Inside the Iceland Camper Van

CamperStories

Yulu & Jorge’s Story

January 29th – February 1st 2018

It’s early in the winter morning and after struggling to find the way to Rent.is’s Reykjavík location on the public bus I finally made it!! Greeted by the fresh attractive face of Eleanor , she warmed up the camper van for me and showed me why Rent.is was the best choice I made for our sleeping & transportation needs. Eleanor made her guest feel so important I felt like cooking her breakfast with the portable stove inside the camper!

My first stop was to pickup the Chinese Ex Girlfriend that I dragged with me for the trip. At first she was hesitant to get into the camper van because it wasn’t four-wheel-drive but the certainty that i had in the vans steering & tires were strong. There is no need to worry about camper vans in the winter they were made for this. It was clear She needed me for survival, I needed her for her noodle boiling skills. We rented 3 vehicles during the trip but the wild journey in the Volkswagen Caddy Camper, with Mobile WiFi was by far the most value for our money and the funnest experience ever!

The first day in the van we took the Ring road south east to Sólheimajökull + Plane Wreck. Driving was an adventure because the road conditions require all your attention. I couldn’t text & drive in this one (lol). The tires had small nails in them for grip which I found fascinating. Nails in a tire usually means you need a new tire , but not in Iceland!!

Arriving at Sólheimajökull we missed our tour. I decided to take a self tour. BAD IDEA. The self tour was a disaster and the Chinese Ex fell into a frozen lake trying to take a selfie !!!! Luckily I was able to pull her out right away and save her life. She was soaking wet from her chest to her feet. She even got a nasty bruise on her thigh from the broken ice. Yikes !!! (Always go with a tour guide)
We went back to the camper van to change her soaked pants. (I felt so bad for her).

The Chinese Ex before she well into the frozen lake, the horses had super cool hairstyles.

We headed to the Plane Wreck to finish the day. What they don’t tell you: It’s a 1 hour walk to get to the Plane Wreck (see video below). So prepare yourself ! We took great action pictures on the Plane, then headed to Vik camping grounds to sleep.

Read more: Travel Apps for Iceland

So far the Chinese Ex was having a rough go , but we remained optimistic. We woke up and the camper van was coated in 1 foot of snow! Did we get stuck at the camping grounds? In Iceland everything was an adventure, I shoveled the snow away from the tires with a hard plastic dinner plate while the Chinese Ex cooked us noodles again. Noodles for breakfast, noodles for lunch and noodles for dinner ! The struggle was real!

Chef in the kitchen , we ate noodles 90%of the time and yes they tasted delicious.

The camper van handled the foot of snow like it was child’s play. The weather was no match for our automatic camper van. We drove to Reynisfjara Beach for the day and took a romantic long walk on the beach. By romantic I meant survival. The wind and waves were massive!!! Iceland is wild, for example; the most easiest task like riding a bicycle can be a challenge (because of the ice on the street (see video below)).

On the beach we found wild things like a deep sea fish skeleton and a random snowman. This beach is a must see especially if you live in a city near the coast with tropical climates. It is the complete opposite of any beach you are thinking about. Being from Miami this beach had everything that South Beach didn’t, and on South Beach you see wild things. The best nature and views of our trip in my opinion were on that black sand beach.

Notice the difference on the beaches. Like night & day landscape on

Reynisfjara Beach is the closest thing to feeling like you’re on the Moon.

At night we drove to Skaftafell camping grounds in the snow and took our first shower. It cost $5 for 5 minutes of warm water. The country will take your money fast!! That shower cost us a cool $10 and we went to sleep after another night of noodles. In the morning we woke up to the sound of cars parking next to us. I opened the curtain and saw people lining up for a morning glacier hike. I wanted to go badly , no time for Asian noodles honey. At 9:00 am we woke up and I negotiated with the tour guides to include us in the mornings glacier hike. I wasn’t taking no for an answer. This was the same tour guide company from the Sólheimajökull tour we missed. Negotiations went well, the glacier hike was super-cool and the trip became a lot of fun. We visited the nearby waterfall and headed back to Reykjavik later that night.

Driving at night seemed like a twisted game of survival as the blizzards made you feel like your were playing a surreal video game on level 100. The degree of difficulty was nothing to a boss and I began to appreciate my time in this beautiful country. Heading back to Reykjavík, driving for 3 hours my eyes were getting very very tired and decided to pull over in Hella. About 20 miles from Hella in the middle of nowhere I see a faint green light in the sky.. NORTHERN LIGHTS! We saw the Aurora , what a sight for sore eyes!! We took action pics and watched the lights move & dance for about 19 minutes before they disappeared. (see video below)

The Aurora was visible for just 1 night out of the 10 days , that I spent in Iceland. Here is me & the camper van.

Our sleeping arrangements were interesting. Because our clothes and boots were wet after a long day of walking and hiking in the snow , we decided to use the heater vent to dry our wet boots. Since I’m a clever Ex Boyfriend that likes to get close. I told her In order to stay warm we must share the only sleeping bag. It’s for “survival” purposes I said. I was not going camping without cuddling!

The next morning we returned the camper van and stuck to AirBnB’s near Reykjavík. The camper van was definitely were we made the best memories and again the value for your money is incredible. It comes with all the features and while other camper vans can get stuck in snow our camper van showed no signs of weakness. The only regret I have is not renting the camper van for a longer period of time. Definitely a must I recommend Rent.is camper vans as the best way to explore the countryside.