Orange County Recap and Day 1 Iceland – I’m Taking Life By The Balls. My flight Was Also Comically Bad.

There is a TON to cover over the past 48+ hours. Holy shit. Let’s summarize.

ORANGE COUNTY RECAP –

O’hare International Terminal – 2 hours before flight to Iceland

~2 weeks in Orange County was supposed to be spent thinking and being present as much as possible before the big trip. As I mentioned in the last blog, that’s easier said than done. I wasn’t sleeping well. I could feel my heart beating faster than normal. Things were all out of whack.

But then that shifted toward the end of the trip. I was becoming more comfortable with what’s happening. I feel more ready.

Music has been a good inspiration for me to write my thoughts down. It’s crazy how the right song can bring out emotions. I’m terrible at playlists but I know what genre or song/band I’m in the mood for. So thanks, Spotify Radio, for always finding the right song int he right moment. There was one song in particular I played pretty much on repeat. A few days ago I put it on, put my foot on the gas of my Dodge Challenger rental and flew down the PCH. I swear a tear came out I felt so alive. It feels good to feel, if that makes sense.

Here’s the song, hit play and read on.

My last days in Orange County were largely spent sitting on the beach by myself and doing long hikes. What’s ironic is that time seemed to go by fast when doing things I’d usually consider boring (sitting on the beach). I guess I was actually “present” and just enjoying the serenity. I miss it now that it’s over. But now I’m as mentally ready as I can be for what’s next, freaking ICELAND

But, before that… My flight. I booked Wow Air. Wow Air is like Spirit Air. I KNEW Wow Air was like Spirit Air and I booked it anyway. In fact, I booked “Business Class” because it was the same price as economy on Iceland Air, the adult airline. It also pre-included all of the baggage fees those types of airlines charge. So I boarded the plane with a little pep in my step thinking my “Business Class” set me apart from the rest of the budget airline pedestrians. Hah.

First – the plane. It was no different than Southwest. In fact, I pulled some SW peanuts out of my bag to feel more at home. “Business class” afforded me an extra inch of legroom. Total cattle car, the size of your standard domestic airplane. There was a baby screaming behind me and there was turbulence the whole time. I’m no stranger to turbulence but I got a little uneasy considering we on our way to damn Iceland over open ocean.

Oh, and, small detail, this fucking guy was talking to himself the whole time and pretty much slept on me. Mind you it was essential I got sleep on this 6 hour flight so I could take life by the balls my first day in Iceland. Turns out I didn’t sleep. Still taking life by the balls.

Okay, long post, stick with me here. If I don’t cover all this now I’ll be way behind.

ICELAND – DAY 1

I arrived to Iceland around 5:30am. I booked a snorkel tour at 8:30am. I booked a manual transmission rental car for pickup at 7am. Except I can’t drive stick. So that sucked.

I hustled with my bags to 2 other rental places looking for automatic transmission, each one giving me the face saying “of course you can’t drive stick, you’re American.” But, like I knew I would, I figured that shit out. I got in my little car and cruised toward my excursion.  Here she blows, in case you were wondering.

“Snorkeling between two continents” that I was 30 minutes late for deserves a post in of itself, and it’ll get one in the form of a video. The “near
freezing point glacial melt water” was pretty cold, but I managed to hold my knockoff Go Pro in my icy cold grip. So stay tuned for that.

After that I drove around some more, made about 15 stops, including that pool everyone tagged me in on Instagram and had some seafood soup. Instead of making this a novel I’ll share photos, some of which are edited up to look cool on Instagram, others no filter needed.

 

There’s more I could have crammed in today but I didn’t sleep last night and I’m tired. So I’m at Hótel Skógafoss drinking large beers and eating braised lamb leg, all on recommendation from Sigga, my wonderful host at the Skógar Guesthouse

Let’s end on this. I’ve seen the Instagram and Facebook memes/quotes, etc. about doing what you love, living life your way, quitting a job you don’t like and things along that general theme. And I’d think about how much I would like to do that but then quickly dismissed it as unrealistic. Now that I’ve done it it seems like the decision was so easy. Rest assured, it was not easy. And It’s extremely important to note here that I’m aware and thankful that I even have the opportunity to make this kind of a decision. But once you’re over the hump of deciding that the time is now, the feeling of relief and of generally being alive comes swiftly.  I am going to use every ounce of this opportunity. I’m taking life by the balls.

Okay, talk soon, friends. I’m climbing a glacier tomorrow so assuming I don’t end up in a crevasse I’ll post again soon. Thanks as always for reading.

NOTE – Mom, I won’t end up in a crevasse. That was for effect. There are guides and my shoes will have spikes on them for super duper traction.