A belated win & a new adventure

with the

sky above me
the earth beneath me
and the fire within me

I want to say a big THANK YOU to all my friends, family members and strangers who supported me through the Big Blog Exchange competition... Your efforts were truly remarkable, and landed me a spot as one of the 16 winners.

I am off to Iceland, where I shall be writing as a guest blogger under my fellow winner 

Auður Ösp's blog I heart Reykjavík - a one person guide to Reykjavík, ICELAND.

As a part of my prize, I am graced with a flight to Iceland (from Cape Town via Heathrow), free accommodation with Hostelling International (HI) Iceland, as well as £500 (£50 p/day) as spending money on food, drink and small travel expenses.

HI Iceland has also been  kind enough to provide me with a few free day tours, as well as cover the costs of a rented car for part of my adventure. 

I have been liaising with a wonderful woman by the name of Birna at HI Iceland, who has been taking really good care of me by helping to construct an itinerary for this upcoming trip. 

This is not the first time I have visited the areas so high up in the Northern hemisphere. In 2006 at the tender age of 15, I embarked on an excursion to visit my best friend Marie in Norway. Together we travelled parts of Norway, Sweden and Denmark - my first time travelling on my own between airports! 

I had spent my entire summer selling chocolate brownies during my school lunch breaks to save up for my air ticket. 

So on the 7th of June I return to the Northern hemisphere on a 10 day journey to a country which is home to the Northern Lights, a series of volcanoes, some of the cleanest and clearest waters to snorkel and dive in... where the air is crisp and the land maintains an average of 10' C in its summer month of June.

However, this time I return on a budget.

After much contemplation and brows of confusion, I have decided that I want to try and cut the budget that I travel on from £50 p/day to £25.

After chatting to Auður yesterday evening with regards to tips on exploring Iceland, she told me how she had just sat down in a restaurant for a bite to eat. £12 later, she had settled for a beer and a burger.

Obviously I have to bear in mind that many of my travel expenses are already covered by HI, but I welcome the challenge. I do not know what this means for me - whether I return super-skinny from not being able to gather my food - or whether I (wo)man-up and make things happen for myself, Bear Grylls style!

In the meanwhile, I sit in Cape Town trying to tie up the last of the loose ends before my trip:

* travel insurance

* international drivers licence

* international bank accounts

* buying some warm clothes!!! (I will definitely be bringing a hairdryer on this trip)

* and working on my fitness levels. Iceland is a breathtaking country with surreal landscapes which I want to try to explore to the fullest, and if I am on a budget - I am going to be relying heavily on my own 2 legs to go adventuring.

So with an open mind and an open heart, I welcome Iceland from a distance.

With deep gratitude to you, dear reader,

Ali.