Whits Wanders
A Girl With a Goal to Experience the World
Iceland

Packing for Iceland in a Carry On

And Other Iceland Must-Knows

I’m not sure about how you prefer to travel, but my girlfriend and I have a theory that if you can travel with only a carry on, your travels are much easier (and in reality, airports become much less of a hassle). I should preface this post with the fact that we did a 10 day, 5 country trip that ended with Iceland and we STILL made our carry-ons work. Soooo I am here to tell you how to make a carry-on you new best friend, especially when traveling to Iceland.

First and foremost, I’ll save you a bunch of research and suggest some necessities that helped us survive the lack of darkness and changing weather:

  1. Water proof and wind resistant jacket (If you don’t know, Iceland is one of the windiest countries in the world so you best be prepared)
  2. Water proof pants (if you plan to get close to or climb around waterfalls ESP in winter months). We grabbed super cheap pairs from Sierra Trading Post: https://www.sierra.com/
  3. Hiking boots (and socks to accompany)…again, water proof are recommended
  4. Winter hat (grab something cute for pics), scarf, gloves
  5. Swim suit (for Blue lagoon, geothermal pools/rivers)
  6. Shammy –> In Lieu of a giant bath towel that will take up SO much space, we opted for shammies from Amazon. They are 1/10 of the size, quick drying, and you can roll them up into a little plastic bag or tube until their next use. We let these air dry in our car as we drove. Now, this tiny piece of cloth doesn’t give you the same coverage, but we found that we were very quickly jumping back into our clothes for warmth so it did the job. REMEMBER: we traveled in June!
  7. Sleeping mask: do you have trouble falling asleep at night, depending on when you go to Iceland (May-August), you may never experience darkness. A sleeping mask might be a great option if your hotel/cabin/tent doesn’t have black-out curtains.
  8. Athletic clothing: If you’re like me and wanting to experience the hikes, find the secret paths, and climb for good views, make sure you’re wearing clothes that allow you to move. I spent my 4 days in athletic leggings. For warmth, I packed a puffy vest to throw on as an extra layer, under amor, and sweaters (which I could all fit under my jacket). There were moments I wished I had a few more layers but once we got hiking, we were generally warm.
  9. DEBIT CARD: If you are renting a car, you can only used debit cards to pay for gas (no international credit cards). Be sure to pack this baby!
  10. Map/GPS: Thankfully I had bought a map to lay out the places we wanted to see because our GPS did not help us AT ALL once we got 20 min away from the rental.
Water proof boots (steel toe for the occasional rock I don’t see coming)

Packing tips:

While some of these tips might seem like common sense to you by now (depending on how much you travel), these are things that have allowed me to fit everything I want:

  1. ROLL ROLL ROLL …fold then roll all of your clothes. This might seem weird to you, but the reality is you can fit way more (we tested this before flying to Peru a few years ago).
  2. Bring outfit staples ie. jeans/leggings you can re-wear, tops that you can wear multiple ways, etc. If this seems intimidating because you’re worried about wearing something again, we always wash and hang clothes as we go!
  3. Pack things in small spaces like your shoes. Accessories, socks, etc. are perfect to shove into your shoes.
  4. Wear your biggest items: I wore my hiking boots on my flights to create extra room in my suitcase and backpack. I may not have been the most fashionable but I certainly had space to pack what I wanted.

Other things to know:

  1. Bridges: You will encounter several bridges as your drive around ring road. If you are an anxious driver, all you need to know is that bridges are one-for-one meaning you let them pass from their side, then you pass from yours, so on and so forth.
  2. Speed traps: In Reykjavik, there are speed traps everywhere and word on the street is that speeding tickets are a total pain to deal with internationally. So be extra aware of speed limits.
  3. Types of landscape: Pay attention to the landscape as it changes frequently. Abide by the rule if no one is walking/climbing on it, you might want to leave it alone.
  4. Hitch-hikers: They are EVERYWHERE and it is honestly part of the travel culture. If you are uncomfortable picking up strangers, stick to your guns. If you are a free spirit and comfortable, help a fellow traveler out. We made friends with a couple that we ran into a few times. They had awesome stories to tell from their backpacking.
  5. Food is pricy: My burger in Reykjavik was $27 for a point of reference. Therefore, we splurged on dinners, stayed at places with breakfast included, and stopped at gas states/grocery stores for our other meals and snacks. Just not that this is nothing like the US in that they are much farther apart. Make sure you always have some snacks to munch on while you drive!

If you have any other questions, do not hesitate to ask! I hope Iceland is just as amazing as it was for us.