What we wish we knew...

You see one of these posts all the time on social media. Travelers go on a trip, they found out things they didn't know before about the destination, cue really honest and cute Instagram reel.

Unfortunately, this is one of those cliche posts...but no Instagram reel. Iceland was of course absolutely beautiful, fun, and amazing! We highly recommend for anyone who is interested. But as always when traveling, there are a few things we wish we had known that we can pass along to others. Hopefully the list below will help!

Weather. We saw all the warnings when researching about how unpredictable and impulsive the weather is in Iceland. I thought it was an understatement. It definitely is not. In just one day, you can go through all four seasons from relatively warm to snowing (i.e. if you're near glaciers or deep in hiking) to pouring rain. Make sure you pack for all four seasons. Waterproof pants are a must!

Prices. The first night we ate out in Iceland, I was very surprised by how expensive it is to eat at restaurants. For two people at a decently priced restaurant, it was typically between $70-100 for a meal. Since they are an island, they have to import a lot of their materials, so it makes sense. Staying at hotels can also be pricey, ranging from $250-400 per night. Just prepare yourselves if you're not used to those kinds of prices (i.e. because we were not). If you're wanting to save money, grocery shopping and eating in is a great option. Or if you're advent

urous (i.e. like us), go camping!

Intense Hikes. If you're planning on hiking, you are going to be very happy with Iceland. Just make sure you plan well for it. We did an incredible but long and intense hike on our third day (i.e. see the post on Fimmvörðuháls hike). We then got very sore afterwards to a point where we couldn't hike a ton the next couple of days. We would recommend saving some of your long, intense hikes towards the middle or end of your trip. And if you can train for it in preparation, absolutely!

Camping Food. In the US, it is so easy to find dehydrated meals, and they're easy to cook. We couldn't find any dehydrated meals in the stores or maybe we didn't look hard enough. Our campervan had a cooler, which we chose not to use; this limited the type of food we could store. As we traveled and hiked, we could tell that we weren't eating enough protein or food in general to replenish all the calories we lost. Next time, we would use the cooler and eat more.

Purchase the "Guide to Iceland" for $10 to receive more information about van life, camping, and our 13-day itinerary that we followed.