Northern Iceland

Notes from a few more days of #vanlife in Iceland:
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- The Wi-Fi that comes with the van is great. As far as we can tell, it’s tied into the GPS/sat tracking system and has made coordination/chatter between the vans in the group a lot easier. The only quirk is that it cuts out a certain time after the shutting off the engine. Sometimes opening the door is enough to get it back on (connected to the dome lights?) but sometimes a quick start of the engine is necessary.
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- Fit out of our van is super basic. I almost brought a bag of 3M Command Hooks and now totally wish I did. In vanlife, everything has to have its place, but at least if you lose something, you know it’s gotta be in here somehwere.
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- My planning usually revolves around sub 3hr drives, but we’ve discovered it can be hard to get our devices (phones, iPad, Bluetooth headphones, etc) charged in that period of time, and this van disconnects the 12V outlets when the ignition is off. We ended up buying a second two port 2.1 amp 12V USB charger for about $20 which also allows us to get the two small backup batteries we brought topped off for use overnight.
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- Depending on your layout, look into renting a folding table and chair to setup inside the van for cooking and eating. With three on the bench and one in the chair, we can serve up dinner for four inside when it’s raining or cold.
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- Car seats in a van are a pain, especially if the rear bench doesn’t have Latch/ISOFix (which most don’t). You’ll have to bring a locking clip for the seat belts and just hope your marriage survives clipping them in each morning. At the end of the day, we toss them into the front seats which gets them out of the way but makes reaching anything else up there a pain.
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- And finally, kids will adapt to anything if you give them some space and freedom. Check the pics for their techniques for getting “upstairs” to their bed/play area. Before we left on the trip, Mae was saying she wanted to be an ambulance (no, not an ambulance driver, an ambulance) when she grows up. Now she wants to be a van.
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#vanlifewithkids #roadtripwithkids #travelwithkids #familytravel #iceland

The old headlamp under a tub of Icelandic yogurt lantern hack. If only it was @icelandic_yogurt’s Icelandic yogurt. Check out pic 2 for an idea of how cold it is tonight on the northern fingers of Iceland. Also note the two one lane tunnels connecting either side of this frosty valley! Heading south (and toward hot springs!) tomorrow if we make it through the night. #icelandichorsesofinstagram

Beautiful drive through high snowy valleys from Akureyri to Myvatn including stops for a closer look at some magnificent Icelandic horses and the powerful Godafoss falls. #godafoss #iceland #familytravel #travelwithkids #icelandichorses #icelandichorsesofinstagram

Glad that despite freezing temps last night, I braved the walk to the bathroom! Wynne may or may not appreciate being dragged by the ankles dead asleep off the top bunk and brought outside wrapped in a blanket to see it (pic 2). #northernlights #auroraborealis #iceland #roadschool

It was a day of extremes: snowy craters, hot pools and farm fresh treats. And if that’s not enough eye candy for you, check out @backroadbennetts last post... #iceland #krafla #viticrater #myvatnnaturebaths #myvatn #mrvanlifecalendar

Beautiful detour through the harbor town of Húsavík. We strolled on the dock and ducked into the whale museum where each kid picked out a stuffed treasure; Idgie and Wynne chose puffins, Luna a seal, Aki a blue whale and they all squealed as Mae and her orca gave chase and yelled “You better run! I’m about to eat you!” #roadschool #husavik #iceland #travelwithkids #familytravel #iphone8plusportraitmodeFTW

As we make our way back towards Reykjavík, there’s a feeling that this part of our adventure is coming to an end. It’s tempting to start the countdown; Can we make it these last days on the food we have, the last of our clean clothes or without a final shower? And there’s a risk of starting to cut corners on the very things that after 10 days in the van were starting to make it feel almost like a home; Staying organized, keeping a reasonable travel pace and appreciating the ability to stop any where to regroup when needed.
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With a painful hour still left on an already long day, we were starting to lose it. After narrowly missing several pullouts on the side of the highway, we made a turn and pulled through a tall gate and up a long gravel driveway only to immediately be greeted by this little guy. The girls quickly forgot what they’d been bickering about in their car seats as he followed us around the farm yard, nudging us for scratches between his horns.
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We got back into the van for the last push to camp where we found our friends already settled in and playing on the little playground, and our girls ran to join them. Honestly, I was still a little frazzled - not only because I had decided to to use the last items in our cupboards to make pizza in a frying pan on a one burner stove - but looking out the side door to see yet another visitor greeting us, the last of the day’s stress faded away.
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#muttontoworryabout #peoplepeoplewhoneedsheeple #fleecebewithewe #getwoolsoon #iamwhatilamb
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#familytravel #travelwithkids #vanlifewithkids #roadtripwithkids #iceland

This morning, we said goodbye to our traveling crew. We put out a crazy plan to drive vans around Iceland, and they all said yes. They arranged schedules and packed up their families, booked tickets and showed up, and we couldn’t be happier they did. A great adventure made all the better by sharing it with you guys! (but next time make sure we get the memo about the matching couple jackets, wouldya?)
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Bye for now, Iceland. We’ll miss you too. Everyone’s heading different directions, but we’re Amsterdam bound!
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#familytravel #travelwithkids #littletravelingfriends #sisterhoodofthetravelingparents #andakiandremi #nomadicbreedersunite