The WORST things about living in Iceland

we all know that I could go on and on and on and on about how much I love Iceland I think that's pretty obvious by now but let's be honest it's not all sunshine and rainbows today I'm here to talk about the worst things about living in Iceland hateem Iceland my name is Genie an inert or guy for all of the things Iceland planning if this is your first time finding me here on the youtubes don't go away without hitting subscribe because every week I put out a new Iceland planning video and you know I I just want you to have all of the information today we have a little different topic but I thought it would be fun to talk about the worst things about living in Iceland trust me when I say that I had to dig deep to come up with these reasons because I love Iceland with my whole heart and so to find things that I don't love is difficult for me but I've got a few let's get into it all right so I think I can get the obvious one out of the way first and that is Iceland is outrageously expensive shocker surprise I am pretty sure that Iceland is in the top three most expensive places in the world to live so there's that what's expensive about living in Iceland you might ask well food clothing cosmetics furniture cars all of the things I'm never surprised when I see things two to three times more expensive at the stores in Iceland then I would be used to seeing them in the US but on the positive side it just means that I really go shopping less often I try to keep my wardrobe and the things that I own pretty minimalistic and so in that case I can spend less money overall all right let's talk about the store our snacks because it's a thing so one day I remember the first time that my husband and I tried to go to the mall on a Sunday and it wasn't open until one o'clock in the afternoon and I was like well I guess we're just gonna hang out the parking lot for a couple of hours I know some of the grocery stores closed early including the bonus Buy where I live closes at 6 p.m. just keep in mind that living in the u.s. I'm used 12 a lot of things being open 24 hours anyway you just get used to it right so the positive side of this is that you shop when the stores are open and you know that when they're closed they're closed plus it's given me a whole new appreciation for the whole work-life balance thing which i think is a really good thing okay so food availability this is something that's a little bit difficult for me because my husband and I really like to prioritize healthy foods so coming across things like fresh vegetables healthy quality meats and things like that are a little bit harder to come by okay let's pause and remember that Iceland is an island in the middle of the No Atlantic Ocean so I know it's expensive to get things shipped up and everything like that and I will say that Iceland does a really good job greenhouse growing and trying to produce their own things that way however when you're trying to get me to pay $10 for a package of strawberries I'm like oh hell no and don't even get me started about the cheese selection in Iceland because hello I'm a Wisconsin girl and cheese is very important part of my diet so when Gouda is like one of the only options okay let's talk about the good news so the positive side of this is I'm pretty much getting the same thing every time I walk in the grocery store which cuts to my shopping time which makes my life easier and actually when I go to some of the grocery stores in the US how I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed at the amount of selection there is and I'm talking like a whole aisle just four soda oh that's a lot okay next another one that's not gonna come as any surprise and that is the weather in excellent okay okay I mean it's Iceland what are you going to expect right okay we all know it's gonna be pretty cold but actually I will winter baby so the snow doesn't bother me the darkness doesn't even bother me the temperatures don't bother me what bothers me is the wind the wind is so crazy that honestly there have been nights where I can't sleep because the wind is so loud it sounds like it's going to blow out our windows or like the building is gonna fall over and the wind when you're trying to go exploring is kind of a bummer sometimes so especially when you're getting that combined with rain it can make exploring just a little bit challenging you've been to Iceland you know exactly what I mean the other part of the weather and Iceland I miss a lot growing up in the Midwest it's having distinct different seasons I refer to the seasons in Iceland as winter and winter light because basically there's not a lot is it okay here's the positive side I actually don't complain about the weather and Iceland very much it's not gonna change so I can't let it affect me going outside and enjoying the amazing beautiful Icelandic nature so what I've done instead is I've invested in a lot of high-quality gear that just makes it really easy to enjoy Iceland amongst the elements the next thing I want to complain about talk about is the road maintenance or the lack of road maintenance in Iceland okay let's get this straight it's an island it's ice land and you get a lot of snow and rain and wind and ice and all of that stuff so wouldn't you have tons and tons of people and vehicles and maintenance things that could help clear the roads when these humongous storms hit that is not always the case so there have been a lot of times where maybe we wanted to go exploring in South Iceland or even around Reykjavik but if there is a gigantic snowstorm the night before or the morning up then that snow will not be attended to in a fast manner okay I know I'm a little spoiled I grew up in the US where there's like plow trucks and people that are willing to go out at 1:00 a.m. in order to make all of the roads clear ha but growing up with that compared to the road maintenance in Iceland is just a little bit different so I have to say for travelers you always have to have a plan B because honestly there are only three hundred and thirty thousand people in Iceland right so there's simply just not enough people to get around to all of the roads in Iceland this is what I've come to terms with Oh another very important part of this is the sidewalk situation so I talk a lot in my winter packing video about how crampons are the most important winter gear that you can bring because the ice on the sidewalks are so slippery and I've almost just completely fallen on my face several times so I have a learned how to walk a lot more carefully but B I actually have those little yaktrax slip ons that I put on the bottom of my shoes just in case because I'm not trying to break any bones in the winter ok last but not least of the worst things of living in Iceland is Taurus mm-hmm yep I said it but Jeannie don't you try and talk to tourists come to Iceland every day yes I do and yes I love you very very much but hear me out here people I know tourism who really really helps the economy in Iceland I know that Iceland is the most beautiful place on earth so hello why would you not want to travel to Iceland but tourism in Iceland has exploded like an insane amount like in over 2 million tourists visit Iceland per year now and that is a lot but I remember my first trip to Iceland on this trip honestly when we went to sell Yulin spas waterfalls there were like 3 other cars in the parking lot it was so calm it was so peaceful and now if I ever go to sell Yulin spas there's another parking lot you have to pay for parking some people have to park on the road because those parking lots are overflowing ah yeah it's so much busier now not to mention that more tourists means less accommodation so when I want to go travel around Iceland places are booked up or four times as expensive as they should be also restaurants are super busy prices are higher I mean everything right so yeah visit Iceland see all of the things but just remember the impact that it does have on the locals so I just want everyone to be really really respectful of your time in Iceland including taking care of the nature making sure that you're respecting everyone's property picking up after yourself not leaving garbage around and being responsible during your time in Iceland okay there is a plus side all the tourists in Iceland and that is that I get to meet so many of you I get to talk to you and help you with your trips and honestly whoa I'm not kidding there is nothing that I love more it makes me so happy to hear from you guys and hear your positive feedback and your comments and how much all of these ice and planning tips helps so look thank you guys so much for being a part of this amazing team Iceland community I appreciate you so much and it's why I keep doing what I'm doing so oh all righty my friends that wraps it up for the worst things living in Iceland and as you can see it's not so bad so if you want to hear more stories like this and my experiences as an expat living in Iceland don't forget to head to my website at live life with the view calm where I talk all about it I will see you guys here next time for another week of Iceland planning videos and until then have you planning my friends

Channel: Iceland with a View

Views: 302,814

Keywords: iceland expat, living in iceland, life in Iceland, living in reykjavik, moving abroad, living abroad, moving to iceland, expat, Iceland tips, iceland advice, first time in Iceland, first Iceland visit, iceland for beginners, visiting iceland, going to iceland, advice for iceland, travel tips iceland, tourist iceland, Jeannie, Life with a View

Id: b0R7UAa3tR8

Length: 10min 41sec (641 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 20 2018