Throughout the years I’ve been told, and heard the saying “a lesson learned is only valuable if you use the lesson”; I would like to think that i have used all the lessons i have been taught, but that would be unrealistic. Most lessons are taught to you by a teacher, or parent, and lets be honest it usually goes in one ear & out the other. The lessons that are really retained are those hard ones, the ones where life was on the line and nothing else in that moment seemed to matter. My reaction to that day I believe fully set me on a course and taught me the greatest lesson of all; experience is the best professor.

I have kept that lesson with me, and pushed to make my dreams of travel a frequent reality. In mid 2022 i was able to use what is to be a human; my kids were finally old enough to take on their first expedition. Of course there is a massive sense of excitement thinking of sharing your knowledge and an experience with some of the people you love the most; at the same time there is a looming sentiment of concern. You begin to wonder if the things you have learned throughout your experiences will translate to your children…were the things you were taught even right? Are you ready as parent & teacher? Doubt is an ever present factor in most decisions we make, but just like that day in the water if you approach it with the belief in your self confidence the doubt turns to hope. So i was hopeful…hopeful i would be able to give them what they needed, and hopeful that these types of adventures would be their push in the right direction.

With hope in mind and anticipation flooding my lungs with every breath, we set out…what we didn’t know was just how much this trip would mean, to ALL of us.

Our eyes, ears, and minds were blown at the first sight of Iceland; it was as if we came straight out of a book by J.R. Tolkien. Approaching the main land the sea was littered with ice bergs gleaming up at the plane, guiding us like we were pirates getting closer & closer to a land of lost treasure. Imagine what the Vikings must have thought seeing this land for the first time, its vastness disappearing into the highland plateau’s, its enormous fields of volcanic rock merging with the fields of green moss; being split right down the middle by the power of a massive waterfall. It was immense to say the least, we were star struck and in love, we couldn’t wait to get our feet on the ground, and our hands in the mud.

Leaving the plane, and the airport was a blur. None of that mattered, we wanted to be out there, outside, lost in this new land of mystery. We eventually found our way over to the rental car company, after “briefly” being distracted by the double rainbows flown over the distant snow covered peaks that seemed happy to great us to Iceland. Entering the rental car store front was our first encounter with the local population, they were so nice, welcoming and warm even though we were in the middle of summer and there was a chill on the air we couldn’t shake. They offered us a BMW X1 as our vehicle for the trip, a nice car, fuel efficient, but that’s not what were were looking for; i was an adventurer trying to instill in three teenagers that same ambition for seeing the world & taming the wild that i had found over 20 years ago, a BMW just wouldn’t do. There was only one vehicle i had in mind, and I saw the last one out of the corner of my eye; there was our voyager ship, our Enterprise, the ship to carry us to our version of a galaxy far far away. A brand new Toyota Land Cruiser.

We threw our bags in, slammed the door, and set out on our way; from that point on we were on the go & not stopping. Having a few days with no plans, we drove to the westerly most point into the lands and fjords donned in the show Game of thrones, bringing the scenes from the silver screen to life. As with any real journey we pulled off on every dirt road we could find, climbed every volcano, and followed every river, staying off the main roads as much as possible. Every once in a while i found myself just looking around grinning, probably with a goofiest look on my face, i was just happy; seeing these three kids running around, climbing over every rock and searching every hole, it seemed like my idea was working. Don’t get me wrong i had a small sense of pride because my idea seemed to be working, but what i was really proud of was them, seeing their independence coming to life, and their self confidence growing with every step.

Having those few days to explore Reykevic, and randomly throughout the country side was a blessing in disguise; some real tests of self discovery were just around the corner. We made our way over the foot hills and through the flat lands to the town of Vik, arriving a day early in anticipation of our excursion in the morning. We checked into our hotel, settling our gear and beds, and then with a word of caution & a look of disbelief from the hotel manager we took our land cruiser to do what it does best; cruise the land. On the way in i had noticed a trail along the side of the hotel that seemed to stretch all the way to the beach, i knew the water was close by and one thing we hadn’t done yet was set foot on the smooth sands of an Icelandic volcanic beach. With the boys hanging onto the roof rack and our girl riding shotgun as the navigator/lookout for the first time, we made our way down the unknown path.

For a small field trail it seemed to go forever, looking through the rear view mirror the backdrop of volcanoes & glaciers faded away leaving us alone with the marshy grass at the edge of the beach dunes. We couldn’t see what was over them, but we new the sand & sea were close, we just had to make it over these soft unforgiving mounds. A few more moments of driving through the tall grasses, we stopped short when we were met with a choice; turn back, or try to take this stock land cruiser across a river with a 45 degree angle on either side. This moment could have either been a turn around and a disappoint or a teaching one, i chose the ladder of the two. I got out of the vehicle with the kids and brought them down to the river, teaching them how to survey the area, what to look for, sand density, water depth, and covered rocks; i believed in this moment the lesson to be taught was one of preparation, you can do adventurous things as long as you take the time to understand the situation you’re in and plan accordingly. With the lesson being taught, the car ready, and the kids buckled in, it was go time…lets see what the land cruiser can do. As i pushed the gas peddle down knowing i had to get a good amount of acceleration to carry us up the sandy steep incline on the other side, i began to think of all the things that could go wrong. Those weren’t helpful, thinking of what ifs rarely are outside the planning phase, i was committed, we were committed, believing in our capabilities were all that would matter now.

We dropped down the first side spraying sand everywhere and splashing into the river below, i couldn’t see a thing. With the wiper blades flying back and forth trying hopelessly to clear the mess we were creating on the windshield i began to feel the front of the car tilt up…it was time, going down was the easy part, going up was going to take a little luck. Land cruisers are great for every type of terrain, in any condition, but one thing they never really had was a great approach angle. This meant that when this longer suv packed with 4 people and gear met a steep angle a short distance apart, we were going to hit it head on. The idea here, or the concept at least was that if we carried enough momentum, we would hit it straight on but the power & weight of the vehicle would sort of shovel the sand away allowing us to plow through the other side. At this point in time however; i wasn’t quite sure how well that concept would translate into reality. There was a cloud of grass, sand and water surrounding the car that seemed to never go away, we couldn’t tell where we were let alone what direction we were even facing, all i knew was that i still had not let off the gas pedal. Once the cloud began to disappear there we were, we had made it and were currently cruising down the most beautiful beach we had ever seen.

I wished we had a drone, the footage would have been out of this world…a silver car floating across the black sands, on one side a never ending wall of mountains & ice that seemed to reach the sky, and on the other, the never ending coldness that was the sea of Iceland. We didn’t have a drone, all we got we was shaky video that showed more of the cars floor than anything else; this meant it was a memory, it was ours and only ours. As we continued our drive through the black sands i looked back at all the kids, they were all smiling. We exchanged high fives & fist bumps like we had just won the Super Bowl, and in a way we had, our own version at least. Amid our celebrations and not trying to be a teacher in the moment i uttered a phrase out loud to the kids, “you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take”. They all shook their heads in acknowledgment and continued to look at the wonders that were surrounding them outside of every window, but i could tell in that moment they got it, they understood that with preparation, ambition, and self confidence they could accomplish the unimaginable.

With the beach now behind us, and our new memories made, we stumbled back to the over night hotel. The journey to the volcanic sands had taken a good amount of time without us even realizing it, this meant that we were wet, cold and in need of a hardy Icelandic dinner. After stuffing our face at dinner, we sat by the fire for a while contemplating & reflecting on all the amazing things we saw that day; i myself looked back with a sense of accomplishment knowing that all the kids had displayed so many new tools, and characteristics not usually seen in their day to day character. I watched all three of them step up into different leadership positions, survey their surroundings, access problems & create solutions; saying i was proud of them would be an understatement.

The next day began with a slight drizzle as many days in Iceland seemed to, but quickly shaped up into another beautiful day in the land of fire & ice. We gathered all of our gear, i had told them specifically what to put in their day packs but they didn’t know why, i had kept it a surprise what that mornings excursion would be. With coffee in hand we got back in our trusty Land Cruiser and zig zagged our way through the mountains to the next checkpoint; i could tell they were a little confused & cautious as to what that day would bring, but overall the morale was high and the excitement for adventure was at its strongest yet….they were going to need it. This next adventure was set to be the one that would put them through the biggest mental struggles of the trip, all of them might not conquer it, but at least they would have the opportunity to make the choices necessary to surpass their fears and push themselves to the next level.

Most places you visit have some sort of nickname that travelers or locals call it, its usually something obscure and often an inside joke. Iceland was different in that way, there was no joke and they put the warning label right on the bottle; the land of fire & ice..straight to the point. Everywhere you turned you were met with another towering volcano, that the villagers always seemed to think would blow at any moment; yet they still climbed on them without a care in world, like 6 year old at the monkey bars. The threat and acknowledgement of fire was real to the four of us, you could see the proof in the pudding, it was the ice part that we hadn’t lived that . Through our drives on the F roads we would see a distant glacier or a snow topped mountain, but we hadn’t been face to face, there was nothing tangible so far.

Our overnight hotel was fairly close to that days journey, so luckily there wasn’t much time for the kids to dwell on what was to come. Up until the last turn we were still craving our first encounter with the name sake of Iceland, ICE. It was at that precise moment rounding the corner that we came face to face with what a glacier not only looks like in person, but feels like. We could feel that glacier in our minds & bodys and we hadnt even made it out of the car; we could feel just how small we were, and how ancient it was. I couldn’t help but think back in that moment to when i had felt small so many years ago, what was it about feeling small that made you feel so humble. It seemed then that water no matter what form it resided in had an ancient & powerful way of connecting with human beings, its vastness truly knew no bounds. I can’t remember who it was, but within their shock and amazement one of kids was able to mutter the words, “what are we going to do now?”, and in my best Indiana Jones way i said “now, we climb”.

Still in disbelief the kids followed me to link up with our Glacier guides; it was an entiment group made up of about 8 people, plus us. The guides directed us on everything from how to put our boots on properly, harnesses, helmets, and ice axes; it wasn’t until they passed out the ice axes that the kids seemed to get the hint as to what we were really about to do. With our crampons attached, harnesses tight, and ice axes in hand we began our accent up the glacier. As we hiked up the small path you could hear the melted ice flowing in streams underneath us as it funneled its way to the glacier lagoon below. The glacier from a distant was starch white, it wasn’t until you got closer that the ice began to tell a story; there was black powder everywhere, it was odd there was no dust in the air anywhere we had been. We were told by our guides that this was the remanence of a now dormant volcano that had erupted hundreds of years ago, neither rain or people had washed it away, it was simply pristine.

We weren’t the only group on the glacier that day, different guides would pass us on their decent every now and again, everyone seeming to be overly happy with the time that they had had. The guides stopped at a plateau on the ice, and began to talk about Iceland, ice, volcanos and some of the experiences they had being glacier guides; at that time they suggested the group eat a snack or lunch if that brought some. The kids all seemed relieved that we had stopped to take a break, they really hadn’t had that much to eat that morning, and were excited to have a moment to take in the view. Now before i had said that we were going to climb, and sometimes climb is mistaken as another word meaning hike, very common usage honestly, however; in this case it would be incorrect. Until our lunch we were hiking the glacier and technically climbing higher up in altitude, but the actual climbing part of the expedition was about to begin. We were going ice wall climbing.

Unknowingly our lunch break was perched on the edge of an ice crevasse 75 ft in depth with only on way out once you were in. I had been rock climbing many times before, but never ice wall climbing, this would be a first for all of us; it was vertical wall of beautiful light blue ice, smoother than anything i had ever seen. In the background the guides began sinking in the ice anchors bringing up with them layers of this ancient glacier that had not been seen for thousands of years. Preparing for the brave volunteers that were going to drop into nothingness first, the guides double checked their harnesses and dropped the repelling ropes into the pit. They were ready, but the real question was were we. The kids always paid pretty good attention when i was giving them instruction, but i had never seen them quite this focused, it was almost funny to watch. You could tell that this focus owns driven out of fear, fear of missing something that may help them on their quest and especially something that may save their life. Fear is one of those tricky emotions, on one hand it’s necessary as it helps give an air of caution and sometimes humbling you just enough that drastic mistakes are not made. On the other hand, however; fear can be crippling, if you don’t know how to control your fear and use it as a tool to your advantage it can become a vine squeezing out every last drop of motivation and confidence you have.

The instruction was over, the lines were set, it was time to put our money where i mouths were. Everyone in the group were strangers, except for us, but in this moment we were all a family of expeditionaries trying to conquer our minds and make our bodies do something supernatural. The day had turned out to be beautiful, leaving those morning showers behind; the sky was clear with only the occasional cloud floating its ghostly shadow across frozen ground. There’s something oddly silent about ice, people were talking, work was being done, but I couldn’t really hear anything, it was strange yet peaceful. Every so often the wind would pick up bringing with it the coldness from the glacier ice; as it made its way down the glacier we could hear its howl groaning in the distance as it grew closer. When the wind would come upon us, it released what can only be described as a roar; we knew it was the air escaping from the countless crevasses around us, but in that moment it made you wonder what secrets lied below.

Haze was the first to go. Before the guide finished his sentence looking for volunteers his hand was in the air, he was confident, but i could tell he wanted to rip off the band aid and start the climb. It was a great mentality; to have confidence, fear, but seeing him over come any doubt by pushing himself to be the first person to hook into that rope, it was watching a boy becoming a man. After what felt like ages the top of a head came back into view, he was on his way back up, giving it his all, and following close instruction he was making the climb one axe swing at a time. You could hear the clash of the metal against the ice as the tips of the axe dug into the blue wall, at points swinging wildly trying to get a better grasp the sound became less rhythmic & closer to a tale of Vikings.