Planning Iceland - Step 1

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I am sitting here with a nice glass of Italian red wine and I have about 6 tabs open in my internet browser. I am planning my trip to Iceland - solo. Where to start? I have been wanting to go to Iceland ever since Wow Airhas announced their super cheap flights from Montreal or Toronto to Reykjavik, capital of Iceland. For under 400$ Canadian, you can fly from Montreal to Reykjavik, round trip, tax included! Why pass on an opportunity like that!? That's what I thought.

I started doing some research about a couple of months ago, watching the flight prices to see if they would change, browsing the multiple blogs about travelling to Iceland and trying to gather as much truthful information as I can find. First of all, don't be tricked with Wow Air. Like all the other airlines, they advertise their flights as being really cheap and as much as tax is included, they charge you for a carry-on that weighs over 7 kg and they charge you about 60$ Canadian one way, for your first checked baggage. As I will be backpacking Iceland, I will travel with minimum luggage: only a big backpack that I will check in and a sporty backpack that I will take as my carry on. There you go, the flight only is already well over 500$. Although most airline companies now charge for checked baggage, always be careful to book your baggage fee in advance, as you can save money this way. It will always be more expensive to add baggage at the airport. I also made sure I had travel cancellation insurance through my credit card company, so at least I don't have to pay for that.

After that, you have to decide what you want to do in Iceland. In my case, I am a pretty adventurous girl, and I want to hike, chase waterfalls, snorkel under the midnight sun, and go to the world famous Blue Lagoon. Travelling on my own doesn't bother me, Iceland is recognized to be a safe country, with a low crime rate and lots of friendly bearded Icelandic people. I read a few blogs about the best way to travel Iceland, and what there is to see. I also ordered the Iceland Lonely Planet book on Amazon, to make sure I won't miss out on anything. Hey, it always pays off to do your research! What really hooked me up about this trip, is the Ring Road, a road that circles the coast of the beautiful island that is Iceland. It only takes about 18 hours to drive around Iceland on the Ring Road, but there is endless adventures to go on, things to see and take in, that it's best to give yourself some time. I want to see as much as I can, in the few days that I have to travel. That brings another question to my mind, should I go for 7 days or 9 days? There are many itineraries that demonstrate that a 7 day road trip around the island is satisfying, but a lot of people also suggest giving yourself as much time as you can as there are so many hidden gems. And to be honest, I don't think I will ever have a chance to go back to Iceland in my life. So...

There you go! I just decided that I would splurge that extra money and go to Iceland for 9 days in total. The thing is, the flight that I am looking at, lands at 5 in the morning, on the night of the 25th to the 26th of May 2016. So you lose a day right there. My next step is to take out take credit card and start booking this much anticipated trip!

*This is the first entry of my blog about travelling Iceland. I hope you follow me during the next couple of months, as I will document everything about my trip, from the planning phase, to the execution and adventure phase. I will try to post helpful information and facts and as many pictures as I can. To everyone that is hesitating on taking the plunge into a solo trip anywhere in the world: just do it!

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I'm going to Iceland

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Photos

The Ring Road map
The itinerary might change but this pretty much looks like my plan.