Taking Iceland for Granted as an American Living Here
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- Опубліковано 4 лип 2024
- As an American living in Iceland since 2016 I have noticed there are some major things I take for granted here that I only notice when I visit other places. Here are 5 of them.
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Time Stamps:
00:00 - Taking Iceland for Granted
00:51 - Delicious water
02:00 - Fresh air
03:01 - Hot water & electricity
04:34 - Safety
05:52 - The Northern Lights
its human nature to take things for granted, we need to be reminded ever so often
Agreed 😊
❤your walk through the forest with the beautiful changing leaves.
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I wish I could live in Iceland, but alas, I don't have a very important job nor do I make a lot of $$ so I don't think I'll ever be able to realize my dream. Living vicariously through you Jules, thanks for all you do. Iceland has been in my heart for all of my life.
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It doesn't matter about all the things you mentioned here. You just need to believe in yourself. You'll get a job.
i know it might seem like an unlikely fantasy but i believe you'll figure out a way to make it work. wishing you luck!!!
I was in Icedland twice but I have not seen a forest like that. Beautiful.
You're so fortunate. I'd love to visit Iceland for Christmas. Keep us posted on the festivities 🎄⛄🕯️🦌🛷
I hope you do. Yes, I will show some fun things to do for Christmas here. 😊
I think the one thing I took for granted when i lived in Iceland was the open spaces.
I lived in the states now for 26 years and i still can't get used to how everything is off limits. Its like you're trespassing where ever you go.
Now when i visit home i hike for hours in the highlands.
Thank you for sharing! I can for sure understand that.
@@AllThingsIcelandType Ashton has a really interesting video about that on her channel, she lives in Germany where there are similar laws. "Freedom to roam" laws are quite widespread in Europe and are especially strong in Norway/Sweden/Iceland/Finland/Estonia.
Glad to see that you are still thriving in Iceland. I'm always happy when I see your videos pop up in my algorithm.
Thank you! ❤
Every time I watch one of your videos I move Iceland up on the must visit list. You're #2 now, after going back to my birthplace in Germany next year.
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Hi Jewells! Lovely video. My daughter and I spent 5 weeks in Reykjavik, late July - late August, 4th trip. One thing I hope I never take for granted is how walkable Reykjavik is, how easy it is to learn the bus system for places that are just outside of walking distance, and how there are always a million things to do! I live in the Hudson Valley and I'm already weary of having to drive so much to do one thing or another. It really doesn't compare!
Five weeks, lucky you!
Sounds like you had a lovely time. Thanks for sharing your experience.
the water in Iceland is second to none, not just the taste but having visited from the states the water there cleared up my dry scalp which usually plagues me in the winter, it was awesome.
I love it there and cant wait to go back, i was one of the unlucky ones who didn't get to experience the northern lights when i was there.
Wow, that’s amazing. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Same thing about water chloride and the air happened to me, when I came to the UK from Slovenia.
Dang. It’s a big adjustment
I've heard New Yorkers talk about their water. But I can definitely see how the water in Iceland would be better. I was just amazed that you were walking through a wooded area in Iceland. It looked so beautiful.
This wooded area is small but it’s a lovely place just a short drive from downtown Reykjavík. 😊
I move from London to the North of Scotland, the water here is very soft and tastes amazing. Something that definitely improves your life. Great channel btw.
“What do you do if you get lost in a forest in Iceland?” “Stand up.” 😂
I live in Sydney, Australia and the main thing that I think some of us take for granted here is the beautiful and sunny weather all year round! I feel like we have nine months of summer and three months when it’s a bit cooler. Also, compared to many places, we are surrounded by a lot of nature and water, if you don’t live near a beach then you’re probably close to a river. I often complain about my life here but you have just reminded me that maybe it’s not so bad that perhaps there are a lot worse places to be! I’m glad that you’re happy in Iceland and that you appreciate it. I really enjoy your videos and I’ve learn a lot from them. ❤️🌹🇦🇺🇭🇺
Can you also do a video about opposite, about the negative sides of living in Iceland?
Sure. I did a video about something I strongly dislike here.
My wife and I visited Iceland for three weeks in Sept-Oct 2019. We have been to many countries and we have appreciated the time spent in every country where we have traveled. Iceland ranks at the top of our list (certainly my list) for many reasons. I am a geologist, and the location of Iceland astride the Mid-Atlantic rift makes Iceland one of the most interesting land masses on Earth. Although liquor could be a bit less costly in Iceland, I would not mind living there, as I would have no problem brewing beer and distilling alcohol for my own consumption.
Thanks for sharing your experience. It’s great to hear that you and your wife had such a great time. It’s certainly fascinating here and as a Geologist I can only imagine how much fun it was for you to explore.
1:33 Yep. And it makes your skin so dry ! I miss using the natural spring water from my native country.
I love it when you wear this sweater!!!
Thank you!! I’ve been waiting for it to get cool enough for me to wear it 😅
Thanks! You are charming and I love to follow vlogs from Iceland!❤😊😊
Now, I want to taste the water… Maybe I’ll check flights, lol
Great video, Jewells. Thanks for sharing.
My pleasure 😊
Please, in summer go ride the Icelandic National-Horse (altho' it's
Pony-sized.) They let many horses run loose all winter, then gather
them up in Spring and have a big show in summer. Many are Gaited,
so smooth to ride (no bounce.)
And show us what kinds of fish are eaten there. Thanks : ))
I was just looking for Iceland videos, i subsribed, good to know more
I am coming back to visit again in August, YAY!
I love your channel! :)
I am coming to Iceland on the 18th for the third time and i can't wait! I love visiting off peak because there are less crowds and i can appreciate the countryside better. I am glad you realise how lucky you are and i am not jealous at all!
Wow, it’s so cool that you’ll be back for the 18th time! 🥳🥳🥳
Beautiful video. Your sweater matched the forest! Fresh natural water when it's safe to drink- nothing else like it! I also can relate to sometimes it's just time to go to bed when the auroras are there. I lived in the far north for years and yes- there comes a time when it's bedtime :) Especially when you've seen them the past several weeks!
Love watching your chanel❤
Thank you! 🤗❤️
Can’t wait to travel ❤
Loved this list and your perspective. I live in a very picturesque part of the United States and take for granted the proximity I have to beautiful beaches and nature. Sometimes I just have to remind myself that I am in such a unique and privileged position and should stop and acknowledge my appreciation more often for the things that I find more mundane, but that aren't for others.
Thank you! 😊
Oh, it sounds lovely where you live. Thanks for sharing.
We got to drink from glacier when we were there. It is unmatched! 💧
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When I was visiting family in March of 2022 my cousin kept the windows open cause I was so hot LOL!
I’m looking forward to planning a trip during fall/winter. It’s my favorite time of year and I love seeing the northern lights.
i love your videos❤
Thank you 🤗❤️
I loved Iceland when we visited last fall. This past Aug. we went to Zimbabwe and saw Victoria Falls. Well…..after having seen all the beautiful waterfalls in Iceland I wasn’t as impressed as I thought I would be. Just loved all the different landforms in Iceland and the geothermal hot tub at the end of a cooler, rainy day was so wonderful! We were lucky too that I looked out from our window one night and saw the Northern Lights. We felt very lucky because on the east side it was very rainy and cloudy, but we got some clear skies on the west side. Just one of the most beautiful places on earth!
Thanks for sharing your experience. 😊
I live in Los Angeles, California and I take for granted the nice weather, the EXCELLENT Mexican food, the landscape (one hour to the beach and one hour to the mountains) food from many different cultures, AND the diversity!!!
Thank you for sharing! 🤗
How wonderful to live there!
I feel fortunate to live here 😊
Can confirm, Iceland water is top
When I used to go to Norway in the 70s, the water was really delicious.
Greetings from Los Angeles
Nice! Yes, I hear they have amazing water too. Greetings back to you 😊
Great video again! I hope I get to see the northern lights early November when I'm in Iceland again!
Thank you! I hope you do too. 🤞🏾🤞🏾🤞🏾
I was there in May and can confirm all FACTS in this video.. NOONE has better water!!!
Hey Jewels, been watching for a few months now; currently in my 40s going back to school due to Covid, and crafting my path to move to Iceland. Could you do a video covering what expats seem to expect before they move there vs how it is after several years? (I’m trying to come over and study at Háskóli Íslands after I finish my MIS degree; was an IT contractor for about 7 years before the shutdown). Hoping to network during my study abroad in 2025, and then while on student visa in 2027/8 and have been seeing mixed info about making friends, not getting the opportunity to practice the language (I’m self-teaching as best I can state-side), and debates on a degree in MIS being less valuable than just coming over and taking the Icelandic as a second language BA degree instead. Thank you for all the vids! (The one you did with Íris for Christmas is one of my faves!)
The university there has a PhD I’d love to earn but it’s all in Icelandic, whereas the rest of Scandinavia the PhDs are all in English.
@@schoolingdiana9086 that’s frustrating! Have you looked at any of the other universities in Iceland?
I agree with you about the water, I thought the water in Iceland was amazing
So glad to hear that. 🥳
Great video.
Do you have a video on finding a job and renting/buying in Iceland?
No but I do have someone I want to interview about the process of finding a job. Renting and buying here is an interesting process. I did an interview on the All Things Iceland podcast about buying.
I wonder if you could do a video on the Airwaves festival in Reykjavík, the different venues around the city and the atmosphere. I've been there before and really enjoyed it. Music copyright of course could be an issue.
Thanks for the suggestion and I would love to do that. 😊
Konan mín er Icelandic. And I'm a foreigner. I can vouch that the water in Iceland is as good as it's gets. The quality of food as well. No person is immune to health issues, but generally the old folks in Iceland live longer and happier. Retired Seniors don't eat cheap frozen microwaved foods. Mostly home cooked meals and if you know some folks, you get free fish. Frozen home cooked meals are nothing but Icelanders don't like left overs. It depends on the meal though. The water there has the finest quality that's naturally made (though I get a bit weird when retrieving water by any waterfall out in the country when I fill up a water jug and there is a band of sheep around the water and who the hell knows what's flowing in that water). The politics there are generally reserved for old folks to talk about. Younger people aren't too concerned about politics but they are well informed and will have a say or two about some things. Politics doesn't divide people there. There is no team red or blue. I'm happy to marry into an Icelandic family and their family runs deep and they are so festive when it comes to the holidays and some events. There are times you do get bored and have the blues in the winter but it all depends what you do for a living and what you do with your life there. Some people are content, some folks want to study outside of Iceland and see the world and Icelanders love to travel outside of Iceland. Icelanders are super judgmental about Americans. Not that it's a bad thing, but I've heard some things Icelanders say to the point it's just outright disrespectful but they do make a point lol! Such things like "Americans don't speak other languages other than English". Or "the water in America taste like metal". In which case, it is true lol
Do you knit your sweaters? Really cool.
Thanks! No, I don’t knit them.
Hello,
How is the dating scene in Iceland? Has it started getting cold yet? Are you currently employed full-time in Iceland?
Thank you
The dating scene is really interesting and I am thinking of doing interviews with people about it. The temperatures are definitely getting chillier. Yes, I work full-time for myself.
how are internet speeds there?
Very fast 😊
yikes, maybe a small qualification on that #3 item: easy to take for granted *in the Rvk area* -- up here in the Westfjords, electricity is still pricy & definitely not opening windows in the wintertime! otherwise fully on board with your list ❤
That’s so interesting and thanks for sharing that. I wonder why it’s expensive up there.
@@AllThingsIceland It's because it's the least geothermally active region, most people's homes are not heated by electricity but rather by actual hot geothermal water. Any power generation in in the Westfjords is going to be hydropower however there are not that many hydro power plants there either, the total production is about 90Gwh per year, an average Icelandic home uses about 5.5Mwh per year but that's excluding heating, if a house uses electricity for heating then that becomes about 70-90% of the usage, or about 33Mwh. According to statistics there live about 7400 people in total in the Westfjords, assuming 3 people on average per household that's 2466 homes. 2466 * 33Mwh = 81Gwh, so just from household usage we're already at 90% capacity and we haven't even included things like businesses, factories, shops and other municipal things. So a lot of the electricity has to be transferred from other regions of Iceland.
@@AllThingsIceland because transmission is expensive, and the Westfjords can currently only produce about half of its electricity needs, especially in winter (because all our local generation comes from hydropower) - so we must "import" it from the rest of the country.
When I moved from Iceland to NYC, I couldn't stand the water. It took me years to even be able to drink it without gagging. It smells terrible. It tastes like chemicals.
Omg, so true!! It’s crazy how NYers are told by politicians that the water is great 🤢
They brag about how they pipe it in from the Catskills, so it should be clean, but then they add chlorine to it... When I moved from Holland to NJ at first I thought my bathroom smelled like a public pool whenever I took a shower. After a while I didn't smell it any more, but I always needed to run the tap water through a charcoal filter before I could drink it.
When do the hotels rates go down, before it gets too cold.
As a native New Yorker, NYC water is good but it does not compare to Icelandic water (from my one week in Iceland). Thanks for the great video.
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed Icelandic water. 😊
Why would nyc water be good ?
How move Iceland process easy ?
The water! Lived in New York City for half my life before moving to the UK, and I knew that water was bad. Whenever I was in Scotland, the tap water was so delicious. Living in London, the difference is shocking. Tap water here is just as nasty as NYC
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Do they employ US based nurses or nurse practitioners? I love Iceland and would loooove to move there
I’m not sure about doing it specifically for US based nurses but we do need more nurses and doctors.
I heard that the tap water in Iceland smells strongly of sulfur. Is that not true?
yes it smells like rotten eggs
It's the hot water that can smell like that but the cold water does not.
Nyc is one the cleanest based on govt standards 🙃our water has baby shrimp and random traces of rx drugs LOL - I have a berkey now lol - what is the rest of America drinking if our water is some of the best?!! I LOVE THIS FOREST
“Baby shrimp” made me laugh so loud. 😂😂
Aww, thank you!! 🥹❤️ You’ll love it in this little forest. It’s so close to downtown and yet feels like you are out in the middle of nowhere.
Hi, Jewells. Can you say where this is? Thank you.
Yes, this is Elliðaádalur 😊
Thanks! I will put that on my list for my next visit. :)@@AllThingsIceland
1st, let me clarify that I've read into the future plans of traveling to Iceland. What I would like is for you to explain to people who aren't aware. So, would you please be so kind to do a video explaining how Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir is planning on implementing a tax to tourists visiting the country as well as explaining why tourists need to purchase a visa on top of a passport? I believe it's important to inform people who want to visit Iceland
Thanks for the comment and I agree that a video about that is important. I have it in my list of things to talk about. 😊
@@AllThingsIceland thank you so very much for your reply. I agree it is a very important issue. My husband & I are planning our 2nd trip to Iceland & we're concerned about how a tax on traveling around Iceland will affect our budget. Thank you again for your reply and consideration in this matter.
I have to admit that I had a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that this was filmed in Iceland.
That’s fair 😂
Are flights from Iceland to various European cities inexpensive?
They can be. We have a budget airline called Play.
@@AllThingsIceland Great. I wish internal U.S. prices were better.
Gurrrlll, I pray alL the time you keep your cute self away from livin' in the 'States ever again-keep clear of the dirt, grime and Dusty dudes 😉that overrun this part of the globe (and can't wait to use my passport again, ASAP as well)!!! 💫
😂😂 your comments are always the best 🤗❤️
@@AllThingsIceland AwWw, luv you toO mamas!! 🥰
Re: crime: Yes, there are more crime in Yrsa Sigurðardóttir's novels than in whole of Iceland. 😀
😂😂😂 so true!
No way NY has the best water. Go to WA State.
you're so beautiful 💖
How can America have the best water! U can’t drink it from thr tap. For gods sake
You can drink from the tap in NYC but it has a smell of chlorine. I never noticed it until I spent enough time away.
NY water comes from Niagra falls area, better quality than the rest of the country.
@@123bwlch tks!
@@AllThingsIceland yes. The same happened to me after being away for years.
There are plenty of places in the United States with pure clean naturally filtered water that tastes amazing - have you ever drank spring water from Maine? I think they call it Poland Springs. lol
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Jules, you make me love Iceland. 🙂