Hello from Iceland!
H and I said our goodbyes to my wonderful family and made the journey (which was thankfully much smoother than our trip to Oregon!) back to the dark and snowy Iceland this weekend. I am still in a bit of a jet lag daze and am sad that my time back home has passed but it was absolutely amazing to be back home with everyone for the holidays.
While I am readjusting to life back in Iceland, and unpacking the ridiculous amount of luggage we returned with, I wanted to take a look back at this past year and all the wonderful things it has brought my way. I may be a bit late to the game on my 2014 recap in the blogger world but I can’t say hello to 2015 until a proper goodbye to 2014 has occurred.
So lets get to it, my goodbye to 2014 via 12 pictures from my Instagram account this past year.
The beginning of 2014 brought me an internship opportunity that would eventually help me land my current job. I spent January and February working extra hard to make a name for myself at the company just hoping that my risk of taking a non-paying internship would pay off. I can’t complain though, my days sometimes included field trips to beautiful places like the Blue Lagoon.
After 4 months of stressing over my visa situation that little card finally arrived in the mail in late February. Not only did this mean I would be able to stay in Iceland but it also meant I would be able to legally work, a huge relief all in one small card!
Within two weeks of receiving my visa and being eligible to find work I landed my current job at the company I was interning at. This has to be one of the best days of the past year. It was really important to me that I didn’t let the fact that I was foreign stop me from going for a job that would help advance my career. I am so happy with my job, it really has helped make me feel at home here in Iceland and I love going to work everyday.
After just two weeks at my new job I got to enjoy a 5 day Easter holiday. H and I took advantage of our time off and took a road trip around the South Coast of Iceland ending at the Glacier Lagoon. The South Coast is full of stunning landscapes and beautiful waterfalls, the perfect setting for an awesome road trip!
In July H and I took off to Croatia to for our summer holiday. With Iceland having one of the wettest summers on record it was a much needed trip away to enjoy some sun. Croatia was never really on my travel list but I am so glad I ended up there, such a beautiful country, I would love to visit again one day.
A day trip in August to the highlands of Iceland took me to some of the most beautiful places in Iceland I have ever seen. A weekend hiking Landmannalaugar is high on my list for 2015!
Our summer finished off with a half marathon, H’s first! It was so fun having H run with me, although I doubt I will ever convince him to do that again. The race takes you along the sea and was full of beautiful views. Running along the sea here in Reykjavik is one of my favorite things about living in Iceland so this race was a highlight for me.
After being told that Þingvellir National Park had one of the best displayd of fall colors in Iceland I wasted no time planning a trip out there. Although we were greeted to a snow covered park the fall colors peeking through did not disappoint!
Exploring as many new places in Iceland as possible and photographing them all along the way was a big part of my 2014. When you live in a place that seems to have a waterfall around ever corner and the views leave you awestruck it is hard to put your camera down!
My 2014 finished off in the best way possible, with a trip home to spend Christmas with my family. We had the most wonderful Christmas and I am so happy that I got to spend time with my family. I have lived in Iceland for over a year now but it does not get any easier to be away from my family, this girl is always going to need her mom that is for sure!
2015 has lots of exciting things in store for me. New travel adventures to be had, more of Iceland to be discovered and lots of goals to accomplish, here is to the best year yet!
Question of the Day?
What was a highlight for you in 2014?
