So the expedited passport fun got me recollecting another delightful passport time.  (And any of these times always make me think of this – which is also found in my Cambodia post.)

It is something that I feel, really sets me apart from the rest so that it is why it is important that I include it here.

I have entered two countries with no passport at all.

Here is what happened:

It was December, 1994.  I had been living in Portrush, Northern Ireland since September.  I found that December was a particularly uninspiring month there as the days went like this:
9:00 AM: Sky goes from murky gray to slightly less gray
4:00 PM: Sky goes back to murky gray
5:00 PM: Sky goes pitch black
8:00 AM: Sky goes from pitch black to murky gray

And it rained like every single day.

So I figured that a little light holiday was in order.  There was a pretty cheap package deal from Belfast to Grand Canary Island, so I took it.

I spent the week mucking about by the pool at some one star resort in Grand Canary soaking in the sunshine.

At the end of the week, the morning of the day that I am to return to Belfast, I discover that my passport was stolen.  I had turned it in at the hotel desk as requested, and low and behold, it was “stolen” right from the front desk.

Well..this put me a bit of a pickle, didn’t it?

I mean, I wasn’t even flying to my home country.

So I boarded the plane using my uni ID and a photocopy of my passport.

And then I drank quite a bit of sangria because the bloke in the seat next to me offered me some, and I didn’t want to be rude.

Then I landed in Belfast.

I guess I was lucky to land in a country that was actually more afraid of what was already lurking inside its borders because truly I just got a pat down and a “never worry, sweetie” from the immigration folks and off I went.  (Looking back, my hotel must have called ahead or did something as I don’t think I am really that charming, even with a belly full of sangria.)

So December finishes, and January scoots by, and all of a sudden, its June.

And I have neglected to sort out my absent passport.

But I figure I am returning to the United States so surely they won’t mind if I don’t have exactly the right documents.  I mean, the border patrol people of the US are known for their kindness and understanding, right?

I get to the airport and (wisely) make out that I lost my passport just that morning (not six months ago).  So they do let me on the plane, but they tell me that I will need to sort things out during my layover in London.

In London, they are bit more excited about my lack of passport, and there is some hemming and hawing and official looking people going back and forth until they decide that yes, they will let me on the plane.

I flew into Chicago where I was promptly detained.

But after an hour or so, a fine was levied, and I was free to go about my business.

I do not, however, recommend trying this out for yourself.

The nineties were a special decade, after all.

Or so the saying goes….

Today, I got my third, yes, third, expedited passport.  It seems that I am an incredibly careless person when it comes to forms, identification, and any type of paperwork.

I had to get an expedited passport because I put my old passport in the wash.  This is the second time that I have put a passport through the wash cycle.

The first time was upon my return from Iceland in maybe 2005?  I guess I wasn’t paying attention (imagine that), and into the wash it went.

When it came out, I dried it, and it seemed fine to me.

Unfortunately, I am apparently not a good judge of the state of passports because it caused quite a ruckus on my next trip which was to Costa Rica.  I left Columbus, Ohio just fine – no one mentioned any problems with the passport, but when I got to Houston, I was told that I couldn’t fly out on such a damaged passport because they are “really picky in Costa Rica” (which seems not true, but what do I know?).

So I had to spend the day getting my passport sorted which bungled up the trip for me (and my misfortunate travel companions).

And then in 2017, I returned from Iceland and again, put my passport in the wash.  What the heck is it about Iceland that makes me want to cleanse my passport?

So…I did nothing about this for two years other than try to flatten out my passport.  With moving and all, I didn’t get anywhere out of country last summer…so I just kind of forgot about it.

Until about two weeks ago when I collected it from underneath the flattening spot in my room.  And I grew a bit concerned that maybe my two year flattening process had not been sufficient.

So, just to be on the safe side, I made an appointment with the DC passport agency to get a new passport.  I got the last available appointment which was for today at 1:00.

A Lyft ride to the spot, a couple hours wait, the exchange of some cash, and presto! new passport!

Just in time because I leave for Greenland via (gasp) Iceland on Sunday.

Stay tuned.

 

So I was supposed to go to Silfra to snorkel between the two tectonic plates (Eurasia and North American), but I did not.  I woke up feeling too lazy to drive more, put on more wetsuits/dry suits, and all the pieces of it.  So I canceled.  Which I feel kind of bad about but the plates will be there for me next time 🙂

I also wanted to spend a day in the city as I had not done so yet.  I wanted to see what I recognized from last time, check out some art, and eat a good vegetarian meal.

For those goals, I was successful.  I walked around the city (the day was cloudy at first and then sunny – the weather has really been on my side for this trip).  There is a lot of street art, some amazing shops with such fantastically designed clothing, and quite a few vegetarian spots.  I went to Glo which has three or four restaurants.  The food was yummy!  The down side was the price as everything in Iceland is quite dear.  

So without further commentary, I will just post the pics from the day.

It is settled.  This is definitely where I want a home.  It is beautiful.  It is remote.  You can hike forever, you can paddle forever, and you can just hang out forever.

The kayaking trip in brief: started on Sunday by driving to Isafjordur.  Met the other members for my group and my guide.  Traveled with two Americans, two Canadians, two French, and one Welsh guide.  Boat ride to the “old doctor’s house” which is part of the abandoned village of Hesteyri.  We got settled, ate a wonderful dinner cooked by the German chef, and then loaded up in our gear: thermal underwear, wetsuit, paddle jacket, spray skirt, and pogies (special kayaking gloves that fit over the paddles).  We took about an hour and a half trip down the fjord and then back to the house.

Monday we got up, packed up, had a lovely breakfast cooked again by the German chef, got our gear on and paddled about 24 km to Kviar.  Kviar is an abandoned Icelandic home that Borea Adventures (the group I traveled with) rebuilt.  Borea does not own the house as the homes that are in the national park are not able to be purchased and must stay with the original family who bought them.  Anyhow, the kayaking was amazing – so quiet and beautiful.  There were quite a few curious seals that popped up to inspect our progress and a few curious artic fox on shore that stopped to see what we were up to.  As well, I saw some puffins swimming around, a white tailed eagle, fumar birds, and gillymot ducks.  The paddling was challenging for sure.  The other members of my group had all paddled quite a bit before (the French couple, for example, spent a month paddleing around the parts of the coast of Greenland last summer).  I got quite a lot of paddling tips though I am not sure I was able to incorporate all of them.  I did learn how to easily get in and out of a kayak which was great.

When we reached Kviar, we were greeted by a Finnish guy who was already at the house as he was leading two photographers who were there to get some shots of the two artctic foxes that live by the house.  We settled in, and I went off to see the fox.  The photographers were filming them just a bit of a ways away so I tiptoed my way there to watch.  The female fox was out and so so so cute!  She was playing with a stick!  She seemed pretty friendly (not eat of your hand friendly but not shy).  Fingers crossed that one of the photographers will send me a picture he took because mine do not show anything viewable.

We ate a lovely dinner together, and then had a Finnish sauna.  There were actually two Finnish guys there – the guide and a man traveling around.  So they inducted me into the ways of the Finnish sauna which I am completely sold on and the only member of our group to go all three rounds.  The cycle is simple: sit in the sauna, add large wooden spoonfuls of water to the stove every few minutes, get so hot that you feel you may die, exit the sauna, run down the path to the river, jump in the 44 degree water, instantly feel like you might die, get out, run up the path back to the sauna, and repeat.  I am now an honorary Finnish citizen and sauna advisor.

Tuesday we got up, ate breakfast which included silver dollar pancakes, geared up and headed out.  We explored one fjord.  It was so beautiful on the way to the back of the fjord.  The sky was a bit overcast, but the sun was peaking out.  There was no wind.  The water was like glass.  There were so many jellyfish!  I have never seen that many and so many shapes and sizes.  There were some starfish as well and the curious seals were popping around here as well.  We stopped and ate lunch and made it all the way to the back of the fjord with the sun out in full.  We then turned to head back.  And that is when the wind started up and the current pushed the boat in the opposite direction I was paddling.  It was really tough going.  The whole second half was into a wind, waves, and current.  I did feel as if I might need to have an arm replacement surgery when I got done.  But I did it.  We kayaked about 26 km on Tuesday so probably about 55 km in total for the whole trip.

Tuesday evening I again had the Finnish sauna experience.  

Wednesday morning I packed up and caught the boat back to Isafjordur.  Ate lunch in the cafe run by Borea which was an awesome bowl of carrot pumpkin soup, hummus, and homemade bread.  Then I drove about six and a half hours to Reykjavik where I am today.  

It is so peaceful here.  I don’t recall being anywhere (my own town included) where I feel nearly absolutely certain that no one is going to do any bad.  The crime rate here is quite low though gun ownership is quite high.  I don’t imagine there is much theft or assaults.  For one thing, there doesn’t seem to be a “poor” area and a “rich” area – at least not in the way I am used to in the states.  I think this must help, if people all feel relatively equal, and if people all have their basic needs met….what need is there for crime – or at least – the risk is too great.  At home, the risk is definitely not too great.  And I am not at all suggesting we adopt a Singapore strategy – but I am suggesting that the Icelandic strategy might be one to consider.

But I digress….though not entirely.  See today I got up at 8ish to get breakfast.  I came back to my room and feel asleep again!  Jet lag and losing a night of sleep will do that.  I woke up a bit after 11, got my stuff together and headed out to see “one of the top ten ocean views in the world” according to National Geographic.  

On the way there….I got gas which was necessary – but I put it off at home and I know what I am doing there, so I tried to put it off here, but had to get it.  The process wasn’t overly complicated but they do seem to have all gas stations set up so that no humans are needed.  I also figured out the radio in the car which was great because who doesn’t want to drive over cliffhanger roads singing at full volume to KC and the Sunshine Band?

I also stopped at a really big waterfall: Dynjandi – the name means “thunder”, I think.

The pictures below show the places.  The cliff did have a pretty spectacular view but it was insanely windy – like blow you off the cliff windy – so I couldn’t really get too many shots.  I did see some adorable puffins.

But back to the crime here for a minute.  This is what really struck me all day.  I have seen virtually no liter – I saw ONE cigarette butt, one plastic bottle, and one tissue.  That is it!  Just walk three blocks tomorrow and see how much you find.  Also – there are no visible police or police stations.  I don’t feel like I am being watched or forced into acting the right way.  The waterfall and cliff are wide open to the public.  There are not gates and fences and opening and closing times.  You just go and visit them.  And since  jet lag and lack of sunset have me up at weird hours, I was walking along the cliff at 8 p.m.  I drove back through the mountains on crazy roads for three hours because it was so light out that I didn’t have to worry about the time at all.  So the climate enables one to be out and about, but what really makes it possible is that people are reasonable here.  Not one car ever honked at me today – if one wanted to pass, I slowed down and moved over.  If I wanted to pass one, the other car slowed down and moved over.  

I could go on about this clearly, but I have to say that I am considering a summer home here.  It is so refreshing to be away from the US and all the politics and chatter and just nonsense.  Iceland in the summer is place you can think, relax, and be free.