Once upon a time a young, sometimes stupid, 19 year old me set about on her first solo adventure – a two week trip to Iceland. That was over 4 years ago now and I’d like to think I learned something more than how to survive on beans and rice for two weeks.  

At the very least it was a pretty major turning point for me as solo travel soon became one of my favourite ways to see the world. I remember boarding that plane and balling my eyes out because I was so f*cking scared! Growing up I was incredibly lucky that my family prioritized travel so I feel like I was a pretty seasoned traveler by the time I embarked on my first solo trip. But Iceland was different. Not only was I staying in a new city by myself for the first time, I was embarking on a whole year exchange to England by myself!  

The first few days  in Iceland were spent in Reykjavik and then I joined some fellow backpackers I’d met on couchsurfer.com and we road tripped across south-western Iceland. It truly was a fantastic trip and set the tone for my whole year abroad in England, but there were defiantly things that I would have done differently. But first the things I did right!!

What I did Right

Having a basic plan

I am generally not a huge fan of over planning a trip. My habit is to research the location an absurd amount then forget it all as soon as I land. However for my first solo trip I think it was a really good idea to have a basic plan for what I was going to do.

I knew that I wanted to do a road trip which I couldn’t afford and didn’t want to do by myself so I put a lot of effort into finding road trip buddies. I used couchsurfer.com and Facebook groups to help find 3 other people to come on a road trip with me. Road trips are really popular in Iceland so it’s pretty easy to find road trip buddies. This was a great decision! We ended up getting along really well and I even visited one of them in Paris a few weeks later! Planning this ahead of time let me see parts of Iceland I wouldn’t have otherwise seen and helped with my nerves because I knew I would have less to worry about when I got there.

My road trip buddies and I exploring Iceland  

Switching Hostels

For the my first few nights in Reykjavik I decided to stay at a campsite just outside the city centre. It was significantly less expensive (~10USD) than the city hostels (~50USD) and I was on a pretty low budget. While the campsite was nice, I was (and still occasionally am) a pretty shy person and meeting people there was very difficult. I spent the first 2 or 3 days alone and terrified that traveling solo meant that I would never talk again! After 2 or 3 days I made the decision to suck it up and pay for a hostel in the hopes that I could meet some people. I chose KEX hostel downtown and while not the cleanest hostel, it was the right choice for me. Within a few hours I had made friends and learned an important lesson – sometimes its worth paying a little more for the right social atmosphere! 

What I did Wrong 

Staying in Reykjavik for too long

Reykjavik is a nice city, its very pretty, but I found there wasn’t a ton of stuff too do. 6 days is a pretty long time to spread in most cities and it was way to long in Reykjavik. I though it would be too difficult, time consuming and expensive to go anywhere else in Iceland and still make it back in time to meet my road trip buddies.  I also just didn’t want to deal with the hassle of moving around. In hind sight I defiantly had enough time and there were a lot of other places in Iceland I would have liked to see. Oh well, at least this gives me a reason to go back.

Packing Too Much

So this was a little bit of a strange situation because I was moving to England so I had all of my stuff for England as well as my Iceland stuff. I stored my suitcase for England at the airport, but still ended up carrying around way too much stuff – including a very heavy tent.. My bag was so heavy I could barely carry it! I still remember walking from the bus stop to the campsite and having to take a break every 100m! I have since learned my lesson and now pack almost entirely in carry on.

Spending ALL my money

Seriously though! While I’m very good at saving money to fund my travels I am also very good at spending money while I am traveling. In Iceland I hadn’t really learned to budget my money and it is an expensive country. I spent more money in Iceland than I did on any other solo trip I went on in the entire year I was abroad. Budget travel is totally doable in Iceland as well, I just didn’t know how to do it.

Overall I think Iceland is a great place for a first solo trip. It’s easy to get to, generally easy to get around plus its super safe! I highly recommend gather some people and going on a road trip. Iceland is one of the prettiest countries I’ve ever been to and I think the best way to see it is by car! If you’re not comfortable meeting people you meet online you could always spend a few days in Reykjavik. There’s enough people hanging around looking to go on a road trip I don’t think you would have trouble finding people to split the cost of a car. It might take a little bit of time though. Although there are some tings I would do differently now, my first solo trip to Iceland gave me to confidence to pursue longer and crazier adventures!