled into Ben’s “van life” post from earlier, since they were fairly minor stops)

Once I got to the harbor, I found a sea of glass awaiting me.

It’d been raining and windy earlier in the day, but by the time I made my way out to the dock the weather was calm. Still, it was almost like the whole world was in stasis, holding its breath for something yet to come.

The sun was hidden behind the clouds – not quite enough to make it impossible to tell where the ocean ended and the sky began, but close enough that it took a moment to find that differentiating line.

The water was crystal clear, and I could see the massive kelp forests just below the surface… not knowing how far down they must go, since my view got quickly muddied by the entangled strands of kelp. It was beautiful, and a little bit scary, and I wish that I had been better able to capture the depth and clarity of the water around the docks.

Instead of the ocean depth, I was gifted these amazing photos of the dock itself. Similar to the pallet that I saw at Grettislaug, I’m exceptionally proud of how these came out. Enjoy!

The nature trail at Grettislaug

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The nature trail at Grettislaug

Thursday, 16-May-2024


Wednesday evening, I had planned on camping out at Miðjanes campground… but then I noticed that a nearby campground happened to have hot springs and a nature trail. Advantages of a chill roadtrip – I can change plans on the fly!

I pulled up, set up camp, and… wasn’t able to use the hot springs, because they were actually a public pool. Which shouldn’t have been an issue, but… Okay. Awkward thing to admit. I didn’t have a bathing suit. I know, I know, how could I have forgotten to pack it… but you know what? I was planning on either huge spa resorts where I could buy a swimsuit, or small back country hot springs were I could just wear my boxers. I hadn’t been to a big resort to buy a pair yet, and Grettislaug was connected to a school, so I wasn’t going to rock the boxers.

Instead, I had a relaxing evening, and then explored the nearby nature trails on Thursday morning.



They were super cool!

I’d made a good choice, no doubt – The trails around Grettislaug weren’t too extensive, but they wound around a few natural hot springs that were especially picturesque, and came back to camp again via a bird-blind that afforded some excellent views and birdwatching opportunities.

It was relaxed, enjoyable, and… you know what? A continuation of this roadtrip being exactly the chill experience that I had been looking for.

And seriously. Look at that photo I got of the pallet by the water. Just… Sometimes, my artistic-ness… it scares me. Just so beautiful!

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!