Solo Travel Adventures: Safe Travel for Women, Preparing for a Trip, Overcoming Fear, Travel Tips

Iceland: Land of Fire and Ice

• Cheryl Esch-Solo Travel Advocate/Travel Coach/Freedom Traveler • Season 3 • Episode 134

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The endless horizon stretches between volcanic plains and glacier-topped mountains as we journey through Iceland, a land where fire and ice create one of earth's most breathtaking natural canvases. What makes this Nordic island nation so remarkable isn't just its visual drama but how its landscapes become a powerful catalyst for personal healing and renewal.

My solo adventure through Iceland revealed a country of startling contrasts - snow-capped peaks beside dramatic coastlines, black sand beaches against emerald farmland, geothermal springs bubbling near ancient lava fields. This environmental diversity creates an almost otherworldly experience, like visiting multiple countries without ever crossing a border. Each vista offers a different perspective, making Iceland an ideal destination for those seeking nature's transformative power.

Traveling in April provided remarkable solitude, with empty roads and tourist-free vistas creating space for deeper reflection. While summer offers milder temperatures and lush landscapes, there's something magical about experiencing Iceland's raw beauty in relative isolation. My most unexpected gift came at midnight when the Northern Lights appeared outside my farmhouse window - a phenomenon locals assured me was extraordinarily rare for April. These serendipitous moments exemplify how travel delivers its most precious gifts when least expected.

Iceland presents practical advantages for solo travelers: it ranks among the world's safest countries, offers stunning natural attractions from the Blue Lagoon to countless waterfalls, and provides varied accommodation options from hotels to guesthouses. While expenses run high, the payoff in natural wonder and personal growth proves immeasurable.

My journey reinforced how intentional travel becomes a powerful vehicle for transformation. By setting clear objectives before departure - seeking restoration, reconnection with nature, and digital detachment - I created space for meaningful insights about incorporating elements of this experience into daily life back home. This process forms the foundation of healing through travel, a practice I now help others discover through my coaching program launching May 27th.

Have you considered how a thoughtfully planned journey might address your own needs for renewal? Whether you're recovering from burnout, seeking clarity following life changes, or simply craving deeper connection with yourself and the natural world, Iceland's diverse landscapes offer the perfect backdrop for transformation. Join me in discovering how intentional travel can become your most powerful tool for personal growth.

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Speaker 1:

Imagine yourself driving down this single lane road and in front of you are these snow-capped mountains and to your right, along the coast, is the sea. You run across lakes along the way and rocky cliffs, with the water below, and farmland with cows and horses and sheep abundantly throughout the countryside. Where do you think you are driving? Welcome to Solo Travel Adventures. I'm Cheryl Esch and I will share today where exactly I am describing. Well, this place is often called the land of fire and ice, but I was remarkably just blown away by how incredible and diverse the landscape was. I am speaking of Iceland and it's fire and ice because there are volcanoes on this island and this in this country, but there's also glaciers, and so there's just this huge dichotomy of differences and everything in between. I feel like I tried to describe to somebody that parts of Iceland felt like I was. You know, looking at the Rocky Mountains and seeing the barren sort of rocky landscape reminded me of Big Ben, kind of hitting together. And then you see cliffs and black sand beaches which remind me of the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland, and then you have volcanoes and mountains and geysers which really could remind you of Yellowstone or Hawaiian Islands or anywhere else that has volcanoes and geysers. There's just such a world of difference, you know, basically from almost like one side of the island to the other, and it was just marvelous. And so today I'm going to share with you my experience in Iceland what you can do there, places to see, what to expect and just some basic, you know, just recommendations for you.

Speaker 1:

If Iceland is on your bucket list Well, it had been on mine, especially since a year ago my son went with his friends and I just I saw his pictures. I just was marveling at just everything that he saw and was kind of jealous. So when I saw a really good flight deal come about I think it was around February I saw it and I had been trying to plan something someplace to go for my birthday in April, and originally I was trying to do a cruise because, because of where I am in my life, so often I will evaluate how I'm feeling. Because of where I am in my life, so often I will evaluate how I'm feeling what are my needs for this next trip and I was really kind of burnt out from just different things that were happening and just working a lot, you know, striving a lot in my job that I felt like I wanted to really have a time where I didn't have to think or do too much planning whatsoever. But I say, luckily I did not find a cruise deal that worked for me, because getting to Iceland and having the experience I had was exactly what I needed and I'm so grateful I went and the landscape I love being outdoors first of all, so that was, you know, part of sort of I love to use travel for a time for, you know, whether it's renewal, for healing, to kind of restore myself often is how I use travel, and this was a perfect example of a place that you could do that, especially if you like to be outdoors and you love nature.

Speaker 1:

There's nothing else for you to do in Iceland except to be outdoors and in nature and there's plenty to do, plenty to see if that is your cup of tea. So I didn't even think about you know when is the best time to go. I just kind of jumped on this cheap airfare that I encountered and I'm actually glad I went when I went, although it was a little chilly it was roughly 32 degrees to about 45 on most days there, and so that's a little chilly for me being a Texan, uh, but I'm glad I did take, you know, a lot of winter clothes and you do need to dress. Even in the summertime you probably still need some layers because I found myself, you know, doing certain hikes and you know, one minute I'm really warm because the sun is rather warm. It felt really good. But then the wind. So March and April are very windy months up there in Iceland and so the wind was very wicked and cold and biting and so you do have to consider weather. I'm glad I went in April because there were almost no crowds at all.

Speaker 1:

Oftentimes I found myself being almost the only one on some of the roads and some of the bigger cities. Of course, you know, reykjavik and Vik in the South part, uh, were probably the most densely populated, um, as far as people and even tourists, because outside of Vic is where most people will catch some of those adventure tours or trips, such as the ice cave tours or any kind of those glacier tours, the fun jeep tours, the hiking tours and the horseback riding tours. So there's lots that leave out of Vic. So Vic was rather busy when I was there and Reykjavik, of course, being the capital, also had more tourists than any other place. I was in Iceland Now I loved the solitude and the quietness I mean the whole country when I was traveling and it was rather just there was this quietness about it and part of it was it was not busy with tourists and I was talking to locals.

Speaker 1:

Obviously, summer is their big time because summer provides, honestly, the best weather. So if I were to do it again, the best time to go would be summer, as long as you don't mind crowds, although I don't think these crowds are going to be anything compared to crowds you might encounter, say, in Europe during the summer months. So, for example, some of the weather January, march, it's 27 degrees to 39 degrees. That's like a negative three Celsius to four Celsius. And then April, when I was there again, it was like about 32 degrees to 45 degrees. May gets just a little bit warmer, but still not too warm. It's 37 to 48. And then June to August it can roughly be about 45 to 57 degrees. Didn't ever see, I mean they might have an anomaly of a higher than 57, but that's kind of going to be a roughly where that temperature stays. Seven Celsius to 14 Celsius is that range in the summer months. And then, of course, september, october gets, starts to get cool again 36 degrees to 50 degrees and November starts to get cool again 36 degrees to 50 degrees. And November December is also rather cold, just like January through March.

Speaker 1:

Now, uh, if you are looking to see the Northern Lights, though which is a lot of reason why people will go to a place like Iceland or, you know, sweden, finland, places up there where it is a little easier to see the Northern Lights, that happens in the winter months. I was there in April, technically too late to see the Northern Lights. Why? Because there is so much daylight. For example, when I was there, there was approximately 16 hours of daylight, so it never really got dark. Dark until after 1030 at night, and it was light at like 530 in the morning roughly. So that is why you can't see, because the Northern Lights, you know, obviously, when it's darker, that's when you're going to see them the best. So I do recommend going in the summer months, plus the weather's not as cold, and there's actually I also encountered I went off season, so there were some things that were closed.

Speaker 1:

For example, the Viking Museum was closed when I was there, so there were other things that were closed that had signs. Their season typically is May 15th to September 15th is what the sign said. So it had its pros and cons, obviously, I liked the solitude, I liked not having to deal with a whole lot of crowds. However, I did miss out on a few things. It got a little dicey in some of the cities that I did stop the towns, I should say, because they're really small, that almost nothing was open, and I got lucky a few times where there might have been one restaurant or establishment open during the time that I needed some food. But it's definitely summer. I would say go in the summertime and you know you're going to get to see the lush greenness there and some of the flowers in the fields. I did not see any of that, but I did enjoy many of the sights getting outside.

Speaker 1:

So how do you get around? Well, it's highly recommended that you actually rent a car. Now you could also rent a camper van, which I saw tons of people uh doing the camper van thing, which I was kind of thinking, oh, I should have probably done that, Um, so that could also be your accommodations. So what about accommodations? Well, I personally just use bookingcom and got all my bookings through there and found some, uh, you know, some hotels. Some they call them guest houses. Um, there's a of those, and those are a little less expensive than the hotels and there's some nice ones, one of my favorite places I stayed, and I'm just going to make a little plug for them. It was a last minute booking. So I had one day I had planned my whole trip and I used that fabulous app, wonderlog. Um, and if you have not tried it, I'm not don't have affiliate with it or anything like that, but I'm just so in love with the app right now because it planned. I planned my whole trip on that app.

Speaker 1:

But I had one day where I did not book accommodations prior to leaving and that was because I was going to be driving all the way out to Diamond Beach, which is pretty far southeast in the country, and that was going to be my furthest point and I didn't know where I would end up that evening. So I waited and I got myself back to Vic and decided, oh, I'll just see what is around here, and I ended up pulling up a last minute deal. So of course they discounted because they're you know, it's 7.30 or eight o'clock at night and I hadn't booked anything yet and, of course, they're just trying to fill their rooms. So I found this fabulous place and again making a plug, not affiliated, but I have to say it was serendipitous. I always have these moments when I travel and this particular one was remarkable and, as someone had said to me when I was sharing the whole story, they said well, it's almost like it was a kiss from God, and I'll explain all of the things that fell into place for this actual stay. So I booked this place it was called the Drangshilio Inn by Our Hotels and the serendipitous thing about this place was, on my way to Vic I'm on my first days I drove past, you know, I'm driving past these beautiful farmlands and in the middle of this like grassy farmland, of course, there's, you know, these rocks and you know hillsides.

Speaker 1:

There's this huge rock just in the middle of this field and inside this huge rock is some little sheds or what might have been homes that were used maybe long time ago, homes that were used maybe long time ago inside the rock. So you can barely see them and I thought they were so cool and I really had wished I had stopped to take a picture, but there are no places really to pull over when you're driving in Iceland. So I will tell you that, no berms for you to pull over, and especially if you are on the west side of the country, where you know there is all that lava land there again, they don't want you pulling over anyways. So I, you know, whizzed past it and was like, oh, that's so cute, and really didn't think much of it. And then, when I was in Vic trying to find a place to stay this particular night, I booked at this place and as I was pulling in, I love the picture because it's like you know, this place is set back against, you know, the cliffs there, the rocky, and across the way is the water on the other side and it's a farm. And so I had been wanting to stay in sort of like this farm stay kind of place, or B&B, let's, on a farm, that kind of thing, or guest house. You see lots of signs for them along the way, places that are not going to be particularly listed on like a website. So you may even, you know, be driving by and find a place especially if it's off season that you could possibly stop in and ask if they had a room. Anyways, I pull in and there is that rock formation that I had seen on my way a few days earlier and I was staying there at this inn. I will say it was a fabulous inn. It was so clean and the staff was so nice. It was the best place. I stayed my whole time.

Speaker 1:

I was in Iceland, and what I mean by someone said it was like it was a God thing. And I got a kiss from God because that night something awakened me around midnight, a little after midnight, and I happened to peek out the window and lo and behold, what do I see is the Northern Lights. And I waited about a half hour and they got even more beautiful with, you know, more of the green streaks in the sky, and I was just in awe. I stepped outside, took some pictures and just basked in that because, as I spoke to a local the following day and asked where I could see more, gave me a nice dark place like last night, and he said you won't see Northern Lights this time of year, it's too late in the season, it's like too light, too long. And so I showed him my picture and he just was like that is rare and you got lucky. So I like to say that that was just an awe moment for me. I loved it and I plugging that place. They had a beautiful, uh spread of breakfast. It was beautiful breakfast spread and they had some homemade breads, because they're, of course, um, on a farm there.

Speaker 1:

Now, uh, goodness gracious, this trip there was so much that I did see. I again used the app Wonderlog and saw so many. You know there's tons of waterfalls in Iceland that you know many people go about and they sort of chase the waterfalls. Well, I did see quite a few of them and I did do one of the sort of very touristy activities there. I did do the Blue Lagoon, which was a fabulous thing to do right after I got off the plane because it was close to the airport. It's very close to the airport, maybe a 15, 20 minute drive from the airport, and so I so I spent, you know, kind of that afternoon after a long flight and just soaked up into those geothermal springs. There are other ones. There's the sky lagoon as well and there are some other ones, but those are kind of the popular ones and they're all kind of over in that area of the island because of that thermal activity that happens over there on that side of the island, the country.

Speaker 1:

So I don't even know where to start, I would say, as far as how long you should stay, I was there technically six days. I think a seventh day would have probably satisfied me. I didn't see the whole island. There is what's called the Golden Circle and there are some things along the Golden Circle to see that's kind of very popular to see. That's kind of very popular. However, I took I guess they call it the ring circle, where I did that. It's called the route one, basically that takes you all around the edges of the island and I would say probably did at least half of driving around the island that way. But there was certain sections way up north and east I did not get to, and so there's plenty more I could have seen and if you plan to really see it all, I think 10 days would be sufficient if you were driving and trying to see everything.

Speaker 1:

Reykjavik, the capital, probably the biggest city in the country, you probably only need a day there. It's a rather in my experience it's, you know. You can walk it very easily. There's great shops, of course there are. There's the famous church there I was there on Easter Sunday, which made it a little challenging. I actually had to go back the following day because a lot of things were closed when I was there, but it was, you know, a great little town. You can go down by the water. I can share at a later date my itinerary and I can just pull that from my app and eventually share that with you folks.

Speaker 1:

But if you are planning to go to Iceland, I did end up finding a wonderful lady who's actually moved to Iceland. Um, I haven't met her, but she's got some great resources out there. Uh, her name is Elisa and it's her Instagram page. If you want to go and find her, elisa, that's E-L-I-S-A. Underscore in underscore Iceland. She has some great eBooks on, you know, iceland trips, some itineraries, and she's got some great recommendations. So if you are looking to plan a trip to Iceland, she's got some great ideas and great itineraries. But I will, at a later date, once I get mine together, share with you where I went.

Speaker 1:

Just little tidbits of some information is, first of all, iceland is safe, safe, safe it has. Honestly, I think it's the safest country I have felt I've traveled to. Very safe for solo travelers. It was clean and safe. So Iceland, great for solo travelers. But on the flip side, it is expensive. So traveling with another person would bring that cost down right.

Speaker 1:

So it could be a great idea, for I did see a lot of couples and families traveling and that is why a lot of them chose the camper vans which I mentioned earlier. A great way to travel, but also a great way to save money on accommodations, because you would end up sleeping in your camper van. However, uh, some of the accommodations, two of the camping sites that I saw, um, because it was off season, one campsite the facilities were actually locked, meaning the bathrooms, so there was no bathrooms and had they had very limited um plugins, limited plugins for power for some of those camper vans. And then another one I saw didn't have any facilities and it was just a gravel parking lot. So you just have to you know, if you're okay with that, know that sometimes when you're camping, there might be limited accommodation, like as far as bathrooms or power for your van.

Speaker 1:

One thing I did notice in Reykjavik so, say, you're someone like myself who lives in a warmer climate and does not typically have a lot of winter clothes, you can actually rent outdoor wear in Reykjavik. There's a store there that you could rent, you know, those nice Arctic jackets and maybe kind of snow pant things Probably anything you need because, especially if you're planning to do like one of those glacier tours, you do need like warmer clothing. So I thought that was a great option, especially for people like myself that didn't don't want to buy things like that Cause I would not have a need for it once the trip was over. So there's a few extra little tidbits If you do want to plan to go to Iceland. Some important information there for you.

Speaker 1:

And when I do each trip, I always take a moment before I go and set an intention and I want to share a little bit of my process, as I am a certified travel coach now and I am offering a coaching package for those that want to find some assistance in planning maybe your first solo trip. You're feeling stuck. I am focusing more on the healing aspects of how you can utilize travel and you know, kind of moving forward in any kind of healing journey that you find yourself in. That could be just could be grief, that could be stress, that could be a trauma, anything that might be holding you back from taking that first trip and utilizing that trip to grow and heal and being intentional with your travels. So this is a little taste of what I do in my travels and what I help guide my clients through as they are trying to also, you know, be intentional about their travels and utilize them for some growth in their own personal life.

Speaker 1:

So, each trip I take, I first set an intention and, as I shared early on in the episode, one of my intentions was because I've been going pretty hard and, just like this whole striving mentality of my work, I needed a break and I needed to kind of detach and also, you know, almost even, uh, I did post to social media at least once a day, but to not have that, those distractions, not have that those distractions, those, uh, electronic distractions, and really spend some alone time and to be in nature, um, and so I ask lots of questions. Um, I won't get into all of them, but one of the main things that I will share is when I get back, is when I do a lot of also I I journal while I'm there and so there's a lot that I, you know, learned about myself while I was there and you know, I remembered I was reminded of the fact that when I'm needing sort of restoration in my life whether it's physical, mental or even spiritual that the best place for me. I thrive better in nature and being active in nature. That seems to. As I've heard someone say, it's a tonic for their soul, and I loved how they phrased that, because that's exactly how I felt when I was in Iceland. It was a tonic for my soul and being exposed to this beauty and nature, uh, just really on a daily basis, just got me to think about how can I bring this back. So this is my reflection part of my trip how can I bring some of that back that I encountered in Iceland, back to my daily life back here in the US? And so I was reminded that to really make it more intentional about getting outside in nature on a daily basis if I can help it, and whether it's just taking a short 20 minute walk if I can't find a park, you know, even just a walk outside is beneficial to me, and both physically, mentally and spiritually.

Speaker 1:

So that was a question I had asked and you know, thought about how can I implement some of this into my daily life as well. I did that after the Camino, seeing how quiet and slow things moved in Europe and how I loved that pace of life. And one thing I did when I came back from my Camino and implemented it, and I've kept it rather, I'll say, sacred, in that I try to protect this time as much as possible but to have a sort of a quiet morning routine, meaning I'm going to take it slow, I'm going to not agree, I'm going to say no to these early morning. You know classes, because I know I'm not at my best. And then you know keeping that sacred time where I have coffee and I just kind of sit in the morning and reflect and pray, and so that's very important time for me and so that was something I brought back after the Camino that I try not to compromise.

Speaker 1:

So that would be a question when you go on a travel and you have these aha moments, something that you marvel at, something that you know was a positive experience for you while you were there, is that something you could bring back? Is that memory something that you could certainly hold on to in some way shape or form? And then I always ask you know, what did I learn about myself while I was there? And I always learn something new about myself every time I travel, or it might just be a little reminder of something I had forgotten about myself, and so travel can do that.

Speaker 1:

Travel can transform us in many ways, and I want to offer that to you, and I think I'm hoping, as you listen to my story of my Iceland trip and you've listened to past stories of my Camino and other stories that I have shared about how I've utilized travel in many seasons of my life and how travel has helped me whether it's for a physical reason, mentally or even spiritually finding that transformation, that time to heal. I want that for you as well. So I'm hoping you're inspired by hearing my story and even last week's story with my friend Danielle and other people that have gone out and have taken that leap. They've used travel, whether it's a first time, getting their confidence back after, maybe, a divorce and, you know, getting that confidence to get back out there and do something on their own Um, that's a big thing too, and I want to help you with that.

Speaker 1:

So I'm launching my healing through travel program, travel coaching program, and I want you to be a part of it, and so right now I am taking people on a wait list and you can book a call with me to see if this is the right program for you. But it will officially launch on May 27th. Where the program will be available, you'll be able to start scheduling coaching sessions with me, one-on-one, and getting you to that place where you are feeling ready and confident to take that leap into a solo trip that has intention to use it as transformation, healing, whatever your intention is right, we're going to be setting that together, um, through the coaching sessions. So take a moment, in the show notes there is a link where you can book a call with me. It's a through my calendar and it will be as a zoom call though. So, um, I know we have some international folks out there, and so this offers you that uh opportunity to get online with me in a way, uh, that we can chat just for a short little 15 minute um chat to see what your goals are and how I can help you in that process.

Speaker 1:

So, sisters, I hope you're inspired to add Iceland on your bucket list. It was on mine and now I can truly say honestly, I think so far that's probably been my favorite place. I say that now and that could change, that could change next month, but right now, iceland is really, really special to me and I I encourage you to find a place just like that for yourself. All right, sisters, get out there and have that adventure. And again, you're interested? Book that call and let's just talk, all right.

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