Picking Iceland

So how did I come up with this trip to Iceland one may wonder. Some have come to me saying that this was such an odd choice of a place to visit but all have said, "wow, it's such an amazing choice!"

People think Iceland is cold and covered in snow. In fact, Iceland isn't all that cold. Greenland is covered in ice and Iceland has some ice, but some green as well. Its named the land of Fire and Ice for a reason. As I keep blogging you will understand that reason more.

Here is a picture of Iceland and as you can see below, it is not covered in ice.

Iceland

In fact, Iceland has warmer winter temperatures than right here in Ontario! Example, today in Toronto it is -8 c. Where as in Iceland, it is plus 1 c with a high of 5 c today. Why is Iceland warmer than Toronto? Iceland is north, centered in the Atlantic Ocean, so do you know why it is colder here than there?

The answer is the Gulf Stream.

See under the name Iceland on the above map, that bit of land is Iceland and the warm surface flows right past the Island creating a warmer temperature.

So the fact is, many are simply confused due to its given name, Iceland, which I will explain in a later blog.

So why did I pick Iceland as my destination?
Well let me explain how I came across finding this Island as my next destination.

It was a year ago that my girlfriend and I had started discussing our interest in traveling.
 I had been on a road trip through the states, my destination, two weeks in Florida. I have been to Florida so many times, I have had that warm sun soaking beach experience 8 times! Lake Placid, New York, and some other areas in the United States I have visited as well.
Here in Canada, I have travelled to Montreal and every summer I travel 3.5 hours to where my cottage is in Haliburton.

So last summer I was thinking "man I want to get off this continent completely and explore the world" so a few ideas were looked at, they were Thailand, Ireland, and Vietnam.
My girlfriend and I had discussed traveling for quite sometime. I came across an article while searching for unique places to visit.. It said pretty much what this article below has to say about Iceland.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/annabel/2014/11/25/the-10-coolest-places-to-visit-in-2015/

Now, I mentioned I typed into Google and found Iceland was recommended but as well, my girlfriend had mentioned this as a place she wanted to go many times. So I knew when I read about Iceland and wanting to go that she would not be a hard sell. I think I had made up my mind 2 minutes into researching the Island.

 So I planned it out quickly, got an estimate of what it would roughly cost and brought the idea to her.

Original idea was for $1,087 each, inc flight and hotel for 4 nights.

Once we had decided that this was the trip for 2015 I did what everyone does these days, I made a Facebook post. My uncle saw the Facebook post of my interest into heading to the land of Fire and Ice and shot me a text immediately. This was a place on his bucket list somewhere he badly wanted to go. My uncle is on the road a lot. So knowing he didn't have friends that were able to drop this kind of coin, and I thought this would be a great way to bond, and like the guy said, it's on his bucket list, I invited him to come along.
My Uncle then suggested a road trip, since he could finance more than two students of course, his coming along opened a door to a grand adventure!

It seemed that this destination was destined to be explored by us. My uncle had Iceland on his bucket list, my girlfriend really wanted to go there for awhile since reading an article back in early 2014, and well me, I just wanted a true adventure and Iceland offers that and more.

Finances were sorted out at a total of close to 9 thousand, split 3 ways  (keep in mind that includes tours and other activities, food, gas, car rental etc...), and an 11 day road trip around the Island was planned.
 
Welcome to my blog. Over the next few months I will walk you through the planning of our trip to Iceland.

If you have been to Iceland before why not let me know how you came to picking Iceland as your destination.
If you haven't been to Iceland, I highly recommend you take some time to check it out, or keep reading my blogs as I will get into details of places to see, visit, and explore!

Although I have not yet been, I have spent over 15 hours, researching and planning. I look forward to my last post on this topic where I give hands on feed back of our trip to the land of Fire and Ice.
So sit back and keep following my blog as we plan for a trip of a lifetime.

Kirkjufell Mountain, Iceland

Next time on Dave's Blog - It's not about taking a trip, but taking an adventure - I will discuss researching tips for your trip, even if your trip is not Iceland but another adventurous trip I highly recommend reading.

All money mentioned in this blog is in Canadian dollars.

FACT: Iceland VAT was at 7% now at 11% as of current date.