There is a light that never goes out
The Freezer is an artist residency, culture center, social hostel and the smallest professional theater in the world. For many people, the Freezer is a cosy place to spend a night when passing Snæfellsnes. For locals, it is THE place to come and enjoy the culture, grab a drink or just have a chat with friends. For some, it is a space to express themselves as artists. But for a few of us, the Freezer is much more. Our workplace, the biggest passion, daily inspiration, home. The place we know we are supposed to be because it’s part of a bigger story. The Freezer story. But, more importantly, our personal story.
Ten years ago, my life suddenly changed when a very close friend of mine from those times brought me to my first scout meeting. He used to tell me all those crazy scout stories; stories that took place in the middle of nature; stories that involved campfire, the sound of guitar, cold water, warm hugs and sky full of stars. I very easily fell in love just with the idea of me being part of it. I had no clue it would change my entire life. My whole perspective on livingness and happiness. My priorities. After a couple of months of my scout life I found out that once per time great international scout meetings were organized and took place at different locations worldwide. One of those events was called Rover Moot and it was planned to happen in 2017 in Iceland. I knew right away, I would go. There were just two destinations on my lifetime dream travel list – Canada and Iceland.
Nine years later, I signed up for Rover Moot in Iceland. Woohoo. Two weeks spent in my dream country with the closest friends. What else? But you know how it goes, life happens, plans change. Even after the successful registration, we couldn’t manage to go on our trip. It sucked. It still sucks when I think of it. But well, this kind of stuff happens. And life goes on. 2017 has been a tough one. Already in 2016 I felt like my life couldn’t get more difficult. I was trying to juggle school – work – social life – personal life – my well being. Not an easy task. But 2017 got even worse. Imagine your worst New Year’s Eve, now multiply it by 100000 and you get mine. It was not an easy start of the year, and it was not getting any better in the following months. And that was one of the reasons I’ve, after all, decided to accomplish one of my lifetime travel dreams.
It was early May, not too long before my birthday, and I was about to head to Canada. I was again at the moment of my life when I had to make big decisions which would entirely change my future. Trip to Canada was, and at the same time, wasn’t all I ever pictured. It was definitely unforgettable and life changing. In all the possible ways and meanings. I came back as a new person, a person who no longer wanted to settle down in her favorite city in Europe, a person who wanted to accomplish two lifetime travel dreams in one year. This year. I suddenly knew this was all I really needed to do. I needed to go to Iceland.
A good friend of mine once told me that people should come to Iceland in their declining years because nothing will ever get even close to the beauty one can see here. The same goes with my Freezer experience. I’m afraid I got so spoiled with the Icelandic pure beauty, the Freezer team generosity and my constant stresslessness that my upcoming adventures will need to be crazy-damn-epic-awesome to exceed this high standard from Snæfellsnes. And if they are not gonna happen on this island, I know I’ll be back at the right time. Because to die by your side is such a heavenly way to die…
