Icelandic Hot Dogs and History: Writing for Global Treks and Adventures

Interning with Global Treks offered a wealth of experiences stemming from all three phases of the project. My role was helping to produce a portion of the history and culture section to be included in the final magazine which allowed me to practice my research skills along with others. I was able to utilize these skills both while in Iceland and back home when working on my final draft. 

Each day in Iceland we had the opportunity to go to different places in the country to conduct research and get ideas for our sections of the publications. Each of these trips was valuable as we were able to meet local Icelanders, explore the country, and learn more about Icelandic history. One of the most valuable trips was to Thingvellir National Park, home of the oldest parliament in the world. We were able to explore the park’s museum which had exhibits about the history of the area and an exhibition on Icelandic independence to celebrate the nation's independence day. These exhibits gave me inspiration for two sections of my writing, focusing on Icelandic Independence and the Icelandic language. We happened to be visiting the museum at the same time as Iceland’s president which only added to the experience and afterwards, we explored the trails of the park. On the trails, we were able to see Iceland’s geologic history through the walls created by tectonic plates slowly pulling the country apart as well as Iceland’s cultural history through the law-speakers rock where the Althing was held and old farm ruins where we stopped for lunch. Thingvellir is an encapsulation of Iceland as a whole, full of rich history and beautiful nature that was incredible to explore. 

Thingvellir, along with meetings with local Icelanders and other exploration in Reykjavik provided inspiration for my final writings. In writing my final draft I combined notes from Iceland with additional research to produce a narrative of Icelandic history and culture for eventual readers. My four sections focused on the Icelandic language, the Icelandic Sagas, Iceland’s history of foreign rule and eventual independence, and a section on Icelandic Pylsas (hot dogs). Writing the final drafts involved researching which helped me improve those skills as I searched through databases, books, and general searches to find more information on each of these topics. Exploring Iceland allowed me to gain new skills but writing my sections of the magazine helped grow more direct historical tools of researching and writing about an unfamiliar place. Through Global Treks I was able to gain new knowledge as well as test my public history skills in an incredible place and it is an experience I will never forget.