8 Things To Do When You’re Overwhelmed & Stressed Out

/

We can all agree that it’s a tough time for everyone right now. We don’t need to list out what’s going on but we do need to look after ourselves and that probably includes turning the news off and putting social media down for a little bit. 8 Things To Do When You’re Overwhelmed & Stressed Out.

8 Things To Do When You’re Overwhelmed & Stressed Out

Today I felt very overwhelmed and anxious. I don’t often feel like this but I gave myself 30 mins to just be me and do a little self-care. These are the 8 things I did and I feel a lot calmer now. They’re all easy steps and I hope they help you.

  1. Breathe and Listen

    I stepped out onto our balcony and just breathed in the windy day for a second or two. Then I came in and put ‘The Most Beautiful Songs in the World’ playlist on Spotify.


  2. Pop the oven on (and the kettle) and bake

    I made some quick and easy cookies which I will link here (I just halved the recipe and there were more than enough cookies)


  3. Light a candle

    I got these deliciously calming candles from a local company, ILM, and lit one in my bedroom. It not only smells amazing but the light is lovely and it’s calming me just having it near me.


  4. Get in your comfiest, best-feeling outfit

    I put on some good undies (lol), a nice t-shirt, and some tight but comfy PJ bottoms. Don’t just stay in your clothes or get back into your worn PJs but look out for a nice fresh outfit that will make you feel comfortably good.


  5. Makeup, hair, perfume

    these all lift my mood and help me feel like me again. Try it, keep it simple and treat yourself to a little spray of your fave scent.


  6. Message a friend, if you haven’t already, or call

    it’s not only good to talk but a little rant or moan is fine, sometimes needed.


  7. Nurture something

    spend time with a pet or water your plants and care for them, talk to them, potter, and re-pot them if needed. This always helps my mindset calm a little.


  8. Speed clean/tidy your space

    set a timer for 10 minutes and blast your space, it’s amazing what you can freshen up and tidy in a short amount of time.

I hope you feel a little better, calmer, and ready to be you again, and take on the rest of the day. If you are still feeling off then pick up your phone and download the app TappingSolutions - give it a go, I really like it.

Sending love

How I Survived The Last Recession - And What It Taught Me

/

Recessions Happen And They Change Everything

They shake careers, strip away certainty, and force us into decisions we never imagined making. But they can also redirect us toward opportunities we never would have seen if everything had gone to plan.

I learned that first-hand in 2008.

my recession survival story

The Collapse: Loss, Grief, and Joblessness

When the floor fell away

I was at the start of my career as an Architect. I had a new home, a relationship, and was studying for my RIBA Part III chartered exams. I remember standing in a sandwich shop, reading headlines about the economic crash and layoffs. I genuinely didn’t think it would touch me.

It did.

Loss on loss

While I was preparing for my professional exams, my dad unexpectedly passed away. Days later, while my family and I were still reeling, my home was broken into and ransacked. My laptop, including all of my study notes, was stolen. Despite everything, the exam was still going to take place.

I locked myself in the office ‘exam room’ and kept going. Halfway through the 48-hour written exam, my boss came in. I asked the question I dreaded: “Do I still have a job?” The answer was no.

I was another recession casualty. I cried, I called my mum, I ate comfort food - and then I went back and finished the exam. Weeks later, I got the result: I had passed. But now I was an unemployed, newly qualified Architect.

When One Door Closes, A Completely Different Life Opens

The career I didn’t plan for

I was lucky to pick up a short contract working on listed buildings and got to design an amazing project in Scotland, but when it ended, the job market was brutal. Roles vanished overnight, and no one was building.

With nothing to lose, I updated my portfolio, my LinkedIn page, rebuilt my confidence, and stayed visible online.

Out of nowhere, I got a message from a recruiter about a teaching position in Asia. And literally weeks later, I was on a plane.

They trained me up in Singapore and flew me to India to help build a new design school from the ground up - curriculum, staff, students, campus culture. I spent four years teaching, travelling across India for academic launches, speaking at events, giving lectures, and leading study trips. It was the most unexpected and transformative chapter of my life.

That “failure”, losing my job in a recession, is what built the platform for everything I’ve done since.

Eventually, I was headhunted back to the UK as Head of First Year for Interior Architecture at a leading Arts University, and later travelled on behalf of the British Council promoting further education in India.

That chain of events is what eventually led me to Iceland, to my husband, and to the life and business I run now. None of that would have happened if the recession hadn’t blown my career apart.

Watch The Video

What That Recession Taught Me

1. You cannot control the economy, only how prepared you are

Rainy-day money, transferable skills, and visibility matter more than job titles.

2. Being let go is not the end - it’s sometimes the open door

The thing that feels like destruction may actually be transportation. I know that’s hard.

3. When everyone is freezing, move

Keep building, applying, creating, learning, updating - motion is a buffer against panic.

4. Opportunity often looks inconvenient

The thing that doesn’t fit the plan might become the best thing you've ever done.

5. Recession-proofing is a behaviour, not a moment

Upgrade skills, build assets, diversify income before you feel pressured to.

If you’re facing economic uncertainty now

Don’t panic. Prepare. Improve your systems. Build something that survives outside one employer or one economy. Use the quiet seasons to build the version of you that can weather the next wave, because sadly there will be one.

I came out of the last recession with a new career, international experience, a global network, a lot more confidence, and a life I never would have designed on paper.

Sometimes the collapse is the beginning.

Have you been affected by a recession?

Share your story in the comments

If you’re in a career wobble or facing another economic shift, you don’t have to navigate it alone. I mentor women in design through career transitions and rebuilding phases. Learn about 1:1 Coaching

Starting to write and keep a Gratitude List

/
Gratitude List

Let’s take a minute to just stop everything to focus on what we have in the form of a Gratitude List. I get that this is a challenging time and it’s hard to find something to be grateful for - maybe you’ve lost your job, some income, a big client or you’re struggling with a drop in sales. It’s a difficult time for a lot of us right now and that’s why finding the good and focussing on what we do have is even more important. Pause the worry, and start to reflect on what you have.

Gratitude journaling

This is something you might have heard of, and whilst I don’t actively keep one, I do try to keep a list of positive things in my head - I call this my gratitude list. I believe we should actively put down in writing whatever thoughts are important and that whatever we put out into the world comes back to us.

Positivity and abundance

It’s important to focus on the positives, especially when we’re going through a tough time like right now. Look for the lessons, the things to be grateful for, and the abundance in your life. Ask yourself “what have or can I learn from or be grateful for in my day, the last few weeks/months, or even years”? List out what you have that you are grateful for, what opportunities have come your way, lucky moments, people you’ve met, and places you’ve gone. However big or small, they matter to you and in your life.

 

Let’s make a gratitude list

So I invite you to join me and write your list, here’s mine:

  1. A roof over our heads, a safe place to sleep, and hot showers

  2. Family and friends all over the world, and FaceTime

  3. Food for all of us, and a happy and healthy little girl who loves being fed

  4. *Enough financial security, and a rainy day fund

  5. Spring daylight, especially after the long stormy winter we’ve had here in Iceland

  6. My online community, my followers, you guys, and how much Community is coming out of this ‘new normal’

  7. My work, remote and flexible, which gives me a way to share value, and experience and make an impact

  8. An open mind, fresh ideas, and the ability to push through and make them happen

  9. Daily walks with Mia, a good buggy, and podcasts

  10. Support - I feel I give support to others and I always have the support of my Viking, Ingimar

 

This past year has been a tough one for us, but thankfully things are starting to lookup

 

There’s always something to be grateful for

Keep this list somewhere close and share it with your partner or a friend, if you like - when you get down or start to focus on those negative, scarcity thoughts and feel like things are getting out of control, pick up your list and find some grounding again. Remind yourself that you have enough, and you are enough and that you can always find something to be grateful for.

What are you grateful for?

Do What You Love, and the sh*t that comes with it

/
Do What You Love, and the sh*t that comes with it

What does ‘doing what you love’ really mean, and look like?

Since moving to Iceland 4 years ago now, I have worked for myself. Working for myself is an easy phrase to type or say but the action of making it happen and being successful, as in profitable, is a different story. Working for myself looks like running this blog, posting on Instagram (now 2 accounts), collaborations, filming editing and uploading videos to YouTube, running an Etsy shop, commissions, online course creation, client interior and architecture projects and all the marketing and admin that come with it. I don’t say yes to everything, it’s not all fun and games. I’ve learnt many lessons along the way so I wanted to take a minute and discuss what working for yourself and ‘doing what you love’ really looks like.

Build a life you love

People today seem to think that they can find their passion and do that every day, all day long. Easy, right? Your life will be amazing. Your work will be wonderful. You’ll never be bored. You’ll never get stressed. You’ll never have money worries, and you’ll only do what you want to do.

In reality, all that is kind of false.

Everyone’s an Entrepreneur

I feel like I hear this everywhere I turn right now. On blogs, Instagram, podcasts, YouTube, Facebook. Maybe that’s just a reflection of what I’m listening to and attracting but is it true? Are we in a generation of entrepreneurs?

Most entrepreneurs start out either with an idea or a solution. The main aim is to make a difference, either in someone’s life or as an impact on the world. A lot of these entrepreneurs will claim they can teach you how to ‘build a life you love’, ‘'build your business’, ‘build your following’, etc and a lot of them are very successful at it - if you’re willing to put in the hard work then hopefully you’ll see results. This can, of course, make a difference in your life, work and purpose. But then it doesn’t appeal or apply to everyone. Not everyone wants to, or should, be their own boss.

80/20

Running your own business can take about 80% of your time (spent on marketing, admin, etc) to allow for the creative part, that part that you’re really passionate about, and there’s only 20% of your time remaining. It’s a juggle and a struggle, and it’s not often how you imagined you’d be spending your time.

Live a Creative Life

As creatives, our personalities don’t necessarily lend themselves to being the boss - at least not straight away. My advice is to build up loads of experience, learn from others. Work in different companies, on different projects, with different clients, and budgets, and problems. Try hard, ask questions, work late, stick around, sit in on meetings you don’t need to be in (if allowed), offer ideas, find solutions, build your confidence.

I’m not one to quote Oprah but she said “Are you going to get bored with your job, yes. Are you going to get restless, yes. Are you going to love every second of it, no”…“Your job is not always going to fulfil you.” And of course she’s right, there will be days where you don’t feel like going…go anyway. “Your job is not who you are, it’s just what you’re doing on the way to who you will become.”

Building a working framework isn’t glamorous

Routine is important in life, in work, in our jobs and in building a framework for our future self. Think of your future self. Think back 1, 2, 5, 10 years ago and imagine what you would say to yourself about growth and personal development. Now think 1, 2, 5, 10 years ahead and start working on what that future self needs, now. Massive question…Are you happy in your life, where it’s going and in what you have achieved so far? If no, doing just read on, it’s time to make a plan and start it today.

Become an Expert

Routine can be boring, mundane but the action of doing something over and over and over again, eventually makes you become an expert. Over that time you will no doubt get good at it. Now apply this thinking to your skillset, especially the items you aren’t so keen on; sketching, CAD, writing, presenting, making phone calls.

This has helped me with things like working under pressure. Sure, it gets easier with time, you learn how to respond to pressure and priorities. Juggling it all is something I still find challenging, and probably will for a long time; projects, clients, employees (haha Ingimar), contractors (both online and off), suppliers (both online and off), and deadlines.

Clients

Working with clients is possibly one of the best and most challenging parts of my work. The best for obvious reasons; you wouldn’t be working without them, but clients often don’t understand the process, or that they might not be your only client at one time, yet they will demand your attention and creativity whether you’re ready or not. I’ve had a client give a project brief on a Monday and they’ve expected ideas to follow pretty much instantly.

“It doesn’t matter what you do and how much you love it, you will still have a tonne of sh*t you have to deal with in order to do what you love.” - Marie Forleo

Wearing all the hats

Facing the good and the bad in business is a necessity, it’s just how it works. Working for myself means I wear many hats, some I don’t like as much as others, some I wish I didn’t have to wear (especially on Monday mornings). For me, like many, that’s unanswered emails and following up on phone calls. But my biggest pet business peeve is having to chase up fees from clients who haven’t paid - it’s so disrespectful and rude.

Be your own Boss, in time

Having said all that, I love it and it’s all worth it. I love Layoutlines, I love Iceland Family Life, I love my work, I love working for myself and I love that I’m building my little empire. But remember it takes time. Respect the time it takes to build your empire. Those who rush, make mistakes.

Yes, I get impatient at times, I want to see the numbers higher and the pressure less. But all of that comes from my boss; me. That’s what being your own boss sometimes looks like. And that’s completely normal, we all do it. So I keep on writing these blog posts, picking up my camera, doing commissions, designs for clients, chasing fees, opening emails, and replying to DMs. You just have to do the ‘sh*t’ to make the good stuff keep happening.

Let’s embrace all the stuff we don’t necessarily love about building our empires and think of our future self. Turn up to work, even when we don’t want to. And once we are in a routine, going with the flow, open to new ideas - that’s when the magic will happen. What do you think?

An Instagram Guide To Reykjavik

/

Instagram is like a travel photobook and I often look up places I am visiting to see what it looks like and get some ideas for posts too. So if you are like me, and are planning a trip to Reykjavik, here are my top 10 Instagram spots in Reykjavik - why not tag me @sonianicolson so I can see where you went.

Hallgrimskirkja Church (front & back of church)

Known as the big church, but note it is not the Cathedral in Reykjavik and sits proudly on the hill smack bang in the centre of town. It’s said to be inspired by an erupting geyser, and its bold and brutal architectural form certainly is dramatic. Go inside to take in the calm and minimal Scandi interior, listen to the magnificent organ, and take the lift to the top to enjoy 360 views across the city (on a clear day).

Icelandic Houses (in general)

Walking around downtown, you’ll see many picturesque corrugated-iron-clad houses, in many colours. Many of these houses have been in the same family for generations and are protected by the citi’s Planning Regulations. The original houses were typically constructed in timber with a stone coal store but after a large fire broke out years ago, construction changed to concrete. The corrugated iron was imported from the UK and used to cover wooden external work to protect it from the harsh Icelandic winter storms.

A cinnamon bun from Brauð & Co

Food, coffee, yay. This bakery is a treat for the eyes, nose, and stomach. The shopfront displays an abstract mural depicting Iceland’s landscape complete with mountains, moss, snow, volcanic eruptions, and the Northern Lights - or that’s what we see in it. Step inside and grab yourself a delicious cinnamon bun.

Street Art on & around Laugavegur (Tie Mural, etc)

The city has many murals on display across its buildings, by local and international artists. This is encouraged and some are well worth a wander to see.

Polar Bears on Laugavegur

A little touristy but the Polar bears standing guard on Laugavegur make for a fun picture - don’t worry, they’re not real and are washed every year.

‘Rainbow Road’ - bottom of Skólavörðustígur

The city used to paint a rainbow in different locations every year in chalk before they decided to paint it permanently in 2019 at the bottom of Skólavörðustígur. You can get a great picture from here, looking up towards Hallgrimskirkja.

Sólfarið (Sun Voyager sculpture)

This Viking ship sculpture, located in the bay, makes for a very dramatic picture with Mt Esja in the background.

Harpa Concert Hall

Come in and get warm. This beautiful modern concert hall is a fabulous public building so enjoy the outside but also pop in to warm up, use the toilet, get free WiFi and enjoy the views from the 5th floor. The building is inspired by fish scales and the glass is illuminated at night in colours to show off a display resembling the Northern Lights.

Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur’s for a traditional hot dog

Order a hot dog ‘with everything’ to fully enjoy the Icelandic hot dog experience, and have a look inside the hut to spot a picture of Bill Clinton at this very hot dog stand - which has withstood recent modern developments all around it.

Tjorinn (the pond and City Hall)

Get your bearings. Inside the city hall is a topographic map of Iceland which gives a great perspective of the landscape, its glaciers, and coastline. The pond outside freezes over in winter and locals skate on it, but a small section is kept defrosted for the resident swans and ducks.

Bonuses, in & around Reykjavik

  1. Grotta Lighthouse (and foot bath)

    Just outside the city, head west along the coast until you get to the Grotta Lighthouse. This makes for a nice, but windy, walk but there is a little thermal pool here which is big enough to sit with your feet in and enjoy the view. This is also a good spot for the Northern Lights, if you can see them here then it is worth a drive further from light pollution.

  2. Reykjavik’s’ Old Harbor

    A great area to wander around, grab some fish and chips or lobster soup, and explore the harbour. Seabarinn is a good spot for some lobster soup.

  3. Perlan

    A few minute’s drive south of the centre is Perlan or the Pearl. This is the city water tower but home to a fabulous exhibition on Iceland with a planetarium of the Aurora Borealis and an artificial ice cave. The cafe on the top floor is great and the views from here on a clear day are fabulous.

  4. Cafe Flóran Bistro

    The cafe is located in the City’s botanical gardens and is only open in the summer months, check their Facebook page. The cakes here are delicious and the setting is beautiful.

  5. Árbæjarsafn Open-Air Folk Museum

    A very cool outdoor exhibition displaying buildings from years gone by. Step inside an old Icelandic home, see objects from the past and learn about construction and more. Staff are in costume and the site is near Elliðaárdalur where the waterfall below is.

  6. Einar Jónsson Sculpture Garden

    This sculpture garden is right beside Hallgrimskirkja, walk over the road and turn left. The garden is a little escape and full of bold and dramatic pieces which represent biblical stories or that of the Icelandic Sagas.

  7. Nauthólsvík geothermal beach

    Out near the domestic airport and past the University buildings is Nauthólsvík which is a nice little beach where you can spot some brave souls swimming but also you can enjoy the small pool here. Check times as it does close for cleaning.

  8. Mt Esja

    A hike that rewards you with a view across to the city, Mt Esja is the ‘table mountain’ of Reykjavik.

  9. Imagine Peace Tower

    The light that shines straight up from an island in the bay is the Yoko Ono Peace Tower. This is only light in winter but can be seen from all over Reykjavik.

  10. Elliðaárdalur Waterfall

    A beautiful park with an incredible waterfall right in the city, Elliðaárdalur is a fabulous walk and the waterfall is easy to find and well worth it.

Moving To Reykjavik, Iceland...how it's going

/

I met my Viking, Ingimar, the old-school way - in a bar back in Edinburgh. The funny thing is that neither of us lived there at the time so it was a completely random meeting. I believe it was meant to be and the stars aligned for us that night.

Ingimar was on a football trip with his two best friends and had flown over from Iceland for a short trip, travelling from Bristol to Manchester and then Edinburgh before flying home to Reykjavik. I was on a hen night with old school friends (and dressed like an Air Hostess, of course) and had flown up for the weekend to see friends and family.

We had gone to a ceilidh bar in town called the Ghillie Dhu. To cut a long story short, his friend came over and said “My friend thinks you’re cute” and like tipsy girls, we giggled and continued our conversation. Realizing that was a little rude, as he was not Scottish, I decided to go over and speak to them. I sat next to Ingimar and said “You don’t look like you’re from here, where are you from?” and he said Iceland - to which I said “What? Nobody lives there” and, well, look at me now. We connected on Facebook (oh the romance) and then I left with my friends - I had such a reassuring feeling that we would meet again.

Real-Life Online Dating

Thank goodness for WhatsApp, Facebook, and FaceTime.

I remember the first time we did a video call, I was so nervous but the second we saw each other, we just wanted to meet up. It was weird because we didn’t know each other, we had met for such a short time in the bar that night but we felt so close already.

Meeting Up In Person

I was home in Edinburgh, on Christmas break when I got a call from the International Recruitment Team at University. I worked as a Senior Lecturer at the time and often went on international recruitment trips to Asia. I was meant to be going to China to deliver a lecture in January but they had to cancel and needed an academic on a recruitment trip to Iceland.

It was so completely out of the blue, I honestly thought that this was the stars lining up for us. I mean, there was no reason for me to be going to Iceland other than to see Ingimar, and it was a big step to do so. We were at the stage where one of us would have to book a flight and make the first move but neither of us was quite ready to leap. This was fate.

A Little Long Distance

A load of late-night calls turned into searching sky scanner for the cheapest flights, and after a good few visits back and forth we finally approached the question of who would make the big move so we could be together.

At the time I was living and working down on the South Coast of England in Bournemouth. I had a good job as a Senior Lecturer at the University and was getting to visit India frequently with the British Council - but I was burnt out. Ingimar was working for a big games company here in Iceland and had never lived abroad so it would have been a much bigger step for him, plus he was happy in his job. His mother had recently passed away and we left it was too soon to leave his home, friends, and family. All things pointed to me moving and so we started to plan.

Planned To Relocate

Midterm break and I flew over to Iceland and spent the break staying with Ingimar. We did normal things, he went to work and I wandered around, trying to imagine life in Iceland. Moving abroad for me wasn’t as big a deal as many might think. I had lived for a year in Japan doing my MA, and a good few years in India working and wasn’t living in my home city at the time anyway. I had visited several times by now, including for his Mother's funeral where I met the family and his friends. I was ready for a change of pace, and it was time to make the move.

Getting Engaged

Ever the romantic, I told the Viking that I would move under one condition - that we are engaged. Yes, we loved each other and were planning to be together, but I had to be realistic. I was leaving a good job, my friends, and my family, and I wanted a commitment from him. I wanted to know if we were in it for the long haul.

He proposed at Christmas, and I moved over in February.

I Quit My Job

Handing in my notice at work was filled with mixed emotions. I was ready to let go of all the stress, pressure, and admin but I loved my job and working with my students. I didn’t look forward to telling them. I wrote a letter and was ready to hand it to my line manager, and HR. I asked for a meeting with him and straight away, I could tell he knew what was coming. I told him in our office and we went for a coffee to chat about my plans and new life. He was shocked but happy for me.

We planned how we would tell the students. We gathered all 250+ of them in the studio, along with the other academic and admin staff with who I’d worked closely. It was an emotional meeting but I am so happy that so many people came to wish me well and luck. My students threw me a little farewell party too - I think I had 3 leaving dos in total.

I miss the students and lecturing but I don’t miss marking, especially the many many dissertations.

Packed Up My Life for the new chapter

Anyone who’s tried to relocate, especially to a pricey country like Iceland, knows of the challenges. Ingimar found a packing company that shipped to Iceland and we signed the contract for the move. Unfortunately, whilst my boxes were in transit, the company went bust.

After a clear-out and a few trips to the charity shop, I packed up my necessities into my pink suitcase (which has been to both Japan and India with me) and the rest went into the boxes the company had delivered. It took me a weekend to clear my tiny studio apartment - with the help of my lovely Mum - and we checked into a hotel on the seafront for my last night in Bournemouth.

Fly Home To Edinburgh

I flew home to Edinburgh with Mum the next day, armed with my big pink case, and spent a couple of weeks seeing friends and family before the big move. During this time I did all the practical things like visiting the doctors and getting prescriptions, getting my eyes tested, and so on.

I packed my life up, tracked my boxes as they travelled to Iceland, and got myself ready for the next chapter of my life.

Finding Work in Iceland, & Working On Plan B

For those of you who don’t know, I’m a British chartered Architect who survived the recession by heading off to India to help set up a new Design School. Whilst in India I set up layoutlines.com as a place to share my ‘incredible India’ stories and returned to the UK to teach at University and assist in international recruitment. All this time I kept up blogging on Layoutlines and set up an Etsy shop to share my Architectural illustrations, and also to meet other like-minded creatives in my new home.

Moving to Reykjavik was going to be challenging employment-wise as I didn’t speak the language and had little to no connections. Getting to visit Reykjavik with the university recruitment team prior to moving was great and helped with networking a little. I knew the staff at the Art Schools’ illustration department and managed to get some guest lecturing work with them.

I spent months, literally months, applying to so many Architecture and Interior companies here but to no avail. Finally, I managed to speak to someone who told me that I wasn’t successful because I hadn’t been educated or trained in a Scandinavian country. So with that lack of openness, I decided to save my time and focus on my own thing.

working

Teaching and sharing my skills and experience was something I was passionate about and so I started to think of ways to do this on my own, through my website. I planned, wrote, and filmed the Portfolio Course and started to offer in-person tutorials which were great fun. I ran some workshops in our home and was working on growing my social media through YouTube and Instagram.

Aside from this, I have taken on temporary work doing copywriting, Marketing, Website Building and Content Creation for local companies too.

Relocated To Reykjavik - Vlogging

I made a very conscious decision to pick up my camera and film from the moment I landed in Iceland. I hadn’t ever vlogged before but I wanted to record this chapter of my life, and wish I had done the same for India and Japan.

A few years on and it’s lovely having these memories and special moments on film to watch back. My channel has been growing slowly and I love engaging with my viewers in the comments. Sharing my life was easy but now that we have Mia, I’m a little more conscious about what I share. Being a Mum makes me responsible for her and what is shown of her at such a young age. I’m always careful and try not to overshare but I feel it’s also important to share certain things and talk about some issues to help other new Mums.

I make a little income from my channel, mainly through ads so please subscribe. I want to make more informative videos on Iceland and Motherhood on my channel so watch out for these coming soon.

Getting residency in Iceland

The big question and I get how lucky I am that I come from an EU country (pre-Brexit) so it was pretty smooth. Also, moving here to live with my (at the time) fiancé meant that we were classed by the state as living together which in the eyes of the Icelandic TAX department meant the same as being married.

We went to the immigration offices and handed in the paperwork, my passport, and driver’s license along with proof of no other marriage. I needed to email them proof I wasn’t married (a nearly impossible thing to prove really) but I did this by emailing the Births, Marriages, and Deaths record office in Scotland who replied saying they had no record of any marriage and I simply forwarded this to them.

A few weeks later I had my residency status.

My Boxes, Lost & Found

The company which was shipping my boxes had gone under, literally days after picking up all of my belongings. I had the tracking number so could get on the shipping website and try to track where they were. As they were in transit, we knew they wouldn’t be returned to the UK but we had no idea where they’d go and when they’d turn up. Fingers crossed and praying to the shipping gods.

After a stressful few weeks trying to track where my boxes had gone, Ingimar got a call on his mobile from a delivery driver down at Customs who said my boxes were there. This was totally out of the blue, and he wanted to deliver that morning. We were both out. Ingimar had only just gone the work when he had to turn around and head home to help lift them upstairs and into the spare room.

My stuff and I were finally home.

Phew, Settling Into life in Reykjavik

Oddly, the vlogs helped me settle in. I could carry my camera around and talk to it, talk to whoever was watching, and sometimes express my self/emotions/culture shock.

I had a hard time in the beginning and felt very lonely. Iceland can be a very isolating place, the weather and dark winter don’t help. Ingimar was out at work, I was not getting any success with jobs and we hardly saw anyone. In the UK, we often just pop around to family but it isn’t the same here and I missed that. Even though I didn’t live in Edinburgh before coming here to Reykjavik, I didn’t get why it wasn’t the same here. I missed my friends and I missed being surrounded by students.

Weather in Iceland

I arrived in February, and in hindsight, that might not have been the best time. Snow, windy days and nights, lack of sunlight, and general wintery days meant for a slow, almost hibernating Sonia. This was good as it meant I took things slowly, I couldn’t fight a ‘winter mode’ so just went with it. I took slow snowy walks, got used to the darkness with candles and fairy lights, and enjoyed warming up in the local hot pools. Spring would eventually come and I could start to come to life again in my new home.

learning the Icelandic Language

There was a language course starting at Ingimar’s work and so he signed me up. It was the beginners class in Icelandic, which I have now completed twice. I speak a little Icelandic but I understand a fair bit. It’s a hard language and one which is a challenge to pronounce.

I can, however, say Eyjafjallajökull pretty accurately. That’s good enough, for now.

Icelandic Food

Iceland isn’t known for its cuisine, and I’d agree with that. I have tried my fair share of fermented foods and liquorice, I’m a fan of either. There are some seriously unusual foods here in Iceland, the festival of Þorrablót is all about eating fermented food and washing it down with Brennivín and my Viking eats dried fish as a ‘treat’.

But Iceland is an island after all, and a volcanic one at that, so food can be pretty pricey, especially eating out. Items grown here in Iceland tend to cost more than items shipped in because they are expensive to manufacture. Icelandic prices take a bit of getting used to but as a rule of thumb, double the price you’d pay for an item at ‘home’ then you might not feel quite as bad paying the Icelandic price.

We usually do our food shopping at either Bonus or Kronan. Grocery stores here are smaller than in the UK, with a lot fewer opinions and often you have to go to a few different stores, like Hagkaup, to find a specific ingredient.

I do love Icelandic Skyr, the Viking would hate me saying this as it’s a type of cheese but it’s like thick, creamy yoghurt. I don’t mind a hot dog or a hamburger with all the toppings and sauces, and whatever else they put on, and the Icelandic lamb is just delicious (sorry vegetarians). Icelanders are also massive fans of ice cream and can be seen queuing up, even in the cold dark winter months.

Making Friends in Iceland

I’ve tried a few ways to make local friends here in Reykjavik, and some have been more successful than others. Of course, being the wife of a Viking means you have access to his friends and their wives, but getting your group of friends is important.

In India, I went to Zumba three times a week and made friends in the class, and with the instructors too, so naturally I signed up for Zumba classes here. The class was full of fit, attractive girls, hogging the mirror, taking selfies on Snapchat, and looking so pulled together that they were ready for a club, not the gym. This wasn’t for me and these people weren’t my tribe.

I went on Facebook and searched for social groups in Reykjavik and found GGI (Girls Gone International) which has a monthly meet-up. I headed nervously to the cafe and met the girls. The chat was very pleasant, we exchanged our ‘moving to Iceland’ stories, but it wasn’t until after that a couple of the girls stayed behind and we chatted about life here, and what we missed or wanted to do. I had found my friends, my partying, and my creative gang.

Sometime later, pregnant me needed a mum group (aka the buggy gang) which is made up of wives or colleagues from Ingimar work, a friend from my aquafit class and other Mum-friends who happened to know one of us. These girls have kept me sane over the last year and a half.

Making Money self-employed

This is a serious topic and I will start by saying that I prepared for the move and had savings to help me survive a good few months whilst I either found work or created it for myself. I make most of my money online through my website and social media content.

I run this site, its online shop, online courses and workshops, and my YouTube Channel, and I’m a wife and Mum. It’s a huge juggling act and often a lot more work than I anticipated, but I love it and love that I’m building my business, my empire, and working for myself.

Planning Our Lives Together

I guess like many; we met, got engaged, (moved country) planned and got married, fell pregnant, and became a family. That makes it sound easy. Meeting and moving here was pretty easy and felt right. It was meant to be and I trusted in the stars - I think I got this thinking from my time living in India. Getting married was wonderful and I loved bringing our cultures and families together and then returning to Iceland to start our own wee family.

Work and bringing in money has been the biggest challenge. Moving to Iceland is hard, Iceland is expensive and the general living costs are high. Saying that salaries are high, but it depends on the work you can get. I came here with the promise of academic work - that fell through. I’m a chartered Architect with good experience - but no one here wants a non-Scandinavian designer. I have years of experience lecturing in the UK and abroad - again, no one is interested.

and, well, You Know The Rest…

It’s been tough but it’s been worth it so far. Iceland is a beautiful country, a safe country, and one where I feel very lucky to live. It has its pros and cons, it can be pretty isolating and the whistling wind drives me mad but for now, this is home.