As we made our way around this beautiful country, we met people along the way at campsites, rest stops, or broken down on the side of the road. Travellers from around the world all doing the same ring road camper van trip as we were. Everyone we met had some bit of information that helped us in our journey, weather it was a way to organize our van or some insight as to the weather we should expect up ahead. We met doctors from other countries who had been dreaming of this adventure their whole life, we met young families who were traveling with toddlers and older couples who were crossing things off their bucket list.

People from all walks of life were doing this adventure alongside us and we couldn’t have been happier to meet the people we did. One sunny day while driving down the road, we stopped to take a photo and were approached by someone asking for jumper cables. Unfortunately our van wasn’t equipped with any but I offered to drive him to the nearest farm houses and see if we could find someone to help us. The first home we stopped at was empty, so off to the next, we knocked on the door and heard a dog and someone moving behind the door. We were greeted by an elderly woman who spoke no english whatsoever and we only succeeded in conveying our request by showing pictures of jumper cables and pressing our hands together in the symbol of prayer. She smiled and pointed to the back of her house and then to her truck which she followed us back up the road in. Before we knew it our new found friend was up and running again in his little jeep, we waved goodbye and wished him a good rest of the journey.

The days passed and the visual wonder of Iceland did not cease to amaze, around every mountain was another marvel for us to photograph. We spent hours hiking into the hills, following streams of water that led to crystal clear lakes or waterfalls. The spongy earth was soothing to walk on and with the sun in the sky and the wind at our backs, there was no saying how far we would wander. We came across iceberg lagoons and waterfalls as tall as skyscrapers, we photographed sheep from a few feet away and also way up in the mountains. We drove through volcanic wastelands and walked on black sand beaches, the experiences and sights are endless. The landscape constantly changed and had us reaching for our cameras every couple minutes.

Almost a week later during one of our hikes, we ran into the friend whom we had helped with the jumper cables. We quickly reacquainted ourselves and began exchanging stories of our travels, before we knew it we were making plans to stick together for the next couple days. We spent some time picking spots on the map where we would stop for the night and finding off the beaten track photo opportunities. We enjoyed having some company with us for a change, it was nice to talk and share stories, to learn about someone else’s expeirences traveling and share some meals together.

During our last couple days we spotted whales, seals, wild horses and more. We saw geysers shoot 30 feet into the air and more rainbows than we could count. Its safe to say that Iceland continuously blew us away. Getting the opportunity to see the northern lights five times in two weeks was unbelievable and had us up all night watching them dance in the sky.

We cherished every moment in that tiny van, squishing together to keep warm at night and cooking on a hot pot everyday for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We learnt so much about each other in those two weeks and grew closer in so many ways.

We look forward to our return to Iceland where we will be able to help other travellers on their first run through. We look forward to being the couple with little ones of our own getting to experience this otherworldly island that has so much to offer.

If you haven’t seen it yet, heres the full video of our Iceland adventure!

-Live Life With Passion