North by Northwest
5/21/25
It’s been a year and a half since our last international trip. When we returned from Spain, Laurie faced a major surgery. Not long after, we relocated our entire life to Cincinnati for seven weeks while she underwent 35 radiation treatments. In December, I started a new job with a great company, and just a month later, in January, Laurie missed the last step on the stairs and broke her leg. By late February, she was back in surgery. With only a few exceptions, we’ve stayed close to home throughout this whirlwind.
To say it’s been a rough stretch is an understatement. But here we are in May—with a clean post-op MRI, a fully healed leg, and Laurie back to full strength after physical therapy and recovery. I’ve settled into my job and feel truly appreciated. We’ve weathered a lot—and we’ve earned a break. Something quiet, peaceful, and just for us.
We decided to keep things simple. Icelandair now offers a direct flight from Nashville to Keflavík, and the idea of an easy, direct route to a place we love was too tempting to resist. So we’re off. And while Hitchcock’s North by Northwest was a fictional journey, our heading—NNW—is very real. From Keflavík, we’ll travel several hours to the north northwest and spend a week and a half there.
We’re headed to a part of Iceland that few travelers ever see. The area makes up 10% of the country’s landmass, 50% of its coastline, and just 2% of the population. It’s a place of rugged beauty, teeming with wildlife—puffins, seals, whales, and Arctic foxes. It’s remote, wild, and exactly what we need.
We’re off to the Westfjords.
It’s been a year and a half since our last international trip. When we returned from Spain, Laurie faced a major surgery. Not long after, we relocated our entire life to Cincinnati for seven weeks while she underwent 35 radiation treatments. In December, I started a new job with a great company, and just a month later, in January, Laurie missed the last step on the stairs and broke her leg. By late February, she was back in surgery. With only a few exceptions, we’ve stayed close to home throughout this whirlwind.
To say it’s been a rough stretch is an understatement. But here we are in May—with a clean post-op MRI, a fully healed leg, and Laurie back to full strength after physical therapy and recovery. I’ve settled into my job and feel truly appreciated. We’ve weathered a lot—and we’ve earned a break. Something quiet, peaceful, and just for us.
We decided to keep things simple. Icelandair now offers a direct flight from Nashville to Keflavík, and the idea of an easy, direct route to a place we love was too tempting to resist. So we’re off. And while Hitchcock’s North by Northwest was a fictional journey, our heading—NNW—is very real. From Keflavík, we’ll travel several hours to the north northwest and spend a week and a half there.
We’re headed to a part of Iceland that few travelers ever see. The area makes up 10% of the country’s landmass, 50% of its coastline, and just 2% of the population. It’s a place of rugged beauty, teeming with wildlife—puffins, seals, whales, and Arctic foxes. It’s remote, wild, and exactly what we need.
We’re off to the Westfjords.