I’ll be back, my love,
to your stormy coasts and rocky shores
walking your paths on my own
my mind in peace,
my heart open wide.

I’ll return, my heart,
take each of your black and stormy moods
with ease and pride
to be where my soul lived long ago,
your ice-cold winds rattling my heart
with joy.

I’ll be with you, no fear!
Your rough and painful beauty
will always draw me back
to dark sandy beaches
and snow covered mountains.
To vast and empty lands
and the buzzing city by the sea.
Back where I belong.

Have you ever visited a place for the first time but felt at home immediately? Like you’ve been there before? Or even – as strange as it might sound – like you belong there? For me such a place is Iceland.

I wrote this poem after I returned from my first visit in 2014 and I was still spellbound by the country’s beauty and the feeling of familiarity and happiness I felt the minute I stepped out of the plane. I remember the woman next to me saying something like :”Uh, HOW COLD it is!!!” (Mind you, it was the beginning of September, 12 degrees centigrade and just a little rainy…) and me thinking: “No – how freaking amazing this is!” On an airplane field, in the middle of nowhere. With rain and wind blowing in my face. It was one of the happiest moments in my life!

This country grabbed me right away and never let go of me again – so much that I even started the pretty much impossible task of learning the language. I refuse to give up though, maybe one day I’ll be brave enough to order my beer in Icelandic!

This November I will return to Iceland for the fifth time – and I honestly can’t wait for its winds to rattle my heart with joy again!