Iceland Trip With Kuku Campers
OK THIS BLOG POST IS A LONG ONE!
Recently I returned from a two week Iceland trip with Kuku Campers to get around and sleep in. I was hired on my commercial brand Sean MIchael Carr to document a lifestyle trip around the island with fellow photographers who were renewing their vows. I love getting the chance to hang with fellow photographers like I did in this post with these local Portland guys. It was a wild experience and we had a blast. First thing I’ll mention is the day we showed up Iceland got 2 feet of snow which is apparently a lot for a place ironically named Iceland. We ended up taking a cab when the Kuku shuttle didn’t show. We finally got there and helped shovel out the driveway and the camper van which was sitting in the 2 feet of snow from the previous storm. Soon enough we had thrown our bags in the bag and hit the road. We stocked up on groceries at the local Bonus market which is the low cost grocery store in Iceland. Decent selection with decent prices. One thing I’ll mention is groceries/food/gas/anything is really expensive in Iceland. A pack of bacon is about $20 for example so just keep that in mind. If you stick with the basics you’ll be just fine.
While there I was honored to be hired to photograph my good friend’s vow renewal as well. We headed out of Reykjavik on the first day. The plan was to get to Vik and do some overnights in the van near the black sand beaches. Vik and the area around it was really beautiful. It was the first time I saw the northern lights in my life and that was really something special. There’s plenty of Icelandic horses to see and the scenery there does not disappoint. From Vik we headed east to Jokusarlon Glacier Lagoon. This is a glacier that breaks off into a lagoon and the pieces float down stream and out to the ocean which are washed back up on shore of the black sand beach. It’s where we did a lot of the shooting for the elopement and camped for a night as well. The downside is there is NOTHING in the way of facilities this far out. You’re pretty much on your own minus one gas station. So while beautiful, we were happy to get back get back to Vik because of the nice rest area we were able to use. In the winter all the campsites in Iceland seem to close. You can still park overnight but you can’t use any of the showers or bathrooms so that’s why I advise doing Airbnb or doing a camper in the summer. We weren’t able to find a shower for 6 days on the road until we came across the hot springs which were absolutely magical. We also stayed at a really great campsite/hotel/restaurant called Skjol which I can’t recommend enough. It has some amazing pizza you should definitely try as well.
After I dropped my bride and groom back off at the airport I still had a few days to kill in Reykjavik because we had originally planned on doing the whole ring road but the weather killed that idea. We ended up staying at the bus station(glamours, right?) and walking around the city quite a bit. We did make a day trip to a few spots north west of the city though and it was absolutely stunning up that way. I highly recommend just staying in Reykjavik for 2 to 3 days at most. Overall the camper was pretty great, but the weather made for some rough campaign conditions. I bet it would be fabulous in the summer though.
