See the Aurora Borealis for the first time. Check. Bonus points for no one else noticing or announcing they were there.
The Northern Lights as seen through a highly-reflective plane window
Originally, my most recent trip to Iceland was planned as a solo trip to Japan. How did I end up in Iceland? Compromise is ultimately the best answer I can come up with at this point. I love Iceland; I hadn’t seen the Northern Lights yet, despite trying on a trip with my son, mother, and sister in February 2020; a Solar Maximum (the peak of the solar cycle which makes the aurora more likely and stronger) is occurring now; and I found out my mother and sister were going to Iceland. The last time we had tried to meet up —a planned trip to Mexico —the trip was canceled for health reasons. So Iceland. Try again. Who cared where it was? It was a trip! And I hadn’t seen them since 2020.
Planning the trip also became an exercise in compromise. My preference will almost always be avoiding tours unless they are very small, and even then, I like to wander around and find things by myself. I’ll ask for recommendations and take them, but ultimately, I prefer self-direction. My mother has mobility issues, so tours work better for her —sort of. She trusts their driving more anyway. Originally, I had planned to get a car, but that was set aside in favor of tours. We did also work in times when my mom and sister did their own thing and I did mine. It would be good to see them and tours generally take hours, so we would have time to catch up. Or that was the plan.
In reality, I had dinner with them one night and then they both left the next day. Their dog had been kicked out of the kennel for being mopey. True story.
Iceland was still great. I saw the Aurora for a second time —I preferred seeing them accidentally during the plane ride over to seeing them after being loaded on a tour bus to try and see them on schedule, by far, and I spent most of the time on the tour watching people watching the Aurora. I found museums with great exhibits and no one in them, which automatically makes them better. I took public transportation —I love figuring out buses wherever I go. I visited a tiny hot springs and had great walks along the water at sunrise being buffeted by the wind. I watched a movie I had been wanting to see (Fallen Leaves by Aki Kaurismäki, fantastic) in a cinema where they gave me beer for free because they couldn’t figure out how to run my credit card. I ate a lot of pastry and drank a lot of coffee. I got a tattoo. I stayed where I usually stay, because I’ve been there enough now I have a place I like to stay. I did not get to see a volcanic eruption, but that was only ever left to chance anyway —the way Northern Lights are meant to occur, as well, I have learned.
I don’t know that I’m always meant to travel with other people. What’s the saying, life is what happens while you’re busy making plans. Perhaps fewer plans are needed. And no expectations, because without them, you remain open to things you might miss otherwise. Should I have gone to Japan? No, I don’t think so. Not yet anyway. I wouldn’t have seen the Aurora Borealis from 38,000 feet in the air.
