I have SO much to catch up on! It may take me a bit, but I'll get there. I'll start with my very favorite - ICELAND! I'll break it up into a few posts so it's not so long and picture heavy. This one will be more of an intro to our trip, without many details.
Iceland has been at the top of my bucket list for a long time. It's one of those places I've really wanted to visit, but I didn't know if we ever would. Josh was interested, but he's more into Spanish speaking countries. Well, in January, Josh called me while I was at work to tell me he found really cheap tickets to Iceland and asked if I wanted to go in October. I told him I couldn't think of a better birthday present, but I didn't think we would REALLY go. We were already planning to go to Peru within the next year and we were going to be moving soon, so I was waiting for him to say it wasn't in the budget or something very Josh-like. ;-) BUT, he was super spontaneous and told me to go ahead and buy the tickets now before they sold out at that price. I didn't waste any time and I bought the tickets right away! 15 minutes after calling me, we bought plane tickets to Iceland!!!
So, we were off to Iceland from October 22-26. Not QUITE my birthday, but the trip is still the best birthday present I've ever received!
In case you're interested, we flew with WOW airlines. They don't fly out of very many US locations, but they are cheap flights and we had very few complaints. We drove to BWI and flew from there. They fly to several European locations and every flight has a layover in Reykjavik. Ummmm...yes please! We'll definitely consider flying with them when we go to Europe! My only complaints were that it was hot on the plane. I'm ALWAYS cold on planes, but definitely not this one. They do advertise being Iceland's most punctual airline, but both our flights were delayed. This wasn't a huge deal for us, but it may be for some. It wouldn't stop me from flying with them again, but I would plan to have an extra hour or so than I think I need if we had another connection. Another little quirk was that we had an overnight flight and they did not make it easy to sleep. Typically, they dim the lights and keep it quiet on late or overnight flights. They left the lights on and there were announcements for on board duty free shopping at like 3am. You don't get a carry on or checked bag for free and you have to pay for all your snacks and food, but as long as you're prepared for it, you can still save a LOT of money. Both of us flew both ways for $670 and that's after paying for a checked bag both ways. Woohoo! Such a great deal!
We also went the budget route with our rental car. I don't really remember where we first read about SadCars, but I'm really glad we found them! The cars are not pretty or new, but when you're driving on gravel roads in Iceland, that's probably a good thing! Their service was great. They pick you up from the airport, show you where to get the cheapest gas and send you on your merry little way off to explore Iceland. When you bring the car back, they check over it quickly and take you back to the airport. The only tiny complaint we have is that typically, cars have snow tires on them in the Winter. Most other cars we saw had snow tires, including other SadCars, but ours didn't. They would have been useful, because it did snow, but we were fine.
Iceland has been at the top of my bucket list for a long time. It's one of those places I've really wanted to visit, but I didn't know if we ever would. Josh was interested, but he's more into Spanish speaking countries. Well, in January, Josh called me while I was at work to tell me he found really cheap tickets to Iceland and asked if I wanted to go in October. I told him I couldn't think of a better birthday present, but I didn't think we would REALLY go. We were already planning to go to Peru within the next year and we were going to be moving soon, so I was waiting for him to say it wasn't in the budget or something very Josh-like. ;-) BUT, he was super spontaneous and told me to go ahead and buy the tickets now before they sold out at that price. I didn't waste any time and I bought the tickets right away! 15 minutes after calling me, we bought plane tickets to Iceland!!!
So, we were off to Iceland from October 22-26. Not QUITE my birthday, but the trip is still the best birthday present I've ever received!
In case you're interested, we flew with WOW airlines. They don't fly out of very many US locations, but they are cheap flights and we had very few complaints. We drove to BWI and flew from there. They fly to several European locations and every flight has a layover in Reykjavik. Ummmm...yes please! We'll definitely consider flying with them when we go to Europe! My only complaints were that it was hot on the plane. I'm ALWAYS cold on planes, but definitely not this one. They do advertise being Iceland's most punctual airline, but both our flights were delayed. This wasn't a huge deal for us, but it may be for some. It wouldn't stop me from flying with them again, but I would plan to have an extra hour or so than I think I need if we had another connection. Another little quirk was that we had an overnight flight and they did not make it easy to sleep. Typically, they dim the lights and keep it quiet on late or overnight flights. They left the lights on and there were announcements for on board duty free shopping at like 3am. You don't get a carry on or checked bag for free and you have to pay for all your snacks and food, but as long as you're prepared for it, you can still save a LOT of money. Both of us flew both ways for $670 and that's after paying for a checked bag both ways. Woohoo! Such a great deal!
We also went the budget route with our rental car. I don't really remember where we first read about SadCars, but I'm really glad we found them! The cars are not pretty or new, but when you're driving on gravel roads in Iceland, that's probably a good thing! Their service was great. They pick you up from the airport, show you where to get the cheapest gas and send you on your merry little way off to explore Iceland. When you bring the car back, they check over it quickly and take you back to the airport. The only tiny complaint we have is that typically, cars have snow tires on them in the Winter. Most other cars we saw had snow tires, including other SadCars, but ours didn't. They would have been useful, because it did snow, but we were fine.
This is our SadCar, Patty. In this picture, we were on our way to the Blue Lagoon, which we were late for...that's a fun story for later. Anyway, she's not cute, but she got us around and she kept us warm. I loved her as much as one can love a Yaris.
So, car and flight are covered...for our lodging, we used Airbnb. Great experiences all around! Now, when we're researching for a trip, we always check Airbnb before checking for hotels. If you've used it, you probably love it too, if not, you're missing out. You should give it a shot. Use my link and we'll both get a $20 credit.
Other tidbits about Iceland before I get around to posting more detailed posts:
1 - I'm in love with it. Like, for real for real. It is definitely on our list of places we would love to visit again SOON. Tourism is growing pretty quickly there, and I'm afraid tourists will ruin some of the things I love about it, so if you suck...please don't go. K, thanks!
2 - It's basically magic. If I had seen a unicorn, I only would have been surprised because unicorns don't like cold weather. Everything is breathtaking. Even the city is clean. It didn't smell like a city at all. It's just an amazing place.
3 - The people are SO nice. I mean, everyone. The closest thing to a rude person we ran into was a french couple we were sharing our first Airbnb with and they weren't even rude. They just didn't speak much because they knew limited English.
There's a lot more, but they require a little more detail, so I'll share them later with more posts and pictures. :-)
