Week 3 was a busy one. Within 72 hours I finally  moved into my official 200sq ft apartment, one of my best friends came to visit me, and I turned 24 years old. It was a whirlwind but so was the past two weeks before this. In a way, I have been training for it. During the rest of the week I got to do one of my all time favorite things which is be a tour guide on my favorite island in the world. Visiting some locations for the third time, others for the first. Getting to drive a car for a bit and get way away from civilization was a nice reprieve. Time with a best friend was even better. Turning 24 was unimportant… I mean, who wants to get older? It was a great birthday, though, and it has spurred some reflection in me, so, prepare for another philosophical ramble from my journal…

I think I have reached the mental and emotional plateau of this journey, or at least the first one. As I push myself to do something new everyday in fear of wasting a single second, I find myself exhausted and wanting to rest. However, the rest only makes me feel like I am wasting more time. It is a vicious cycle that often only leads to a sort of paralysis. It has me wondering what makes me tick. What really makes me happy? I think the answer, whether right or wrong, is success. Whether big or small, I am addicted to success. This can sometimes be a good problem to have, and I actually believe it has helped me accomplish so much in my 24 years. The flip side of this coin, however, is that success is so fleeting and so momentary. It is a road with no end, ever-compounding. How can I rewrite this thinking? Like my answer to most things, I have no idea. But, once again, I have thought of a starting point. As a way of celebrating my 24 years, and in an attempt to pat myself on the back, I wrote for myself a ridiculously extensive list of successes from starting school at three, and never falling behind a grade, to working for National Geographic right out of college. 

While it was a nice trip down memory lane, it wasn’t quite as impactful as I had hoped. I think my struggle on this journey here in Iceland in particular is that I tried so hard to come into it with no expectations or plans for the sake of freedom and infinite possibilities. Ironically, and almost humorously, this approach has created no unit by which to measure my success. No goals or lessons learned are in pursuit of any particular end. So, I go day by day on a sort of roller coaster with small wins and no greater purpose. It’s pretty weird… can’t think of a better way to describe it. One thing I do know for certain though, is that this whole experience is, and will be, invaluable. I just don’t know exactly how yet. 

Now, if you skipped to the end, or survived that ramble, you can now just enjoy some pretty pictures I took during this week.