Wild and Free

"All Good Things are Wild and Free" Henry David Thoreau

Throughout my trip I’ve been asked a similar question. Why Iceland? Of all the places in Europe, why did I pick the most remote, most undiscovered, and quite possibly the most difficult country to get to? The first time I was asked this question my response was a mere shrug and a puzzled expression. Little did I know that it was questions such as this that fuelled my curiosity, the main factor that gave roots my task of discovering what was Iceland. I had no idea so early in my journey of the wealth I’d find in a country so unfamiliar.

Reykjavik, not only the capital city of Iceland but also the country’s greatest docking point resides on the Western coast of the country. Flagged on one side by the open seas and the other by mere lowlands, the city never really feels quite like a city. Rush hour consists of a queue of no more than two vehicles and waiting is a term not found in the Icelandic dictionary. Even leaving the safety of civilization and exploring other parts of the country left me puzzled. The rocky flat lands just outside the capital are joined by snow capped peaks, vast glaciers, and iceberg inhabited lakes, creating the oddest collage of geographical features known to man.

Its barren strips, although harsh and isolated at times, remained a safe haven for warm villages that nestled against the backside of lonely mountains or welled deep at the bottom of yielding valleys. Deserted cottages showed their ware as they became overgrown by thick peat moss and blown away with the wind. And the most defining feature of all these entities was that they were all at peace with each other. From the affectionate Icelandic ponies to the almost endangered puffins, they all managed to co-exist in a manner that breaks down to just simply belonging.

Iceland is a hard nut to crack; Life times are spent in vain trying to study its volcanic rock, categorize its wildlife, and monitor its seismic activity. I wish I could tell you that I made some great discovery on that island, or that it revolutionized the way I think, it didn’t. But when I look back on my time there I do so with a smile on my face and laugh at myself for having tried to crack the uncrackable.