May 2019

Our team is elated and proud to announce LUXlife Magazine has named Planet Hoppers as California’s 2019 Travel Consultant of the Year and Bay Area’s 2019 Best International Bespoke Holiday Agency. This is a tremendous honor and we couldn't have done it without you! Click here to read more about this award.

Featured Trip Of The Month

NANCY AND RYAN CATCHING LIGHTS IN ICELAND

Itinerary

Full Interview Transcript

"Why did we choose Iceland? I have always wanted to go to Iceland because I heard it was geologically interesting and beautiful. I found the food to be delicious. We were happy with the lamb, fish, and seafood soups. They were all good, especially the arctic char and langoustines."

"We rented a car and drove around on our own. We just drove the Ring Road and looked at Google to see if the roads were passable. We had plans to visit one of the canyons, but it was closed down because of Justin Bieber! He was there earlier, and the foot traffic trampled the area, so they wanted to close it down to give it a couple of months to recover. The Iceland tourist boom is recent. It’s been a real learning curve for them. They keep tourism afloat yet still protect their resources."

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"Our hotel the first night was in the national park - the ION Adventure Hotel. They said they would call us if they saw the northern lights. We eventually saw them. These were different from the ones I had seen in Alaska. In Iceland, they were mostly green. We went out to see them one night on a tour and our cameras picked up a reddish color.

We checked out the black sand beach with the basalt stacks. You see a lot of basalt stacks, they inspire a lot of things in Iceland. They are really cool looking. The main church in Reykjavik’s skyline is inspired by the basalt columns here."

"We knew most of the ice caves would be melting and there wouldn’t be many tours available, but the one we went to has ice caves year-round. Maybe that’s because it’s under the volcano - the ash on the glacier is thick enough to insulate it. We got there in this crazy vehicle, it was a huge car that sat 12 people with the biggest tires I’ve ever seen. They let out the air a tiny bit, so the car could float on the snow. We were basically off-roading in a tricked-out van, driving through fields of snow towards glaciers and volcanos. The cave itself was cool and beautiful – so tall. Just outside of it, the guide showed us a place that wasn’t quite a cave yet, it was just a hole. He said that’s what our cave looked like 8 months ago. There are always new ones forming. We got to climb up a little and look out at the view. To get back, we just slid all the way down."

"Iceland is so safe, there’s no crime essentially. You just need to worry about nature stuff – being dumb and taking a selfie and falling into the water. We’d both like to go back to Iceland to see a different time of year. I’d like to see it in the summer someday. I’d like to experience midnight sun. "

Where In The World Is This Planet Hopper?

Read about this fantastic trip in next month's issue.

Planet Hopping In Progress

April Travelers

Erika and Doug’s surprise trip to Japan
Noelle and Matthew’s Honeymoon in Bora Bora
Jon and Liz’s Honeymoon in Italy
Misaki family vacation to Taiwan and Japan
Jon and Cassandra explore food and fun in Japan

May Travelers

Taylor family sail and hike in Greece
Yu family vacation in Italy
Masuda’s annual luxury beach getaway
Sheila and Dennis tour Scandinavia

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