Story telling contests series "I have pinned my dream destination" story#6 author Mireta Šalašidi

 

For a long time, I have been wishing to visit Iceland. I have seen pictures of the countries beauty – nature, lovely villages, and cities. I heard that a lot of people who visited Iceland – didn’t regret it. Therefore, I thought that I would love to visit it myself. When I did so, I thought to stay there for few weeks or so, but everything turned out quite different. 

One day, I finally decided to leave Lithuania and travel to Iceland, go out for some adventures there. Luckily, I arrived to the unseen country peacefully, nothing stressful happened and thankfully, I have booked a room in a beautiful hotel, in a small city. Of course, when I arrived to Iceland, I felt quite exhausted, so I decided only to eat, look around the hotel and rest in my room. The next day I woke up, I felt energized so I had my morning routine and made a plan for the day – I had so many places in my mind that I would like to visit!

Firstly, I thought that I could rent a car, and when I did so, I took a map of Iceland and started marking the main attractions: Gullfoss Waterfall, Myrdalsjokull Glacier Park and Asbyrgi Canyon. They all were far more beautiful in real life than in the pictures online. Of course, the next day I thought of more destinations and weeks went by, I had to go back to Lithuania. That day, I decided to stay in Iceland for longer because I had so many places to visit that I just did not feel ready to leave. Of course, my parents were super worried but I told them to relax. I did not regret this decision at all.

I continued travelling, finding breath-taking places but I always had to search for apartments to rent or hotels to stay in. If I were far away from the villages or cities, I used to sleep in the cars but I did not regret it, because at the nights I starred at the stars and the moon. The winters were freezing cold, so a couple of friends helped me out. All of the people were nice and friendly, which made me adore this country even more. In spring, I decided to visit the mountains and I felt overwhelmed. They were so beautiful; in Lithuania, we have no mountains, so this was like a blessing for me. For days, I stayed in a camp and felt inspired to be here, nothing could compare to the magical experience. I even wrote a little poem while I was there:

                                       “Beautiful Iceland, so fair,

You are, by your nature, so rare

The waterfalls so great, forest so old

You are so precious to our world.”

 

  After a whole year, I came to Lithuania and wanted to travel the same way around my own country.

  This journey truly changed me and left a mark inside of me. It made me appreciate my country’s beauty even more and to create wonderful things. My parents also noticed how I changed. I do not regret it in any bit.