So, let me first say, our time in Iceland was an epic road trip. We spent our days driving to sites and traversing our way around the perimeter (for the most part) of the country make one big loop. In order to cover all of that ground we had to hotel hop along the way (9 hotels in 14 days!). While changing hotels is typically stressful, with proper planning it can be a piece of cake. Seriously! We were well prepared so it was actually fairly simple to go from hotel to hotel, and be on the road for that many days. It took quite a bit of thought but I was so happy that it paid off and everything went so smoothly.

I packed for all 3 of us, me, my husband and our 10 year old daughter. Here’s how I did it…

Luggage and bags

We had to pack for many days and varying weather conditions without relying on being able to do laundry mid-trip. So every item was carefully selected, unlike our last trip to Hawaii where I basically threw a lot of clothes into 2 suitcases and we were good to go since we were staying put for 10 days so I could unpack fully and the hotel had laundry services.

I split our items into 2 suitcases. First, was a TUMI hard wheeled suitcase (shown open in the photo below), like this Tumi V3 Extended Trip Case, but ours is an older model which is a little smaller and not expandable. I used Marie Kondo’s folding technique to save space and make it super easy to live out of the suitcase for our entire trip without unpacking it ever. I didn’t follow her method exactly but was pretty close.

I fit almost every piece of clothing for all 3 of us in this suitcase. Each of us had a section where all of our clothes were (save pajamas and underwear) so we could easily find our own things and pull them from our sections without disturbing much else. I kept our pajamas together as we’d be pulling them out every night at about the same time. I also kept all our underwear together since it was a different size anyway and worked well along the edge of the suitcase.

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Our second bag was a TUMI Alpha Large Wheeled Split Duffle, which we have had for years. The 2 compartments and style of this bag were a critical companion to the more traditional suitcase shown above. I filled the bottom compartment with our hiking boots and flip flops (except for my husband’s hiking shoes as he just wore his on the plan). This was perfect for the entire trip because we had easy access at any point. In the top, larger compartment I packed our extra jacket layers so they’d be easy to access when we arrived in Iceland and throughout the trip plus odd shaped items or things we’d need more readily such as our toiletry kits, water bottles, food items (tea bags, snacks, extra zip lock bags). A few pairs of my husband’s pants went in here as well.

Within this bag, I also packed a flat folding tote bag which I planned to fill with our swim suits, flip flops, travel silverware and travel towel to leave out and accessible in the rental car for anytime we needed any of those items, we also filled it with car snacks along the way. And we brought along a Patagonia Lightweight Travel Tote Pack, which folded up into a small pouch, for my husband to use as a day pack since the backpack he brought on the plane with him was large and heavy because it was contained his DJI Phantom 4 Pro drone and Canon camera plus lenses.

Then each of the 3 of us had a backpack that we carried onto the plane with us. My husband had his Manfrotto DJI Professional Video Equipment Drone Backpack, which is a great option to carry your drone, controller, spare batteries, camera, lenses and laptop. I had my new Patagonia Black Hole Backpack 25L, which was absolutely the perfect bag to have for this trip. My daughter brought her new Patagonia Chacabuco Backpack. I took her to the store to find one that she liked the look of, was comfortable to wear and was water resistant given our destination and how much time we would be outside. It worked perfectly for her.

Clothing, Jackets, Shoes

This section is coming soon!

Other Essentials

Adapters
If you are traveling from the US, you will need to bring adapters to plug anything in.

Sunglasses
You will want them. Especially if you go on a glacier tour. The glare off the snow is strong.

Hats and gloves
We didn’t pack any as I thought we’d be ok in July. However, I was very wrong! We ended up each buying some within 1.25 days of being there. I am actually happy we didn’t bring any there were so many awesome choices to pick from there! So I would almost say, don’t pack these if you are going in the summer (i.e. you don’t need them as soon as you get out of the airport) and plan to buy them in Reykjavik or soon after. I got mine in the Icewear shop that is right after you get off the ferry to the Westman Islands. I ended up going to another Icewear shop to pick up some more sets to give to family as souvenirs.

Camera
Yes, your phone camera will work but I recommend brining a proper camera with a higher resolution that will help you capture the absolutely stunning sites.

Practical Extras

Shampoo, Conditioner, Bar Soap
We were hotel hopping and I knew some of our hotels would probably not have shampoo, conditioner we liked as I can be a bit particular and prefer less toxic options. So I brought our own and it ended up being totally worth it. I packed the shampoo and conditioner in a large ziplock bag so they were self contained. I did not pack soap, we bought a bar when we got there and stored it in a small ziplock bag. A couple of our hotels had descent products but not all of them, and it was just nice to have our own and have it be consistent throughout the trip.

Sponge and Dish Soap
Since we packed our own water bottles, and travel silverware I knew I would want to wash them regularly. So I packed a dish sponge in a small zip lock bag to use on the trip and then toss at the end. I knew we could easily get dish soap when we got there so I did not bother to bring any as that would have added weight and taken up valuable space.

Zip lock bags and bag clips
I generally try to minimize our use of disposable items, like zip lock bags but they are super practical for trips like this. I like to bring a few different sizes of bags (gallon, pint, snack). They are awesome for keeping snacks you get along the way fresh, for storing wet items,

Comforts of home
Tea, coconut creamer

Supplements
Magnesium - I have read time and time again that this is a key thing to supplement while traveling. Magnesium helps you stay regular and can help you sleep. I brought along these super easy single serve packets: Pure - Magnesium Easy Sticks - Blend of Magnesium, Potassium and Vitamin C.

Handy to have on a Road Trip

Car phone mount
One of these will make following directions off your phone so much easier! There are many different kinds on the market right now. While bulky to pack, we love this RAM Composite Twist-Lock Suction Cup Mount with Universal Cell Phone Cradle, as it is super sturdy, fits a variety of devices and doesn’t require anything on the phone itself. With my packing method, this found a spot in the duffle bag.

Travel silverware
Super handy to have on hand for picnics or to use in your hotel room if you bring food back. For example, we picked up an instant ramen cup from the grocery store and my daughter had it for a snack one night in our hotel room (which often have an electric kettle), she used the fork and my husband and I used the chopsticks to eat up some of the noodles she didn’t finish. Oddly enough, the instant noodle options in Iceland are way better than here in the US! I used the spoon a few times to make tea in hotel rooms. I got 3 of these Titanium Cutlery Sets as they are strong, lightweight and come in a little box. They were perfect. Now back home, they like in a bag in our car for random adventures.

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