tales from the passenger seat, iceland

truth be told: dave had never driven stick shift before. a friend was kind enough to give him a quick lesson before we headed off to iceland. we rented a camper van from a cute company called happy campers -- it was a converted ford transit with a fold down bed, portable cooking stove, small cooler, and heater for those chilly, windy nights. it was seriously the most fun we've ever had. if you've never done a road trip in a camper with someone you really like, you really really must.all told we drove 2300 km along the west and south coasts, spanning seven days, many fill ups, only some stalling, making a few cups of hot tea on the side of the road and pulling our toques over our eyes every night as we slept to block out the almost-midnight-sun.a short diary of what we saw, from my camera, as he bravely drove beside me through dirt roads & hairpin turns up mountains.

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day one, after pulling an all-nighter at the copenhagen airport -- 'let's pull over at the next spot & like, just have a nap'.

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snaefellsnes peninsula, day two.

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'so, we're driving up to the westfjords?''let's do it''are you sure? you feel ok driving?''we have to do it. i mean, how bad could it be?''run little sheepies!' -- day two.

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entering the westfjords, day three.

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'i know this will sound crazy, but it kinda reminds me of lake michigan' -- day four, leaving windy breidavik in the westfjords.

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'we need to stop in that little town down there. i need a break from all this white-knuckling.' -- says me, as the passenger, after making it over & down a particularly hair-raising mountain pass in the westfjords near bildudalur, day four. little did we know the craziest stretch of driving the westfjords was still ahead of us.

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'i really hope another car doesn't come around that corner' -- day four, the westfjords.

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'so where should we aim to stop for the night?''i have no idea''we really suck at making decisions' -- day five, kind of mid-argument (cabin fever was getting to us by this point, just a little bit), as the skies cleared on the tail-end of our westfjords adventure.

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'is this real life??''aren't you glad we didn't stop at that campsite back there and call it a night?' -- day five, at 11:23pm, near the town of broganes.

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'do we really ever have to leave?' -- day six, driving up to skatkafell glacier.the westfjords & southern iceland, may 2015.