Usually in late Spring, NJ residents are preparing to swap their 5 millimeter wetty for something a bit thinner and without a hood. Fiona Mullen, Andy Schussler, Tommy George, and Connor Monaghan opted for the opposite.
Yesterday, I talked to Fiona, a 20-year old, surfer, and photographer from NJ about her trip around the beautiful country of Iceland.
Fiona and company beat roadblocks in 70-mph wind, hiked snowy mountain tops, got lost, got cold, and scored freezing Icelandic surf.
Fiona’s plan was to travel the Ring Road–a path that would lead them around the country of Iceland during their month-long adventure.
“Most people do it for a week and stop at the popular spots. But, we did it for a month with our small SUV.”
“We drove around the whole Ring Road, but since we had way more time, we drove off that path quite a bit and went into some crazy, small villages and looked for surf all around the country…”
“We had a giant board bag and it was just always flying off the car. The weather was crazy and by the end of the trip the whole roof of our rental car was all scratched up.”
About halfway through their stay, the travelers hit a speed bump.
“We pitched a tent on top of a mountain in a small town… our crappy Walmart tent blew to pieces one of the nights… Andy is crazy and said fuck it–he cut off a lot of what we were supposed to see in the Northeast and drove 8 hours into the night to beat the storm.”
The freezing beating was actually a blessing in disguise. The storm drove Fiona’s crew out of their first northern stop and to the fjord where they surfed an overhead, Icelandic point break.
“It was the most deceiving wave I’ve ever seen in my life. It looked fun, like waist high… They got out there and I kid you not, it was about 10-12 feet, right point break… It was crazy and the boys were freaking out…”
Fiona’s trip was not one for the light of heart. Her and friends were constantly cold, wet, and tired. But, they were living. Living fast and living high on nothing more than a few waves and some crazy stories to bring back to Jersey.
For a look at the rest of my conversation with Fiona, please scroll to the bottom of your screen–listen and look as she walks me through the trip, picture by picture…
–Ryan
Also… Here is Tommy George’s edit from the trip.