Blue Lagoon vs Sky Lagoon

As I mentioned before, I truly love Iceland. Take away the cold, extreme wind, unpredictable weather, and the lack of nightlife and Iceland would be perfect in every way. 

After many nights of research and watching Vlogs on YouTube I thought adding the Blue Lagoon at the start of the trip and the Sky Lagoon at the end of the trip was the best way to go for us. Many people will tell you that these are tourist traps and that there are many other inexpensive geothermal spas with less crowds that are just as good. Believe them. There are many places to choose from. But as a tourist you just have to experience it for yourself and have your own opinions about them. I love to hear about others experiences and their recommendations but I don’t base my entire trip on someone else’s opinions. Some things are better off experiencing yourself 😉. 

Our flight was a direct flight from Newark, NJ that landed at 6:10am in Keflavík. Our hotel check in time was not till 2pm and from our Dubai and Paris experience I knew I wanted to do two things right this time. Not pack the day with many things to do (epic fail on this trip too) and not take a nap too late in the day to prevent oversleeping and not adjusting to the new time zone (success). 

We decided to start our day at the blue lagoon. We made reservations ahead of time, well a couple of weeks out. It is true that the earlier you book the better price you get. In a two weeks period the price went up almost $20. So definitely book as soon as you know which day you want to go, in true Pam fashion I did not do so and paid $100 instead of $70 😅. Our reservation was for 0800 and we had more than enough time to leave the airport, get our car, and drive there. I calculated the drive from the airport to be about 44 mins. However, from the Lotus car rental office it was about 30 minutes. 

I absolutely loved the Blue Lagoon!!! 

And it is considered one of the Wonders of the World so there's another check on my list.

Known for its milky blue steamy mineral rich water and white silica mud both containing healing properties and located in a lava field. It truly was a great way to start the trip. We were the earliest group to get in and we had a lot of time to explore around in the water before it become more crowded. I believe we lasted about 2.5-3 hours here but there is no time limit. You also don’t need that much time there but being that it was so early and we didn’t have much to do before checking into our hotel at 2pm we stayed as long as possible. 

They encourage you to drink water to prevent dehydration and they have water stations throughout that were very convenient. They also say to condition your hair as the silica in the water will make it stiff and hard to manage afterwards but thankfully I had no issues since I decided to keep my hair up and not go under water. Hubby didn’t complain about his hair either. I do recommend you take ear muffs or ear warmers to keep your ears warm. I did and it made a big difference, hubby's ear however looked like they were about to fall off 😩. 

This place is a lot bigger than I expected. As we explored and went farther in we kept finding different areas to hang out at, even when it became more crowded it felt like there was enough space between the crowds. Our ticket included a drink and we opted for a green smoothie being that it was way too early and we were exhausted! The silica mask did leave my skin feeling super soft so no complains. There was a sulfur smell occasionally but not like I expected it to be and it was only in certain areas. And I had no issues with my gel polish melting or turning rusty or with my contacts either. I did wish I had brought out my sunglasses as it was early and the sun was very bright. Also my face could not hide the lack of sleep/jet lagged I was feeling 😅.  

Overall, we loved the Blue Lagoon and I would personally recommend it. 

The Sky Lagoon in the other hand was not as big as the Blue Lagoon. Beautiful yes, as it is newer with a simple yet modern design and it is also man-made. The ocean view was nice to see but the cloudy sky and crazy wind we had on our visit didn’t make it as pretty as I expected it to be. I also felt that the water wasn’t as hot as the Blue Lagoon. 

It was less expensive, I believe we paid $70 each. Although it did not include a drink it did uncle the 7 step ritual which in my opinion was worth every penny and worth the visit on its own. 

The 7 steps ritual includes the lagoon, cold plunge, sauna, cool mist, body scrub, steam room, and shower then back to the lagoon if you choose to. The views from the sauna was beautiful as you’re able to see the ocean. But be warned it was so hot in there.  Dear Lord! I thought my nostril’s hair had fallen off. The cool mist was pretty cool but cool 😆 which wasn’t a good feeling after the sauna so we didn’t last long there.  Going into the steam room with the body scrub on was the key of this whole experience. It was very relaxing being in there and coming out to shower was refreshing. Not to mention how smooth our skins felt afterwards. I kid you not, my skin was soft for a week after we got home. I will visit this lagoon any day just for this feeling. 

Now don’t get me wrong. Although not as big as the Blue Lagoon, The Sky Lagoon was worth it for me as well. I loved the modern design. The locker rooms/shower area were nicer in my opinion. Maybe because it felt more spacious. And the waterfall outdoor was awesome. So glad I left this for the end and was able to go under it. I wouldn’t have done it if we had gone here first because I wanted to preserve my straight hair as long as possible. 

I think these two lagoons need to meet up, get marry, and have a baby 😊. Both are unique in their own way and you can’t go wrong with visiting either one. Or both 😆. 

They both had restaurants or at least a cafe area to grab a quick bite or coffee, a waterfall in the water where you can submerge yourself, saunas, and a swim up bar offering alcoholic and non alcoholic drinks. Sky Lagoon is closer to Reykjavik, about 15 minutes, while the Blue Lagoon is about 40 minutes give or take depending where you're staying. Both are man-made, in case you were wondering. 

Have you been to Iceland and visited these lagoons? If so which one did you like best and why? 

Iceland Thoughts & Tips

I loved Iceland so much! 

I am so glad I kept going back to it as my first option. And I am beyond happy that despite the storm we encountered during our time there we were able to do everything I had on my wish list. But before we talk about those things let me just say that March was a great time to go. We had more than enough daylight each day to get things done. This was a big concern for me. I feared the lack of sunlight more than anything as well as cloudy gloomy skies and the closer it got to the travel dates and the longer the sunlight lasted it just set the mood for the perfect trip. 

Time of year. According to my research, March was also a great month to see the northern lights. Of course that because it is a natural phenomenon it will always be unpredictable on whether you see it or not so my expectations were realistic. I hoped for the northern lights and had said that seeing them would be the cherry on top but I was not going to base this trip strictly on seeing them. Fortunately for me, which also set the mood for a great trip, I was able to see them from the plane on our way there. Y’all, this was amazing! The feeling I felt as they appeared through my window is truly indescribable.  For two hours I could not close my eyes. It was perfect! A dream come true. Tip: lower your expectations. The northern lights are not what people make them out to be like on those beautiful photographs. Yes they dance and take on different look whether it a crown look with a tail or one to multiple stripes and yes they dance around but color wise… it’s more like a fog. The color issue is that with a good camera (as simple as a phone) and the simplest edit features a couple of clicks will let you see this beautiful natural phenomenon. The view from the plane however was perfect. It truly was.

Our first night there we did an excursion to see the northern lights. I was skeptical because of everything I had read prior to the trip but decided to give it a go anyways. What I did do was not spend too much money on this excursion because of the probability of not seeing them. Iceland is expensive enough and after seeing them from the airplane I had gotten my fix. We did end up seeing them that night but it was definitely NOT what anyone was expecting and definitely not as vibrant as the view from the plane. Even with editing the color it was not as nice as it was from the airplane window. The reason for that was that there were too many clouds in the the sky. Would we have gone to a better location had we paid more money? Not sure, it's something to consider.

Weather in Iceland is 100 percent unpredictable. That is something you have to be okay with before booking your flight. Another reason I had booked in March, the end of March to be exact, was because I was trying to minimize the likelihood of bad weather. Well jokes' on me. From the second to the last day in Iceland there was a snow storm with very bad winds. We were fortunate that the way our itinerary was set up we missed every storm except for the last one. The more South East we drove the more snow we encountered. To the point that we never made it to our accommodation on the third night due to road closures. I was afraid we were going to have to cancel our glacier and ice cave excursion on day four however, that night roads opened up and we drove the hour and twenty minutes to Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon. On our way back we encountered another storm that made the 5 hours drive back to Reykjavík last 6 hours. We had bad weather for about 2-3 hours during our drive then we came out of it as we got closer to the city thankfully. The winds were so bad y’all. Definitely don’t underestimate the weather or wind there. I will say however, if you come from a location with winter weather and you feel comfortable driving in the snow you will be just fine. Just take proper driving precautions, get yourself a 4WD with spikes on the tires, and good insurance. 

Price. Iceland is very pricey. Hotels. Gas. Food. All of it! Personally I had a budget I wanted to stay within and I think we did pretty good without having to sacrifice much. We ate out daily. We stayed in nice hotels. We did all the excursions we wanted to do and rented a car. You can make Iceland reasonable by staying in hostels or going with a larger crowd and splitting Airbnb, car, and gas prices but I personally thought it was reasonable for Iceland prices. Considering other places we'd travel to. We even went to a hookah lounge and ordered a few drinks (dejavú to our trip to Paris and Barcelona 😂). I guess I could say our budget was not too strict and after having an idea of what hotels, car, and excursions would be, I decided on a budget around that instead of making reservations based on a pre decided budget. 

Food. I think eating in Iceland made me appreciate family dinner outings in the states hahaha. How bad are the prices? $15 for a regular bowl of soup. $20-30 burgers. $30-60 meals. We never spent less than $50 on food stops. We didn’t eat anything out of the ordinary either. Honestly, food was not a top priority for us. As long as we ate daily we were happy. Tip: book hotels that include breakfast. This saved us a lot, maybe around $200 in 4 days. Our last hotel didn’t include breakfast and we went in search of breakfast. I feel like Iceland breakfast is more like pastries and coffee. And that’ll run up to $50+ if u order 2+ coffees or to many croissants/pastries. We stopped at this cute spot around the corner from our hotel and it was so good. The service won us over.  We stopped at Brauo & Co because it was recommended everywhere online but honestly. It was a tourist trap with cold pastries and service. I liked the more personal warm and welcoming experience we had at the Kaktus Espressobar. And of course the food, they had some delicious healthy sandwiches and pastries. I asked if they had breakfast sandwiches and she said, what is this breakfast sandwich you are looking for? What does it have in it? I said, Is with eggs and she just laughed. Silly me. Only Americans. 😂 

Winter clothing. Layer layer layer. It saved us and set for a great experience with the cold. I don’t know about others in America or other countries with winters but I have never layer my clothing during winter. Ever! So for Iceland I bought thermal sets. Fleece lined leggings. Vest. Sweaters. Wool socks. Earmuffs, waterproof boots and coats and let me tell you. Best advice I got from all my research. Layering will make or break your Iceland experience. Especially since you can encounter all four seasons in one day. Don’t even question it. Just layer up your clothing. Not once did we feel cold and removing layers as necessary was a big plus as the weather changed over the day. I’m actually going to start doing that back here for future winters 😆. 

Do download the apps that will help you with knowing the weather and road info. The regular weather app on the iPhone does not tell you the right information for Iceland weather. And knowing if there’s a big storm coming would be helpful, as well as knowing road closure etc. They also have several apps for the aurora forecast. I wasn’t the greatest figuring those out. I always checked on the Icelandic Met Office, Safetravel, and Road.is and that helped a lot. Just don't forget that it is not always the case that you’ll see the northern lights so don’t hold your breath. 

Car insurance plans. Don’t cheap out on this. Car rental I’d say is reasonable. There’s different options for insurances too and I’d say those are reasonable as well. You never know what the weather will be like or the wind so you’ll never know if you will benefit from a good plan until it's too late. We rented our car from Lotus car rental and got the Gold package. No specific reason for going with this company, just reviews. There are a few that had great reviews too, I simple picked the one with the better price. 

Miscellaneous Tips: tipping at restaurants is not necessary. There's no tipping at all. They do have their own currency but accept debit & credit cards and apple pay. For pumping gas you do need a card with a pin number otherwise you must pay inside or buy a fuel card inside the gas stations which can sometimes be closed. We didn't have an issue with this either. Do keep your fuel tank full unless you are in the city or more populated areas as gas stations are far and few in between when you leave out of the towns. Yes, gas is a lot more expensive here than in the States.

Overall, Iceland is a beautiful country. Clean and well maintained. Picturesque scenery at every turn, so many unique experiences that you won't find in other countries. The air felt pure and clean. Almost everyone speaks English and many speak Spanish. We had no issues communicating with the locals. They were nice and welcoming. The water tasted amazing! Literally the best water I have ever had. FYI, you can drink tap water in Iceland and they don't really sell water bottles. At least every where we stopped and I asked for water they had self serve stations. I'm sure you'll find water bottles for sell but it's not as common unless is flavored water or carbonated water.

I truly do recommend a trip to Iceland. It doesn't have to be long, it'll depend on the purpose of your trip and your must do/see. We went for 5 full days and we did a lot. Just remember to have realistic expectations depending the time of year you go as you never know what the weather will be like the amount of daylight they'll be. I'd love to return during their summer months when the sun doesn't set and the weather is a little nicer.

36 in Iceland

Why Iceland? Is what I kept hearing from everyone I told about my plans. 

My response, why not? Why not Iceland.  

You see, over the years I have learned that my desire to travel is not just to get away. I love to travel for the experience, for the culture, to see the many unique wonders the world has to offer. And boy does Iceland have many wonders.

Many years ago I had several people in my Instagram feed traveling to Iceland and many other parts of the world. At that point in my like I couldn’t really afford to travel. I was a broke nursing student who worked 8-16 hrs per week. But I told myself that once I was able to afford it I would be traveling the world. That is a personal goal of mine. Will I ever truly travel the world? I don’t know that for sure. But I’m not going to limit myself to think of the possibility of being able to do that. Why? Because why not? Why not travel the world? Why not me? 

Just 5 year ago, what started as a birthday trip getaway to Mexico led to our travels adventures to 10 different countries, not counting our native lands, others states in North America, and multiple trips to the same country. This may be nothing in comparison to what others have traveled to, but it is also a lot compared to where many will travel to in their lifetime. So why not? If you can dream it you can make it happen. 

I never finished my posts on our Dubai and Egypt trip for my 35th birthday, or on Hawaii, or every other place we've visited, but they’re on the works I promise 😆. 

This year I was stuck on Iceland. You won’t believe how much I went back and forth deciding if that was the right move. It was completely different from what we’ve ever done. We’ve have never taken a vacation to a cold and unpredictable weather location. I had several other, warmer,  locations in mind but for some reason I kept going back to Iceland. I was intrigued on how different this trip would be compared to past trips. The many cool adventures we would be able to experience. Another big factor was the ability to go for just a few days. We had taken a very long trip last year and I had told the husband that this year I would plan something short so that he can splurge for his birthday. 

And so taking many things into consideration Iceland won. I booked our flights for five days and got to actually booking hotel, car rental, and excursions. Up until the moment the plane took off I couldn’t believe I was going through with it. We were really going to Iceland after 7 years of dreaming about it. 

Y’all. If you want something never lose hope. At that right time God will provide a means and a way. Trust the process and the journey!!! 

The adventures to look forward to about this trip include the Blue and Sky Lagoon, snorkeling in 2 degree Celsius water, chasing waterfalls, glacier and ice cave hikes, a south east road trip with unpredictable weather, experiencing the northern lights, and of course Reykjavik. 

I truly feel in love with Iceland. I can't see myself living there like I can see myself living in Mexico 😆,  but I would return in a heartbeat and I 100% think is a country you should experience even for a day as a layover. 

Word of the year: Self Love

On a prior post I had mentioned how I started to be more intentional about my mental health. I never elaborated on it in detail but self love has been a big part of it. As women, we have many roles. From being a wife, to being a mother, to being daughters, sisters, friends, working humans who contribute to household or are the sole provider of our home. Our roles are endless. Our days are always filled with many responsibilities that involve caring for everyone around us. But how many tasks on our never ending to do list are just about us? How often do we get to love on ourselves? I’m not sure about you but at my 36 years of life I’m just realizing that my life revolves around those I love. 

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not complaining. I love being a wife, a mother, a daughter. I love helping my siblings when they need me. Or being there for a friend. I love my career as a nurse. Nonetheless, I have to admit that I can easily get sucked in to the many responsibilities of daily living and by the end of the day I’m exhausted to even want to shower. Yes I said it, even to shower. I do it (most days hahaha), because it's the only time I get to enjoy and look forward to for myself. To be alone with my thoughts. And even this is not always the case as my children walk in the bathroom like there’s no one there. Mind you, it's My private bathroom located in My bedroom 🤦🏽‍♀️. Which is exactly my point. We forget to love on us. And I have been more intentional about doing that. Or at least I’ve been trying to be. Finding out what makes me happy as an individual, aside my many roles. What brings me joy. Doing things to care for myself. My body. My mind. I’m working on getting out of my comfort zone. As I heard in a podcast, we must allow ourselves to be comfortable in being uncomfortable. 

A cousin suggested I take myself out on dates. Like a legit date y’all. Table for one please. Is that a thing? Or maybe a coffee date. Like not going through the drive through but going into a cute coffee shop and sitting down to enjoy my coffee while I people watch, alone, with my thoughts. Talk about uncomfortable 🥴. I haven’t tried it yet but it’s on my to do list. 

And so here I am. 36 years old. Choosing myself over everyone and everything in order to be the best wife, mother, and human being I can possibly be. In order to become the best version of myself. 

I won’t lie y’all. Every year I pick a word of the year to focus on I am tested in ways I could have never thought possible. Usually it happens at the end of the year however, this year I was lucky enough to start off the year with trial after trial. Is like the universe was asking me if I truly understood the assignment 😒.  

I do universe. I do. I get it. 

At last, 2023 the year of Self Love. 

 ❤️‍🔥

Past Words of the Year:
2015 Grace
2016 Faith
2017 Healing 
2018 Patience

2019 Joy

2020 Hope

2021 Confidence

2022 Self Control