Cooked Food is a Luxury

One that we can't afford apparently!  Today's blog post poses the question:
How important is camping equipment? I mean really!? 

Once Erica and I decided that we'd be camping in Iceland instead of hoteling or hosteling it, and purchased a campground pass, we relaxed, secure in the knowledge that we'd be saving tons of krona; krona that could be used to buy awesome souvenirs like rotten shark meat or Icelandic booze.  We had the tent and the sleeping bags covered.  What more did we need?  Oh, yes, a method of ensuring that we had warm, non-raw food to eat for our week of camping in the just-above freezing temperatures.  Sadly, my trusty camp stove from my college days seemed to have given up the ghost last summer, as evidenced by it bursting into flames not once but twice inside a seedy Delaware motel.  (Yes, I said inside; don't judge me!)  And even if it hadn't self-immolated, there was no way to transport its fuel on the plane or guarantee that that type of stove fuel was sold in Iceland.

Camp stove rental seemed to be the way to go.  My Lonely Planet Iceland assured me that I could rent camping equipment at goiceland.com.  What it did not tell me was that goiceland.com is run by some krona-pinching krona-grubbers!  Who knew that a 4 person tent would be less expensive to rent than a 2 burner stove!?  Apparently these people at goiceland.com have deduced that most humans like to ingest non-cold food stuffs and that they will pay dearly for the privilege.  Damn them and their powers of deductive reasoning!  Luckily for us, reykjavikbackpackers.is seems to be run by philanthropists who do not begrudge poor weary travelers a hot meal and only charge 1/3 of the price for camp stove rental.  Huzzah!  It looks like Erica and I will be able to sterilize our rotten shark meat after all!

Just say no!  

Unless it's from reykjavikbackpackers.is

And the Winner Is...

Geysir! 

I looked at a lot of Icleandic car-hire (i.e. car rental) websites and the clear winner was geysir.is.  Where else could you get this kind of warm, personable self-endorsement?!

Let's face it; Iceland isn't cheap and if you're not totally loaded you may want to prioritize your spendings, but yet be able to get around safely and efficiently. 

So when we took the Jeep out the Cheap Jeep all we had left is Cheap; it's an economy sized car that does the job of getting you around the island. Perhaps not luxorious, but all in all the type of car most people drive to work every day all over the world. 

Cheap AND not luxorious!?  Sold!  My favorite part was when I clicked on the "terms & conditions" link and it didn't work.  It's Iceland, who needs terms & conditions!?  Not this gal!  Let's just hope that I chose wisely when I picked the gravel protection over the tow rope.  Decisions, decisions!  :)

I may yet regret my decision... ;) 

European Traffic Stats

Click below to see where Iceland compares with other European countries on traffic mortality.  

Note:  if you are related to me, just ignore this post altogether and trust me when I say that Iceland is the safest place on the face of the earth, filled with nothing but fluffy clouds and playful kittens.  Seriously, would I lie?  :) 

Sticky Business

May 18, 2014

Now that we've worked out our lodging in Icleand, reserving a rental car is our next big challenge.  That's been left up to Erica thus far as I've been afraid to look at the prices.  She tells me that renting a stick shift seems to be the cheaper option, which is problematic for her because she only knows how to drive automatics.  "No problem," I told her.  "I'm ok with doing all of the driving if that means we pay less!  And then you can be my navigator."  Problem solved.  I thought.  And then I got this reply in my email:  "Or I could learn how to drive a stick in Iceland."

Yes, because learning to drive a car with a manual transmission in a foreign country, in which we have limited time and don't understand the language or road signs, would be less stressful than any of the times I've offered to teach her over the past fifteen years.  And did I mention that Iceland has one of the highest traffic mortality rates of Western Europe?  Yes, that's where I want an inexperienced stick shift driver to practice their new skills, while I sit helplessly in the passenger seat clutching the arm rest and praying that the elves who will drag our limp bodies from the wreckage will know CPR.  *deep breath*  Did I mention that I'm a tiny bit of a control freak when it comes to driving?   :)

Um, I'm sorry but this chick should not be smiling.  

Learning to drive stick should involve a lot of screaming, grinding metal, and tears, just as God intended! ;) 

99 Problems

May 13, 2014

I got 99 problems but a campground ain't one...

Ok, OKAY!  I admit, that was lame.  But with Jay Z in the news lately and my sister finding this amazing ninety-nine Euro campground solution to our Icelandic lodging issues, how could I resist!?

So it looks like we'll be able to avoid the $50 per night per person hostel rates in Iceland since Erica discovered the ah-mazingness that is the Icelandic Camping Card 2014!  Forty-four campsites, 28 days, 99 Euros.  What's not to love!?  (Other than the barely above-freezing night-time temperatures.)  Whatever.  At least the cold temps should keep the wildlife at bay, right?  RIGHT?!  So now all we have to do is decide which of the 44 campgrounds we can fit into our 7 day trip.

Piece of cake... ;)  

Passports Are Overrated

May 11, 2014

Just one month from today and Mark and I will be winging our way to sunny downtown Glasgow!  Assuming that his passport arrives by then.  Not that I'm worried.  At all.  Really.  Oh-please-oh-please-oh-please-oh-please-oh-please-arrive-before-it's-time-to-go!

And in slightly related news, apparently Iceland is damn expensive in the summer.  Who knew!  I guess us if we would have read a travel guide before booking the tickets.  Erica found out today that four nights at a hostel in Reykjavik, sleeping in a  room with 6 other people, would cost $400.  Camping is looking better and better.  How cold do the nights get there in the summer if the sun doesn't really go down?

So Many Castles, So Little Time!

May 2014

Who knew Scotland had so many castles?!  Thanks to my cousin Rhonda I recently was made aware of Historic Scotland, from which you can buy a pass to visit most of them on the super cheap.  (Although I think they may cheat a little by including some sites that don't require admission - Glasgow Cathedral anyone?  Shame, shame!)  However, in just the small portion of Scotland we're going to be visiting, there are sixteen - SIXTEEN! - historic sites I'd like to visit.  How in the heck am I going to fit that into less than eight days?!  Hmm, maybe if I cut Mark down to 5 or 6 hours of sleep per night and tell him it's part of his race training... ;)