June 2020  marked the 4th year of me living in Iceland and the 2nd year anniversary of the podcast. I think that with all that is going on in the world right now, I found myself reflecting on how much has changed for the podcast and in my personal life since moving to Iceland in 2016. During this episode, I plan to share some of my favorite moments during interviews this year, some of the places in Iceland that have a special place in my heart, an update about the podcast and a big announcement.

Favorite Moments during interviews in 2020

Starting out with some of my favorite moments while out on interviews, one of the most memorable is when I met Kári Stefánsson, which is episode 50. Kári is the CEO and founder of deCode genetics, which is, in their words “  a global leader in analyzing and understanding the human genome. Using our unique expertise and population resources, deCODE has discovered key genetic risk factors for dozens of common diseases ranging from cardiovascular disease to cancer.” 

Kári Stefánsson – Episode 50

Kári is known for being very direct and can come off as abrasive. I wouldn’t be surprised if people consider him to be a curmudgeon. I knew before meeting him that he is very opinionated and could potentially not be very nice. Regardless, I was willing to take that chance because he is a fascinating person who has accomplished some extraordinary things in his life. After arriving to deCode for the interview, I was given a pass to enter the parts of the building that are locked off to the general public. When I arrived at his office, he was in the middle of a meeting with one of his colleagues. They stopped talking when I entered and I immediately thought, “holy crap”, I just walked in on a meeting and he is going to think I am so rude. Thankfully that wasn’t the case. 

However, a moment or so after he introduced me to his colleague, he said something to me that totally caught me off guard. Before our meeting, I had offered to send him  the questions I intended to ask him. This has been requested by people in the past, so I thought it would be fine to offer that to be going forward in the event that they want to think a little bit about what they want to say beforehand. 

Confrontation with Kári

Well, he flat out told me that it is a stupid idea to send questions to people before the interview because they will rehearse their answers and it would mess up the interview. I immediately said to him that it has worked out just fine so far. He quickly replied that I think it has been working out so far but I don’t really know. My rebuttal was that “Well, people keep listening to the podcast, so I must be doing something right.” At that he just stopped talking about it and said we should just get started. All of this was before I hit record. My first thought was damn, this is going to be a difficult interview and I might have to scrap it. While he did start out a bit stiff, I was able to crack a few jokes and he loosened up.

It ended up being a great interview and I was so grateful that it turned out well. After recording, we continued to talk about when he was living and working in Chicago. I was incredibly sweaty when I left that interview because I was constantly on guard. It might be strange that I find this to be one of my favorite moments but I think I find this one interesting because it was a challenge I had to overcome. Most of the people I interview are very different from Kári. I don’t often encounter personalities like him. It kind of felt like he was testing my boundaries and I held my own. I was proud of that. I was also happy to be able to connect with him and understand that he isn’t that difficult but he has some personality traits that can make it hard to connect with him.

Mike Dell – Episode 61

Another memorable episode for me was #61 with Mike Dell. He served on the NATO Base in Iceland during the 90s. Gaining insight into that time was so cool. I had been wondering about what it was like to be in Iceland on the base as an American during that time. This interview kind of just fell in my lap. I talk about how I met Mike virtually during the episode.

I was literally just trying to get help with making sure my podcast was set up correctly for the change I made from having the website fromforeigntofamiliar.com to now having allthingiceland.com. When I mentioned that I live in Iceland and that is what my show is about, his voice changed immediately. He was so excited to tell me that he lived here for a year and how much he loved it.

It surprises me that he hasn’t been back since then. I hope he makes it back in the near future. Hearing the joy in his tone as he spoke about Iceland before and during the interview is what makes this so memorable for me. When he lived here, it was way before most knew about how awesome this country is and I was glad to hear how much being here impacted his life. It is true that Iceland has a beautiful effect on many people. 

Dr. Kristín Loftsdóttir – Episode 66

The final memorable interview that I will share is the episode I did right before this one, which is episode 66. It was with Dr. Kristín Loftsdóttir. It was not easy for me to talk about or come to terms with Iceland having issues with racism. At the same time, it is an important topic and I am glad to have gotten insight from an expert on the topic here. Kristín and I talked for a while after I stopped recording. Some of the conversation revolved around our personal feelings about how things are shifting here. Iceland is becoming more diverse. There are people from many different countries that have moved here. That diversity is adding to why this place is unique. We both look forward to seeing how the country continues to change and adapt.

Three of my Favorite Places in Iceland

Over the last four years, I’ve been fortunate to visit many parts of the country. I’ve not been to every place in Iceland but I am working on that. Just last month, Gunnar and I did a 13-day adventure around the country. We went off the ring road plenty of times and I always recommend that to people.

The Majestic Westfjords

However, if I have to pick three places that stick out in my mind immediately, I would say the first is the Westfjords. Most people don’t venture off to go there and that is unfortunate to me. I have been there a few times, always in the summer because some roads can be impassable or very icy in the winter, and I’ve always enjoyed it. It also helps that I’ve had good weather when there. LOL Later this summer, I plan to spend several weeks there but I will fill you in on why at another time. There is just so much beauty and raw nature there. The winding roads and stunning views make this part of the country stunning.

Landmannalaugar’s Stunning Mountains

Next up is Landmannalaugar. This part of the highlands is actually quite popular. During the high season of summer, it can feel overrun with hikers and campers, which is not fun. However, the first time I went there, I was at the end of a 9-day trekking tour through the more remote part of the highlands. I was in a group of people but it was nice to arrive there and see other people than the lovely ones in the group. Plus I was blown away by the color of the rhyolite mountains. At times, I was just speechless. It started raining and was overcast when we arrived, so I vowed to come back. The next year, I took a one day trip with my sister-in-law. I watched the weather carefully before booking our trip. It ended up being in September and we totally lucked out with the weather. 

It was sunny, warm and not windy. Because this was an off-season time, there was hardly anyone there. The place was almost unrecognizable from my first visit, which happened in July the previous year. The hilarious thing is that after we did some hiking and decided to dip in the natural hot spring there, the weather changed quickly. For about 10 minutes, we had snow showers. After that, the weather returned to being sunny and relatively warm for the season. The potential of the weather changing like that in Iceland can happen anytime but as you get closer to winter, the potential for snow in the highlands increases by a lot. It’s common to see and walk through snow in the highlands during the height of summer. Just something for you to keep in mind. 

Ásbyrgi – The Capital of the Elves

The third place is a recent addition to the list of my favorite places. Gunnar and I visited Ásbyrgi on our 13-day trip. I was blown away at how beautiful it is there. Like, holy crap it is gorgeous. It has been named the “Capital of the Elves”. I can’t say if Elves actually live there but if they do, they picked a great place. While driving into Ásbyrgi, it felt as if we were transported to another part of the country. Most of the environment around Ásbrygi doesn’t have lush trees and is not a canyon. It’s like it came out of nowhere.

While there is a scientific reason for the horseshoe shape of the canyon, I like the folklore version best. According to the legend, Sleipnir, Odin’s eight-legged horse, placed one of its hooves on the ground in the area. This left a deep imprint on the earth, and that is how Ásbyrgi gots its shape. There is a lake there that feels like it was taken out of a fairytale and the energy of the place is tranquil. I feel like there is magical energy there.

I could go on and on about these places and many others but that would make this episode quite long. If you are in Iceland or plan to be, I recommend checking out these places, if you have the time. In  the very near future, I will publish an episode that breakdowns our 13-day adventure around the country. It will include pictures and our itinerary. 

Expat Life & Learning Icelandic

Now I’m going to share a little insight about what it has been like to live here and my Icelandic language journey for the last four years. While there are ups and downs in every journey, I have to say that adjusting to life here has not been rocky for me. I am incredibly fortunate to have a very supportive and loving family. Having a job that I was excited about and that exposed me to the joy of Icelandic nature when I first moved, was amazing. Granted, there have been plenty of times when I was stressed and needed time off to recharge, but I have always felt at home here. It surprises people when I say that I have not once felt homesick. A big part of the reason why I haven’t is because I was so ready to leave NYC. 

The Ongoing Icelandic Adventure

Also, I have always viewed my time in Iceland as an adventure. Every year has brought new and exciting challenges. Yes, the long, dark winters start to weigh on you especially in March when you just want the snow and cold to go away. To deal with that, I have developed some coping mechanisms, such as taking a vacation to a warm and sunny place or trying a winter sport. Everyone needs to find their thing that gets them through winter. For those that are still searching, I always recommend being active. Releasing endorphins due to exercise is awesome.

I’m separating my experience with adjusting to life here from learning Icelandic because the language part is a whole other beast. One can live and work in Iceland without knowing the language. There are many foreigners that do and I have no judgement about that. I have always felt compelled to learn and it has been an uphill battle. It is true that I know a decent amount and understand what is being said most of the time. I also pride myself on my pronunciation. However, I don’t have a full command of the language and that has irked me to no end. 

Learning Icelandic has been an Uphill Battle

When I moved to Iceland, I made a promise to myself that I would learn the language in 3 years. Why 3 years? I have no idea. In my mind that sounded like a decent amount of time. During those 3 years, there are many times when I have broken down and cried because I felt like a failure. In fact, when the 3rd year arrived, I pretended like it hadn’t happened. However, I was forced to deal with it when I had a conversation with my current boss. He was being very supportive and saying that I can practice with people in the office and take classes during work time, if I need to. This conversation reminded me that I hadn’t met my made up deadline and later that night I broke down at home. 

It is probably helpful to mention that I have taken classes and I do have a private tutor now but I often feel like I am not making enough progress. To feel sane again I needed to shed this timeline that I set up and just dedicate time to learning every day. That means making time for it after work, making a ton of mistakes and forcing myself to speak. All of this month Gunnar and I have been only speaking in Icelandic to each other. It has been challenging but worth it. I’m doing my best to not let my ego get in the way of my progress. 

Allowing Myself the Space to Learn & Fail

While I know that Gunnar supports me and we always have treated each other as equals, it can be hard to not feel like an equal when I speak Icelandic. It creates a perceived imbalance in the relationship that was messing with my confidence. Once I started to shed that feeling, it freed up my brain to focus on speaking. I have to share that at one point I felt so defeated that I considered quitting my job and going back to school to focus solely on learning Icelandic. I’ve decided not to take that path now, for several reasons, but I’ve learned to “never say never.”

I’m sharing this because I think it is important to touch on the different aspects of expat life in Iceland. Of course, this is just my experience but my hope is that in hearing this, you feel like you are getting some insight into how life can be here. I’m excited about continuing my language learning journey, even though it is one of the biggest challenges I have encountered in a while. If you are interested in resources to learn the language, I will have links to them in the show notes. I also have a big announcement coming about my Icelandic language journey that I will share towards the end of August.

Exciting Podcast Update

Next up is the podcast update. I had a bit of an epiphany this year.  If you had the chance to listen to the 1st year anniversary episode that I did last year, you would have heard why I started this podcast. I won’t go into that again here but feel free to check out that episode if you are curious about that story. It’s episode # 48 and the link to it is in the show notes of this episode. When I re-listened to it, I was surprised to hear that after publishing 47 episodes that I had 47,000 downloads.

This year, I have published 20 episodes and, at the moment, have 167,000 downloads. I’m blown away by this jump in downloads in just a year. I’m incredibly grateful to everyone that listens, shares the show,  sends me messages or leaves comments about different episodes. When I started a new  job in April of 2019 it pained me that I had to slow down the amount of episodes I was publishing. 

Taking All Things Iceland to the Next Level

My job has been quite demanding of my time. I realized that being a digital content creator gives me so much joy. Sharing fascinating stories and information with all of you, made me realize that I need to find a way to get back to doing this more regularly. As many of you know, I am a one woman show. Meaning, I do all of the writing, recording, editing, publishing and promoting. 

This is not necessarily unique, but it is a labor of love. I’m always looking to find ways to improve the show, whether it is upgrading equipment, learning some editing tricks or changing up the topics. It has been a fascinating journey so far and I now feel confident that this is just the beginning. Well, barring that nothing life threatening happens. In an effort to allow more space and time in my life for creating, this includes videos, podcast episodes and social media content, I have decreased my time at my current place of work. 

Evolving from just a Passion Project

That was an incredibly tough choice to make. Financially it impacts me, but it is also a change up in my life that is exciting and frightening. It feels like a leap into the unknown. Well, it feels like that even though I have been doing this for over two years. One of the main reasons I am sharing this is because the feedback from listeners like you have made all of the hard work worth it. In fact it encourages me to do even more.

I have considered many options regarding how to take podcasting and digital creation, in general, from a passion project to a profession. Sponsorship is something I am still rattling in my brain but one of the most intriguing options has been creating a space for me to interact on a more personal level with all of my awesome listeners. With that, I am excited to announce that I have started a Patreon page. 

Join the All Things Iceland Patreon Community

For those who have not heard of Patreon, it is a platform that has been around since 2013. It gives fans of your work a way to support you through a monthly membership. In exchange for the support, you will gain access to exclusive content from me, be part of a community that has similar interests, and be an active participant in the work I am doing. For instance, I plan to have polls so you can vote on content ideas, give you early access to content, some content will only be available there, and you’ll  be able to suggest future topics for episodes and videos.

Benefits of Joining the Community

I’ve created four tiers of support and the lowest tier starts at just $2.99 a month. And believe me, every bit counts. This support will allow me to reinvest back into the creative process. I can upgrade equipment, pay for fuel to get to interviews in different parts of the country, create helpful resources, and so on.

One free resource I recently created is my Ultimate packing checklist for Iceland. To get that, just check out the link in the show notes of this episode.  If you decide to support in a higher tier, you get more benefits. In one tier you will receive a gift once a year  from me that was made in Iceland. I will ship it to anywhere in the world.

I will, of course, continue to make podcast episodes and videos. Many of them will be available to the public. However, you now have the opportunity to access a lot more than that. I’m incredibly grateful that a platform like Patreon exists. I love the fact that it allows me to develop a deeper connection with all of you. To read all the benefits in each tier and support the growth of All Things Iceland, please check out this link. Loads of thanks in advance to everyone that supports. I look forward to having you join me in the All Things Iceland community on Patreon.

Random fact of the episode

The month of June is a very significant month in my life because a lot happens then. I was born on June 16th,1986; I moved to Iceland on June 22nd, 2016; Gunnar and I had our big wedding celebration on June 17, 2017; June 17th is also Iceland’s Republic Day; and June 13th, 2018 is when I started the All Things Iceland podcast. My birthday and when I moved are probably just coincidences but all the others were planned. Something about June resonates with me.

Icelandic Phrase of the Episode 

Ég er þakklát – I am grateful. 

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Þakka þér kærlega fyrir að hlusta (og að lesa) og sjáumst fljótlega

Thank you kindly for listening (and reading) and see you soon!