Returning to Iceland: Nostalgia, Puffins, and More Than a Feeling!!!

“I looked out this morning and the sun was gone,” which is, of course, the opening line of one of the best Rock ‘n Roll songs of all time, in my opinion, written by Tom Scholz, of the band BOSTON, and it felt exactly right for the mood of today. “I turned on some music to start my day,” and I was immediately taken back by a familiar feeling that seemed to fit this return to Iceland and the nostalgia that comes with it. As I wrote this, I was listening to that same music, and it helped keep the inspiration up as I wrote this post.
Of course, you must be wondering what this has to do with travel, and really, it is about travel back in time, nostalgia, and while this blogpost is not about a girl, or that kind of nostalgia, it is about my travel back in time and where I am now.

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Yesterday, I left the oppressive heat and humidity of Rome, something that has defined the end of spring and well into summer, and I am sure will still be there when I return, well into the end of August. Even Rosa gave her blessing for my travels this week.
Where am I? Well, I am in a place I have visited many, many times, mostly on business over the years, and a place I know quite well: Iceland. In fact, the very first time I was in Iceland was while transiting back in the days of Icelandic Airlines, when they had a route from New York to Luxembourg City, which was their European continental hub, way back in 1974. But this post is not about then, but about the 20-odd times I have been here since.
​Most of my visits over the years began back in 1999, when Icelandair started flying into and out of the Twin Cities, and that was a year or two after I got into the travel business, so that was my first chance. Of course, being the Wandering Puffin and passionate about puffins since 1987, when I saw my first puffins, not in Iceland, but in Alaska, my life changed in many ways. Not that I knew then that 10 years later I would join the industry I have now been part of for nearly 30 years, and coming up on the start, come September, of my 20th year of Wandering Puffin LLC.

It turns out that it has been about 3 years since I was here last, back in 2023, but that first time here in Iceland as a traveler, which I was, I stayed in Reykjavík in a hotel called the Esja, which years later changed to the Nordica, a Hilton, for the record, not then when it was the Esja, but later when it changed ownership and its name. I have returned to that same hotel now on this current adventure, which will contain nostalgia and is to be no business involved, but simply R & R. Still, I am writing my weekly blogpost, so I suppose the mix of business and pleasure will always be there.
I know that the past few weeks have been about visas and tipping and the like, more on the technical side, but this last week back in Rome was simply tying up loose ends, so I really did not have much to address while on my now started holiday. But the two, especially in this industry, will always be intertwined.
I am here in July, and the weather is not great, but I will survive, because my goal is to relax and enjoy. I do not have scheduled meetings except to see the puffins, and every opportunity I can. I have a RIB boat safari to see them, hopefully a boat to the island called Viðey, and later this week I am going to another nostalgic place, called the Westman Islands, where I first had a chance to meet a rescue puffin named Tóti, who passed some years ago, along with Thor and other puffins in a small aquarium called Sæheimar, but that is for later.

I mentioned I have been to Iceland some 20-odd times. I guess I have lost count. I was also meant to attend a conference almost two years ago, called Mid-Atlantic, something I had attended back in January 2023, but when it was scheduled for 2025, I could not go, and now it is only every other year. Before the pandemic, it was yearly, so yes, it has been nearly 3 years since I have been here, and we will see the changes, of which I suspect there are.
I remember when I first came to Iceland in 1999, the capital of Reykjavík was more of a sleepy New England seafaring town, and you knew where everything was. As the years went by, the town and area grew and it became more complicated until the world economic crash happened in 2008, and Reykjavík became a ghost town, literally with store doors shuttered along what they now call the High Street, though then it was Laugavegur. It still is called that, but now they call it their High Street, like in London.
I have been, as I mentioned before, back many times since, pre-pandemic, and the changes — the traffic jams, the congestion, the overwhelming number of new buildings. I remember when it was just Reykjavík, and after the crash and its rebirth, and then after the pandemic, it has continued to grow. I will be curious to see in the next few days the most recent changes, since I was last here some 3 years ago.

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But in the end, I am here to see my birds and spend time simply watching their lives as they go about their business, each pair raising their one puffling before they leave for the sea, something that happens at the end of August and early September. I was lucky enough to assist, or at least be there some years ago, I suspect pre-pandemic, when the people of Heimaey, the town in the Westman Islands, scooped up little lost pufflings who had lost their way and needed assistance to get out to sea, after the vets had a chance to check them out and make sure they were ready. Some that were not, or perhaps never would be, are now housed in the Sea Life aquarium in the Westman Islands, along with two beluga whales, who were also rescued, and not in the same tanks.
What this is really all about is my reconnecting, feeling the nostalgia of a place that has brought me such amazing memories over the past almost 30 years, and getting away from the rigmarole of everyday life, something I will be right back to in less than a week’s time as I am welcoming several sets of clients to Rome between my return and the end of September. So yes, it is a busy time, but for my mental and physical well-being, this coming week is extremely important to me and my life, and I look forward to sharing my experiences of the week.

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So yes, there is always a business element, but Iceland has always been a happy place for me, and why I would return time and time again. If Iceland has been calling to you, or if you are thinking about a return visit of your own, I would be glad to help you shape it into something meaningful, memorable, and well-planned. You can learn more at  Wandering Puffin. So here I am, and it is truly “More Than a Feeling”.
Have you ever returned to a place that felt like stepping back into a different part of your life? What destination has stayed with you over the years and kept calling you back?