Of Music and Dreams

Going to Iceland is probably the best thing that happened in 2014 for me. Hmm I've talked a lot about me wanting to go to Iceland but the reason behind it? Well I'm going to speak about it today! After my trip to Iceland I actually took part in Passion Passport Wanderlust Story Competition. I wrote about my trip to Iceland and here is my story! Of course I didn't win the competition, but it was a fun process to be honest! I hope you enjoy reading my story, and here goes the driving force, the reason and inspiration to my trip to Iceland! 

Passion Passport Wanderlust Story Competition 2014 - Of Music and Dreams

I have been telling myself this for the past four years: 

“One day, I am going to Iceland” 

However last year, the fear that this one day will never arrive grows bigger and deeper within me. I was lying on my bed one night when I realized that I am not going to grow any younger, and that time will slowly consume me. I fear that this one day may turn into a day where this dream will be forgotten in the depths of my memories.

And the only way for me to eradicate this fear of mine, is to be in Iceland.

And so on the last day of July this year, I embarked on a journey to realize the biggest dream of my life, and an adventure to get rid of this fear that has been haunting me. I left home and went on a journey about twelve thousand kilometers up northwest from Indonesia, and thirty six hours of traveling later, I found myself walking around the northern-most capital city of the world, Reykjavik. It was the beginning of the wildest wanderlust days of my life.

I have to send my gratitude to my favorite Icelandic bands, especially Sigur Ros, for being the driving force behind my longing to travel to Iceland. All of these were made even stronger after watching a documentary film about their tour around Iceland titled Heima. The beauty of Iceland is harmoniously accompanied by their music. And for the past four years, I have been listening to their songs as I imagine the great landscapes and sights that I am going to see when I am in Iceland.

I could still remember the first time that I caught a glimpse of Iceland with my own eyes. I was on board Icelandair looking through my seat’s window, seeing the rugged and intricate landscape of this land. Strikes of white on a background of black appeared behind the clouds beneath me. It must be glaciers, I thought to myself. As the plane traveled further, a wide spread of white glimmered under the summer sun. I knew it was the Vatnajokull glacier that we were passing by. My heart was in awe and I just couldn’t stop smiling. I was so close to fulfilling my wanderlust dreams right at that moment.

It felt pretty surreal to finally be in Iceland. I was listening to my favourite Icelandic songs as I looked outside the bus on the way to Reykjavik. I passed by fields of lava rocks, volcanic hills and not forgetting the myriads of sheep and horses passing by. Walking around Reykjavik and getting lost in its colors and vibrancy, with music on my ears, was just too good to be true. I was finally looking at the colorful rooftops of the city from the top of Hallgrimskirkja church through my own eyes, and no longer through the screen of my laptop or my phone.

The landscapes around Iceland are not only beautiful, but they are also emotion-invoking. I will never forget how it was such an epiphany to sit down under the blue sky, facing the sea, as I was writing on my journal at Stykkisholmur. And how serendipitous it was to stare at the majestic yet serene Jokulsarlon glacial lagoon, being the first time in my life that I am seeing icebergs. Or perhaps walking along the tectonic plates at Ϸhingvellir national park, thinking about the wonders and greatness of this planet and how beautiful it is.

It was wonderfully overwhelming to finally see and feel your dreams and imaginations turn into a beautiful reality. Just months ago I was back in my room listening to the same songs I was listening to as I was seeing these great sights, wishing I could be there in Iceland to see it. And to realize that I was doing what I dreamed of doing made me all fuzzy and warm inside. I don’t know how to put it; it was just the greatest wanderlust moment in my life.

Going to Iceland was not a smooth journey for me. This is the biggest adventure of my life; to travel to a country that is located on the other side of the planet from where I come from. But then I realized that this may be the only chance that I have to go to Iceland. So I toughen myself up, and jump hurdles after hurdles to clear the doubts that shadowed my heart.

Leaving Iceland was a difficult thing to do for me too, as I have expected. I left Iceland with an empty, loose but heavy heart. It feels empty, because I have finally accomplished a dream which I have been holding on to for years. It feels loose because the fear that has been grasping my heart tightly has finally released itself freely. And it feels heavy because I couldn’t bear to leave such a beautiful place. It feels like I have left a part of my soul on this beautiful island.

Before I went to Iceland, the Icelandic songs I listened to gave me a sense of hope and joy of traveling to Iceland. Now they give me a sense of melancholic sentimentalism of the beautiful sights that I’ve seen. And also, they are a sweet congratulatory reminder to me that I have finally fulfilled by dream of traveling to this wonderful island.

If there is one lesson that I learned from this trip, I learned that “next time” is one of the most dangerous phrases that you can ever tell yourself. Because most of the time, next time is almost equivalent to “never going to happen”. Do what you want to do, and go to the great places you’ve always wanted to go. Because most of the time, we live our lives like as if we a have a next one to go to.

And I’m here to remind you again that we only have one.