We landed in Iceland’s main airport at 6:30 am. The most exciting part of the flight was passing over Greenland, which is exactly the frozen tundra you’d anticipate. The least exciting part was the sheer volume of babies on the plane.

Iceland’s airport looks like the hippest Ikea you can possibly imagine: hardwood floors, maze-like set up, juice bars galore. We ordered (strawberry kiwi apple) from the identical tattooed, man-bunned, burly juice baristas and then scored some delicious salmon for breakfast. Most people in Iceland look remarkably similar, some variation of pale pale skin and blonde hair.

Later in the morning, we went to the Blue Lagoon, one of the 25 wonders of the world, a pool of ethereal blue water heated naturally by the earth. Day drinking, severe jet-lag, and geothermal springs are not the best combination when you have not slept in nearly 24 hours, but that did...

We’re all ready to head to the airport and fly 7 hours to Iceland, arriving at 6:30 am. Over the past two days, I’ve attempted to assimilate into Icelandic time, but I failed and ended up sleeping in until 3 pm GMT. So it goes.

I don’t know what will happen once I cross the Atlantic, but, luckily, one of my best skills is speculating about worst-case scenarios. I am including a list of all the ways that I anticipate this trip going horribly, horribly wrong. Then we can look back at the end and see how many I got right!

Here’s the list:

1. Getting the flu.
   Due to recent life events, I learned that getting the flu is by far one of the worst things that can happen to a person who wants to live a fun and productive life. If I got the flu, it would really but a damper on the whole backpacking thing.

2. Getting mugged in Rome.
   Rick Steves did us the favor of compiling a detailed outline of...

Tomorrow I leave for Iceland, armed with a very detailed Moleskine schedule that will probably go awry, a new camera, and an obscenely large backpack that inhibits every movement. I have decided to blog because I want to remember everything that goes down on this trip and have a way to inform my family and friends of my whereabouts and wellbeing without actually having to talk to them. I want to remember all of the ways that Europe changed me, how I grew as an individual and realized that I was capable of more than I ever imagined; you know, the little things that will really make a difference when they make a blockbuster motion picture based off of my memoir. It’s a vacation, after all, a last hurrah of sorts before the panic of graduation sets in (more than it already has).

The plan as it stands now is Reykjavik, Iceland –> Belfast, Ireland –> Sligo, Ireland –> Galway, Ireland –&gt...