Day 1

We left at 8:30pm EST and arrived at 6:30am Iceland time (4 hours ahead, 6 hour flight). It was difficult to sleep on the flight due to the fact I typically go to bed at 12am and I felt the pressure of getting a “full nights rest” so I could fight the jet lag! But by some miracle, I got enough (plus lots of caffeine 😂) and I am writing this from bed at 12am Iceland time, about 24 hours from when our plane took off. I was lucky to be on the same flight with Ellie who is leading the workshop! Flying in, the landscape was nothing like I had ever seen. Below us (this part of Iceland) was mostly lava fields, minimal greenery, gorgeous mountains… and an active volcano!! Yes we are totally safe but you could see the smoke in the far distance and that was quite an exciting welcome!

When we landed, we met up with the florist of the trip and one of the attendees who had also chosen to come in a day early to enjoy the country/get settled. Getting our rental car was quite the process and despite what could have been a stressful situation on minimal sleep and no caffeine (yet), we all made the best of it and laughed our way through. I was honored Ellie offered me the job as logistics coordinator for her first ever International photographers retreat. I admire soooo many things about her- her warmth, sincerity, thoughtfulness, love of learning and integrity. But on this trip, I especially love seeing her ability to find joy in any situation (which I also get to see regularly at weddings we work together) and how she moves from idea (no matter how small or silly) to execution within seconds. While waiting for the shuttle while at the wrong rental car office, we see this huge poster of a landmark here. Within seconds she goes “take my photo here, because if we don’t make it to the rest of our plans this week I can pretend I saw this!” Just the laugh we needed to pass the time :) I’m also not used to traveling with a group of photographers who capture every small moment throughout the day. It added a whole new layer of joy to traveling and I loved seeing each part of the day through their eyes (and photos)!

The workshop begins tomorrow so today was mostly to ensure we got in on time, got settled and knocked out some errands (rental car, grocery shopping, floral shop, etc.). We did lots of eating all day long- starting with a breakfast Stromboli. We grabbed a quick lunch at a restaurant in downtown Reykjavík called “Chickpea” which was delicious and vegetarian (Ellie is veg and gluten free)! After we finished our tasks, we had the famous Icelandic hot dogs for dinner. One of the many things I am loving about Iceland is every single place offers delicious mocktails! It’s also fun to have a number of other attendees who don’t drink so I am not the odd one out! We enjoyed trying a variety today.

We ended the day at the *unreal* Sky Lagoon. We got to experience “true Icelandic bathing culture at an Oceanside geothermal lagoon” and I was in heaven. Water surrounded by natural beauty is one of the most soothing things to me so we stayed about 3 hours and I could have stayed for 10! Soooo excited that going to multiple hot springs/lagoons/heated by the lava pools is part of our week! We not only enjoyed the heated lagoon but did the full “ritual” (see photo). The ice plunge was killer (I have a lot of room for growth lol, the worker in with us is #goals) and the sauna overlooking the water looked like a scene out of a movie! Can’t believe this was all just day 1. Wish me luck falling asleep 😂 Oh I forgot to mention, sunset is 11:30pm and sunrise is 3:45am! It makes the days long and full but boy is my body confused lol. Thankfully I have melatonin, an eye mask and black out curtains 🙏🏽Read more