Well, well. Here we are again. JFK. Terminal 4. Gateway to the world. I haven’t seen the airport this busy in years. Children are screaming, a couple is celebrating their 25th anniversary (they got a boisterous round of applause), plates at the buffet are hard to find. People are on the move! JFK will be up to the task one day. I sincerely hope we’re all still alive.

We depart soon, and will fly a short 5.5 hours to our destination, Keflavik International Airport, located south and west of the capital city, Reykjavik. This is not enough time to fully rest. There’s only time for two 90-minute sleep cycles, where as a normal night is five. I am anticipating a rough morning. Or is it just a long day at that point? Iceland is four hours ahead of the Eastern Seaboard.

Iceland is about 100,000 square miles, or approximately the size of Virginia. As of 2021, the population was about 350,000, similar to the U.S. city of New Orleans. It is one of the least densely populated countries on the planet. Eagle-eyed readers might spot a theme … New Zealand, Botswana, now Iceland, maybe Namibia in Spring. Do we prioritize travel to remote parts of the world where there are few humans?

I like individuals, but I am not particularly fond of humanity. We’re a curious and self-delusional lot, prone to self-destructive tendencies and some truly odd beliefs. A family member said to me last week a relative couldn’t travel to Denver because there are too many electromagnetic waves in large cities, and that makes him sick. Seriously? Stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. Since when, exactly, did Denver become a large city? It has twice the population of Iceland. Unless you’re insane, it’s at best a moderately sized conurbation. Large city … such nonsense.

I digress.

Iceland began its history around the 9th century with Norse and Celtic settlers. Sometime around the 13th century, Iceland formed a union with Norway. For awhile, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and Iceland did a political thing together, called The Kalmar Union. (Kalmar is a city in Sweden.) This lasted for about two centuries, but internal power struggles sullied a once great idea and the union fell apart. Don’t worry, this has absolutely no parallel to the United States. We’re gonna last forever. This empire, it’s different.

ANYway, in the 16th century, Martin Luther nailed some helpful suggestions onto a church door and Lutheranism swept through Iceland a few decades later. The Danes took over around this time. Things continued along until the 19th century, when an independence movement gained steam – steam generated from many geothermal vents located all over the country. In 1918 Iceland became a sovereign state within the Kingdom of Denmark. In 1944, after Hitler invaded Denmark, they severed ties completely and have been independent ever since.

Iceland is an oddball nation. About 85% of its energy is generated by geothermal and hydropower. Of the 350,000 citizens, almost half live in greater Reykjavík. Thus, much of the countryside is blissfully empty of humans. The country has no army. Hot dogs are a real thing, as is fish soup. Chocolate is laced with anise. The sun behaves strangely this far north; I’ve learned recently many middle-latituders don’t understand what is happening. Ribbons of color dance across the night sky. There are no native mosquitos. Elves, magical creatures invisible to most humans, are a large part of Iceland’s cultural heritage. A country mostly devoid of warm weather possesses a larger than expected number of swimming pools, fed by glacial melt water, that is heated by vulcanism. I could go on. It is a land of contrasts, of, “fire and ice,” of, “light and dark.”

This trip has been a long time coming. I’ve wanted to go for years. Now we’re lined up and cleared for departure. So thanks for joining us. Put on some layers, don your sunglasses, bring an eye mask for sleeping, and let’s go see what all the fuss is about. Our track has us going way north, further north than we’ve ever been.

From Delta 246, departing runway 2 2 Right, goodnight.