Reykjavik, 13 March 2017 Northern light is one of the most majestic natural phenomenon that can only be seen in several spots. It was also the only reason that changed my mind last week. Yes, only a week ago. The original planned was my friend and I would to visit one of Scandinavian countries in early April however, most reviews said dancing aurora is only visible till late March. That night, as crazy as it sounds, we hit Skyscanner and booked tickets to Iceland.. The process happened within less than 2 hours without much considerations. I think that was one of the craziest decision, or probably sweet mistake, I’ve ever made in my life. Anyway, it’s freakin Iceland guys!!! 🇮🇸

If one thing I could advised you about Iceland, this country is highly popular for tourists all year long so plan ahead and book everything in advance. I mean really ‘advance’ and not a week before. Most of the hotels or guesthouses were fully booked and the blue lagoons tickets were sold out (heartbreaking #1). We spent around 3 days to settle our accommodation that suit our, if not my, tight budget 🛀

The best way to travel around the country was road trip by renting a car but in this uncertain winter weather, we didn’t want to take risks, especially we were a group of inexperienced two girls and one guy – which the girls were totally useless when it came to car and driving. The only option left was to book tours, so we did.

There was no single morning we passed since that day without checking Iceland weather and aurora forecast because tours highly depend on it. It’s not impossible that your tours are cancelled because of unfriendly weather. No matter how much money you are willing to spend, if mother nature is in a bad mood, you can do nothing. Reykyavik weather is extremely unstable. The forecast fluctuates every.single.day, leaving us with uncertainty about our trip. At one point, I stopped checking and let it be ⛅ ☔ 🌈

The weather in these four days were definitely unpredictable. We had been advised to keep our expectation low. The forecast was not reliable for most of the time. All we can do was hoping that the force be with us. The first day weather was the worst, it was gloomy and our northern light tour was cancelled (heartbreaking #2), even the next morning it was slightly raining and windy. However, right when we arrive in the glacier lagoon, the weather turned to be very nice! On the other hand, the next day, the sky was bright since early morning till afternoon. It was only raining right after we departed from our last destination. However, that also meant our last chance to join northern lights tour was cancelled again (heartbreaking #3) 💔

To be honest, we just couldn’t hide our disappointment. The aurora was so close yet so far away. I kinda blamed myself for spending only three days here, it should have been longer so I could experience Iceland in the best possible ways. I keep wondering why out of so many aurora nights, we picked those that had the lowest viewing chance..

But looking back to at least two weeks ago, who would thought I would end up here. Whether it was a mistake or not – to plan Iceland trip in such a rush – I definitely enjoy every moment here, including all my friends’ jealous comments. They reminded me how lucky I am to be across the globe, 12.236 kilometres away from home. If you have a slight chance to come here, just grab the opportunity and go because this home of puffins offers so much nature beauty that one could imagine. I left a piece of me in this beautiful country. Thank you, Iceland. I hope our path cross again, whether in this life or next ones 🇮🇸 ❤️

Iceland survivor,