12 Flight 7 Weeks: Reykjavik

Reykjavik was a perfect way to end my trip. Iceland has always been one of those countries that I thought to be totally unattainable because of it's odd location and the fact that it's expensive to get too. Thanks to the Icelandair Stopover it was super easy. So if you're on your way to Europe and you've always wanted to see Iceland book on Iceland air and you can have a layover for up to 7 nights without an extra charge. It was also the cheapest ticket i could find round trip to London. 

I got into Reykjavik  pretty late so I just found a place and kipped at the airport for the night. No trouble since you know of my airport obsession. I also had to wait to change in my $5o bill for Icelandic money. Because that was all the money i had left and turns out $27 of that went to my return bus ticket!!

 The next morning I was up early as fuck because I was meeting my couchsurfing host at 6:30 am at the bus station. It worked out perfect because he was getting off work and could pick me up there. 

The first bus into Reykjavik left at 6 and I was on that bad boy. Also I was the only person on the bus. But I made it in on time and easy peasy I was picked up and off to his house we went. Turns out it was dead city centre and it was so nice. I had my own room and there was heated floors and I passed right out for a nap. 

When I got up a few hours later I was chatting with my host and he had some volunteer work to do since he was part of the local search and rescue volunteer team. So it was perfect timing because I was ready to see the city!

The weather that first day was perfect and amazing! As you can see from the pictures!

Then that night we went in search of the northern lights. But first stop the most famous restaurant in Iceland... A hot dog stand. It was delish and cheap, perfect for my budget. Then a look out on the whole city!!

It looked like a little tiny christmas town and it was so pretty covered in snow.

Sadly I didn't get to see any northern lights. But that's okay I'll just have to go back some time. But it wasn't a wasted trip to the middle of no where. On the way out we stopped by the president's house. There is seriously 0 security. I could have walked right up to the door and knocked and guess what.... the president probably would have answered! How bizarre? Of course this launched me into a typical round of 100 questions. So it was a fact filled evening trying to see the northern lights.

Mornings were a crazy experience in Iceland because the sun rose really late so when I'd wake up at like 9 it looked like this....

So it made me want to sleep all day. But the second day when I woke up it was to this..

A blizzard! Apparently they aren't that common in Reykjavik. It was super nasty looking out and my host was leaving to go find a missing person and he offered me the key to the flat in case I wanted to go out... I did not. I opted to stay in and edit. 

Yes that is snow piled against the door on the right...

It was a warm coffee filled day. Then when he got back for the night he was like let's get ice cream.

Like what!? Isn't it too cold? Apparently not. It's what all the locals do. They LOVE ice cream. I can see why after having some. It was soooo good. While we were eating our ice cream we drove around city centre and stopped by a small thermal spring on the outskirts. It's apparently a place where the local kids go late at night.

This is where my adventure in Reykjavik began. So my host had his cousin coming in the night of my last night there and he said I was welcome to stay but I don't know why it made me feel insanely awkward to think of that. So I was like no biggy I'll just grab a hostel my last night. By the way a Hostel was not in the picture at all because at this point I had about $15 to get me through the next two days and Hostels started at $25. So I decided it was totally called for to once again indulge my airport loving spirit!!

So there was still a bit of a blizzard the next day. But I packed up left a nice good bye note and off I went to see more of the city. At one point i was convinced my nose and finger tips were forfeit. Even though I had two pairs of pants, a shirt, sweatshirt, heavy jacket, gloves, hat, and my Buff as a face cover. It's not like I was running around poorly clad. I was bundled up as fuck! And still I was freezing. So I stopped at Mokka for a coffee. I'd heard about this cafe on a PBS show actually, it's apparently really famous. So I blew $7 of my precious money on a coffee. IT was totally worth it!! 

Then I did a bit more walking around and I swear the weather was fickle because one minute it was snowy then 5 minutes later it was crisp and clear. My host had said that it's a joke in Iceland that if you hang around for 45 minutes you'll see all the weather in that time. It's true. Because that afternoon the weather flipped and flopped between nice to sort of nice to horrible to sunny and amazing. It was crazy. 

These pictures were all taken within 2 hours of each other....

The weather's fickleness was what caused me to turn up at the bus station that afternoon soaked and cold and drippy. But I caught one of the last buses out of Reykjavik, strangely enough the last bus would have been at 2:15pm because the buses only run according to departing flights. 

My Flight wasn't out till 5pm the next day. I got to Keflavík airport at 3pm on the 17th of December! I suddenly had 26 hours to kill at the airport and holy shit was I excited!! Like seriously over the moon. I spent a few more precious LSK on lunch, dinner, tomorrows breakfast and lunch and snacks....

For less then 500 LSK that food lasted me nicely on my airport adventure!!

And I know it sounds crazy and I don't think I can ever quite get people to see my side of loving airports. If you would like to try and maybe have a laugh at my airport antics last december you can read the blog I wrote while in the throws of sweet airport bliss!!!!! So read it HERE and have a laugh.

Welcome back. See I love airports! I might have a mental affliction... but whatever. I will always be like a kid at christmas when I have to catch a flight. I'll always arrive 3 hours early if I'm leaving from Newark or 4- 26 hours early if it's a flight from Europe! I will also enjoy sleeping in them whenever I can. Because despite what you might think there are some decently comfortable nitches if you look hard enough.

Okay Taylor enough! Stop with the airport obsession..... *deep breath* Okay so about 4 hours before my flight was to board I checked in and went through security. On the other side I spent a few more precious LSK on coffee. Exchange rate it was $2.50 for a refillable cup of coffee. I was doing some more editing and got so jacked on caffeine that i was a bundle of jitters when I boarded. 

Strangely being so jacked on caffeine made the Flight go by pleasantly. I watched afew movies then suddenly I was landing in the USA!!!

After a loooooooooooooong wait at border patrol and a few questions. And oddly enough this happen every time I reenter the USA the border agent looks at my passport and looks at me then asks me to smile. I'm barely even smiling in my passport photo.... Strange... maybe they all just inheriently know that i have a stunning smile. Any how out I go and there's my Mum and Dad! It's always nice coming home and seeing my family at the airport. 

And that brings my whirlwind adventures Europe to a close. Shortly I shall be posting a reflection post because I feel like this trip redefined my comfort zone and self opinion more then any trip before ever had. So stay tuned!

Cheers,

Airports

I think I might have addressed this once or twice before but let me make a long clear point.

I LOVE AIRPORTS!

Why? I've got a whole list of reaons. But mind you this love for airports is a bit tainted at the moment. It's 6 am here I in Reykjavik. I've been at the airport since  2:15 yesterday afternoon... and my flight boards at 4:30 this afternoon.

Am I crazy? Quite possibly yes.

That's beside the point. I promise.

So what's the deal with this long stay? Well I was couchsurfing in Reykjavik and my host was awesome (more on this later obviously). But his cousin was coming to visit and I was welcome to stay but I didn't want to ruin family time. I respect family time. So I was like no problem I'll come up with something.

Now Reykjavik was done on $50 and $27 of that went to my bus transfer. My parents were happy to wire me money. But I backed down at the last minute.  How many people can say they did Reykjavik on fifty bucks. It's an expensive fucking city. I still got a hot dog, ice cream, coffee, post cards, and a Christmas present for my little brother. So I'd say I swung it nicely.

That being said I obviously had no money for a hostel. The cheapest one was $26. Nope. Nope. Nope. So I indulged my guilty pleasure of skulking around an airport for an excessively long time!

The busses here run according to departing flights. So the last one out yesterday was at 2:30 in the afternoon. I left the flat to do some site seeing. The weather was nice so I spent my supposed last 500 LSK on a coffee. I ended up finding 1000 LSK stashed with my return ticket,  I'm a clever girl. After my coffee at Mokka I started walking toward city hall and the weather got really nasty. But I pushed on. Some hail and snow later it cleared. I went to the harbour to get some bangin pictures. Then BAM more nasty weather. It really couldn't make up it's mind. So I was like fuck this my face hurts and 2 pairs of pants isn't enough so I'm going to the bus station. I hopped on the 1:30 bus and away I went.

By this point I've had a 3 hour nap. Edited a good 80 pages. And watched Arthur's Christmas.

I've also had dinner and snacks. I set a 500 LSK budget at the grocery store here for foods. I got a 200g pack of crackers as well as a small packet of butter and cheese. Ghetto? Not even the worst yet. I made coffee.... I always travel with instant coffee because you never know when you'll need it. And the water in this one bathroom sink is scalding. So thanks to my trusty water bottle I have black coffee. There that's as ghetto as I'll get.

But I'm enjoying the airport so who cares?! I'm listening to Christmas tunes and just living it up.

I love the energy of airports. Not the omg I'm late or fuck this line. I love the core energy of it all. Because at one point when they booked tickets these people were happy. I love the energy of going places. The anticipation of that moment in take off where you feel the earth try to keep you down but up you go anyway and it tugs in your stomach. It's exquisite!

That's why I love airports. And I sleep in them as often as I can because well I just love it. The lack of sleep combined with people watching and other adventures (like finding cheap dinner or a plug) makes for good stories. It's very hard to put into words my love for airports. Mainly because so many people have a stigma against airports and will never understand me. They'll just state at me like what the hell.

I even love going through security. I've got it to a science. It's always funny when I get pulled aside for a bag check because they think I've left liquids in. This happened 3 times this trip. And every time they tried to nail me for 2 things. My toothpaste and deodorant. And once for my baby powder. And I'm just like none of these are liquids,  they check and they're like oh my bad. It shows up as organic material and that usually means liquids. It never bugs me because I'm always early. I find it funny to be honest.

Then there's the queue for the plane. And the funny people in zone 6 that stand up and queue in the way when they're only boarding zone 1. Too funny!

Oh but the part that I love the most comes after the flight. Yes sleeping here and chilling here is great fun but the best part is at broader control!

The stamps!!! I love getting my passport checked. I love the ka-chink of the sramps! And the new ink.... it's the best.

So you see the best things in life happen at an airport. You go places. You have adventures. You get stamps. I'd live in an airport if I could.

I've got 10 hours till boarding. I suppose I should edit a bit more.... well off I go to work. I'll be home soon and I'm excited.  This trip was long and tough at some points but worth it. So stay tuned for the rest of my Westward adventures and then 7 weeks of adventure! It'll be tons of posts! After all I had 12 flights, saw 13 cities in 7 countries. So stay tuned every one! Have a good day. I know I will!

Cheers,
Taylor

New Adventures

Good Morning ladies and Gents,

I’ve been super insanely busy since the SCBWI conference over a month ago. Real life and all that.

After the conference I had a lot to think about with my book. So I tackled that head on. I redirected a few of my ideas that I was going to tone down for it to be a young adult book. In retrospect I should have known I couldn’t hack YA with my series when I was considering toning down two story arcs. I did a whole lot of writing, almost 20,000 words worth! Woo! Last week I decided I decided to take a character out. Camber was supposed to be the snake in the group who wasn’t really for the good, you need that cliché person sometimes. It was like walking through peanut butter when I had to write scenes with her. I couldn’t make her a fake likable and enjoy writing for her because I just started to hate her and how manipulative she was getting. And when you don’t enjoy writing a character nothing is fun with them around, they’re like the friend you invite out but hope they don’t come and when they do they ruin all the fun. So Camber got cut. It was only 75 pages that needed reworking. It took me over a week. Eek I know ages, but I have a good reason.

My good reason? I’ve been in PA babysitting during the week. I lived with my pseudo sisters three weeks out of the last five. Last week we were at the beach and it was amazing! I really missed the beach this summer so I enjoyed getting up and putting my bathing suit right on and skimboarding and lotioning up and all things beachy! This week we just hung out and ate a lot of ice cream. Yesterday we stuck to the hobbit eating schedule for the main reason that we wanted ice cream early and I didn’t want their parents to accuse me of ruining their children by giving them ice cream for breakfast. So we had ice cream for elevenses. Totally justified right? Plus it was Owowcow ice cream. It’s just about the best ice cream ever, it’s local ingredients so it’s super hipster as well as tasty. Needless to say by the end of the day I was feeling a bit on the fat side having eaten every two hours essentially. Props to the hobbits for eating so much and staying in shape. It was also fun babysitting because the girls are 13 and 8 so they’re in that phase where sometimes they whine, so I got to whine back. I used to hate when my mum did that to me so it was gratifying to do it to someone else. I’m turning into my parents but that’s okay, they’re snarky so it works.

Aside from babysitting and writing I’ve been hitting up my local coffee shop. I’ve got to give then a shout out because Harvest Café just opened in High Bridge and when I’ve been home I hit it up almost every day. Their mocha’s are the most amazing things ever! And they’ve got amazing gluten free brownies and they have organic options so not only is it tasty it’s good for you! I’m a bit sad that I’m leaving for a bit because I’ve been dying to have a good coffee shop close to home so I could have a place to act like a real writer and write. Alas I must wait till I get back from my adventures.

And what adventures are these you ask? I’m heading out west. I’m going to hang out with a friend in Utah for 6 weeks. His husband just came over from China so I’m going to be “Americanising” him, whatever that actually means. I’ll be teaching him how to drive and pretty much just hanging out with him a ton. Plus weekend excursions! Such as Salt Lake Comic Con, Las Vegas, San Francisco, and hitting up National Parks out there. So it’s going to be a grand time of gallivanting about in the west. Then I’m jetting to Nebraska to visit Sheridan. We’re going to cause trouble in Nebraska and have fun…. Well as much fun as one can have in Nebraska I suppose.  

So expect blogging to be a bit more frequent then it has been. I’m bringing my lovely boyfriend Felix with me. Incase I’ve failed to mention Felix is my new macbook. It’s a bit weird to be traveling with a laptop. I feel sophisticated. I’m chilling at gate 33 in Newark and blogging. I’ve blogged traveling before, but from my Nook. So this is crazy and fun. And I’m doing my normal gig of carry on only. I’ve missed my trusty backpack, it was nice to break it out last night and pack. I’ve had the travel itch really bad these last few months and it’s already feeling good to be at the airport!

As you all know I’m crazy about airports and all things airporty. I got here at 7h40 and my flight boards at 9h55… yup I love airports. Security was insanely quick this morning. When I was getting my ID checked the guy at the desk said I was too perky. I’m fine with that, people need to be perkier at airports. I mean come on people you’re about to take off and go somewhere! Plus come on take off is the best part! And I favour of boring you all with more rattling on and perkiness I’m going to read. I’m staring Fighting Pax by Robind Jarvis.

Cheers,