Iceland - Fiery, Icy & Quirky

Volcanoes, glaciers, Northern Lights & the Huldufólk

Dramatic, awe-inspiring & stunning natural beauty are just words until you step outside of the quintessential minimalistic Keflavík airport and start your journey through Iceland. While roaming along the Ring Road, you can start to see with your own eyes the meaning of those words and as the landscape passes more phrases come to mind - other worldly, jaw-dropping, just wow!

One of the smallest nations in the world, Iceland has become a popular destination as of late due to its unique mixture of exquisite natural beauty and quirky cultural elements. It is a land of natural extremes, which I speculate is one of the reasons people there are so relaxed and seem to go with the flow of the nature.

Set on two divergent tectonic plates (Eurasia and North America) - Iceland is a geological wonder of volcanoes, glaciers, geothermal pools, lava fields and lunar like craters. Nicknamed Land Elds Og Íss (The Land of Fire & Ice, well before Game of Thrones), Iceland was & still continues to be forged by Mother’s Earths might. Despite its sometimes harsh climate, Iceland is a paradise for outdoor and nature lovers. In any season, you can find a plethora of outdoors activities to do just as long as you dress properly. Remember, there is no bad weather, just bad clothing, as they like to say in the Nordics!

And as magnificent as the landscapes are, one just needs to look up the sky during winter time to experience another one of Iceland’s wonders. Located just below the arctic circle, it has almost no darkness in the summer and almost no light in the winter. These long winter nights create the perfect stage for the show of Northern Lights - streams of green and purple iridescent flames twirling and dancing in the night sky.

“Everywhere you look, our culture is a reflection of our nature and land.” Júlía - Local Voice of Iceland

The cover of darkness is also ideal for what we think is the most unique part of Iceland - their believe in or at least lack of denial for the mischievous Huldufólk - elves and other hidden people. It has become such a part of the culture that there are houses for the Huldufólk where people can leave food and other gifts, as well as a Huldufólk school in Reykjavík that even tourists can attend!

Kveðja,
Felicia
Nomad Co-founder