One of the greatest things about travelling in Iceland is the unavoidable sense of adventure, arriving on something akin to a moonscape, unsure of what lies ahead. Departing knowing that no matter how many times you return the butterflies will never fade. Everyone has a different adventure when they travel here and no matter how many times they return the journey is never the same.
Experience tells me that sometimes this is because the people you meet welcome you with an open heart, they take you into their homes, and if you happen to be out in Reykjavik on a Friday night you can find a new best friend for the next 12 hours. It's not always like this though, sometimes you hire a jeep, take to the ring road and discover the endless vistas, hidden waterfalls, geothermal rivers and a place so full of beauty words fail you to the point that only Instagram can communicate the beauty you are at a loss to express.
Of course it's easy for me to say this, for me to tell you that's how it is here but without having been how could you know? I know this because I have spent the last few years travelling here for my job. I'm lucky enough to work as part of the team behind Inspired by Iceland.
Four days ago on behalf of Inspired by Iceland I welcomed competition winner Jennifer Asmundson, and her friend Corina Roth over the Atlantic from Seattle for a 7-day Secret Tour of Iceland.
Over the next week (a few days behind our travels) I'll be charting our adventures around Iceland, the secrets we discover and some of the locals we meet along the way.
Jennifer isn't just any adventurous tourist, as luck would have it her paternal heritage is Icelandic.
In her winning submission Jennifer told us that she always felt Iceland was her "motherland" and despite never having had the opportunity to visit before felt a connection to the island.
"I'm a chef and Icelandic via my paternal history, the traditions had faded by the time I could learn any of the language or old ways of cooking. I'd absolutely love to learn the geothermal secrets of the culinary of Iceland, throw myself into whatever comes our way and to discover the secrets of Iceland first-hand!"
So, for the next week we'll be enlisting the guidance of the 100,000 strong facebook community to help us seek out some of the best and little known things to do as we travel the country.
I'll be blogging, sharing image galleries and maybe even a few videos about our travels. So join us and the crew we have documenting the experience while we take Jennifer & Corina on a once in a lifetime journey of discovery.