18 days in Iceland
8 days in the Faroe Islands
Background story:
Empty-nesters. Our two kids have moved out of the nest. For the first time, in the last 24 years, it’s just the two of us. Just my wife, Chantil, and me, Travis. We're just a normal 45-year-old couple scratching our heads and wondering how our kids grew up so quickly.
We sold off the cushy life we had in San Diego, California and are moving to a new life in Germany. Yes, the Europe Germany. This has included liquidating our vehicle possessions: A Nissan Xterra SUV, a Mazda Miata sports car, two Honda Ruckus scooters, and our home - our 36 foot Hunter sailboat. We’ve sold it all…
The plan started around early spring of 2017, when I mentioned, “Why don’t we make an adventure out of moving to Germany?” Fortunately, Chantil is as adventure minded, if not more, as me. The plan was hatched to try and visit somewhere on our way to Germany. But where? Perhaps the USA? Route 66? Canada?
A quick view of the world map shows a small country located between the Americas and Europe. A country smaller than the size of my home state of Colorado. A country that has recently experienced a ‘boom’ in tourism. Iceland!
I visited forums, like this one and Horizons Unlimited, and googled “shipping motorcycles USA to Iceland”. It turns out that getting to Europe from Iceland is easy. A ferry, operated by Smyril Lines (http://www.smyrilline.com/) sails from Iceland and the Faroe Islands to Denmark every week.
Getting the bikes to Iceland - a bit more problematic. Shipping bikes from the USA to Iceland can be done via air or by sea. One cargo company that offered air services is Icelandic Air Cargo. I’ve heard that shipping a motorcycle via air can be expensive but I made the call and was told that no cargo planes would be available for shipment of motorcycles during the months of August or September due to a broken plane. Onward to shipping via a ship…
The only option I found that makes regular shipments to Iceland from New England and Canada was EIMSKIP (http://www.eimskip.com/offices/north-america/usa/). There may be others, but EIMSKIP was very helpful and offered a English website detailing their shipping schedule. Originally, we had plans to ship our motorcycles from Canada, but after talking with a shipping agent, she felt it would be easier to clear customs for US registered bikes from a US port. Portland, Maine was the port of exit we decided on. Now to get the bikes to Portland…
We survived a 4,100 miles, 13 days, 12 US states, two Canadian providences, 13 relatives, and 151 gallons of gas trip from San Diego to Portland, Maine. The trip was too fast and furious to do a proper ride report, but we did meet our goal of visiting with family, and getting the bikes to their destination of Portland, Maine.
The bikes, both BMW G650GSs, and titles, were dropped off in the confident and professional hands of EIMSKIP on July 27th. We wouldn’t be seeing them again until we arrived in Iceland on August 21st…
...Here is a just a small preview of our Iceland and Faroe Island motorcycle adventure:
Beautiful waterfalls. So many waterfalls...
Reykjavík - there is no capital city further north.
Getting into some dirt via the F-roads.
The two mules - both BMW G650GSs
Two adventurers. A rainy day but still smiling.
Exploring a new country
Art and sculpture
F-roads offered isolation and a bit of a challenge.
Traditional viking homes
There's some ice in Iceland. No kidding!
Relaxing Iceland style
Gorgeous landscape
Breathtaking views
Breakdowns and fixes
Seaside views
Good eats
Churches
The land of fire and ice
Offroad adventure
Incredible scenery
Sunsets that last quite a while.
And, of course, motorcycling...
