You Can´t Go Back

Back in February of 2016 I went back to Iceland after having left in December of 2015. Here are some thoughts from that trip….

I am 8 days into my current trip. The first 5.5 were spent in Oslo, Norway. I have been back in Reykjavík since. I’ve already realized you can’t go back again. I’m sure when I leave Iceland I will still love this place and will still want to come over a summer. However, it is different.

Places I love haven´t been about the place, granted Iceland is beautiful. But the places I love have almost always been about the people that share the moments with me. I´m not sure I would have gone back to Cinque Terre a second time within a year if it wasn´t for the people. I also wouldn´t be going back to London 15 months after my last trip if it wasn´t for the people. And would I be back in Reykjavík 9 weeks after left if it wasn´t for the people? Probably not. To be fair, I do love the country, but I would have probably waited until the summer to come back.  I do often forget that many of the people  meet on my travels are fellow travelers so they are not here when I come back. (I´m looking at you guys in Argentina and Uruguay that I met in Cinque Terre and my friends from Canada, Delaware, Colorado, and NJ that I met last time in Reykjavík.)

Since being back I have seen a couple of the people from last time already but it’s not the same. Why?

• It’s not meeting them for the first time.
• It´s not sharing that excitement of someone new.
• It´s not the new experiences of being in a place for the first time.

But all is not lost with this trip. How do I still make it awesome?

• I need to make new memories.
• Make new friends to have new experiences with.
• Get to know current friends a bit better to develop more lasting friendships rather than just being on an acquaintance level.
• And go to new places! There is still so much to see in this country.

  But most importantly, I need to not try to recapture the past, I just need to build upon it. That´s good advice for not only for me on this trip, but for everyone for life in general. Stay tuned in the coming weeks I´ll have my Oslo post up.