We started dating in February of 2025 and we quickly realized that one thing we had in common was our love for traveling. I remember about two months into dating we randomly planned a trip in about 2 hours to go to Clearwater, Florida. In that moment we both knew that any trip would be possible.
A few months later, we started throwing ideas for our first international trip. After some consideration, we settled on Iceland. Jessica at that point she had been to Europe; she had already been to Spain, France and the UK. Iceland looked like the next best option, because it is only a 5 hour direct flight from our home airport. As young adults working full time jobs with limited time off we were trying to maximize time for the trip. We chose the week of Thanksgiving as both our jobs were closed for Thanksgiving Day and the Friday after. This allowed us to have more time for the trip which totaled about 5 days.
We wanted to make this trip very memorable and we started working on a jam packed itinerary. At the conclusion of the trip we totaled over one thousand miles of driving! -Well at least that's the reading the odometer gave us.
Our itinerary revolved around just seeing as much as possible with the limited time we had. Packing involved a lot of layers and warm clothing as November is already very cold there. We started off the trip in Reykjavik, explored the downtown area, tried coffee shops and did a sweet treat tour. We then went to the Sky Lagoon to relax before checking into our Airbnb in Hella. The next day we drove to Vik for an early morning glacier hiking tour, on the way back we stopped at the black sand beach in Vik, and pit stopped at multiple waterfalls. Over the next few days key highlights were a Lava Museum, Thingvellir National Park, Gysers, Lava Tunnel Tour, and the Blue Lagoon. Food was a highlight too; we tried several restaurants and also did groceries to cook at home. We were surprised by how small the serving sizes were for desserts, compared to the amount you get in the United States.
The top things we enjoyed in Iceland were: geothermal heated lagoons, exceptional landscape views, beautiful scenery, surreal waterfalls, black sand beaches, volcanos, and glaciers you can hike on. All of the things we saw are featured in the gallery below.
Overall, a great trip with great company - excited to see where life takes us on the next adventure!
