Guiding in Iceland with Worldee (2023)

In 2023 I went back to Iceland in a different role. No longer as a photographer on my own, but as a guide and Travel Buddy with the travel platform Worldee. With a group of travellers I drove around the island, showed them places I love and taught them how to photograph them. Here's my view of what it's like to be a guide in Iceland.

How I came to Worldee

I've worked with Worldee since 2022, when I became one of their first Travel Buddies and led a group in Madeira. Worldee is a Czech platform where travellers share their trips and can join group trips led by a guide who knows the place. Iceland was the logical next step: I knew it from earlier trips and knew where to take the group.

The itinerary: Iceland in one week

The route was designed so we'd see the best of the south and west and have time to take photos:

1. Reykjavík and the [Golden Circle](blog:southwest-iceland): Þingvellir, Geysir, Gullfoss.
2. The [south coast](blog:iceland-south-coast): Seljalandsfoss, Skógafoss, Reynisfjara.
3. Vík and the Fjaðrárgljúfur canyon.
4. Skaftafell and a [glacier hike](blog:vatnajokull-ice-caves).
5. Jökulsárlón and [Diamond Beach](blog:diamond-beach-iceland): sunrise on the beach of ice.
6. The drive back, with an evening [northern lights hunt](blog:northern-lights-hunting-iceland).

A guide's day in Iceland

My day began before the group's. In the morning I checked the weather on vedur.is, the roads on umferdin.is and the warnings on safetravel.is. In Iceland the plan changes every hour: when the wind blows 25 m/s on the south coast, you go elsewhere or you wait.

Then breakfast, a briefing, the road. At each place I explained what we were seeing, which way to walk and where the best composition was. Anyone who wanted could go through their camera settings with me. In the evening, if it was clear, we went out for the aurora. And afterwards I backed up photos and prepared the next day late into the night.

Photographing with a group

On group trips with a photographer, people ask most about three things: how to set the camera for a long exposure at waterfalls, how to photograph the aurora, and how to edit photos on a phone. I tried to make sure everyone took home not only memories but photos they'd be proud of. And I photographed them too: a portrait at a waterfall or under the aurora is the best souvenir.

What working in Iceland taught me

Being a guide is much more than knowing the way. It's psychology, logistics, crisis management and patience. I learned to plan with a margin, to communicate calmly even under stress, and to enjoy it when someone sees the aurora for the first time. I use that experience every night today hunting the northern lights in Tromsø.

Faq