I've always had an extreme obsession with the night sky. By the age of 10, I was already stuffing my piggy bank full until I was able to afford a telescope. I built model rockets. I went to Space Camp. I read October Sky cover to cover until the spine de-laminated and the pages disintegrated in my hands.

As I grew up, my exploratory nature drew me outside. I spent my years on a perpetual quest for terrestrial vistas. I chased expansive overlooks, massive waterfalls and towering, jagged peaks. I spent my days of Colorado summer in a hammock by an alpine lake. In the fall you can find me in the shade of pine, watching hundreds of elk wander through a grassy meadow.

Despite the romanticism of those experiences, though, I spent those days eagerly anticipating the night. As the stars begin to twinkle, the entire sky is lit up with a dazzling display, unrivaled by anything in this world. I've spent entire nights under the stars, standing with my head cocked back until my neck aches. For me, the stars represent the penultimate of the human experience; infinitely vast, infinite in number, and beyond comprehension.

And so, naturally, the Northern Lights (or Aurora borealis) have always called to me. The mysticism of the heavens amplified. The surreal beauty of the stars, multiplied by the dancing waves of atmospheric energy.

Iceland Travel Tips

Dress in layers. It’ll go from T-shirt weather to arctic anger-blast in just a few hours, and you’ll want to be prepared.
Don't forget a good windbreaker. A tiny volcanic island on the edge of the arctic circle in the middle of the ocean? Hurricane-force winds are simply a way of life here, and the locals all keep wind-proof jackets nearby at all times.
Bring a flashlight or sleeping mask. Depending on the time of year you visit there could be up to 24 hours of daylight or literally no daylight at all. Be prepared!
Learn to make a mean PB&J. Food and drinks in Iceland are disastrously expensive. Hitting a grocery store for some sandwich provisions saved me nearly $500 over the course of my trip.
Caffeinate. Powerful waterfalls and dazzling landscapes during the day, and Northern Lights at night? Sleep is dumb and you can do it when you get home.

As the summer of my 30th birthday approached, I decided that box on my bucket list had gone unchecked for too long. If the goal was Northern Lights, then, of course, I would need to head north. A few options immediately sprang to mind, but not all destinations are created equal. Since the Aurora aren’t guaranteed, I wanted a destination that was spectacular in its own right — rain or shine, day or night. After some deliberation with my travel partner, we settled on Iceland.

It's supposed to be a photographer's paradise, shrouded in mysticism and unrivaled natural beauty. Glaciers a mile thick, bubbling volcanic cauldrons, and of course, frequent aurora. With a major highway that circumnavigates the entire island, Iceland is extremely easy to navigate. We picked favorite spots along the way and plotted our course. With major landmarks every few miles, we figured any possible night could provide the perfect foreground should the celestial light show occur.

What Is the Aurora Borealis, Anyway?

Electrically charged particles are hurled from the sun at speeds of up to 450 miles per second. As they reach Earth, our magnetic field shields us and directs the particles towards the poles (which is exactly why places like Iceland are so popular for Aurora viewing). The solar particles collide with gasses in the upper atmosphere and the resulting energy is expressed as visible light. Green, blue, pink, red and magenta have all been reported. Aurora occur in our upper atmosphere, anywhere from 50 miles to 400 miles above the ground, and technically occur only in the northern hemisphere. In the southern hemisphere, they’re called Aurora australis.

After weeks of planning, we boarded the plane and began our journey. Our overnight flight featured gentle green curtains out the window; a quick teaser for what was to come. The lights were faint but visible, and I counted the minutes until we landed and I could gaze skyward.

I arrived in a springtime tempest, with freezing temps and blowing snow. Monochrome clouds blended seamlessly with the white landscape, completely obscuring the masterpiece occurring over our heads. For the entire first week of our trip, we didn't see the stars.

But as we made our way to the north shore of the island the weather began to clear. Brilliant sunshine and blue skies greeted us as we drove into Akureyri and the forecast remained positive into the night. Unfortunately, Aurora are ephemeral and fairly rare. They require the perfect blend of atmospheric conditions and incoming solar wind to occur. With high hopes and anticipatory jitters I got online to check the forecast, which read:

BREAKING NEWS: Massive Solar Storm Set To Impact Earth Tonight. NASA Predicts Strongest Aurora of the Decade.

So this is what it feels like to win the lottery. I immediately resigned myself to not sleeping for the next 4 days and plotted our course on the map. Godafoss, one of the most historic and famous waterfalls in the world was a short drive outside town. It felt as though my head had only grazed the pillow when my alarm went off at midnight. I threw on the nearest clothes and rushed out to the car. Passing through the countryside was magical. We drove a winding ribbon of asphalt, flanked by snow-capped peaks a jewel-encrusted sky. The city lights faded behind us, replaced by delicate green lights dancing across the sky. We reached our destination and killed the engine. As the headlights dimmed to darkness we realized the lights in the sky weren't delicate. The sky was ablaze. Vertical curtains of emerald green shimmered and swayed across the heavens. Infinite daggers of light jutting across eternity.

Even in the moment, I knew this experience would be indescribable, and as I write this that continues to be true. A lifetime of desire and longing finally coming to realization. Standing at the base of a massive waterfall, watching brilliant Aurora compete for my attention against a staggering starlight backdrop... I blinked back icy tears and sucked in frozen breaths. Never in my wildest dreams could I imagine anything upstaging the Icelandic landscape. My lifelong love affair with mountains was immediately overshadowed by an intense newcomer to my life. For the next five nights, the Aurora show continued, each performance as brilliant as the last. I lived a practically nocturnal life, trying to make the most of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Aurora Photo Tips

Open the aperture of your lens as wide as possible (the lowest the F-Stop number you can get).

Raise your ISO to between 1000 and 3200, depending on the intensity of the Aurora.

Manually focus. Your camera will struggle to focus on the dancing ribbons of Aurora. Pick the brightest star in the sky and use that as a focal point and then don’t change it for the rest of your shooting. Everything will stay tack-sharp based on that.

Long exposures are your friend! Extremely bright Aurora may only need 2-4 seconds, but don’t be shy about going as high as 15 seconds if the lights aren’t as bright as you’d like.

It's a strange feeling to check a two-decade-old item off one's bucket list. It feels as though one should pick new aspirations to fill the vacancy. But at the same time, shortening the list gives purpose to life. An experience, although completely intangible in the grand scheme, adds another drop in the bucket of a life well lived. As I write this from the rooftop of my apartment in Cusco I can't help but glace at my ever-dwindling list. This world is too big for that list to ever run empty. Every corner of this world is brimming with once-in-a-lifetime experiences. The day will come when even the Aurora will be upstaged, and I can't wait to see it.

Chasing a Once-in-a-Decade View of the Aurora Borealis in Iceland

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