Sometimes I believe that more and more people think that Nature is something like Disneyland. Beautiful and specifically made to their Entertainment and safe to explore wherever and however they want. Doesnt matter which kind of Environment, Landscape or country. No respect, No Common Sense.
@@AllThingsIceland also that dacia duster cars do not qualify as off road vehicles and the highland roads here are very rough Ps: someone in the Björgunarsveitin
My friends visited Iceland in 2019, and they had a rather bad experiences They were near a beach inside their car and strong winds came The beach pebbles were being lifted by the wind and smashed their car driver's window and car rear window too!... They only had a minor injury but obviously it was a very scary experience... Luckily, I have been to Iceland twice, no incidents, I thoroughly enjoyed my trips and I would recommend it!
Yea, the weather can get very dangerous here and I talk about wind storms in the video. I'm glad to hear that they are ok and that you had pleasant experiences.
Reynisfjara Beach is known by the locals as the Chinese takeaway due to a sneaker wave accident, not very nice but that is an example of the dark sense of humour there. This isn't clickbait, this is genuinely good information. I have been knocked off my feet by a sudden gust of wind.
I didn't mean to laugh at that, now I feel bad! But yeah it's true. I went in July 2019 and stayed well clear of the water because I'd heard it was super dangerous. It was also ridiculously windy that day so it would've been easy to get blown into the water.
When I visited Skògafoss back in 2019, there was a group of young guys (I would say early 20s) that took turns posing for photos seated on the very edge, at this one area that was thin and jutted out somewhat over the water. It was terrifying to watch and I had to cover my eyes and leave. There were people yelling and pleading with them to come back. Uggggh. Makes me anxious to remember it!
Great vid! I often feel like people arent informed enough when travelling :) . If there is something id wanna add: Climbing glaciers without a guide. Its so dangerous and i have literally seen a RU-vid vid where the guy recommended not getting a guide because of how expensive it is, thankfully the comments where mostly people saying that was not a good idea
My pleasure. That story was big news here. Everyone was shocked that he would do something so blatantly dangerous. Later on he said that he does that around the world. I’m not sure why he thinks that’s a good justification. 🙃
Of all the places I have been Iceland is the most beautiful and the place I felt was always trying to kill me! Driving round some of the gravel roads in the East at night was frightening - there were no barriers or road markers on the mountain roads! Took a lot of concentration to keep to all the twists and turns. The ring road is also very narrow for most of it - intense when lorries are coming the other way. Really have to concentrate. And the sandstorms are wild. I’d be back there in a heartbeat though - I’m deeply in love with Iceland!
Great and important video! I’m here in Iceland for my second photo trip. Our guides on the first trip were extremely serious about the dangers, especially at Reynisfjara. They said never ever turn your back to the water, and don’t put your camera bag down unless you don’t mind it disappearing :) This trip, which includes the Highlands, will have another whole group of “don’ts” that I will follow to the letter 👍
I've watched a few of your videos. You look fantastic in the brightly coloured authentic Icelandic sweaters. I just returned from a week in Iceland and it was an amazing experience. I've been to 35 countries and I must say I rate Iceland as a must see/experience. It's totally unique and spectacularly beautiful. I have great respect for the well educated, creative, hard working Icelanders. I saw a Chinese woman step outside of the roped off safe area at Gulfoss waterfalls. She foolishly had her husband take photos of her on the edge of the cliff. She was angry at me for asking her to not do this.
This is super interesting!!!!! I've wanted to go to Iceland for a looooong time and while I did have an idea that it can be a tumultuous climate I'm really glad that I know exactly what to look out for now lol
So glad to hear that. Yea, we don't have wild animals to be afraid of but there are so many other things that still pose a threat. I hope you get to visit Iceland in the near future.
Thanks for bringing it to the point so well! I often try to explain similar things to people but I cannot bring it across as clearly and both seriously and interestingly
Good advice, Jewells. Tourists need to be aware and alert when visiting new places. On an unrelated note, I've been fascinated by your sweaters. I'd love to see a video on Icelandic art and crafts. Are all the sweaters handmade?
This is a good list. Some of these are just people loosing their common sense because they are on vacation (stopping in the street… lava ???) but some of these wouldn't necessarily register on people's street smart's radar, like the boiling holes of water (yikes!)
Thanks. Yes, I think the excitement of being in another country sometimes messes with people’s common sense. The mud pools are usually avoidable too but some people purposefully veer off the path and don’t realize that something unpleasant is waiting for them.
@@AllThingsIceland when Ed Sheeran was in Iceland he wandered off a marked path and stepped into a boiling water pool. He was airlifted to hospital and lost some of the skin on his foot. He talked about it on the Graham Norton show. You can find the video on RU-vid.
I confess to loving the title. We won’t get off this world alive but getting offed on vacay? Nah. Thanks for tips. Your vids are smart and well presented. How did Lava Guy’s shoes not melt?
@All Things Iceland. Thank you, Jewels, for all your vids, they're informative, entertaining and a pleasure to absorb. Do you know about purchasing real estate in Iceland, like a farm, or a single-family, house or a condo? It'd be great to hear about the home owning process. Again, thank you for all your great insight and experience. All the best from NYC!
Nice to see you. I love de the way your english sounds, I practice my understanding english hearing you. Greetings from Mexico and have a wondelfun day.
Regarding the guy who stood on top of lava, it could have been a horrible spectacle if the crust broke and he was suddenly knee deep in molten material at about 2000 degrees.
@@snsi2977 this is such a horrible thing to say. this also isn't how natural selection works. natural selection is about animal adaptability, not making stupid decisions (which people don't deserve to die for making, lol.)
The thing we noted on our trip was the free range sheep which are down on the side of the road. They blend in, and you have to watch so as not to hit one. We were there in August of 2018, and saw snow flurries when we were in the mountains in the north part of Iceland.
Love listening its something about how you relay that is SO great. Im trying to pop dimension into Dragonball reality so I can handle nature that is even harsher there, by training qigong to become rescillient like Goku
As you are moving to Iceland I’m moving to the US . I feel the security here as you feel there , also I have Medicare and get all medical free . I agree with most things how you perceive Iceland . In which town do you live ? Thanks I enjoy you’re videos !
Thank you for this! We visited a few weeks ago and saw several people at Reynisfjara way too close to the water and some got wet (thankfully not more than that). We also saw multiple people at Kerid walking off the trail.
A friend of mine and I got caught in an katabatic wind coming off Vatnajokull. Jewells is not joking, these things are INTENSE ! We were unharmed but the people in the camper ahead of us got blown off the road and the wind tore their camper to pieces. My friend and I couldn't open our car doors to get out and try and help the pressure of the wind was so intense.
YEP . I just hiked the volcano 2 days ago and my friend stepped off the trail, it was too steep for her to get back into the trail. She had to walk next to the lava for 4 hours .
Hi, when I was a soldier near Hofn years ago we were told that it was illegal to climb high on the glaciers because of the crevasses. Enjoy your videos.
It definitely not ok to go on the glaciers here without a guide. The rule about it being illegal might have changed, but I’m not sure. Thanks for watching and commenting. 😊
I remember going snowmobiling near Vatnajokull, with a guide. It was a cloudy day, and we actually rode up into the clouds and when we got to the top we had emerged from the clouds. We were literally on a glacier island in a sea of clouds.
I only discovered your channel yesterday in amongst all my Icelandic volcano videos, and I’m really enjoying seeing Iceland from your perspective. I visited Iceland for 5 days a couple of years ago in February and loved it. I had researched the kinds of clothes to bring and so we were able to thoroughly enjoy our short time exploring this fabulous country, plus we saw a fantastic Northern Lights display which was the icing on the cake. One thing that has puzzled me a little in some of your videos is “where did you find all the trees?” We were told by numerous people including tour guides that there are virtually no trees in Iceland, but you have managed to find a little copse in which to film. Is it a special area? Are there more places like this? It looks very picturesque.
This is a sheltered area near my home town Ísafjörður that is not entirely devoid of trees. At 66°N it is at the same latitude as the middle of Alaska! There ARE many wooded spots in sheltered areas of Iceland and we have been busy growing new ones, but that is a project that will keep coming generations occupied. The cons of having few trees: No shelter from the wind. The pros of having few trees: Virtually unlimited visibility e.g. when driving.
i was the guy who found the 2 dead Chinese people on the Sólheimasandur beach Jan 2020. I have lived and farmed in iceland for the last 2 years and the weather is so dangerous if you don't respect it
I guess the volcano brought me to your channel! So glad! Looking forward to checking out your videos. Iceland seems very humanely civilized, which is extremely attractive to me right now😉
Mary on Richard's phone from Florida I have a question. What are the rules for the use of drones because I think it would be rather safer to be in a safe location and let your drone do the look in and you would have your photo op safely and more spectacular of a view
Hi Mary. There are a decent amount of popular places where drone usage is banned or restricted. It might be worth doing a video about it because I’m sure people want to use them but are not sure about the rules. Great question. 😊
How many places can say that the nature is so beautiful, it causes car accidents? But really, I saw people walking on the cooling lava rock, walking right along the water at Reynisfjara. Unnecessary risks!
I forgot to add: be careful of eating wild berries! Not all berries are equal!!!! Wash those berries because animals like to eat them too! I love Iceland and used to visit using Icelandic Air back in the 80s and 90s!
I heard an old story of a young couple that took a lunch to eat by the beautiful lake at Thingvellir this was at the time , a few Icelandic women dated military men. 40s -50s . Back then there were not a lot of cleared trails to the lake from the area where you could park. You had to basically make your own path down to the water in some places. Anyway the you couple disappeared, they were search for high & low. So about 40 years they were found in a crevice,they had stepped on some moss and fallen right on down ,& were unable to climb out. Many cracks & crevices on the land the formerly erupted. Maybe your in-laws remember the story about the young couple better than I. It was in the 70s or 80s that the bones were found. # Be careful we’re you step outside of paths as it could also be a hole filled with water with moss covering a friend of mine taking photos & not watching his feet ,fell in one if it wasn’t for him throwing his camera up , one friend grabbed it and tg. it was the strong strap on his cannon that saved his life . Dangerous and beautiful places , I have been hiking and camping all over Iceland is the most beautiful.
I still don't understand why they don't put a little lighthouse at the parking lot at sólheimasandur that can be turned on at night or when there's a storm
You are a good Girl Scout leader! You sound like my old leader telling me 50 ways to loose your life in the Grand Canyon! 🤣🤣🤣 Look ahead Fred! Don't wanna be dead! 🤣🤣🤣 Believe it or not, people do stupid stuff on Hawaii too! The mountains are high and it gets cold. So a 3 in 1 jacket is a life saver! You also need a small first aid kit, Swiss Army knife with matches, etc. It's best to be safe than sorry! I've been to Black Sand Beach in the summer and it was cold and windy! It reminded me of Forte Ventura beach, where you can't go swimming just look at the ship wreck that is a warning to people being stupid!
Would you say it’s safe to go around the ring road in november with a 9 y/o and a 6 y/o? We’ve considered going there but are a little bit apprehensive precisely because of safety.
The title really should be: How Nature WILL kill you if you turn your back on it - nothing really specific to Iceland. Nature is deadly! Tornadoes, Hurricanes, Heatwaves, Wildfires - you name it! We Icelanders live at the edge of the habitable world and have learned to live with it - most of the time. Point one: Power outages are rare, our climate is so violent that we have mostly put the sensitive, local part of our electrical power supply underground. A fail-safe proposition. Two: The general public is aware of the dangers of our raw nature. This applies to the general public only - there are always idiots that will attempt to traverse a mountain road in a blizzard in a Toyota Yaris - in the US they would be called Repugnicans!
Love your new intro! Your video reminds me of how people who grew up in Alaska laugh at movies that show people doing stupid things in Alaska that by all rights should kill them ...
Thank you for noticing the intro! I was so excited to unveil it today. 😂 It’s good that Alaskans have a sense of humor about it. Icelanders similarly do after the shock of seeing people being reckless.
Iceland is amazing. While you need to take caution about some things it’s definitely not way too dangerous. Plenty of people come here every year and have an amazing time. They make it back home safely with lots of awesome memories. 😊