Iceland
In August 2019, my partner, Chris, and I took an eight day trip to Iceland. Chris was working in a unique working environment and was give quick heads up to go ahead and take his vacation days as soon as possible because the fall and winter workload would make it difficult to travel. So, we booked our flight to Iceland two weeks before we left. After much internet sleuthing as I built out itinerary, we decided to go ahead and aim for the Ring Road. The Ring Road is the series of highways that famously loops the entire island county. I read that it can be done in a week, but the more time the better, most people do it in two. But, we were up for the challenge. We drove 4-5 hours almost every day and only stayed in one Airbnb for more than one night. Since Chris and I both love roadtrips and don't mind being in the car, this was fine with us. We brought books and I brought art supplies to pass the travel time, but they were not needed because our faces were glued out the windows of our rental car virtually the entire time. The landscape changes every few miles and looking down, however briefly, only led to missing out.
We were very lucky to have gotten beautiful weather every day but our last day where the rain was strong and freezing. Beautiful summer weather in Iceland looks like layers, because in the morning you need your leggings, pants, turtleneck, sweater, jacket, hat, and gloves, but at 2pm the sunshine is warm and the air is so crisp and you're thrilled to shed your extra clothing.
It was no surprise to us just how beautiful Iceland was, we've all seen gorgeous photos, but the magnitude of the place and the sheer brilliance of the green grass and blue waters is unmatched and cannot be adequately documented in photos, though I did do my best.