The $2,000 Gamble

At a little after 7:30 p.m. tomorrow (weather permitting), a plane that I will be on will be leaving Dulles Airport and heading north. Way north. Further than I have even been by about two full degrees of latitude. The furthest north I have ventured in my life prior to my trip tomorrow was in the year 2000, when I traveled by car to Jyväskylä, Finland on my summer of '00 Alvar Aalto pilgrimage. When I land in Reykjavik, Iceland Wednesday morning, I'll be closer to the north pole than I have ever been before.

So I know what you are thinking: it's late fall (almost winter in fact) about two weeks before Christmas and you are heading somewhere cold? Yep, that's right. I know most people at this time of year are thinking somewhere in the Caribbean or Florida. Not me. I'm going to a country where the temperatures at this time of year hover right around 32 degrees fahrenheit pretty much continuously and where there are fewer than five hours of light in the day. Sounds fun, right? I'm really looking forward to it. This has in many ways been a long time coming.

This short trip is going to be packed: a little over three days with four organized tours in and around the Reykjavik area. Before this week is over, I'll have been on two boats; walked on a glacier; toured national parks; and hopefully will understand a lot more about a country that as a kid, I always wanted to visit for some reason. I always used to write stories when I was in school in England that had characters living in Iceland.

My main hope on this trip, however, is that I will get to see the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, a natural light display caused near the polar regions of the Earth by the collision of energetic charged particles with atoms in the high altitude atmosphere. The phenomenon causes bands of colored light to illuminate the sky and is especially visible on cold clear nights. It is considered one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World and it is without a doubt the singular inspiration for this quick trip north. I'm hoping for clear skies all week and temperatures in the high 20s.

I think we got a sweet deal on this trip. I managed to pick a packaged vacation from IcelandAir with our non-stop flight, three nights' hotel and four tours (including some meals) for about 38 cents less than $1,000. Then somehow, someway, I managed to convince myself I needed new boots, socks, base layers, fleece outer layers, gloves, coat, a storm shell (pants and coat) and hat (Wizards hat, of course) which set me back almost as much as the trip itself. Now it's less of a sweet deal but it's not like I will never use the clothing I have bought ever again. I'm hoping the gamble is worth it. The weather forecast predicts cloudy skies every day so I'm not super optimistic. If I manage to see the Aurora Borealis at all, I'll consider it money well spent. And if I don't, I'm sure I will have a great time anyway. I'm just hoping for a payoff worth more than $2,000.