By the time you read this, I'll be gone

This is me, writing from the past. I guess that’s always true.

Let me start over. By the time this appears in your inbox, I’ll be on a bus somewhere in Iceland. Probably. Hopefully, otherwise something has probably gone wrong. The point is, that right now, as I am writing this, I am not yet in Iceland. My stuff is piled up all over the dining table and I still haven’t decided whether to take one big suitcase or two small ones and I know more about the bus routes across Iceland than I ever wanted to know.

Anyone who tells that they don’t fret about travelling to new places is either lying or has better access to drugs than I do.

My itinerary is pretty clear:

• Take the #145 bus from Paldiski to Tallinn

• Take the #2 bus from Tallinn to Tallinn Airport

• Fly to Amsterdam in an Airbus A220

• Fly to Keflavík in a Boeing 757

• Take a taxi from Keflavík Airport to my first hotel, because silly me thought that Mariott Reykjavi Airport Hotel was actually at the airport

• Take the Flybus to Reykjavík Center

• Fly to Akureyri in a De Havilland Canada DHC-8

• Take the #78 from Akureyri to Litli-Árskógssandur (plus 20 min walk)

• Possibly immerse myself in beer at the beer spa

• Take the ferry from Litli-Árskógssandur to Hrísey

My hosts recommended that I not try to do this in a single day. I’m actually using five days, which was meant to be four days, but I forgot that it was a leap year.

I will get on a ferry that will take me to my island (yes, it is my island now) where I will be introduced to the renovated school house which will be my home for the next month. I’m assured the school house has everything I need for a pleasant stay including sheets and a shower. There are four bedrooms and a large working area. Technically there could be up to six artists in residence at any given time, as two of the rooms are doubles, but one of the doubles is mine, so that’ll be maximum five housemates. I have not lived with anyone that I wasn’t having sex with since 1993, so this should be interesting.

The island is just under eight kilometers squared but the north half is privately owned so I’ll get to know one tiny corner of Iceland really well. The population is somewhere between 100 and 120 people (it shouldn’t be that hard to count?), not including us at the old schoolhouse. I’m told that this is a popular destination in the summer: there is plenty of additional accommodation that can sleep a total of 16 tourists.

Things to do on Hrísey

• Explore the 5km hiking trail

• Go bird watching at the hut next to the pond

• Visit the home of a 19th century fisherman known as Shark Jörundur

• Swim in geothermal public pool (and a hot tub!)

• Take a chilly dip at the local beach

• Listen for huffing noises (whale about to surface)

• Refrain from chilly dip at the local beach if there are huffing noises

• Stay up all night watching for northern lights

There is a family run café-restaurant and a convenience store open in the afternoons and a 24/7 self-service store/closet. Apparently the convenience store people make pizza on a Friday evening. If I get very bored, I can ask about getting a tractor ride around the island.

I am unbelievably excited and can’t wait to be there. Oh wait, by the time you are reading this, I probably already am!

Photographs of Hrísey by Gesturieo.