Reykjavík Grapevine - jun. 2020, Síða 11

FEATURE
Words: Valur Grettisson
It truly feels like we are living in dystopian
times. The COVID-19 pandemic has rapidly
changed the world in such nuanced ways that
we now hesitate before even shaking hands.
We’ve been forced to slow down. Our friends,
our families, our routines—that we found so
boring and tedious before—are now the things
we value most. And in some ways, the crisis
has also reminded us of how disconnected
we’ve become, not only from our nature, but
from each other.
Revisiting
the past
Icelanders have been fleeing this godforsaken
island for a long time now. When my genera-
tion was young—I’m born in 1980, for refer-
ence—summers were spent camping with our
parents. In fact, when I was 12, my family and
I spent three weeks travelling around Iceland,
visiting every town that was worth visiting
at that time. That’s an undertaking I didn’t
repeat for decades. The reason was simple:
Icelanders had more money and we could
finally afford to go abroad for vacation. If we
didn’t go abroad, we’d visit a summerhouse.
Camping ceased to be the national pastime.
See, after the tourist boom at the begin-
ning of 2012, most Icelanders used their
vacations to flee to warmer climates. And in
that time—eight years later—everything has
changed. When you travel around Iceland
today, you will not find the rustic island that
we once lived in, but instead, you’ll experience
a sophisticated travel industry with infra-
structure, hotels and hundreds of activities in
each sector of the country. Those that haven’t
travelled for a while will barely recognise this
new country—it is delightful.
COVID-19 has forced us to revisit our own
land, one we’ve so often ignored. As we did
so many years ago, we have to make peace
with the rainy summers, constant wind, cold
evenings and choking hot mornings waking
up suffocating in a stuffy tent. But, oh my, to
wake up to the sound of the river surrounded
by misty mountains—there is no way to
describe what that does for your soul.
Hunting
for beauty
So here we are, The Reykjavík Grapevine,
advising you to spend this summer not travel-
ling like an Icelander in Iceland, but as a guest
in a foreign land.
Our writers have been journeying like
madmen around this tiny island for years,
finding secret locations, trying every dish
in every city and doing their best to share
the magic of Iceland with the world. We’ve
compiled it for years not only in our paper, but
also in our Best Of Iceland magazines.
Now, in these difficult times, we’ve chosen
to do so again, dedicating this issue to the
places we love—some of which you might
not even know existed. In these pages, comb
through lists of our favourite oft-visited and
oft-missed spots, read about the best country-
side eateries, family camping areas, Reykjavík
day trips, and more. It’s a reference for anyone,
of course, but especially for you Icelanders,
and we hope it helps you rediscover the majes-
tic nature of Iceland once again and the new
and exciting things that have popped up in the
past years.
No Coincidence
It’s no coincidence that in just years Iceland
became one of the most popular and cele-
brated travel destinations in the world. And
there’s a reason that NASA trains their astro-
nauts here. Iceland is otherworldly, brimming
with history, and uniquely breathtaking.
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