Qing Qing De Dao Island Chronicle - Issue 5: Iceland

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52285348379_aa50a42332_b.jpg Island Chronicle: Iceland 2015 / 2019 This year's Iceland edition is a compilation of my 2019 travelogue revisiting Iceland, alongside content from the inaugural 2015 Iceland edition, all newly edited. This issue also features a special double-cover design. Turning to the left reveals the start of the 2015 journey, while turning to the right brings you to 2019. Both Icelandic travels converge in the middle. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52286875795_5abb7d4353_b.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52285412412_2ccbd79129_b.jpg / https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52285348314_811c2a4646_b.jpg Iceland 2015 Discovering a Verdant Isle That was the day I first flew to Iceland. It was 2015. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52285087823_50707de574_b.jpg Qing Qing De Dao / Clouds in the sky, Birds within the clouds. You stand in a place of green grass. Cattle and sheep on the verdant meadow, Living in tiny island homes. The island has seasons and small cottages, Each cottage lights an oil lamp every night, A gentle glow. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52286658774_29e65ca49c_b.jpg "The Beginning" Years have passed, yet to me, it remains a beautiful dream. That was the day I flew to Iceland alone, in 2015. After bidding farewell to friends I'd traveled with in Canada, I boarded a flight to Iceland by myself. My heart was filled with trepidation. Unexpectedly, as I approached the island of my dreams, instead of overwhelming emotion or excitement, a clearer sense of nervousness and unease surfaced—a feeling stemming from flying solo to another country for the very first time. The plane journeyed across the North American continent and Greenland. The North Atlantic outside the window appeared so dark and cold, and my imagination of Iceland was of an island extremely distant, desolate, and incredibly frigid. As the plane descended slowly, I followed the signs and completed immigration procedures. Standing in the empty airport hall, I looked out at the hazy, gray landscape beyond the glass walls and suddenly felt lost and bewildered. It was six in the morning; where should I go? Recalling it now, the complex mix of emotions felt by that bewildered child within—that intricate tapestry of feelings—I believe, marked the beginning of exploring the world alone. And everyone's life has but one beginning, an eternal starting point. My beginning was Iceland. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52286879825_a15f500b82_b.jpg 2015 Table of Contents: That Distant Island First Arrival in Iceland Reykjavík Home on the Island Golden Circle Notes. Iceland, so quiet Island of Life Eternal Twilight. Fleeting Glimpse. Aurora Borealis A Postcard for You Goodbye, Someday Afterword: Song on the Journey Afterword: Postcard Without an Address Afterword: The End https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52285405542_eb67346b32_b.jpg Iceland 2019 Stellar Voyage Above the Island That was the day I arrived in Iceland once more. It was 2019. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52286396141_2ec0d9daef_b.jpg "No End" When does a journey ever truly end? When individuals cast their lives into the unknown, choosing to become travelers, they inevitably believe—even after countless hours and resources spent—that everything they seek and hold dear will be worthwhile. Travel is exploration, it is discovery. The world is vast; how can this path have a conclusion? As long as we continue to believe, and we always choose to believe, that every journey holds something we must witness with our own eyes and touch with our own souls. Yes, we believe in gain and loss, in fragmentation and reformation, in the meaning of every present moment. Most importantly, we truly believe that all that calls us to rise and set forth will ultimately lead us to become our truest selves. If your heart yearns for something, then set forth. Be vigilant, but not overly anxious; be cautious, but open your arms to embrace encounters. Rest assured, no matter your choices, every path will reveal a unique landscape, and it will be the only landscape you witness. Immerse yourself fully in every travel moment, for whether what comes your way is good or bad, all that transpires will pass, and all outcomes will eventually connect. So, let us shoulder our burdens and refine our bodies and minds on the long road, allowing our hearts to grow. Then, this increasingly strong heart will forge an equally resolute will, with which we will define our lives, our souls; we will construct the world as we see it with our eyes and feel it in our hearts. I believe life is a gift, and being alive is a miracle. Since we have chosen to be travelers, let us bravely pursue, authentically falter, and wholeheartedly believe. As long as we are willing to journey on, as long as we consistently choose to, there will be no end to it all. Traveler, tell me, when does a journey ever truly end? https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52284104007_88361bfc80_b.jpg 2019 Table of Contents: Someday. Today Is the Day Returning to Route 1 Nice to Meet You. Seljalandsfoss Still Want to See You. Jökulsárlón Glacier Hiking. Falljökull Bird Spot. Vik Finding an Island Again Where Did That Sunset Go? Are We Seeing the Same Waterfall? Encounter in the Wilderness. Aurora Borealis Lobster Soup The Taste of Travel Still the Same Rainy Night https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52286652914_cb59cbfc03_b.jpg "Stellar Voyage Above the Island" He said, Iceland felt too unlike Earth. And so, we embarked on a stellar voyage above the island. With the music set, melodies streamed from the speakers. The song I had decided to listen to while traveling in Iceland, the very first track, had to be "Dirty Paws" by Of Monsters and Men. The main melody, like lightning striking the air across the plains, resonated within my heart. I turned to look out the car window at the vast, unending green—just as I had imagined Iceland to be—my heart filled with emotion. Finally, I was back on this Route 1. Finally. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52286883565_0985331851_b.jpg Embark on the farthest journey, Let the soles of your shoes and your soul be stained with the earth's dust. Clad in sea breeze and starlight, We traverse seas and mountains, Finally reaching that most distant destination. It is the place your heart yearns for, A poem echoes from afar, A poem born of the world and of your heart. A true arrival. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52284103922_e87b519e26_b.jpg Book Information Dimensions: 24cm x 19cm x 8mm (Large Format) Pages: 96 Full Color Printing Lay-flat binding Made in Taiwan https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52285411877_cfde833cd8_b.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52286654569_4688faa61a_b.jpg / https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52286884740_d1eb741248_b.jpg **Add-on Set of 8 Iceland Postcards Available Here: https://www.pinkoi.com/product/Bh9E3MHQ**