79 lines
3.9 KiB
Markdown
79 lines
3.9 KiB
Markdown
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title: Iceland trip
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date: 2023-01-06
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---
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We went to Iceland for two weeks over the winter break.
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I couldn't think of anything I wanted to write in this blog about it,
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but someone on somethingawful just asked me for some tips,
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and my reply seems kinda interesting,
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so here it is:
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---
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> Hey, really random, but saw you mention in the EV thread you just got back
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> from Iceland, got any winter travel tips? I'm going in a few weeks, and I
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> think pretty much everything I've read is focused on visiting in the summer.
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I overpacked because I wasn't sure what to expect, but I didn't overpack by
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much. I brought:
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* A pair of insulated water-resistant pants (lined with fleece I think, sort of
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like ski pants). Wore them everywhere.
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* Two pairs of wool socks
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* Waterproof boots: mine were Danner, my wife had Sorel
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* two long-sleeved wool t-shirts
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* two wool sweaters
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* A waterproof parka with a hood
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* A wool hat
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* Warm waterproof gloves with the thing so you can still use the phone
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touchscreen (this was so great to have)
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I had planned to buy one of those Icelandic wool sweaters when I landed, which I
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did, so I could have done without the second sweater I brought. The Icelandic
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one was crazy warm: I found myself stripping off the coat and sometimes the
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sweater while driving, to prevent overheating.
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We only did little walks, like a short one to take a photo of Sólheimjökull, a
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little one through Þingvellir. And lots of walking through snow in Reykjavik and
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other rural places we stayed. The stuff we packed was totally adequate. I did
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use the coat's hood way more than I thought I would, and was glad to have it. El
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Cheapo crampons like YakTrax would have been a good idea for Þingvellir if we'd
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wanted to go further, but once we saw the sign saying "if you get stuck past
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here in the winter, we won't come help you", we turned around and found another
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less-icy path. We weren't prepared for glacier climbing on a nature trail.
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We traveled with another family, who had the smart idea to buy food at the
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grocery store and prepare meals. That saved us a ton of money and I would highly
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recommend doing it. Eating out was incredibly expensive. Groceries were also
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expensive but more manageable.
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For driving, just know your limits. They have these pullouts on the roads,
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marked with a sign and an indication of how long the pullout is. If you are even
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idly considering turning around, take the pullout and have a nice calm think
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through that. I wound up seeing one, thinking "hmm, maybe I should turn around",
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and then doing a K-turn on the freaking highway during a whiteout blizzard.
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Nothing bad happened, thank goodness, but it could have gone very badly for me,
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and I wished I had just taken a couple pullouts to discuss with my wife whether
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we wanted to keep going. So take those pullouts.
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Snow on the road is unlike anything I've ever witnessed in the Rocky Mountains,
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and when they say "difficult driving conditions" in safetravel.is, pay
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attention. It's not "if you're from California you'll have a hard time with
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this", it's "if you're from any other country". We quickly learned to respect
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their suggestions.
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Lastly, the N1 fuel pumps wanted a PIN on my credit card, which I didn't have. I
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think I could have used an ATM card, but instead we just asked the other family
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to buy fuel for us, and we paid them back when we got home. Maybe bring an ATM
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card and know the PIN! There were other gas stations where I could use Google
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Pay on my phone, or Visa's tap-pay thing, with no problems. And inside the N1, I
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could also use Google Pay. It was really just the pumps at the N1 stations.
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Incidentally, you should pop into an N1 if you pass by one. It's a real trip.
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You can even plan to have a meal there: I saw hot bars, salad bars, frozen
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yogurt bars, nice custom sandwich things...
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Overall the trip was great! We especially liked the westernfjörd area. The
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south, near Sólheimjökull, was super touristy and I wouldn't go there on a
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subsequent trip. I'm glad we got to go, and I hope you have a great time!
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