Laura Austin |

How many times have you heard someone who just returned from a trip saying that it was a “life-changing experience”. Many people seek out travel thinking that it will somehow enlighten them and they will come back a different person. It is rare that this is actually the case, after a few days the buzz wears off and they return to their normal life. Well this wasn’t the case after I spent two weeks exploring Iceland… shortly after I returned, I quit my desk job to become a full-time freelance photographer and never looked back. Here’s why…

For years I wanted to explore Iceland, and I think it was this video created by the Iceland tourism company that originally sparked my interest:

My mom knew full well of my longing for this mysterious land, so for Christmas she got tickets for my sister, herself, my stepdad and I to take a two-week trip to the island in May, 2013. Without going through a play-by-play of the whole trip (since there is so much to tell and so many amazing places to note), we spent 2 weeks driving around the circumference of the island. From ice climbing, to relaxing in their geothermal pools, hiking, to eating some very strange food… this trip was all I could have hoped it would be and more.

The landscapes of Iceland are so incredibly dramatic and it seemed every half an hour or so you were on a different planet due to how much one area varied from the next. I’m sure my family became so sick of me constantly asking to stop the car so I could get out to take photos. But it was this trip that I felt so in my element behind my camera in these amazing places that I knew I couldn’t go back home and sit behind a desk knowing that there were more eye-opening adventures like this to be had. So I encourage you to seek out these experiences like I did, not every one will be life changing… but you never know when you might stumble upon something that truly makes you happy.

See the rest of the images below for a small taste of what made this trip so incredible....