Iceland, It’s Been Grand

It’s hard to leave. Cliché maybe to say I made great friends, had great adventures and don’t want to leave this great city, but there is truth in all of it. Thinking about leaving made me think that if something isn’t hard to leave, you should leave it. It was hard for me to leave Minneapolis to come to Iceland. I really liked my life there; my friends, my school, my city, my house, my team, my room, my car, my hobbies, my comfort. I was comfortable with myself; who I was, who I was with and what I was doing. But I still needed a challenge, a push. It wasn’t easy to leave not knowing when I would be back, if ever. And now I’m going through the same thing.

I made a list, a goal list you could maybe call it, of things I wanted to do or see while in Iceland. And I’m happy to say I accomplished the vast majority of it and then some. I saw a seal, whale, many birds, and an arctic fox in the wild, I worked with Icelandic sheep and hung out with Icelandic horses and cows, I saw several waterfalls, mountains, volcanoes, hot springs, mud pots, and glaciers, I walked on a glacier, held volcanic ash, I saw where the continents are actively spreading, I went snorkeling, sat in many natural hot pots, crossed glacial rivers with my bare feet, swam in the ocean, spent days with 4 hours of sunlight and days where the dark never came, and had so many other great adventures.

I loved every minute.

I have met amazing people here. Some I hope to stay in contact with, some I will always remember, and some whose memory will fade with time. I wouldn’t trade it. I think what scares me the most about leaving is the change. Not the change of my location, but the change in me, the change of friends and family back home, the change of the city that will happen when I leave. Things aren’t the same, and never will be. And that’s okay, scary, but okay.

I’m coming back home, or at least to one of my homes. There is the quote ‘home is where the heart is’ and my heart is big. I’m glad to leave part of it here in Reykjavik, Iceland, and in Minneapolis, and in Plymouth and have it be carried with the people I love. Maybe it’s cheesy 🙂 but if growing up in Wisconsin taught me anything it was that cheese is good with almost everything. So I have one last thing to say and it’s something I learned from Camp Anokijig. It’s just goodnight and not goodbye.

Mhmm I want to linger

Mhmm a little longer

Mhmm a little longer here with you

 

Mhmm its such a perfect night

Mhmm it doesn’t seem quite right

Mhmm that is should be my last with you

 

Mhmm and as the days go by

Mhmm I’ll think of you inside

Mhmm it’s just goodnight and not goodbye

This video is wonderful of Iceland and I have visited most of the spots in it. Also, it made me cry so I thought I would share it.   http://vimeo.com/40558553