In my home state of Minnesota, there’s a custom that when a person turns the age of his or her birthdate — for example, in my case, it was when I turned 5 on Mar. 5th — it’s called a “Golden Birthday.”
This year, as I approached 55, I thought, why not celebrate a “Double Golden Birthday,” since my age will now contain two fives. (Yes, it’s invented, but so is just about everything, so why not?)
To commemorate my “DGB” year, I decided it would be apropos (and fun) to travel to five places I haven’t visited before, though my idea of an excursion doesn’t always require travelingto destinations thousands of miles away. In fact, Pittsburgh is on the list.
But so is Iceland, where I traveled last month.
Yes, in the winter. Yes, for vacation. I blame WOW Airlines and their enticing direct flights to Reykjavik from BWI. My friend and I saw the prices and said, “Let’s go see the Northern Lights!”
It was a whirlwind, totally-worth-it, five-day trip that included a long soak and a pre-birthday prosecco toast at the Blue Lagoon, a famous geothermal spa; hiking through Pingvellir, where the North American and European tectonic plates slowly play tug-of-war; tiny, furry Icelandic ponies grazing around every curve as we sped along the Golden Circle highways; and gushing glacial waterfalls galore.
And that’s only the southeast part of the island.
Car travel allowed us a front-row seat to the vast, volcanic mountain ranges and dramatic Atlantic coast, which provide a backdrop to the rotating winter schedule of blizzards, hail, sleet, sunshine and rain — often all happening within an afternoon.
Oh! And during our stay, there was 70-year record snowfall — but that only happened after the “very violent storm expected in all Iceland” with gale force winds, imploring everyone to avoid travel and shelter in place, with plenty of pure Icelandic vodka, to be sure.
But I digress.
The Icelandic people are warm and generous. The land is breathtakingly beautiful. The weather is fickle but leaves a patina that invites long, pensive gazes into the distance.
One down, four to go.
The Verdict: Yes! Visit Iceland, but the winter months aren’t for the faint of heart. And Yes! Invent it, if it works for you.
You can see photos of Melissa’s Icelandic adventure here
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