iceland bound

so two weeks ago, after staring at an orbitz.com screen for a couple of hours i bought plane tickets for a ten day trip to iceland. i'm going solo. doing the hostel thing, which i've never done and have always wanted to do. the first question out of everyone's mouth is "why iceland." the reasons all come off a bit metaphysical and/or dorky, so i give pause when telling people. it only makes sense then, that i just suck it up and tell the world. here goes:

why iceland?

a. north tends to be the direction i head to get my head clear (i grew up in boston and would always head to the coast of maine for vacation, camping, etc.). north is clean. cold. it has wisdom to it. weight.

b. the atlantic carries with it the same symbolism and weight as the direction north. i like to throw my biggest questions to the sea. i've always done that. hopefully i'll never stop.

c. from what i've seen so far, the landscape in iceland looks like the perfect place to head. i'm a fan of raw/harsh/wide/beautiful landscapes so it made the decision easy.

d. i hear the people there are friggin' awesome.

e. since it's my first solo backpack trip, i figured i'd get my wings in one of the safest countries in the world. how safe is iceland? mothers of infants leave them in thier strollers outside when they go shopping. try that anywhere else.

f. when i was in school i always wanted to go to new zealand. but the more i've learned about iceland over the past few years the more it offers more of what i'm looking for. i like that they speak icelandic and not english as a primary language (even though they all speak english anyway) it gives me the chance to spend the next couple of weeks learning one of the oldest spoken languages in the world. besides, but the atlantic is my ocean. and at this point in my life i'd like to keep it around for this trip. there are enough changes going on.

g. the country is literally cut in half by the mid ocean ridge which means it is still in the process of becoming. terra nova. enter my penchant for metaphor and symbolism.

i hope to use this site to share some experiences. before, during and after.

in the meantime, if you're considering backpacking student-style anytime soon, then i heavily recommend travelpunk there are lots of great articles and even more cool people there willing to hook you up with information.

so what happened?

so i somehow made it almost two years without posting anything. there have been a few folks that have emailed me over that period wondering how things turned out, so here goes:

it really couldn't have gone better. after leaving forrester back in 2004 i spent the summer getting my portfolio together and meeting with folks at the ad shops around boston and providence. i wound up landing a job as a copywriter at nail ( www.nail.cc -- new website coming soon, so hold off on looking). at the time it was my top pick not only for proximity (living in providence it was only ten minutes walk from my apartment) but because they had done some great work, landed a lot of awards (advertising world masturbation) and some of the folks i talked to at bigger firms told me that they were a cool little company that thought big. i was one of the extremely lucky few that the whole ad job hunt worked out for and i'm grateful.

i've been there since sept of 04 and actually like going to work every day. it's small enough that i get to work on everything (print, radio, web, even the occasional tv--ok, once), and the recognition that some of the campaigns have gotten is seriously helping my google-ability versus that other collin sheehan, who apparently is some gifted jock in new jersey. the bastard.

so people, that's the story. thanks for asking.

~c