The Night of the Lights
When the Universe rewards the Vibe. Chasing Oz shares the story of the universe coming together in a beautiful way ending with a gorgeous night of once in a lifetime experiences.
There was one goal I had when I decided to jump into a middle of the winter trip to Iceland… seeing the Northern Lights. I calculated the week of travel based on the pique time of the year to see the lights. Weather wise? Maybe not the best time, but what an epic adventure it would produce.
If you guys haven’t figured it out by now, I am a storyteller by trade. It is just who I am because so many of these experiences I feel are too amazing to keep to myself.
It all started the night before the blizzard. Our guide at the end of the night told us about some weather that would be coming in to impact the following day. In order to get to the Guesthouse we would be staying at the next day we would have to get up, scrub our day, head directly to the farm we would be staying at and hunker down until it passed through.
Everyone was super understanding because when you are out in those storms or on the roads in that weather… you see really quick how scary it can be. I would never drive in Iceland during the winter. Our driver was a fuckin BOSS. By the end of the trip I believe his driving skills were being described as “alpha viking driving” which may or may not have started with me and evolved.
Bro knew how to drive on literal sheets of ice. But we made it to our accommodation for the night with no issues just as the snow started. Through the group of 14, we broke off into a couple different cabins. I was by myself all the way on the end next to a huge mountain, and on the other side of the wall I had two of the ladies that traveled with me from Florida. We of course had met the day we flew to Iceland together.
The wind sounded like a hurricane would blowing through Florida, winds gusted up to 50mph, and I for sure thought the little cabin I was in would blow the fuck away. I tried to take a nap, but between the train outside and the water running to prevent the pipes from freezing… that was a lost cause.
At one point I may have slightly panicked though. Because listen… hear me out. This is what it looked like from the giant window at the front of my cabin… right?
So now I am thinkin’ to myself… let’s lock the door. that is somehow going to protect me. Nope. Won’t lock. Oh yeah. Definitely doesn’t lock. Whatever… what is going to get me out here? … … … my brain went FULL steam ahead right then and there. About three minutes later I was completely convinced the White Walkers were coming for me. Yup. They could smell me. Or whatever it is they use to find everyone and turn them into blue eyed fucking monsters.
Maybe now you guys can see a little bit about how exactly my brain works. LOL!
And as you can see, I survived the great White Walker emergency of 2024. Nevertheless, still left Iceland a 100% ridiculous human being.
Around 5pm the sun started to go down and the winds slowed. The snow stopped and the sky started to clear. The farmer and our guide made paths for us to get to dinner up at the main house on top of the hill which was the plan for the night.
It was an adventure making it up to the main house in the snow and eventually on a straight sheet of ice that was hiding under the newly fallen snow on the hill. I may or may not have gone down a record number of times when we were there merely because my dumb ass got cocky on some white shit I had no business being on to being with. LOL
I also came home with a collection of bruises, some of which I am still wondering how they happened. I got nothing.
The dinner we shared at this small farmhouse with the farmer and her husband. Yes, I phrased that correctly. It was her farm. It was in her family, and when it came time to look for a husband… old girl would go to the city and arm wrestle the men who asked her out. This story was probably the best part of the whole evening.
If the guy didn’t give her a little run for her money, she wouldn’t even give him a date. Straight boss. She rolled her sleeve up, and her ARM was the size of my head. NO LIE. RIPPED! You want to talk about a straight badass… God, she was awesome.
I am so looking forward to going back to her farm again. And as it turns out, I will see her again in March of 2025 now… officially.
After she told us that story, she served us a buffet of all kinds of amazing made from scratch deliousness we were about to have a really unique moment with her. Which our guide later told me, he had never seen her do with another group before. Not only did she bring out the famous Icelandic Fermented Shark. Everyone partook in a bite of the shark followed by a shot of schnapps that the shark had been sitting in. Well, a couple didn’t participate. I will leave you guessing as to if I did or not. LOL!
After this she told us a story about the history between the farmer and the horse in Iceland. Because, of course this farm is one where they raise horses. We got to hang out with some really cool Icelandic horses. We also learned that no horses are ever allowed to be imported into Iceland. If a horse leaves, for a show or competition they are not allowed to come back.
This helps prevent disease, and such as well. But prior to the World Wars, Iceland didn’t really have “roads” and cars. It was primarily horse run in terms of transportation. So the relationship between the farmer that raises the horses is special. She sang us an actual song in Icelandic which was the moment that was so unique. As it isn’t something she had ever done.
It was a really just moving experience all around. Like, I sat here listening surrounded by some of the best humans ever listening to this woman clearly move people with a song that has been part of her life as long as she can remember. We were so privileged to even have the opportunity. I still find it really hard to describe in words that would really be able to fit the feeling of what we all witnessed.
I’m still in awe.
After this everyone went back to their cabins, and of course the Farmer’s husband busted out the tractor so we could pull the bus out because after the blizzard… it was stuck in a snow drift.
Goes right along with my Game of Thrones analogy right? LOL! Alas, clearly these two knew exactly what they were doing.
I headed to my cabin, got changed and took a little time to go next door and visit with Rhonda and Brandy on the other side of my cabin wall. We all sat down and had a great chat just about life and loss, and the process of death… my sister, and a mother that had passed in recent months. Comparing experiences and having some really good laughs. And a couple moments that most certainly were a gift of healing from the universe.
It was just overall a great hour or so just being human. Enjoying the life experiences of others with healing and bonding. You know, real beautiful shit.
It was getting late, and this girl has to medicate herself to sleep. Especially in the White Walker murder cabin. So I headed back to my cabin, took my meds and started to wind down for bed.
The group chat lit up.
One word.
LIIIIIGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHTTTTTTTTTTTSSSSSSS
Robyn, bless you! She saw them, altered ALL of us and we all sprung into action. Everyone threw clothes on… heck one of the guys was out there in flip flops. No joke.
I grabbed my tripod, camera and went to work. Setting up my camera on the porch of our cabin and continuing to shoot repeatedly for as long as my camera lasted. Literally. The duration of the time of the lights were out people could hear me laughing and cackling… and just YELLING the entire time. One person thought I was an animal at first. LOL
The noises of sheer joy and excitement filled the little valley that we were in.
The entirety of that night… was special.
It was a gift from the universe.
It was a gift from my sister.
Because I know she was with me in those moments.
I don’t think people really understand how healing these trips have been in the grand scheme of my life.
Thank you for sharing your experience❤️
I love this so much.