16 Days in a Go Camper

We spent the first two weeks of September 2018 traveling around Iceland’s ring road in a camper van. Sixteen days of driving to new places, exploring cool things, and meeting people from all over the world.

We were prepared for cold, wet and windy weather, which we got plenty of, but when the sun was out it was instant happiness. Iceland is a land of stark contrasts, bleak beauty, amazing vistas, gorgeous waterfalls, hellish volcanic steam vents and a resilient people.

We took thousands of photos, many through the windshield as timeline documentation and memory tokens, but also, capturing  beautiful scenery at every stop. Our first day we saw rainbows everywhere as the rain and sun competed for top spot.

Jeff did alot of research in advance, so that we sort of knew what to look for, but we did not have an actual schedule, just a list of interesting places along the way. Living out of a camper van allows you to get as far as you want to  and then look for a campsite at the end of day, wherever you happen to be. No reservations required.  Since we were at the very tail end of high season, we were a little worried that some campgrounds would be closed for the winter, but it was not a problem.

Many of the farms, especially on the far east coast, have set up guest houses for extra income and some of them have camp sites as well. Not all of them are winterized, but I think getting around to the far reaches of the country in the winter might be difficult anyway. There are many one lane gravel roads with steep drop offs and no guardrails. Tourists could be a major hazard in the winter and you would need four wheel drive. The center of the country requires 4 wheel drive anytime, and a guide, so we did not do any of that. We would have needed more time and alot more money.

We rented a supposedly 5 person van from Go Campers, mostly because they were already out of the 2 person model when we advance booked in June. It was a 6 speed manual transmission diesel, with a 12 volt icebox, a sink, a one burner camp stove, a comfortable queen sized bed that morphed into a sturdy table and benches, and best of all-it had a small 12V diesel heater to take the chill off when we were parked. We thought it would be too big but it was really nice to be able to stand in the cooking area and be able to cook and hang out inside, especially since it was often chilly and rainy. I cannot imagine living with 5 people in there, however. The bunk above the table had no headroom and was good for clothing storage but little else. It took me 3 days to learn not to hit my head every time I sat down at the table.

We were seriously glad we packed our sleeping bags since the 5 little blankets that came with the camper were not substantial enough to keep us warm. We used every blanket, plus a pack towel, plus got in our sleeping bags, and wore flannel pajamas or long johns almost every night. We turned the heater on while reading and getting ready for bed and then again in the morning to warm up the space before we emerged from the covers. We are used to sleeping cold with fresh air and did not want to risk any fumes coming in.

Jeff used his GPS and mapping skills to draw the routes we traveled, using a different color for each day. There is some overlapping of colors where we backtracked. We started outside Reykjavik (we never did go into town) and drove the nearby Golden Circle, then continued counter clockwise around the Ring Road, redoing part of the Golden Circle on our last day.

The south coast was much colder and windier than the North, which we thought odd, but we had the right gear for any weather, so it was all good. Good rain and wind gear is important, as are varying layers of fleece. I brought fleece lined snow pants that I loved, a vest, a jacket, gloves, ear bags, fleece hat, rain jacket and pants. I used it all. Waterproof hiking boots and a pair of comfy slip-ons are a must.

Our big, microfiber pack towels were useful, dried really fast, and took up very little space in our two suitcases. We soaked in 5 different hot springs while traveling around and it was cold outside that water, standing around in a wet bathing suit. You have to shower before getting in the town springs.  Getting out was not so cold as the getting in, as the heat we had absorbed stayed with us for about 30 minutes. I wish we had hot springs like them close to home.

We enjoyed Iceland and it’s people. In the next few posts I will show you where we went and what we did so you can be sure not to miss the good stuff when you go.

-Wendy lee, now writing hiking and travel stories at EdgewiseTravels  and homesteading, critter type stories at EdgewiseWoods, Gardens and Critters