It’s the end of 2023 and it has been quite year in Iceland, my personal life and for All Things Iceland. This episode is a recap that hits on all those areas, and I share what I have in store for 2024! Of course, included in my recap is an update about the most recent volcanic eruption.
Like most of my episodes, I will also have a random fact and an Icelandic word of the episode to share at the very end.
How My Life in Iceland Has Changed in 2023
I’ll start out with the personal bits first. For those that listened to my 5-year anniversary episode of the podcast in June, you know that Gunnar and I are no longer together. Deciding to split was not easy. While I decision to no longer be together happened in 2022, our divorce was not finalized until July 2023. The divorce process in Iceland is a minimum of 6 months. There have certainly been some challenging times throughout the process.
I learned a lot about myself and fir the first time in a long time, I started to live on my own. Even though I continued to work on All Things Iceland, I took many much-needed breaks for my personal well-being and that helped me to feel so much more refreshed every time I came back to publish videos, podcast episodes or to projects for other companies.
While my life changed drastically the last couple of years, it has transformed me in ways I never imagined. As I have shared in the past, Iceland is my home and I love being here, so it is where I plan to stay for the foreseeable future.
Spending More Time in the US
I saw my family much more than I have in previous years. I came to the US three times, which is quite a lot for me, but it was awesome. I met some of my listeners and followers out on the streets of Reykjavik or at a coffee shop. I am often not able to meet up with people because of my schedule but I have thought of hosting dinners where people visiting can dine and chat with me in person while in the country. I would love to hear people’s feedback about that. Feel free to email me at jewells(at)allthingsiceland.com or message me via Instagram, if you are interested in that idea.
All Things Iceland Recap in 2023
Even though, this fits into both the personal and professional part of my life, it was such a joy to be one of the people featured on Geography of Bliss hosted by Rainn Wilson.
For those who have not heard of it or seen it, the actor who played Dwight Shrute on the hit show The Office (specifically the US version), hosted a travel show where he goes around the world to find out what happiness means in different cultures. The first episode is Iceland. It was originally aired on Peacock, which is NBC’s streaming service, but I think it is available on several platforms now.
Not including this one, I published 32 podcast episodes last year, which surprised me because I didn’t feel like I put out that much in 2023. As you’ll soon learn about 2024, I have a lot more in store for the podcast because I miss having lots of great episodes going out that hit on many different aspects of Iceland’s culture, history, language, nature, and travel.
I couldn’t do as many interviews as I wanted in 2023, but my favorites were with Chief Phil Fontaine from Canada and Aka Hensen from Greenland.
I learned so much from all my interviews but those two were eye opening for me in many ways. I have them linked in the show’s description on my website allthingsiceland.com, if you would like to listen to them.
Who the Podcast Reached in 2023
The podcast reached 187 countries last year. For those that are curious, listeners from the US are my largest audience but the top 7 are US, Canada, Iceland, the UK, Germany, Australia, and Norway.
There are many European countries after that, but I loved to see all of the ones on the list. Some that stood out to me as I scrolled through the list of 187 countries are the Aland Islands, Cameroon, Honduras, Uzbekistan, Ethiopia, Costa Rica, the UAE, and Taiwan (which is pretty high up there in terms of numbers).
It’s an honor to reach one person but to have reached over 846,000 listeners in the lifespan of this podcast blows my mind. I have so much gratitude for all of you.
Biggest Icelandic News Stories of the Year in 2023
1. The First Volcanic Eruption
We had two volcanic eruptions in one year! Litli Hrútur Eruption started on July 10th and was over by August 8th
It was in an isolated area on the Reykjanes Peninsula. The biggest issue that came up during that eruption is that large moss fires made for difficult breathing conditions for hikers to the site.
The 2nd Volcanic Eruption
At the end of October, the town of Grindavík started to experience constant earthquakes. By November, the town had been evacuated and facilities like the Blue Lagoon were shut down for safety reasons because of a potential eruption.
“The damage to homes and infrastructure in Grindavík could amount to ISK 10 billion [$71.4 million, €66.3 million], according to the director of the Natural Catastrophe Insurance of Iceland. Before paying out damages, authorities must reconsider the town’s zoning plan and whether some areas will be deemed no longer safe for residential housing”.
On December 18th at 10:17 PM, an eruption started on Reykjanes Peninsula north of Grindavik and quite close to the Blue Lagoon but far away enough to not harm it.
Plus, a protection wall made of lava rock had been constructed around the Blue Lagoon and Svartstengi Power Plant to try and protect them. Surprisingly, the eruption started really strong and pumping out a faster rate of lava than the last three but it also ended after two days.
Because the eruption had died down and there weren’t a lot of earthquakes, some people who live in Grindavik were able to speak Christmas at home.
The Blue Lagoon was closed from November until December 17th. After the eruption on December 18th, the Blue Lagoon closed again. On their website, they state that they will re-evaluate their status on December 29th.
I will explain a few more of the top stories but after that I will mostly just talk about some headlines before moving on to what is in store for the podcast in 2024.
2. An Icelandic woman extradited to Norway for the custody of her children.
An Icelandic woman Edda Björk Arnardóttir was extradited to Norway amidst widespread controversy, as reported by RÚV. She was charged with unlawfully taking her three sons from Norway to Iceland last year, defying a Norwegian court’s custody decision favoring the children’s father. The father, an Icelandic resident in Norway, had legal custody.
Despite this, Edda Björk, using a private jet, retrieved her sons from Norway and brought them back to Iceland without the father’s consent. Four months ago, Norwegian authorities requested her extradition for trial. Before being extradited, she was detained at Hólmsheiði prison in Iceland, where her supporters, including friends and family, unsuccessfully attempted to prevent her extradition.
She is currently held in a high-security Norwegian prison, awaiting sentencing. This has caused such a stir in Iceland and abroad because many are in support of Edda Björk.
3. The Women's Strike
It is estimated that 70-100 thousand people gathered at Arnarhóll for the Women’s strike.
Conclusion of the whole meeting:
Women’s strike on 24 October 2023!
- We demand correction of the undervaluation of the so-called “women’s” work!
- That employers stop discounting their wages to women and women’s rights!
- We demand specific measures to correct the conditions of the poorest women and men, because no one should have to live in poverty!
- We demand that wage inequality and discrimination be eliminated!
- That women and men can survive on their wages and have the opportunity to develop in their work to the same level as men!
Check out this link for more information about the strike and all the demands of the women who met and organized the strike.
What’s in store for 2024 for All Things Iceland
- I am working on a digital guide to help those planning to visit Iceland. It will be like a digital version of a guide book but with so much more, including videos about what makes each region of the country so amazing, a brief history about Iceland, Icelandic phrases, what to pack, how to prepare for coming to the country, and tons more.
- It’s more extensive than anything I have ever done and there is plenty of information in the guide that you won’t find on any of my platforms, including the podcast. This will be launched in 2024 and the first announcement I make about it will be made to my email list. If you want to be one of the first to have access, you can sign up for my email newsletter on my website.
- Ask Jewells is a new feature I plan to start in 2024 where you can submit questions about Iceland, I will collect them and when there is a enough of them, I will do a Ask Me Anything style podcast episode. If there are many questions, I will do several episodes throughout the year so they are not very long.
- Folklore Friday is a new part of the podcast that I am excited about. The goal is to put out an Icelandic folklore story every Friday in 2024.
- Doing more interviews in 2024. I already have three amazing people lined up who I think will share loads of great information as well as provide insight into Iceland.
Random Fact of the Episode
Well, no one is sure if the previous eruption is over or if it is just taking a break. Some experts are saying there might be an eruption around NYE. We shall see what happens, and I will update you if anything new happens.
Icelandic Word of the Episode
Gleðilegt nýtt ár! – Happy New Year
