Kat Watson solo traveled to Iceland to work on a farm and to broaden her horizons, this is her story!
"Trust your true gut. Not the paranoid one that wants you to stay in the hostel all day out of fear of the unknown, but the real one deep within you that knows you need to jump and have moments of question... but within reason. The world is beautiful and terrifying and there’s so much mystery to explore, but you have to let yourself do so."
"I went to Iceland to run away from myself. I travel for adventure and to experience different cultures, but I realized that I went to run away from who I was at the time (and hopefully find a new version I could live with). I flew on WOW air, which is a budget airline. I am a sucker for traveling as cheap as possible, and WOW provides very inexpensive flights to Iceland. A flight is a flight. I’ve never been one to experience first class, so I’m fine with what I get. A man roughly my age fell asleep on my shoulder and then looked at me in shock and disgust when he woke up as if HE wasn’t the one that fell asleep on ME. Nine hours of not being able to move was not the best, but I was doing this stranger a favor. I also had a few celebrities on my flight, but it’s the same ones I run into every single time I’m in LA, so I didn’t go into full panic." "I stayed for the first week in an Airbnb. I had the most amazing host. I was sick as a dog, which made her pity me enough to drive me around at night to look at sights tourists overlook. She told me stories that had been passed down through generations of folklore and how their culture came to be. She showed me the Northern Lights. I cried like a baby. I would give anything to see them right now. All the energy in the world seems to be at ease when you look at them. I felt as if I was moving with them. Constantly shifting and changing their colors. If you blink, you could miss them. They’re the waves of the sky. It’s truly incredible. After my Airbnb, I planned on living on a farm on the western part of the island for two-three months. I didn’t end up staying nearly that long, due to personal reasons, but my time there was as it was. Living on a farm is a full-time job of intense manual labor. Nothing is more refreshing than a day done on the farm. If circumstances were different, I would have probably stayed forever. But life can sure rock the boat. I plan on going back some day. Maybe working. Maybe just road-tripping around the Golden Circle. We shall see where my path leads." "To save up for the trip, I worked a full-time job at the most amazing record store in Texas. Waterloo Records will always have a piece of my heart. I was intending on quitting my job to move to Hawaii for school, but decided on Iceland when my funding fell through. It is a tad bit easier to pay for solo travel than to pay for college tuition. Priorities. My favorite part of the trip was right before I left back to the states. The woman that owned the farm with her husband gave me the day off to explore the land beyond our little valley. I went on a hike — small dog in-tow. Not intentionally, but the dog seemed to be excited to have a partner and it minded me well. I spent all day hiking up the steepest mountain I’ve ever conquered. I ran out of water halfway up, but thankfully the water in Iceland is more pure than Texas tap, so I dipped my hands and bottle in whatever water source I could find (e.g., puddles, streams, random holes in the mountainside, etc.). Once I got up to the top of the mountain, I felt like I had just made my grand entrance from the womb. Embraced by the cleanest air you will ever inhale, I could finally breathe. Every ounce of hope I had ever felt in my life flooded my system. I had never had such a moment where I genuinely thought I could tackle life as myself. Granted, that high lasted up until I landed back in Los Angeles, but it was a nice mirage while it lasted." The least favorite part of the trip would be the tension on the farm. The family was silently at war with one of the other workers — who, coincidentally, was my only friend on the whole island. The family was nothing but kind to me, but the tensions sent everything to hell in a handbasket. They no longer would make us meals as she was with us. This meant that I ate a lot of scraps and “food” that had been sitting out for weeks and might have been chocolate mousse (?), but I guess we’ll never know on that one. Also, Icelandic horses. I don’t trust them. They have beady eyes and they watch every move you make. They are mortal enemy number one." "My journey is Iceland taught me that no matter how far I go to try and run from myself, it will always catch up to me. I used to travel constantly. I lived out of a suitcase more than I lived in a permanent address. Since Iceland, I’ve realized that I need to settle down and find joy in myself first. I still travel here and there for various experiences. I miss being a fly on the wall in different cultures than my own, but I know I’ll get back to that someday. My advice to other women solo traveling is to trust your true gut. Not the paranoid one that wants you to stay in the hostel all day out of fear of the unknown, but the real one deep within you that knows you need to jump and have moments of question... but within reason. The world is beautiful and terrifying and there’s so much mystery to explore, but you have to let yourself do so."
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