Trip Overview

✨ In One Word: Magical

I’ve been thinking about how to encapsulate the past week with my family in Iceland. If I had to pick one word, it would be magical.

🙏 A Word of Thanks

I would be remiss if I didn’t begin by thanking Fund for Teachers and the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation for the grant that helped make this experience possible. This trip has helped me grow both in knowledge as an educator and as a person. And, as I'll soon share, it gave me something to be hopeful about at a low point in my life and re-energized me in a way that only traveling with family can.

Posing in front of Skogafoss Waterfall

🗺️ Trip Overview

During our adventure, my family and I:

🌈 Visited the lovely small capital city of Reykjavík
⛪️ Toured the historical and beautiful Hallgrímskirkja Church
💦 Soaked in the natural hot springs at Sky Lagoon and experienced the “7 step ritual”
🥾 Hiked to many jaw-droppingly beautiful waterfalls
🚙 Drove the scenic southern portion of Iceland’s Ring Road and viewed the other-worldly landscape of the country.

🚙 Toured Iceland’s famous Golden Circle and saw geysers, mud pots, and other natural geothermal wonders .

🧊 Hiked on a glacier
🚤 Took a boat tour around icebergs as big as our house
🪦 Hiked to the top of a mountain where a Viking was buried
🏞️ Soaked in a natural hot springs river
🐳 Spotted whales, puffins, and harbor seals
🍽️ Saw where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates are diverging.
🌋 Explored volcanic craters and walked inside a lava tunnel
💍 Got to witness our daughter's engagement to her boyfriend who has become family to us.

The route we took

This isn't turn for turn since Google maps only allowed me 10 locations, but this is the gist of the 7 days we spent in Iceland.

Volcanic crater selfie!

🧩 Planning It All

In preparation for this trip, I did something like 20 hours of planning. This kind of trip required a lot of upfront research and early bookings. 

One of my first big decisions when planning was:

Should I go with a pre-packaged tour that included vehicle rental, lodging, and excursions? Or, should I plan it all myself?

In the end, I decided that planning everything myself would allow me to keep costs down and include my family on this unforgettable journey.  I was so inspired during the grant application process that I had already decided to go—even if I didn’t receive the funding. I decided that if I received the grant, that I would "splurge" on some of the many excursions available to do, but would otherwise work hard to keep costs low while still having fun.  I got very adept at finding coupon codes for excursions and checking for cheap prices on the flights to Iceland became a daily habit.

Through my research, I also quickly learned that lodging outside of the capital of Reykjavik was very limited and that booking early was essential for both affordability and availability. While booking and staying in 4 different AirBNB homes was a little tricky, in the end it was a great choice because it allowed us to spend more time seeing the things we wanted to see, instead of traveling long distances back and forth to one home location. 

Look, mom. I'm hiking on a glacier!

💡My Inspiration for this Trip

While I don’t want to make this post all about my health, I do think it’s important background for this experience.

I started working on my Fund for Teachers grant application over Christmas break in December 2024. Around that same time, I received some tough news: a biopsy of a thyroid nodule showed a 70% likelihood of cancer. I had actually had half of my thyroid removed about 20 years ago as a precaution for a similar issue, so hearing this again brought up a lot of emotions.

Obviously, this was a kick in the gut.

Looking back, I think throwing myself into researching for this trip was one of the best ways I could have coped. It gave me something to look forward to—something joyful and meaningful to plan for with my family—rather than letting my mind spiral into worst-case scenarios.

I formally submitted my grant application before the January deadline and waited anxiously to hear back in April. During spring break in late March, I had surgery to remove the rest of my thyroid. The post-op biopsy confirmed it was cancerous and that I’d need to follow up with radiation treatment. I scheduled it for Good Friday (April 18) to avoid missing state testing days or too much school.

Then in early April, I received some amazing news: I had been awarded the grant! With everything going on with my health, that message really lifted my spirits and also gave me a project to dive into.

The follow up to my surgery was a radiation treatment that came in pill form—and it literally left me too radioactive to be around others for about 4–5 days. I couldn't go to school.  I also had to isolate in my home, away from everyone. Instead of going stir crazy in our spare bedroom, I used that time to research and book some incredible experiences in Iceland: a glacier hike, a boat tour of the glacial lagoon, and a lava tunnel tour. These turned out to be true highlights of our trip which I'll go into more detail about in later posts, hopefully.

Thankfully, the surgery and radiation were successful. I no longer have a thyroid, so I now take daily medication to replace what it used to do. No big deal - lots of people do.  But the best news is—I feel great and the cancer is gone.

I share all of this backstory for a few reasons. First, to express my deepest gratitude to Fund for Teachers and the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation for making this incredible experience possible for me and my family. It was impactful to me beyond just the amazing experience the trip provided.

Second, as a reminder to anyone considering applying for a grant like this.  Do it! Say "yes" to experiences which challenge you because this is how you continue to grow as a person and an educator.

And finally, sometimes it takes a brush with mortality to remind you of what truly matters. For me, that’s my family. Spending this time with them in Iceland has been the most wonderful gift I could imagine.

I couldn't be more grateful for this opportunity.

From Left: My son Rogan, my wife Jen, me, my daughter Mikah, and my soon-to-be son-in-law Ryan as we take a break in the middle of our "Viking grave" hike.  Photo credit goes to the only people we ran into on this hike - some nice young ladies from New Jersey.

Read more here 👇

Day 1: Wheels Down and Exploring Reykjavik