What's it like living in Iceland?
Hello all I am a 20 something man living in northern California I am an audio visual networking commercial integrator. I have a job that can trafser internationally anywhere basically. I was contemplating moving to Iceland and I was curious what it was like to live or even visit there. Economy? City life? Country life? Expenses? Travel? Lifestyle? Beauty? Thank you!
I live in Iceland. what can i do? Is this normal?
There has got to be some way for you to get out of there. Leave during the warmest month---otherwise how would you travel, don't know. Never been in an icy land like that!!! I'm in California, the western US. There is never any snow here. I wouldn't even be able to survive in a place like that.
What's life like in Iceland?
Growing up in Iceland was wonderful. Most people live in or around Reykjavik, which is a fairly large city similar to many other European cities. But once you leave the Reykjavik area things become very remote. Akureyri, the city where I grew up, has less than 20,000 people but is consider a large city by Icelandic standards.Driving can be iffy once outside of Reykjavik, especially in bad weather or with the occasional volcano getting irritable, so flying around the island is very common. Many tourists still get in trouble trying to drive to places or in conditions they shouldn’t. In Iceland you HAVE to respect the land and Huldufolk or they will get angry at you. And yes the hidden people are indeed real.We have mandatory education up to 16 years old but most people go on to higher levels. Of course it’s free. The medical care is also free and extremely good, at least around Reykjavik and other larger towns. In rural areas you are pretty much on your own unless you can get to a medical center. Our system works very well but it must be remembered that Iceland is small, only 330,000 people. Plus we’re all kind of related and really have to be careful we don’t end up marrying a relative that is too close. So what works in our country won’t necessarily work in a much larger and diverse country.Our crime rate is very, very low and what crime that is committed is usually by outsiders. Our driving is suspect but the one universal thing I’ve encountered in my trips around the world is that people tend to drive like idiots everywhere. Not sure why.One of the things I like best about Iceland is our closeness to nature. I grew up spending most of my time outside and parents think nothing of leaving a very young child outside in all kinds of weather. This freaks out an occasional tourist but Icelanders think it’s healthy for the child.So overall I am so glad I had a chance to grew up in Iceland. Sure there are the usual problems with corrupt politicians and environmental and economic difficulties but we seem to have manage to avoid some of the problems that plague other countries. So I would have to say living in Iceland is a wonderful and amazing experience, especially for someone that doesn’t mind a wind that never stops and an occasional angry volcano.
How do people make a living in Iceland?
Iceland is not really any different than any other civilized country in Europe or the rest of the world. Until about one year ago Iceland was the richest European country but since the big economy crisis hit, people in Iceland are very poor. I have a friend in Iceland, he is a police officer and also mainly working for EURO POL and FRONTEX (European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union). He made about 20,000 Euros a month ($35,000) which is a little above average in Iceland. Since the economy crisis he and his wife get food stamps from the government (there are no food stamps in Europe anymore since after WW2) and barely make a living. So if you would like to live there you should wait. It is going to take years or even a couple of decades until Iceland will return to its old standards. Inflation is very high there right now, there'alsoos a lot of unemployment and right now Americans are not very welcome because of the economy crisis. Iceland is a very beautiful country with all it's geysirs and its very friendly people. Certainly a great place to live but not right now!
Can you live in Iceland if you only know English?
Yes, you can, although I'd recommend trying to learn Icelandic if you plan on living there for long. Practically everyone in Iceland speaks at least some English and most people speak it fluently. English is taught as a second language in schools. So you could get by with English, but you would need some assistance quite often, your job opportunities would be very limited, certain things would be harder for you (finding places, using the names of people or places, understanding signs, markings, price tags etc.) and you would not fully understand what's going on around you. Learning Icelandic would make things much easier for you.
What are the pros and cons of living in Iceland?
Pros:Free educationFree healthcareWe are not involved in any military conflicts; we do not feel we are in danger of an attack or invasionIsolatedVery cheap heating, electricity, energyGovernment provides for its people a lot, really tries to take care of usFairly inclusive country-I have never met a racist or felt any Antisemitism and neither has my familyBeautiful, unique landscapeClean water is abundantStatistically only around 1 murder per year; we don’t have serial killers or random shootingsNo one has guns-I feel safe!Low crime-mostly just low level theft and drug useEveryone speaks the same Icelandic-we don’t really have any dialects. We can all understand each otherRead & write a lot of books per capitaEssentially 100% literacy rateAlmost everyone speaks at least 2 languagesDays are long in the summerJobs pay well and offer good benefitsNo religious persecutionPrime Minister & Presidents usually good, trustworthy people that many of us have met. They are typically pretty..normal people! :)Cons:Isolated-tough in a global economyInclement weatherFrequent earthquakes and threats of volcanic eruptionsIceland is splitting apartMany things are imported-if you don’t want Icelandic food it will probably be expensive. We had a McDonalds in Reykjavik but it shut down as a hamburger was like $10. Not even for a meal!Hardly anyone knows we exist. Those that do think we either are elves or worship them.No one understands our language but usFairly high cost of livingIt is dark during the winter-sun does not come up at all or for very long. Easy to get depressedSometimes hard to sleep in the summer-sun doesn’t set for very long.We don’t have as many options in careers/job markets. Want to join the army? Too bad…we have a coast guard…of like 200 people…and it isn’t military based. Want to be an aircraft mechanic? Well, we have like 4 airports in Iceland. Want to study linguistics? Better love the Icelandic language and pretty much nothing else! History? Hope you like Vikings!Alcohol sales are strictly controlled by the governmentNot everything is open on SundaysWe seem unfriendly to outsiders (especially Americans). We don’t smile at strangers often and do not make small chat
What is the dark side of living in Iceland?
I don’t know if I would call it a dark side but Iceland is a long, long way from anywhere else and like most places that are a long, long way from anywhere else, going anywhere else is difficult and expensive. And since Island is just so far away from any other land mass, you have to fly or take a ship. Driving just isn’t going to get you very far. That’s one of the things I like about the United States, you can just get in your car and drive forever without falling into the ocean or running into a glacier.Iceland really isn’t very big and although it’s hauntingly beautiful, a lot of it is hard to get to, and quite dangerous once you get there. Much of the interior is filled with monstrous volcanoes that can erupted at any time.In 1783 the volcano Laki exploded and killed a quarter of the population of Iceland. It can’t quite be that bad again but if Hekla, Laki or Katla decided to blow, things could get real nasty in Iceland for a long time and it’s even possible that Reykjavik might have to be evacuated.Since Iceland is so far from anywhere it means virtually everything has to be brought a long way and that means it’s going to be expensive. And since Iceland doesn’t have very many people, the taxes can be painfully high and can make it difficult for a family to get ahead. And since the population is small, good jobs can be hard to find and native Icelanders frequently go to other countries to find good paying jobs.So Iceland is indeed ethereal, magical and so very, very special. But if one of those ghastly and insane volcanoes decided to blow, the dark side of Iceland might become very, very obvious.