Travel, outdoors & adventure blogger who loves Iceland, camping and swimming.
This is another Instagram vs reality. Stokksnes and Vestrahorn are a little corner of the south coast of Iceland. Stokksnes is the headland – -nes is a headland in Icelandic – and Vestrahorn is the lump of mountain attaching it to the mainland. It’s another place to scamper around looking beautiful, more commonly in pristine … More What they’re not telling you about Stokksnes
When asked why he wanted to climb Everest, George Mallory famously replied “because it is there”. Well, I’m applying the opposite of that here. Ten or so days before I went to Iceland, a volcano started erupting, the ninth in the Sundhnúksgígar series and the twelfth since the Reykjanes Fires began four years ago. All … More Why I didn’t go to see the volcano
Instagram first. This is me at Stuðlagil. Blue-green water, basalt columns, vintage film camera slung across me, pretty Insta-perfect. The reality: an unplanned 5.4km round hike, a scramble my mum must never find out about, perpetually checking everything is zipped safely away and keeping half an eye on the rushing water in case some malevolent … More Stuðlagil: Instagram vs Reality
Reynisfjara, on Iceland’s south coast, claimed its latest victim last week. There have been six deaths, all at roughly the same place, in the last twenty years and at least twelve near-misses which have involved emergency rescues. I could talk for an entire blog post about the inadequacy of the signage (when I last visited, … More Using correct names saves lives: Reynisfjara vs “the black sand beach”
This is a question I ask myself a lot. Obviously I’m a tourist when I’m in a country that’s not the one I live in. I’m a tourist when I go to London. Am I a tourist if I go glamping at the cute little place a twenty-minute drive away? Am I a tourist in … More How far do you have to go to become a tourist?
After the eruption in Iceland the other week, I was speculating on what to tell my colleagues about it at the weekly meeting, where we give a nod towards watercooler chat on between “what I did last week” and “what I’m doing this week”. I wanted to tell them about the eruption because it’s something … More What is a volcano and how do we know when one is going to erupt?
Today is my birthday and as I’m leaving a decade behind, I thought I’d reflect on everything I’ve learned about travel and adventures during the last one. 1: Glamping is fun I never thought I’d be a glamping fan. I camp. Where’s the sense in spending more money on a shepherd’s hut or tree tent … More 30 things I learned about travel in my 30s
By the time you’re reading this, I’ll already be in Iceland and if you don’t like my list, there’s nothing you can do about it! And I know people won’t like my list because I joined the Iceland travel Facebook group a few weeks back and I know people have opinions about suitable clothing, which … More What I’m packing for campervanning in Iceland in summer
Someone asked recently for more Girlguiding content. It fits in as much as this is a travel & adventure blog and I do play up the adventure side for you. But what I want to do today is get across just how much time I put into this stupid organisation. When we’re trying to recruit, … More An hour and a half a week: how long a Girlguiding volunteer really spends on it
On Monday/today, Girlguiding launched its new interest badges. Let me backtrack a little so you understand the significance. It’s been the messiest roll-out that was supposed to be a massive PR show – the BBC put out their news article somewhere around 2am, CBBC, Wales Online and the Telegraph somewhere around 6am, which is about … More Brownie leader reacts to the new Girlguiding interest badges
I Am A Polar Bear 