Iceland: where the sun never goes down and the scenery is out of this world! I had the amazing opportunity to travel to Iceland for my 21st birthday with my family (and one family friend/hairdresser who is basically family, shout-out to her for doing our hair everyday and thinking of this trip)! Iceland is such a beautiful country that everyone should travel to. You will feel like you landed on Mars because of all the volcanoes and lava that take over the country. While there, I learned a lot about this country, like how they are big believers of elves and fairies. So much so that they will not build anything if they believe an elf/fairy lives there because they will be homeless and get sad, no lie a worker told me this when I asked about the fairy houses I saw. If you ever have the opportunity to travel to Iceland, please do, you will not regret it! Here are the Do’s and Don’ts for Iceland.

1. Do bring a sleep mask if you do not like sleeping when it's light out:

Without the time being on the picture, you would think it was 3 PM, wouldn't you?! Iceland isn't called the Midnight Sun for nothing! When I got off the plane and got to my hotel at around 1 AM I was so confused because it was so light out. Thank god our hotel had thick shades so we were able to fall asleep. But I would still bring sleeping masks just in case your hotel does not have good window shades.

2. Don't tip:

Yes you read that correctly, do not tip at restaurants! The reason why you don't tip is because they make minimum wage instead of living off of $2 an hour. I know that it will be very weird to only pay the exact amount but if you do give a tip the waitress will look at you weirdly. No lie, when we went out to eat one night, we forgot and we gave the waitress a tip. She then came back and told us we payed her too much! She wouldn't even take the tip. Just a little FYI: do tip the tour guides if you go on tours, they gladly accept them!

3. Do: bring a raincoat:

I went in July so it was not as cold and rainy as it is in the winter but I would still bring one! We did many tours that went to waterfalls and even got to walk under one (as you can see in the photo above this). The waterfall was very powerful and I was glad I brought a raincoat so I wouldn't get absolutely drenched like the many people who didn't bring one! I also brought a backpack so it was easy to store my raincoat when it got too hot to wear it.

4. Don't call the horses ponies:

I repeat DO NOT call the horses ponies, Icelandic people get very offended! I kid you not, a couple of people in my group went horse back riding and they called one of the horses a pony and the trainer got really mad at them! But if you want to see the land of Iceland up close and personal I would definitely go horse back riding there, if you are not afraid of horses like me! Don't be fooled by this photo I was petrified of this horse!

5. Do go to South Iceland:

Please, please, please go to South Iceland if you have the opportunity. Yes, it's a long tour, about 11 hours total, but you will not regret it. Before leaving for Iceland, I researched a lot about the country. Every blog and website said to go to South Iceland. That the scenery is so different than the city, Reykjavik, and that you will not regret it. This part of Iceland also has black sand beaches and that was on my bucket list. Anyway, long story short it was the last full day in Iceland and I still really wanted to go to South Iceland, but was exhausted from the whole week of going on tours all day. But thank goodness I decided to go! Just my mom and I went because the others didn't want to go and honestly this was my favorite tour that we went on! The black sand beaches were so eerie and looked like something out of a fantasy book. No wonder why Game of Thrones films in Iceland because it honestly doesn't look real. You also get to see cute little puffins.

6. Don't expect anything to be cheap:

I mean, even Iceland makes fun of how expensive they are! Just to give you an idea, my grandmother spent nearly a thousand dollars on the first day! Don't expect to walk into a gift shop and get a cheap thing for your boss or friend. Food is also crazy expensive! We didn't even go to fancy restaurants (only once on the last full day) and a steak cost about $65. So if you ever travel to Iceland expect to spend a lot of money on food.

7. Do go to bar B5:

Our hotel was right on the main street and right across the street from this bar and on Friday and Saturday night until 4 AM you could hear the music so loudly in our room that it felt like the club was in our room. If you can't sleep with loud noises around you bring earplugs if you are going to be living in the city, there are a lot of loud bars there. On Saturday, the night before my 21st, we thought, "well if we can't beat them, we might as well join them" so everyone went there around 11 PM and it was not as packed as this photo is. It was a very tiny room with a singer that sang American songs until around midnight. I thought it was funny that everyone in there was singing American music since they were all Icelandic but they said they love our music so that's cool! Because we had to wake up early the next day to go to the Blue Lagoon, we left around 1 AM. As you can see in the photo, as the night got later the club got more packed, I mean this is just the line to get into the place. So if you're looking for a good time and want to party all night definitely go here!

8. Don't stay on the main street if you want peace and quiet:

Our hotel was right on the main party street in Reykjavik and while I loved the livelihood of living on the party street, my Gigi did not! We had the windows open and it felt like B5 was right in our hotel room, it was very hard for some people to fall asleep at night. So if you do not like a lot of noise or your traveling with little kids I would suggest staying on a different street in Reykjavik.

9.Do go to the Blue Lagoon:

This was 110% my favorite part of the trip. Maybe I'm a little bias because it was my birthday, but still please, please, please go you will not regret it! Some people will say that the Blue Lagoon was too crowded and commercialized and while yes that is true, it wasn't enough to not make me love it! It is huge, to the point that you can find a place where there is not a lot of people there at all! I mean look at this picture, there is not anyone near us. It is also absolutely gorgeous, it is definitely Instagram worthy!

10. Don't get your hair wet at any of the hot springs:

Please do not be like me and lie in the Blue Lagoon, you will regret it later that night! We were told before hand to not get our hair wet but did I listen?? No. In my head I was like "well how bad can it be? I mean this is a once and a lifetime opportunity," so I went under a lot! Well that was a huge mistake. My hair was stiff as a board for more than a week and it felt disgusting. The reason why your hair will turn stiff is because the hot springs are full of sulfur which causes your hair to stiffen.

11. Don't be weirded out that everyone will shower naked around you at the hot springs:

Nudity is not a big deal in Iceland at all! So don't be shocked that people will walk around naked in the changing rooms without a care in the world! And don't try to not shower naked, the people working there will make you take everything off because they want to make sure you are 100% clean. Everyone can tell who the Americans are because we will walk around trying to cover our bodies. But please try not to feel uncomfortable, I remember being very uncomfortable at first but after a few minutes I just did it. I promise you no one will look at you weirdly, or even at all, because it's normal to them.

12. Do wear comfortable shoes while walking around:

DO NOT WEAR HEELS. I made the mistake of wearing heels one night because I wanted to look cute walking around Reykjavik. But man did I regret it. It may be a small city but you still do a lot of walking. I remember contemplating if I should walk around barefoot or not.

13. Do go to the Laundromat Cafe in Reykjavik:

My family and I seriously went to this restaurant almost every day to get their amazing shakes. They were the best shakes I've ever had and no joke, I still think about them all the time!!

All in all I would give Iceland a 10/10!! I think about it everyday and I hope I'm able to go back!