This week we follow Sarah Phillips, a mother who turned her dreams into reality by starting a fashion and lifestyle blog. Sarah adventured to the glacial highlands with Mountaineers of Iceland and wrote about her incredible trip. Take it away Sarah!
Every few months, I get the itch to travel. Things start to seem mundane, the same, and it’s then that I know that an adventure is in order. Visiting Iceland has been on my bucket list for some time now, so when my friend, Michaela asked me if I wanted to go with her, there was no question in my mind that I was going. We booked our five-day trip only a few weeks before we left, so we didn’t have much time to do any hardcore planning. We booked our flights first and then began booking the hotels/guesthouses that we would stay in a while traveling from Reykjavik, through the golden circle, to Vik, down to Hofn and then back to Reykjavik. This was the most important detail because then we could start researching what we would do in each destination.
Since we traveled by rental car, we were able to have the flexibility of touring many of the landmarks on our own, but there was one thing that was on both of our lists that we just couldn’t do alone. We were dying to get on a glacier and snowmobiling on one seemed like the right call. The Mountaineers of Iceland came highly recommended to me by a friend who traveled to Iceland last year, so we went ahead and looked at tours on their site.
The only tour we booked during our five days in Iceland was with The Mountaineers of Iceland, and it was well worth it. They picked us up at the Gulfoss Cafe (only 45 mins from Reykjavik), and we loaded on the giant bus to head for their base camp on Langjökull Glacier. The hour ride to base camp was bumpy, but the views from our seats were incredible. Once we got to camp, we were outfitted in zip up onesies, helmets, gloves, and boots to keep us warm and dry while riding. We were lucky enough to be in the middle of a whiteout during our trip, which made things super fun and a bit frightening since you could hardly see anything! We trusted in our guide to lead us onto the glacier, and we followed tightly behind the rider in front of us. There’s nothing like getting on a snowmobile and letting loose a bit. This was my third time driving a snowmobile and Michaela’s first, so it was really fun to watch her drive for the first time. Although we couldn’t see much, since we were in the midst of a whiteout, we had an absolute blast and felt like we had a true Icelandic experience.
I’m so lucky to have had this experience, and grateful to the Mountaineers of Iceland for taking us on this adventure, it was a top moment during our trip. And not many people can say that they have been snowmobiling on a glacier in the middle of a whiteout but I can! I’ll cherish this trip, our adventure with The Mountaineers of Iceland and the memories we made during our five days in this gorgeous country.
