All posts filed under: Europe

Ultimate Packing List for Iceland

Ultimate Packing List for Summer Travel in Iceland

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 We visited Iceland for two weeks in August (summer season). We spent the first week backpacking the Laugavegur trek and hiking in the Thorsmork area.  The second week, we rented a car and drove around the island.  The packing list below was what we had for the two weeks in terms of clothing and camping gear. We packed food for the first week as we didn’t have access to any shops. Once we had a car in the second week, we were able to buy fresh food and vegetables. We spent 13 of the 15 days camping so the camping gear listed below was used extensively. We knew that Iceland weather is notoriously unpredictable, and you really should assume that it will rain every day.  For that reason, keeping your gear and clothes dry will be a challenge, especially if you are camping and don’t have access to washers/dryers.  Below is our packing list. If you have any questions, please comment below! Not sure how much a 15 day backpacking trip in Iceland would cost you? Read our budget …

Our 15 Favorite Photos from Iceland

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These 15 photos reflect the varied landscape and raw natural beauty of Iceland.   Enjoy! If you are planning a trip to Iceland, read our top travel tips and expense report from our 15 days of camping and hiking in this beautiful country. Liked what you read? Don’t forget to sign up for travel tips straight into your inbox and/or share or leave us a comment! Read more about Iceland: Top 18 tips for Iceland adventurers 15 day expense report with tips on cheap travel Best day hike in Iceland  

Iceland: 15-day expense report with tips on cheap travel

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Iceland is not a cheap country to visit, but just like anything else in life it is about setting your priorities. If you want to travel Iceland for longer than 4-5 days and you are on a budget, I’d suggest stack ranking the things you want to do or places you want to visit.  Like most tourist destinations, once you are in country you will be overrun with tour offers and expensive travel packages.  You’ll find a lot of blogs online that will demystify travel from place to place and provide lower cost accommodations.  In our case, we didn’t care about doing excursions such as whale watching, glacier walks or helicopter rides; although I’m sure these things are fantastic.   We wanted to focus our trip on hiking as much as humanely possible given the allure of the wild, volcanic and raw landscape of Iceland.  We’d also purchased a lightweight tent, so we were anxious to try our hand at multi-day camping.  We generally do day hikes while traveling and/or we look for treks with huts along the …

Top 18 Tips for Iceland Adventurers

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These are some ‘off the top of my head’ tips for preparing a trip to Iceland and for traveling within Iceland.  There are number of good blogs on Iceland given its recent popularity.  In August (peak summer season), we spent 1 week backpacking in the Central/South Highlands and then took a weeklong trip in a rental car around the entire Island.  We stuck mainly to the Ring Road (Route 1) but ventured off to hike in East Fjords and to see the mammoth waterfalls in the North.  The Icelandic people were extremely friendly and helpful everywhere we went.  There are so many outstanding hikes/excursions available all over the country.  If you  are adventurous and you love the rugged, raw nature, you’ll will fall in love, despite the incessant rain and unpredictable weather! So, here are our top 18 tips for Iceland adventurers: Iceland Camping and Hiking Tips Bring lightweight rain gear (obvious, but some think that just bringing their normal winter coat is enough) Bring a tent footprint (this is the waterproof tarp that you put …

Fimmvörðuháls Hiking Trail – Iceland

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We had heard and read several times that Iceland’s weather is highly unpredictable but we live in Colorado where you can start a hike in sunny 80 degree weather and be met with snow and ice or torrential rain 2hrs later, but soon enough the sun will be back in full force to pick you back up. We joke that in Colorado one can ski, hike and golf in the same day! Let me just say, Iceland is a different beast. Unpredictable Icelandic weather brings heavy winds, sudden fog, rain, and sleet in the middle of summer and this weather can hang around for days not hours.  We ran into this first hand in Þórsmörk.  We were a little over halfway through the 75km trail from Landmannalaugar to Skogar, and had already traversed mountains and battled wind and ice through majestic lava fields.   However with a 24km climb over steep mountains and volcanos left to go, heavy rail and high winds moved in to derail our journey.  We’d already bunkered down in a tent for a …

Bushwacking through Cinque Terre, Italy

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No surprises. We were lost yet again.  This time on a trail in Italy.  It all started as it usually starts. We both mutually decide to climb to the highest point in the town in the hopes of getting the best views while burning calories from the food intake from the night before.  If only we could stop stuffing our faces or be less guilty about stuffing our faces, we could actually spend our time enjoying the town and not being lost in the wilderness.  

Image Credit: http://melbournelawyer.co

A Connected Europe

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[Image Credit: http://melbournelawyer.co] We met two interesting characters on the high speed train from Spiez, Switzerland to Milan, Italy.  They were crammed into the same four person table that Shru and I were.  Both were initially talking to each other in Italian, so we figured they didn’t know English.  A few minutes went by before Shru asked the older guy, probably in his 50s, if he was stopping in Milan.  He replied in near-perfect English that he had been in Zurich and was going on with his mother to their hometown in southern Italy near Sicily.  The younger guy  we’d find out later was 18 and was travelling from Basel, Switzerland to a small town on the Eastern coast of Italy.  Both of their journeys would take over 10 hours by train. Here is what was interesting.  The older guy was born in Italy, but spent 30 years of his life in Zurich, and now travels for work between Switzerland, Germany, and Italy.  He speaks fluent German, Swiss, Italian, and English.  The 18 year old was …

The Gift

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Traveling can bring out the best and worst in you. It can break you and lift you in ways you never imagined.  There are some days when you feel antsy and the materialistic side of you overpowers your brain …you realize you miss your tempurapedic mattress bed, clean, crisp sheets and even your uncomfortable couch at home.  But, there are days when you feel alive and free when you hike for hours surrounded by towering cliffs and incomprehensible natural beauty.  And then, there are days you feel connected to strangers that you talked to for a brief passing moment. You get overwhelmed by the generosity and kindness of people. People like this young brother and sister from Korea who were travelling outside their country for the first time. They were in the same room as us in the hostel for one night. We only talked to the sister since the brother was shy, quiet and couldn’t speak or understand English.  It was no different conversation than we had with several other travelers we met along the way. “Where …

Hiking in Grindelwald

Grindelwald: Another day, Another Hike

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If someone could just pay me to be a full-time hiker and wander around in the mountains, the deep valleys and the lush forests all day, I would be in heaven, literally.  I wonder if I would ever get bored or tired of a job like that. Will I wake up in the morning and say, “Oh damn, I have to go to work again and climb these annoying mountains and look at this beautiful scenery yet again” and “My life is so hard. I wish I had a desk job.”  

Naan and Curry at the Top of Europe

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I knew a lot of Indian people visited Switzerland, thanks to Bollywood. What I didn’t realize was the scale of it all.  When we first arrived in Zurich, we didn’t see a lot of my people. But, as soon as we stepped outside the Interlaken train station, we saw a sign for Indian Dinner Cruise on Lake Brienz.  It was the only sign for a cruise on that lake. It amazed me ‘cos I didn’t realize how many Indian people have started travelling abroad specifically to places such as Switzerland which are really expensive even by American standards!  The Switzerland government gets it and totally capitalizes on the situation. Hell yeah, I would too!  So, when I found out that there is an Indian restaurant called Bollywood at the top of the Jungfrau peak (also called Top of Europe. BTW, it is not the highest mountain in Europe), I wasn’t surprised.  Apparently, there has been a 25% increase year over year in people visiting Switzerland from India.  Even though we hold the title for the tallest …

Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland: Hike to Frozen Tundra

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The first hike in Lauterbrunnen had not only left an indelible mark on us (in a good way) but had also left our bodies severly sore. We woke up late the next morning and decided to take a break and just walk around the town. By 2pm, we were itching. We visited the grocery store multiple times, tried to kill time gazing at swiss cheeses at the local cheese shop, and wondered what people do all day in this town if they are not hiking or skiing. Although our bodies revolted, we decided to torture them further by doing another hike.. It was going to be a mere 3600+ ft elevation gain with 5 hours of sunlight….nothing that our already destroyed quads couldn’t handle!  Entertaining myself at the coffee shop by taking glamorous shots of Dan

Suls – Lauterbrunnen Day Hike

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The first hike in Lauterbrunnen had not only left an indelible mark on us (in a good way) but had also left our bodies severly sore. We woke up late the next morning and decided to take a break and just walk around the town. By 2pm, we were itching. We visited the grocery store multiple times, tried to kill time gazing at swiss cheeses at the local cheese shop, and wondered what people do all day in this town if they are not hiking or skiing. Although our bodies revolted, we decided to torture them further by doing another hike.. It was going to be a mere 3600+ ft elevation gain with 5 hours of sunlight….nothing that our already destroyed quads couldn’t handle!  Entertaining myself at the coffee shop by taking glamorous shots of Dan