Change is coming!!

Am I changing my motorhome? Am I driving to Iceland alone? How long am I going to Iceland for? Am I taking my dog? So many questions! Let's dive on in. Hey guys, more casual video today because I wanted to answer some of the many questions that I've been getting about my upcoming Iceland trip, which is this week. I am both excited and a little bit terrified, and I will get into that very shortly. But yeah, It is a little bit scary, even for someone like me who's done an awful lot of European road trips. But you guys have been asking so many questions, which I'm really grateful for, on both Facebook and Instagram and a few on YouTube here as well. And I just haven't had time. I've been running around like a headless chicken to answer them all. So I wanted to sit down and have a cat's chat with you. So grab a brew and let us talk about Iceland. So first question: Are you taking a motorhome to Iceland? Yes, yes I am. This week, in fact. How long am I going for and how am I getting there? Well, when I first initially decided I was going to take a motorhome to Iceland, I thought that there was a ferry from Scotland. I thought it would be a fairly simple 3-week trip and it wouldn't be a huge amount of driving. Turns out that's not the case. There is no ferry from Scotland anymore to Iceland, and now I have to go via Denmark. So I am driving a motorhome from the UK To Denmark, and then I've got a 2-day ferry from Denmark, so it's Hirtshals in Denmark, right at the very top of Denmark, up to Iceland, and that stops at the Faroe Islands for a few hours, so I can have a quick look around the Faroe Islands as well. Then I've got 3 weeks to go around the Icelandic Ring Road, the Golden Circle, and then I've got a 2-day ferry back, and then I've got to drive back from Denmark. That is my Iceland trip. It's gonna take about 5, 5 and a half weeks. And yeah, I should be back in the UK for mid-July if all goes well. Am I going alone? Yes, for the vast majority of the trip I will be doing it entirely solo. I have got a friend joining me for a couple of days, and my daughter is debating coming out, but the problem is because it's a circular ring road around Iceland, it's not that easy to get her from the airport to me, especially if she doesn't drive. So we're trying to figure that out. I'm not sure if it's going to be possible or not, but yes, The majority of the trip is going to be solo. Am I taking my dog Mac? No, that's the worst part about this trip is that I am not allowed to take dogs. You are allowed to take dogs to Iceland, but they have to be in quarantine for 2 weeks, and given that I'm only going to be in Iceland for 3 weeks, it didn't seem fair to him. I don't want to put him through that, so no, he's staying here. I'm gonna miss him so much, so I will be absolutely solo van life for the majority of the trip. Which is going to be really weird. I'm not sure how I feel about it. I will tell you how I feel about it. It's a real shame as well because he would love Iceland. All those beaches and things to explore. He'd really enjoy it. But no, I'm not gonna. I'm not gonna do that to him. That's not fair. Are you changing your motorhome? No. Although never say never. But this trip is in conjunction with Bailey Motorhomes. I'm working with them, and they have given me one of their new award-winning. Bailey Adamo 694, and they said to me, take it somewhere fun. So I'm taking it to Iceland. Oh yep, they are sponsoring this trip, which I'm incredibly grateful for, and I'm really excited to be working with them. And also, I'm really excited to try a different layout. There are some things about this van that I wish were different. For example, the biggest thing, I really wish I had a garage. Really wish I had a garage. And this one is going to have a garage, and it's going to have a really big bathroom. I will show you all around it. and give you a proper tour when I get it. But yeah, I'm, um, I'm really excited to, uh, to try out a different layout. And who knows, who knows whether I exchange the van for a different one after this trip and decide that I definitely need a garage. What are you most worried about? Oh, good question. Firstly, I'll tell you what I'm not looking forward to. I am not looking forward to having to move the stuff that I want for the trip out of this van and into the new van. I have got about 2 days. I'm on a campsite kindly provided by the Caravan and Motorhome Club. They're also getting involved in this trip, and they have provided a couple of pitches on a campsite, and I'm going to have to move things back and forth and sort it all out. I kind of enjoy moving house. I know that sounds really stupid, but this, this is going to be odd because I'm not taking everything, obviously, so I'm not emptying it all out. I'm just taking the stuff that I want or think I want. But I don't know what I want yet, so that's going to be challenging. The other thing is, obviously, this van's been set up with some brilliant systems. I've got all the lithium batteries, the solar panels, my Wi-Fi, my refillable gas— things that I'm used to using. And especially when I'm going touring around Europe and I'm using aires or wild parking, I know how all of the systems work. Obviously, with a new van, it's not going to be set up like that. It's not going to have refillable gas. The Wi-Fi is not going to have my amazing Wi-Fi antenna on the roof. It's not gonna have a lithium battery, and obviously I'm not going to mess with all that because I've only got the van for 5 weeks. So it's going to have basic systems, which I'm sure will be absolutely fine, but they're just not going to be what I'm used to. So I think that's the biggest thing that I am most worried about, and driving however many thousand miles on it on my own, but that'll be fine. I'm not worried about driving on the other side in Europe, that doesn't faze me, but it's a long way to go on your own and do all the navigating and finding park-ups. And all that stuff. But yeah, it'll be fine, part of the adventure. What have you pre-planned and booked? Very little, I think. Very, very little. So I booked the ferries months ago, so the ferry both to and from Europe and also the ferry up to Iceland and back, that was booked ages ago because it does sell out really quickly. And the only other thing I've booked is I am going snorkeling between the 2 tectonic plates. So Iceland is actually a tectonic plate which runs through the middle of it, hence all the volcanoes. And it's the only place in the world where you can snorkel between the tectonic plates, like in the gap. I'm quite excited about this and also a little bit terrified, but that's fine. And there are a couple of other things that I really want to do which I do need to book up. So there is a zipline across the glacier in Iceland. You all know I love a good zipline. And then I want to go whale watching. You can do a boat trip tour out and you can go and see some whales. So I really want to do that and I think I need to book that up as well, so I'm hoping to get on those and book those up before I go. For campsites, I haven't booked any campsites. When I'm in mainland Europe, I'm going to be using Aires as I tour anyway, so you can't pre-book them. And campsites in Iceland, I haven't chosen to do. They've got a CamperCard over there, which is brilliant if there's more than one of you, but apparently if there's just one of you, it's actually quite restrictive because, A, you're not going to save that much money, but also there are several campsites around that aren't in the CamperCard scheme, and those are often quieter, especially at this time of year in the high So I've decided not to do the Campercard and try and stay on the campsites that aren't in that group, which will hopefully be a bit quieter, and it gives me a bit more flexibility as well on where I stay. It's not allowed to wild park in Iceland. You have to stay on a proper approved site, so you can't just stay everywhere. That's to protect their flora and fauna, which makes perfect sense. So yes, I will be using campsites as I go around, which is good again because my systems and my electric— I don't know how it would work if I was all off-grid for a long period of time. So if that all works out quite nicely. Are you going to be filming it? Absolutely, I'm going to be filming it. I will be creating some long videos after the trip. You all know editing is not my strong suit, and it does take me a while to get them videos out. I've still got loads of Ireland to get out, and I keep saying Ireland and Iceland the wrong way around. So yeah, um, but I've still got loads of Ireland videos to get out, some of my favorite places in Ireland I've not got around to editing yet, but I will do those. And I will be putting out some longer Iceland videos after the trip as well, but My plan is every day, or at least every day when I've got a decent signal, so most days let's call it, I'm hoping to do like a daily vlog or even like a mini live just to show you where I am and what I'm doing and what Iceland is like so you can properly follow along with the trip. So if you want to see that, I can't say exactly when they're going to come out or what time of day because it's going to depend an awful lot on the signal and what it's all like, but I also want to show you things like the midnight sun and the glaciers and the lagoons. So if you're not already subscribed and you haven't got that little bell Uh, clicked. Make sure you've done that because that will then tell you when a new mini vlog or a YouTube Short, which will probably be how they are, is out. So you'll be able to follow along with the trip then, which is a new way of doing things for me, but I'm hoping it's quite fun. I'm also going to be doing some YouTube Lives as well for you so you can ask some questions and just see where I'm at. Can you take food into Iceland? I hope so because Iceland is expensive. Now the law, as I understand it, is you cannot take uncooked meats So things like bacon and stuff you can't take, but you can take cooked meat and you can also take tinned foods, so I'm planning on taking quite a few tins because Iceland is expensive, and I'm not a massive drinker and I don't smoke, so there are limits on tobacco and alcohol, but neither really bother me too much. Will I see the Northern Lights? No, sadly, although I have been lucky enough to see them twice in my life. We did actually go to Iceland a few years ago And saw them every night then, and I've also seen them when I was in Norway at winter once as well. And this time I really wanted to experience the midnight sun and the summer season, but obviously because the sun doesn't set, the sky doesn't get dark enough to see the Aurora Borealis, so I won't be seeing the Northern Lights. What things am I most looking forward to? Oh my goodness, good question. I think I'm just looking forward to exploring the country. I haven't seen a lot of Iceland When we went, we only did like Reykjavik and sort of the south-westy bit, so I've not done any of the Ring Road at all, and I'm really, I'm really excited to go and do a couple of the hot tubs, and I want to go see some of the lagoons and the black sand beach and the Diamond Beach I'm looking forward to, and just, I don't know, I don't know what to expect. I think that's going to be what's quite exciting is I don't know what to expect. All the waterfalls and the nature. More waterfalls than people. Definitely my kind of place. So yes, I am really looking forward to that. So I hope that's answered as many of your questions as I possibly can, but like I say, if you've got any more, drop them below. If you do want to follow along, make sure you are subscribed, and if you aren't already on my email list, I'll be sharing some photos and things with my email list. I'll leave a link for where you can join. Make sure you are on that as well if you want to follow along, and I will see you— well, I don't know where I'll be when I see you next, but I will see you very soon. Look after yourselves, take care, bye!