Our Trip to Iceland in the Winter: Part I

I'm all about being optimistic. Staying positive. Looking on the bright side. But before you scroll through the next 75 images from our "crazy, amazing, fantastic" trip to Iceland, I wanted to keep it real for a second...

The first day we got there I was, well... I was a hot mess. This trip revolved around me shooting Lilja & Hannes' wedding. I had prepared so much for it. I was ready to kill it on their wedding day! The rest of the trip? Well, I didn't prepare nearly as much. I had been to Iceland before and thought, hey! We can just wing it, right?! We will just be driving on one road, how hard can it be? HAH.

Literally the FIRST thing we did was arrive to our rental car company, only to realize there had been a bit of confusion when the car was rented... (Oops). When we left there I felt like I had just opened my bank account and dumped it on their counter. Womp womp.

Stephen was a CHAMP through it.  He kept our spirits up and we headed to The Blue Lagoon. After that, we headed on a little road trip to an amazing waterfall! We drove about an hour only to realize that the "waterfall" I had plugged into the GPS wasn't actually a waterfall. I had gotten a few names mixed up and, well, yeah. That sucked. 

At this point in the day it was probably 1pm. The last time we had eaten was 6am at the airport. I had a session scheduled (in the middle of nowhere) for 3ish. We were pretty close to that location already and didn't have time to drive out of the way to find food. Long story short, we didn't eat or drink until 7pm that night. Yeah, I know. Stupid and totally avoidable. But it happened.

All this to say! It's so easy to look at someones life online. Traveling, living it up, always at a party, having the time of their life. But really? You have no idea. Things look so much cleaner, simpler, safer and happier online. Especially when you're looking at a life someone curated for your eyes. 

But honestly, even after all that, we did have an incredible trip! Stephen showed me a TON of grace. We decided to "go with the flow," ended up seeing things we hadn't planned and laughed at ourselves a LOT. Looking back, now that my emotions aren't involved, it was a great growing experience for us. And I'm super grateful that Stephen was with me to experience one of the most incredible places on this earth!

So here it goes! The first part of our Iceland adventure for your viewing pleasure! 

(Another great resource if you're going to Iceland - 100 Best Things to Do in Iceland)