2011: First circumnavigation

Back in 2010 I made the break from life as a school Geography teacher and set myself up at the kitchen table to create my Icelandic travel business. Looking back, I'm amazed at how I managed to navigate the construction of my first website and all the associated complexities of business bank accounts, public liability insurance and tour operator registration.

With the advantage of having already travelled in Iceland in the company of some hundreds of school pupils, and a decade spent learning the country and making good contacts there, I was ready to a realise the dream and begin a new chapter of travel and adventure.

From the start I'd hoped and planned to share Iceland in a truly authentic way with the friends who'd followed and encouraged me to take the plunge. And that is pretty much the way things began and continued, with the surprising bonus of new and previously unknown clients who found my website. I still wonder at the power of the web. Even then there were numerous other holiday companies, much larger and far higher than mine in the Google rankings, yet something in my little website was catching the eye of experienced travellers who felt that Iceland was a bit too tricky to self-plan and arrange.

However, my desire to be in Iceland with others I knew was every bit as important to me as my interest in creating holidays for independent travellers. The opportunity to adventure with friends arose courtesy of a good friend and driver-guide Odinn. An energetic and entrepreneurial Icelander with a genuine interest in building our businesses, he offered to take me on a round Iceland road trip if I gathered a group to come too.

The journey that we made took us around the west coast where, unbelievably, we saw Orca whales from the harbourside at Grundafjordur on our way home from dinner. We drove North to Akureyri, Husavik and to the lakes at Myvatn. The frozen north treated us to beautiful sights such as the ice-covered crater of the volcano Krafla and a stunning night of Northern Lights accompanied by a flock of chickens roosting in small trees nearby. On to the east, and highlights which included Petra’s magnificent stone collection and the striped ‘humbug’ glaciers floating in the lagoon at Jokulsarlon.

Perhaps it was fortuitous that early in the trip, any ice in our newly formed group was swiftly broken when we arrived to stay in a rustic (possibly spartan) hostel, with creaky bunks, chilly showers and breakfast comprising a series of cartons and packets waiting for us for the next morning in the fridge. Odinn was swift to take us off for supper in the only nearby café where we had a few beers and got on with making the best of it, shouting over the sound of the massive TV screen above our heads. Make or break, and we made it for sure! It turned out that a group of fishermen had taken priority over us for the accommodation we should have had, but it didn’t matter. We were bowled over by the Orcas, the snow and the landscape and soon realised that we were all more than capable of seeing the funny side of our experience.

The memories of laughter and enjoyment which was such a huge part of this trip have remained with me as a pivotal point in the early days of my business. How fortunate I was to have this group of friends ready to embark with me on the classic Icelandic road trip. In my quest (now more than 10 years later) to assemble the reflections of such an amazing and highly amusing first circumnavigation I'd like to dedicate this gallery of images to the wonderful and intrepid ladies who trusted me. Little did they know how much this trip would pave the way for all my other past and future adventures with so many of my friends.

Thank you Karen, Geraldine, Helen, Esme and June. xx

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