All posts filed under: Travel

Volunteering in Iceland A smart and cheap way to visit an expensive country

Published by vagabiondahops

Every once in a while I feel a country inside my heart calling me and telling me that is time to leave everything and prepare the luggages! The exact same thing happened with Iceland but… there was a huge “but”. What about the money? How can I afford to live and visiting it without much money? The answer just arrived while I was looking for a new experience to enrich my resume: Volunteering! I found an environmental volunteer project of a no profit organization called WorldWide Friends (WF). I spent there about 4 months working as Camp Leader in many work camps all over the island. It was a great experience and, as we were hosting short-term volunteers from all over the world every 10 days – 2 weeks,  it was like doing an exchange cultural program every time. The organisation provided us food and accommodation so we just needed the money to buy our own whims, like chocolate, chips and beers (especially)! To give you an idea of how much Iceland is expensive, I could say …

hot river iceland

Reaching the hot river in the Reykjadalur Valley An hike to natural hot springs close to Reykjavik, Iceland

Published by vagabiondahops

Chilling, natural and free. The hot river is all about this! One of the most popular “secret” places in Iceland, it still remains far from the mass tourism. In the last three years the hot river has increased its tourism attention but thanks to the one hour hike to reach it, it is still not so overcrowded as the Blue Lagoon or any other Icelandic “do-not-miss” attraction. The hot river is located in the South of the island near Hveragarði, in a canyon called Reykjadalur Valley close to the geothermal park. You can drive until the bottom of the mountain and leave the car in the free car park (click here to see the park’s position). The area is just next to the road number 1 and, coming from Reykjavik, you will see some farms and green houses down on your left. That’s the area. You cannot get wrong. To get to the river you must walk for 3 km (almost one hour). There is a well-trodden path but almost entirely uphill. It’s composed by pebbles …

Hiking on Hólmatindur mountain Discovering the east of Iceland

Published by vagabiondahops

If you are looking for an amazing mountain to hike in Iceland, then you cannot miss Hólmatindur, in the east region of the country. It was one of the best hikes of my life and even one of the hardest. Why? For two reasons: First, there are no hiking trails! You can maybe find some but they won’t bring you up to the top of the mountain. They will start and stop after some meters maybe in front of a wall of stones and that’s when you will have to start inventing your own path. Second, the ground is very crumbly and full of hidden traps like holes and stones. It’s easy to trip on them or to put the foot in the wrong place and easily fall down. Moreover it is not only about walking but climbing also. We had to climb on short walls like two times. It was fun but very dangerous at the same time because the walls were made of unstable rocks that had previously fell down. Last thing you …