Iceland has been a longlife dream for me. It’s always felt like the edge of the world because I lived in Southeast for a long time. Being in Europe opened the door for me to explore destinations like Iceland. Without hesitation I walked right through that door only to find out that Iceland is the edge of the world.
The beauty and roughness of Iceland is something unimaginable. When I lived in Asia, I always loved Laos for its rough and untouched landscapes, the tiny villages , thundering waterfalls and serene beauty and remoteness. Iceland comes close to it, but comes with a very different interior. It is extreme in every sense. When you are out there, you wonder when you would run into a fellow human being again. It almost feels like you are more likely to run into a prehistoric monster or alien than actual human life forms. For a person like me, who sometimes just loves to disappear from the face of the earth, it is heaven.
When you have the luxury of driving your own vehicle you can travel to places no other people go. Far from the maddening crowds. The north of Iceland is even more beyond imagination in that sense. Nature just swallows you like you are a nobody. There is probably no other place on earth where you can feel more like a nobody than here. You are surrounded by mountains and deep valleys, waterfalls at ridiculous size and if you are really lucky you get some snow. And luckily, I am lucky (sometimes…).
Dettifoss is where I found my paradise. This time no palm trees, no white sand beach or no clear blue waters. Here I found snow, thundering water masses and a landscape close to what Mars should be looking like (if no snow). Wandering the snowy paths that lead up to the largest waterfall Europe knows is special. No one around, snow is falling and the sound of masses of water falling becomes intenser by every step I take. Adrenaline starts to boil to new heights, energy is unmeasurable and the suspense of what I will find is thrilling.
And then I stand there, all alone, overlooking Dettifoss. The noise is overwhelming, the view is indescribable and the experience is just magnificent. There is little time to enjoy it all, I have work to do. It’s close to zero degrees and its snowing heavily. I fly the drone towards the falls, knowing it is a huge risk at these weather conditions. But I keep the faith. I can’t miss this opportunity. The footage comes out amazing, the drone comes back frozen and my fingers are numb. It’s all worth it. Never in my life I have felt so much passion for exploration, travel and photography combined. This is the place where DCivilized was born.
I needed that trip in more ways you can ever imagine. Almost two years of COVID with all the negative energy surrounding it and on top of that I just lost my job. Without thinking I spread out the maps of Iceland, jumped on the internet and just booked this trip. Added all the beauty I could find into GoogleMaps and drove off. Sometimes the biggest rewards are found in the deepest valleys or on top of the highest mountains. You just have to dive into it and finish the plan as it started in your head. Sometimes you sacrifice for it, sometimes you just let your heart speak. And in my experience, once you put your mind, body and soul into it, the reward could not be greater.
Iceland stole my heart and gave me new impulses and ideas for my own future. I needed inspiration and found it on top of a waterfall, standing all by myself in the snow with a drone in my hand. This is what it means to be an explorer, an adventurer, to be passionate. This is what DCivilized is all about.
Icelandic Escapes picture gallery.
