I was waiting very excitedly for the next month to go by for the trip. I had no idea what to expect. I had never been out of North America before and have always wanted to.

Geiri from Nikita was waiting for me at the airport with a nice warm welcome. We drove on a desolate scenic dirt rode from the airport to Reykjavik. I saw wrecked ships, geothermal spots, and just beautiful land. We arrived in Reykjavik to check into our hotel, which Nikita headquarters was connected to, in the same building. I went to the Nikita headquarters soon after arriving.

Everyone at the Nikita office was awesome. We had amazing food that day in a green house with ponds, plant life and flowers. I can’t even explain how great it was. We toured more around the city of Reykjavik and got ready for a night of partying! It was Esther, a Nikita designer’s birthday and they had a big night planned, house party until the morning. Wow what a first day in Iceland.
After going to bed at around 5:00am and getting up and ready before 9:00am we were a little tired, but so excited for the next day of activities to come.

We started out day 2 driving to the country to go whitewater rafting. Once again a beautiful drive and amazing scenery. We all had a great time Arctic Rafting. While on the raft trip we stopped in a canyon and got to jump off some cliffs and drink out of a very special rock. I think it was called the eternal rock of life. I found out you can drink any fresh water anywhere in Iceland. How awesome is that? It was a very pretty float. We walked a mile to get back to the rafting lodge. We were welcomed with a sauna and a cold beer followed by a tasteful lunch. What a way to end a day on the river. We left there to head to the glacier to be able to shred the next day. We arrived at where we would stay for the night; a truly beautiful spot, between the glacier and the ocean. Both seeing distance from our cabin. We were told we were going to go on a walk to the next town to go eat dinner. We walked along a rad trail on a band of cliffs over looking the Ocean. I would say we walked maybe 3 miles to where we ended up at a little cabin all by itself. We ate the best seafood and fish chowder of my life! They catch the fish daily and bake fresh bread. After that we partied the night away. It never got dark so it is really hard to sleep there. In return I guess that equals a lot of partying!

Day 3 got started by waking up shortly after laying our heads down. We were told to meet for breakfast at the house with the grass roof and the spoon and fork sign on the front. It was right next door to our cabin. We had hopes of going to the glacier but the weather was not looking favorable to be able to get up there. So we waited to see if the weather would pass. We waited a few hours, but it was a no go. I was a little bummed for a second, but I knew it was out of my hands and the trip would have more fun things ahead. We continued our journey to go try and find some surf. It was a flat day in Iceland. We checked out many beach spots and two beaches really stood out to me. There was one beach of pebble rocks. They are round and smooth and very comfortable to lie on. You can also hear the water come in underneath you and hear it go

back out. On the beach there were many pieces of wrecked ships. The other beach was one of Iceland’s only white sand beaches. It reminded me a lot of Hawaii. We then went to a very special light house with amazing historic stories that overlooks a peninsula. Our next stop was a hot spring. We soaked and it felt amazing. We drove back to Reykjavik for the best dinner of my life! We had sushi and king crab claws at a restaurant named Fishmarket, also known as fiskmarkadurinn. Now all that we had in our plans was hitting up the night life in Reykjavik! We had a wonderful night drinking very large beers (seriously 1.5 liter beers) at a pub and dancing at the bars. The bars that, close at 6:00 am, the others I don’t think close at all. I think we made it until around 8:00 am!

My last day in Iceland, We toured some more beautiful land and checked out Blue Lagoon. The geothermal run-off pools at the resort are great for your skin. We had an awesome lunch there. Now it was time to go to the airport and travel back to Oregon. I was excited before I left, I was excited the whole time I was there and I am still excited right now writing this. I had such an amazing and perfect experience in Iceland. I absolutely loved it there. The people are so nice; it really was a trip of a lifetime.”