Interviews and Article Publicity

October 22, 2020

“Katrin has been to around 222 countries and plans to finish them all”

In this article by Stefán Árni Pálsson at vísir, he recaps a radio interview I had a couple of days before on Bylgjan radio station.

“Katrín Sif Einarsdóttir is probably the most widely traveled Icelander and she has traveled to over 220 countries. She plans to complete the remaining 25. Katrín talked to Heimi Karlsson and Gulla Helga in Bítin á Bylgjan this morning.

“Right now I’m in Iceland and I’m in quarantine,” says Katrín and laughs.

“I was coming from Estonia and was with a cooking team that was competing in a cooking competition. I got to come along as a cheerleader. “

According to formal records, there are only 195 countries in the world, but that is a defining factor and there are actually more.

“I aim to go to about 25 more countries. I’m good at traveling with a backpack and even camping in some places. I do not spend a lot of money on accommodation and I often travel between countries by bus or by hitchhiking. ” She says that it is always cheaper to be abroad than in Iceland. “The cost of food and small items, it goes up so fast at home, but outside I can live on a thousand ISK a day for three meals.”

She says that she has been in some danger during her great journey around the world. “It can be dangerous to be anywhere and it has never stopped me. What stops me is just simply getting to the place. I have for example come to North Korea where it is not difficult to get in. It was still a bit scary to start with, but then when you realize its no problem and I was probably the safest woman in the country, because everyone is watching you and following what happens with you, therefore nothing can happen to you, “says Katrín, who has traveled to the most dangerous countries in the world.

“It is always possible to find places in these countries that are not dangerous and I have been to the countryside a lot, e.g. in Afghanistan, “said Katrín, who has traveled to Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Nigeria, Somalia and other countries. Her favorite country is simply Iceland, but she is also very fond of Argentina.

Here is a link to the interview recording.

October 21, 2020

“Almost visited every country in the world”

Birna Dröfn Jónasdóttir called me for an interview, and together over the phone we experienced a 5.6 richter scale earthquake. ´Did you feel that?´she asked, and later laughed and said ´we´ll never forget this phone call!´

Here is a translation of the article “Almost visited every country in the world” that you can find in its original Icelandic version on Frettablaðið:

Katrín Sif Einarsdóttir has traveled to 222 countries and has few countries left to have traveled to all countries in the world. The pandemic has put a temporary stop to it, but Katrín Sif enjoys traveling in Iceland while it passes.

It’s okay to be in Iceland for a while, but just take a break, not to stop forever,” says Katrín Sif Einarsdóttir, who can probably be called the most widely traveled Icelander. Katrín, 33, has traveled to 222 countries in her lifetime. She set a goal to travel to 200 countries before she turned thirty, and she made it a few days before her big birthday, which she celebrated in Mauritius.

“There are few countries left that are new to me. I have, however, traveled a lot lately and was very diligent in visiting countries I had visited before until COVID hit, “says Katrín. She is used to traveling many months a year and finances it by stopping in Iceland for a few months where she works as a tour guide. Before the epidemic, for example, she recently traveled to the United States, Italy, France, and Argentina, which is one of her favorite places.

The epidemic has put an end to travel for now and Katrín says that March and April have been the most difficult for her. “I had a hard time with this this spring because there was so much uncertainty, it was very difficult for me not to even be able to worry or plan about where I was going next,” says Katrín, but adds that she did enjoy the summer in Iceland.

“I love the summer in Iceland but now there was no work for me in the tourism industry so I could travel here myself and see all the places I wanted to see,” she explains, but Katrín owns a small campervan that she traveled around the country this summer .

During her travels around the world, Katrín has taken a myriad of photographs and she aimed to set up an exhibition with her photographs and the history of her travels in Flæði on Vesturgata next weekend. However, the show has been postponed until November due to the epidemic.

“I have chosen about 200 pictures that I was going to show along with cards and money from the places I have visited,” she says, but Katrín has in her possession currency from all the 222 countries she has visited.

Asked where she intends to go next, she says she is happy to stop for a while back home in Iceland, but she has started planning her next trip. “I’m not going to stop traveling and have a baby tomorrow, but I’m quite willing to stay here for a while,” she says. “Since then I have been planning a trip to Sao Tome and Principe in West Africa which I was going to go to in April but I will go there as soon as I can.”

January 18, 2019

Katrin Sif likely the most traveled Icelander in Icelandic history

In an interview taken by Björn Þorfinsson, he claims I may be the most traveled person in Icelandic history. Whether or not that´s true, I definitely enjoyed his take on my mission. Here is a translation of the article, which you can find on dv.is:

It´s possible that Katrín Sif Einarsdóttir is the most widely traveled Icelander of all time. Despite being only 31 years old, Katrín Sif has traveled to 217 countries on the globe. It is worth mentioning that there are 195 recognized United Nations countries, but by, for example, counting Greenland and the Faroe Islands as countries instead of Denmark, it is possible to list about 230 countries.

Katrín Sif started traveling at a young age. Her father is Icelandic but her mother is from the South American country of Guyana. After her parents’ divorce, she grew up in Vancouver, Canada, but visited Iceland regularly. Just over a year ago, DV covered Katrín Sif’s milestone in being able to travel to 200 countries before the age of thirty. She succeeded when she stayed in the Mauritius over her birthday but then realised that she had thought wrong and was actually traveling to country number 201!

A journalist took the opportunity when Katrín Sif was in the country the other day to sit down with her and discuss the travels and lifestyle that she doubts she can ever give up. She is at a turning point because her father, Einar Óskarsson, died this summer. “Of course it was a big shock and it has taken a long time to complete all the loose ends.”

It´s not about competing in checking off countries
It is very unusual for Katrín Sif to be in Iceland during the winter months, as she says she is not a big fan of the Icelandic winter or the darkness that covers most of the day. “I often experience Icelanders as semi-bears, who go into hibernation in the winter but then play extra hard in the summer,” she says. Despite loving Iceland, she is more fond of following the sun. “Iceland has the biggest place in my heart. The more I travel the world, the more I love the country. Despite the fact that I have connections in many places, Iceland is always the place I call my home and that will never change, “says Katrín Sif.

For the past twelve years, Katrín Sif has taken on various types of tour guiding, especially horseback treks, during the summer months in Iceland, but then leaves the country in the autumn and travels around the world for 8-9 months. It is far from being a “check list” of countries by only stopping a short time. She takes her time in each place and tries to get to know the natives and their culture.

“I’m not in any particular competition to try to travel to all countries in the world in the shortest possible time. Of course I think about the number of countries and places I have visited, but I am doing this for myself, first and foremost. I often experience that others are more excited about the number more than I am, “says Katrín Sif.

She says she plans her travels so that she stays in similar cultural areas. “I do not jump between continents as it is expensive and very cumbersome. Not only the journey but also the thought of constantly adapting to different languages, customs and habits. For example, I traveled around West Africa on one trip, North Africa on another trip and so on, “says Katrín Sif.

I still have left to visit a handful of recognized countries, including Libya, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, the Central African Republic and South Sudan. “I have been having trouble getting a visa for the first three. The situation is unsafe in the other two, so I have only waited to visit them. I don’t mind “says Katrín Sif.

Her annual income never exceeds one million
Asked if she never gets enough of these trips, she says: “No, I really appreciate this lifestyle. I love to be free and do not invest much in worldly goods. ”According to Katrin, her paid annual income has never exceeded one million Icelandic kronas, so she has to travel very sparingly. She says she almost has a doctorate degree in finding cheap flights. “I am often hired to help family and friends find cheap fares. The thing is, major search sites often do not have a contract with the same low cost airlines. It is therefore necessary to search on several pages and in this way it is possible to put together a trip in the best way, “says Katrín Sif.

Since she has to keep track of the finances of her travels, she often chooses the cheapest option, so she travels a lot by bus. “It has not been a luxury to go on long bus journeys in Africa and most recently in India. But it is a great experience and you get more insight into the lives of the natives. However, this is probably not for everyone, “she says with a smile.

When it comes to accommodation, Katrín Sif takes unconventional paths. “I usually stay free with the locals through couchsurfing. It all depends on how conditions for hosts are, but in my opinion this is a very fun way to travel, “says Katrín Sif. For example, she visited Bangladesh for the first time recently and stayed with a Turkish pilot who lived in the country’s capital, Dhaka. “I had only been staying in his apartment for a few days when he was suddenly called to work. Then he just handed me the keys and asked me to lock them when I left, “says Katrín Sif and smiles. She says that such trust and friendliness is the rule rather than the exception in her travels and that is one of the reasons why she appreciates this mode of travel.

She expects to take on even more tasks as a tour guide abroad in the coming years. “This is what I know and live for, to travel. I took a group to South Africa a while ago and it went very well. I will work in some way in tourism in the future, “says Katrín Sif.

July 15, 2018

Interview by Karla Pequenino for the Pulico, Portugal´s National Newspaper

Karla, a journalist from the online publication of Pulico, reached out in June to ask a few questions about my blog and experiences with couchsurfing. She wrote this eye-opening article after interviewing myself, Stephen Orth from Germany, and Nenad Stojanovic from Serbia. Below is a rough translation of some of the content:

*for the full article in Portugese and to see accompanying pictures from Orth and I, please click here.

“SOCIAL NETWORKS”
Risks do not stop couchsurfers from escaping the traditional tourist itinerary. Social networks that remain under the eye of the police, trips with smugglers, and photographs with rebels are part of the stories of those who use the couchsurfing website to escape the traditional tourist itinerary. Risks are a conscious choice of those who bet on these types of social network systems for travellers trying to get off the beaten track…

In countries like Iran, where foreigners are viewed with suspicion, it is customary for authorities to try to catch couchsurfers in disguise. Publications on social networks give the alert. “Because of that, we often don’t know who we are talking to until we arrive. Our hosts use fake names and addresses online, ”tells PULICO Katrin Einarsdottir, a 31-year-old Icelander who also travels the world with the mobile application. She started using the system at the age of 21, on the first trip she took alone – to Paris, France -, when a friend told her how she could extend the tour abroad without spending money on hotels…

Couchsurfing, which was born as a website in the early 2000s, is the answer for anyone who wants to experience a country’s culture from a citizen’s perspective or has a tight budget. Since 2007, Katrin Einarsdottir has visited nearly 200 countries via the social network for travelers, including sites difficult to explore through a traditional tourist itinerary such as Afghanistan, Ghana, Saudi Arabia and Sudan. “I admit that the thought of some countries makes me a little insecure, but I feel more grateful for the effort that people in these countries make to accommodate us, ”says Einarsdottir.

The PULICO tried to contact those responsible for couchsurfing to better understand the phenomenon, but received no answer. In the forum of the site, users share several reasons for their interest in these countries: curiosity to discover very different cultures, willingness to visit world heritage sites without tourists around (the ruins of Herat, Afghanistan, are the most popular places) and willingness to go to places little recommended by travel agencies and the governments of the countries of origin. In Portugal, for example, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs “discourages all travel to Afghanistan” and recalls that, “if a national is detained in Iranian territory, the scope for intervention by the Portuguese embassy may be limited…

For Einarsdottir, tolerance is the key for this type of travel to work. “We have to be able to give up some opinions and ideas for a while to respect others.” In poorer areas, she warns, it is normal for hosts to ask for money. “Some see websites for talking to foreigners as a way out. Whether to find potential marriage partners, move out of the country, or ask for financial support. ” It has already happened to you? “It is difficult to escape. People wait until there is a relationship of trust and friendship, and only then they ask. I always offer to pay pay for dinners or drinks. To some extent, I think it’s fair because they are hosting me and teaching the culture, but I never give money directly.

On her blog, Einarsdottir describes herself as a cosmopolitan nomad and shares some of the most peculiar customs she encounters on her travels. Iran, where there is a big difference between public and private space, was one of the trips that surprised her the most. “There, they have a legal form of prostitution, supported by the Government. Men pay to marry a woman, for an hour, a week or even a year. During that time, they can have sex without the woman being considered a prostitute,” explains Katrin Einarsdottir. In a paradox, “men and women who are not married or are not family cannot walk on the road together”. However, when traveling by train at night, the Icelandic came to share cabins with both. “This is not seen in hotels or in movies”, concludes the Icelandic…

Both Stephan Orth and Katrin Einarsdottir say that the popularization of smartphones has greatly facilitated the process of meeting real people anywhere in the world. Although access to the Internet and mobile phones is far from universal, both say it is easy to find people connected to the Internet and with a curiosity to learn about other parts of the world in couchsurfing. To avoid problems, German Stephan Orth recommends to always buy a SIM card from the country when you land, avoid hosts without photos on the Internet and, above all, have flexibility.

“Always have a plan B,” says Orth. “Using couchsurfing allows for incredible experiences, but it’s not like going to a longtime friend. Sometimes people are late for hours. Other times, they disappear without a trace. To do this, you need to know how to deal with the unexpected. ”

 

February 7, 2018

Front Page: The Province & Vancouver Sun

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being a page 3 story is awesome. being the full front page was flooring. The Province, Feb 2, 2018.

I had a half-an-hour interview over the phone with Glenda from the Vancouver Sun late Thursday night, and she surprised me by turning it into a front page story within a matter of hours – for The Province and the Vancouver Sun. Read the full story here.

 

 

August 7, 2017

Fréttablaðið Fólk: my interview in Iceland´s biggest newspaper

Enjoy a rough translation of this Icelandic article journalist Starri Freyr Jónsson wrote about me in this weekend´s edition of Fréttablaðið. If you understand Icelandic, you can just read the original article in the picture below!

Fólk, Fréttablaðið. Helgablaðið laugardagur 5. ágúst 2017

Finds Happiness in the small things

When Katrin was 22 years old, she decided to travel to 200 countries before she turned 20. Today she is just over 30, and 208 countries are already on her list. Future travels include remote islands in the Pacific Ocean, Central Asia and middle Africa.

There are definitely few, if any, Icelanders who have traveled as much as Katrín Sif Einarsdóttir. At only 22 years old, she set the goal of traveling to 200 countries before she became thirty. Today she´s just over thirty and the country count has reached 208; according to her countdown, which has perhaps more countries than people think exist, also considers countries that are not defined as an independent states, for example places like Greenland, Scotland, the Faroe Islands and Taiwan.

Katrín Sif was born in Iceland but grew up in Canada. “I started traveling alone when I was 18, but had a very outdoorsy life as a child and a teenager. Until age 21, I traveled mostly to South America and Asia. When I was 19, I lived for a four-month period on a ship sailing around the world. The trip began in Mexico, and we sailed across the Pacific Ocean through Asia and Africa, then to Europe and across the Atlantic to Florida. ”

Despite extensive travel, Katrín Sif has completed a double BA degree in philosophy and French, and has completed two master’s degrees; one MSc in environmental science and natural resource management, and an MA in Icelandic history. “In between, I have worked in restaurants, both at home and abroad, and worked with writing and as an editor during and between travels. I still see myself most as a cowgirl and work as a tourguide during the summer time in the highlands of Iceland, and sometimes work as a shepherd in the autumn in the east and north. ”

Thankful for a safe home

This summer she went to Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan where she, among other things, completed an eight-day horseback riding trip in Kyrgyzstan. “This fall I want to travel across Europe and learn about wine production. Later in winter, I’m headed for some of the Pacific islands that are extremely difficult to travel to, for example Wallis and Futuna plus Tokelau. However, next year, I would like to spend a few months in central and northern Africa and learn some Arabic. I would also love to travel to Central Asia and to some former Soviet Union republic and learn a little Russian. ”

After all the years and the number of countries it is difficult for her to point out some of the destinations that stand out. “However, in 2016, I visited North Korea and Afghanistan, which were both astonishing. It was very safe to travel in North Korea, the country was clean and offered more exciting places than I expected. Of course, I always felt like it was being watched or followed by my shadow of a guide, so I never knew if I was really experiencing North Korea or something staged. Afghanistan is a very beautiful country where the countrymen are very friendly and hospitable. Like their neighbors in Pakistan, terrorism and war have made it very stressful to travel in these areas. In such circumstances, I am grateful for the peace and security that prevails in Iceland. ”

Learned a lot on the way

After traveling for more than half of her life, Katrín Sif has learned a lot about how people act and interact. “I’ve learned to be very tolerant, patient and understanding as I get to know other languages, religions and different cultures. I have also learned to see happiness in the small things and to live a simple life with an 8 kg backpack for a large part of the year. This lifestyle has taught me to be happy with what I have at each time in each place. However, no matter how much I travel, I always find new and new exciting destinations to keep wanting more. ”

Even while traveling, she sometimes gets home sick. “I love Iceland more and more every time I come back for different reasons. Still, I always complain about the weather! If it were only hotter here, less wind and brighter winter I would definitely stay longer here every year. ”

Check out Katrin’s trips and travel stories on her blog, nomadiccosmopolitan.com, and follow her on Instagram (nomadic_cosmopolitan) to see photos from her journey.

 

March 22, 2017

DV Follow-up story: “Katrin Sif reached her goal: visited 200 countries before 30”

Here’s an English summary of an article published yesterday on DV by Bjorn Thorfinnsson. See the online version in Icelandic here.

Katrin Sif reached her goal: visited 200 countries before 30; planned a week long birthday celebration in the last country, Mauritius.

page 12 of DV March 21, 2017

Three days before her birthday, Katrin landed on the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. There she had reached her goal, to travel to two hundred countries before she turned thirty. After sharing her final list and recounting, it turned out Mauritius was country #201, but either way she had made it. Katrin, the adventure woman, was located in Lesotho when DV reached her, another new country, where she was about to go horse back riding.

It’s easy to say that Katrin Sif is one of the most traveled, living Icelanders today, and she had already been interviewed by DV at the end of 2016 where she shared a bit about her travel lifestyle. At that point, she had been to 197 countries and only had a couple of months to reach her goal. Her 30th birthday was fast approaching.

Katrin saves money from her summer job as a tour guide in Iceland, and then flies out every winter and travels around the world. She’s an active member of couchsurfing, where she gets free accommodation in each country. She believes its not just about the couch to sleep, but to be able to experience a country with the help and insider tips of a local. Katrin usually travels alone, so she can travel freely as she pleases.

The Goal was reached accidentally in the Seychelles

The last 3 countries Katrin had decided to visit would be in the Indian ocean: Reunion, which is a part of France, the Seychelles, and Mauritius. She flew from Paris to Reunion and stayed there a week, which happened to coincide with a new volcanic eruption at the Piton de Fournaise. From there she went to Madagascar, and finally to the Seychelles where she explored paradise for a week, unknowing she had already reached her 200th country. She stayed the first few days couchsurfing, but also allowed herself to enjoy some luxury at the Hilton hotel for her last nights.

Katrin then went on to Mauritius, what she thought to be country #200, and held a week long birthday celebration with 9 friends from across Europe and North America to celebrate with her. Included in that group was a Lebanese entertainer from Paris, a German horseman, a Belarussian pair, her college roomate from Washington, and the Icelandic Culinary team’s chef Thrainn Freyr Vigfusson.

“Not even close to stopping”

“The week was amazing, and I couldnt have imagined better people to spend it with. We were happily traveling around the island and were especially pleased with the beautiful beaches, and never ran out of local rum” says Katrin. On her blog, Nomadic Cosmopolitan, Katrin speaks about the fun they go up to. After a week in Mauritius, she went to South Africa and planned to visit Lesotho and Swaziland, both new countries for her list. After that, she’s headed to Mozambique for the first time. “I’m nowhere near close to stopping” says Katrin.

Country Count disclaimer

Its difficult to say how many countires there are in the world. According to the UN, there are 193 recognized country states, plus the Vatican and Palestine. Katrin also counts a few others. For example, Greenland and the Faroe islands, despite being under Denmark, are considered separate states. She also counts separately England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, though they are all considered the same country by the UN. With these exceptions and others like it, Katrin has the possibility to visit more than 230 countries. Thus, there’s plenty left for this traveling Icelander to keep exploring.

The List of Countries Katrin has traveled to:

Afghanistan, Albania, American Samoa, Andorra, Anguilla, Antarctica, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bolivia, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Canada, Cayman Islands, Chile, China, Colombia, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Curaçao, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, England, Estonia, Ethiopia, Faroe Islands, Fiji, Finland, France, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Greenland, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guam, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Isle of Man, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kosovo, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Federated States of, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Niue, North Korea, Northern Ireland, Northern Mariana Islands, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Palestine, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Réunion, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Martin (French part), Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Scotland, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Sint Maarten (Dutch part), Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Svalbard and Jan Mayen, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste (East Timor), Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Vatican City State, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Virgin Islands, British, Virgin Islands, U.S., Wales, Western Sahara, Zimbabwe

December 31, 2016

DV Interview in English

What started as a 40 minute phone call turned into a few more phone calls, email exchanges and a 3,000 word article by Bjorn Þorfinsson in DV´s New Years eve paper. There were pieces of the article published online at DV.is, and the print paper advertised the article front page, top and center. The middle spread, 3 page print edition was of course written in Icelandic, so here are a few highlights of the article in English for those who don´t read Icelandic, entitled “I appreciate freedom and solitude“.

the center spread from DV

the center spread from DV

It is safe to the that the life of Katrin Sif Einarsdottir has been filled with adventure.  Despite her young age, she is one of Iceland’s most seasoned travelers and shows no signs of stopping any time soon.  Her 30th birthday is this upcoming February and she is currently planning to celebrate in the celebrations for her 30th birthday in Mauritius, the 200th country on her list.  She is born in Europe, traces her lineage to South-America and is raised in NorthAmerica.  She has visited all of the continents and was particularly fond of the Antarctic.  Typically, she will travel the world in the winter and spend the summers in Iceland working to save money.  Unexpectedly, she is spending the holidays in Iceland, due to her father’s illness, and gave herself time to chat with DV about her adventurous lifestyle.

Roots in three continents

Katrin is born in Iceland.  Her father is from the Vestmannaeyjar islands and her mother from Guyana, a small country in South-America.  Her parents separated when she was a toddler at which point she moved to Vancouver, Canada, with her mother, where she spent the remainder of her childhood.  However, she always missed Iceland which she views as her home country.  “I yearned to move back to Iceland and had a hard time not being able to.  My parents were going through a rocky period in their relationship and so I didn’t visit as often as I would’ve liked” she says.  Hardest for her was not being able to speak Icelandic with her sister during grade school in Vancouver, causing her Icelandic to deteriorate. In her adult life, she has brushed the rust off and now conducts interviews in native-level Icelandic.

Japan: the seed of wanderlust

One could argue that Katrin’s propensity for adventure started after a trip to Japan, where she spent time, at her mother’s behest, as an exchange student.  “We had a Japanese girl live with us in Vancouver for a few months, and then I visited her in Japan.  It was an awesome and eye-opening experience because everything was so foreign.  I didn’t understand the language or the script, and both the people and the cuisine was totally different from anything I’d seen up to that point.  I was completely enthralled and since then travelling has been at the forefront of my mind / [I have lived to travel],” says Katrin Sif.

DV.is page showing the most read articles

DV.is page showing the most read articles

College on a cruise ship

Katrin exploited the opportunities of her schooling to travel and experience new adventures.  After the positive experience in Japan, she registered for an exchange semester in Brisbane, Australia.  Even then, it did little to satiate her hunger for travel. “I did a Semester at Sea and that was an experience I definitely recommend.  It was like I was on a reality TV show for several months straight.  I couldn’t believe, as a 19 year old, I could live on a cruise ship, travel the world and get university credits for it,” Katrin says laughing.  Around 500 students participate in the program, which sails around the world, at any given time.  Katrin embarked in Mexico and three months later arrived in port in Florida.  In the meantime, the ship stopped in 13 different ports of call on the way an around 12 teachers taught classes aboard the ship. “This was an amazing experience that I highly recommend for others who want to do something fun and learn along the way” says Katrin Sif. This program is still happening and changes every semester. The last sailing in fall 2016 went from Hamburg to Greece, Italy, Spain, Morocco, Senegal, Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago, Panama, Peru, Ecuador, Costa Rica and ended in San Diego, USA.

Loved Antarctica

After the sea-adventure, Katrin Sif went back to her university in Vancouver to complete her bachelors degree. She then moved back to Iceland where she studied for an MSc. in Environment and Natural Resources. “I have always tried to use school as a means of traveling as much as I can. For example, I took one semester exchange to UC Berkeley in California. There I became very interested in ecotourism and I got the opportunity to travel to Antarctica for a case study. I enjoyed it there very much and could easily see myself going there again” says Katrin Sif.

Saves Money over the Summer

After graduating from HI, Katrin Sif has taken her traveling to another level. “Since 2010 I´ve worked in Iceland over the summers as a tour guide with multi-day horse tours and I love horses and riding. I take between 7 and 12 week long tours each summer and then buy a one way ticket somewhere and don´t come back again until May the following summer. Sometimes it happens that the money doesn’t quite last for 8 months of travel, so I sometimes have to come back in spring if the money runs out” says Katrin Sif humorously. According to her word, she feels best up in the Icelandic highlands on a horse over the summer. “I cant say I’m  big fan of the Icelandic winters so that’s why I always go abroad during the cold months” says Katrin Sif.

Travels with a Wedding Ring

Its expensive to travel so Katrin adopted the necessary habit of couchsurfing. Its an online social network for travelers and hosts, where locals can invite visitorys to stay for free at their home, or rather, ´surf their couch´. “Wherever you can find internet then its possible to find couchsurfers. I was traveling in West Arica a few years ago and even though people lived in tents, they still had smart phones and could register to host people thru couchsurfing” says Katrin Sif. She has just arrived home from a three month trip thru Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan where she couchsurfed everyday with new people along the way. “It was an interesting experience to travel to these Muslim countries but by the end of my trip I had had enough. I was covered in black from head to toe, with my hear always covered. I had to walk in the street with someone else to avoid being harassed and follow a thousand other rules. I couldn’t smoke, sing, dance, drink coffee in the wrong café, nd not enter some mosques or holy places. I wanted to be less restricted and started dreaming about traveling to a remote sunny island, wearing nothing but a bikini, and be free from all the society´s rules and regulations.”

“It was a great way to travel and one learns much more about the country´s culture if you interact with locals. On the other hand, there are also dangers and annoyances that follow a solo traveler. “Being hit on or flirted with (uninvitedly) is the most annoying and I think I´ve had to deal with in nearly every country” says Katrin Sif, and admits its not just men who can bother her but women have also tried. For that reason, Katrin has started to travel with a fake wedding ring so she can keep unwelcomed come-ons by describing an appropriate fake husband.

some more pictures and my top 10 country list

some more pictures and my top 10 country list

2ooth Country is in reach

“I´ve never landed in any real trouble when I stayed with couchsurfers. I investigate all the details about a possible host and read all the references or information about them that I can. If everything seems safe there then we exchange a few messages and then confirm my stay. I have probably stayed with over 400 hosts and families!” says Katrin Sif.

As mentioned before, Katrin Sif has traveled to 197  countries but the UN lists only 193 countries. “I count countries like Greenland, Faroe Islands and for example Gibraltar. With territories like that included, there are around 230 countries in the world so I still have quite a few left to check out. I planned to travel to 200 countries before I turn 30 years old and that’s still the plan” says Katrin Sif. She likes staying a while in each country, to get familiar with the country´s culture and locals. “I usually travel alone though a friend sometimes meets me somewhere on the way for a week or two. I would rather have the freedom to spend each day as I like and not have to plan around other travelers” says Katrin Sif. She plans her visits based on what kind of country she is in. “If I´m in France, then I try to take in as much culture, arts and music as possible. When I’m island hopping in the Pacific Ocean then there´s very little to do touristically so then I just sit on the beach for 4 months and relax” says Katrin Sif and laughs.

“Stan” countries on next years travel plands

There are few areas in the world where Katrin Sif isn´t familiar with. “I still have to visit Syria and Lybi but think I wont go there anytime soon because of the current situation there. I have yet to go to central Africa, like Chad, Central African Republic and South Sudan. Since its also not the safest there, I may wait a little before going there. I also have to go to all the ´stan´central asia countries, ie. Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan. There is a lot of horse culture there and I hve the idea to break up my tradition and travel there in summer so I can also do some riding” says Katrin Sif.

Obviously Katrin has had a lot of adventures. She has kept a blog online, first with the Icelandic travel agency Dohop.com, and now has her own website. In the works is one travel book that she hopes to publish next year.

Accidentally married a Kenyan Masai warrior

“One of the strangest things that ever happened to me on the road was accidentally marrying a Masai man in Kenya” says Katrin Sif and snickers. Katrin had been speaking at a tourism counference in Uganda where she met a Masai who was also speaking on tourism issues. “I told him I was traveling after the conference and wanted to go to Kenya after the conference and he said he would show me around.” Katrin took up his offer and when she met him at the land border, he gave her some traditional Masai clothing to wear before coming to his village.

“His cousin was with us and told me how to wear the red dress and beaded jewelry.” She dressed herself as was told, and met all the women of the village, was danced for by the men, and after the show and welcome ceremony then the Masai´s explained “I was wearing traditional wedding clothes and I was the bride who had just been married,” says Katrin and laughs at the memory. She put her feet on the ground and tried to explain that that’s not how it works in her culture. “It took a while to explain to him I wasn´t his wife, though he was happy to have me stay in his tent for the night. But after a while he understood it wasn’t going to work and we left the events just turn into a little joke.”

Motor problems on the sea

Of all the most dangerous adventures Katrin had, getting stuck on a boat with a broken engine off the coast of Guinea Bissau in west Africa. “I went on a little boat trip to a nearby island where we could spend the day. The boat was nearly out of fuel when we arrived so we had to buy some more gas to make sure we would get back. Later in the day we headed out and a few miles out we had to refill the gas tank. But the driver of the boat filled it with diesel, when it was a gas engine, and the engine stopped working.”

“We were too far from land and didn´t have any way to communicate for help. All the cell phones were either out of service or out of credit and the light was nearly gone. Before the sun set, we at there cooking, and once the sun went down, we sat in dark silence, with only the occasional sound from the ocean surface and wondered if they were sharks. On the boat were 9 people, 6 locals and 3 foreigners. The hours were passing and we only has d little bit of drinking water left and nothing to eat except one live chicken.”

“We had been floating there for hours before another boat drove by and we managed to get his help. But he only wanted to take the 3 foreigners and offered to drag the boat with the locals to land. I didn’t understand if he was being racist or what, but our boat driver also didn’t want us to leave since he taught they had a better chance of all getting rescued if they kept the tourists on the stranded boat. Eventually the rescue boat did take us, but only back to the island we had been trying to leave, where he fed us and gave us accommodation. The next morning he let his boat driver taxi us back to the mainland, and then charged us $400 for his services! So that´s probably why he only wanted to help us, to basically get our money.”

She finally made it safe and sound to the main land but had been avoiding boat trips for a while since then. “I tried to stick to planes and buses after that” she says and laughs.

Icelandic Passport is wonderful

Dual citizenship has always helped with Katrin´s travels. “I have an Icelandic and Canadian passport which I use equally as much, according to whichever one is more useful or less problems to apply for a visa. The Icelandic passport is great because Iceland has such few embassies in Reykjavik that its usually impossible to apply for visas at home, so I can just apply in whatever country I am in or nearby. The only country I haven’t managed to get in (after 3 attempts) was Algeria. I tried to get a visa in Morocco, Tunisia and Spain, but finally after visiting the embassy in London, they explained to me I had to go to Stockholm´s embassy as an Icelander and Ill do that soon” says Katrin Sif. Icelandic isn’t as useful on he road, but she is well-weaponed with other language skills. “I speak English, French and Spanish and with these languages I can communicate in so many places. For example, French is very useful in Africa” says Katrin Sif.

Plans to keep traveling

The future is unsure for Katrin, but she sees herself continuing to travel. Her family is also supportive of her lifestyle and no one is pressuring her to change her ways. “At first my mother wanted me to study more and be some important person, marry or have children, but shes over it now. She was very strict and controlling growing up and perhaps that’s why I am so addicted to the freedom of traveling. Dad always told me I was very determined nd independent. Nowadays I feel as though most of my family and friends are proud of what I do and who I´ve become because of it, despite my lifestyle being so different” says Katrin Sif. She dreams about maybe one day working remotely as a travel writer. She also wants to be like Georg Bjarnfreðarson and finish 2 more university degrees to have a total of 5, 1 in journalism and perhaps one Phd. “I wonder though if I would get bored of traveling if it was also my work. I like doing things according to my own spontaneous plans and could never see myself working 9-5 in a normal job. I appreciate my freedom and independence” says adventure woman Katrin Sif Einarsdottir.

Check out her adventures on Instagram (@nomadic_cosmopolitan) or Facebook and the online articles at DV.is

June 7, 2012

Coldnoon: Quarterly of Travel Poetics

Article published in Volume I, Issue III

Lotourism: Low Impact, Low Cost, Localized, & Lonely – The Ecotourist on a Budget and Redefined.

I studied ecotourism and wrote my masters dissertation on the discrepancies between defined and actualized ecotourism since I have always battled with the ‘ecotourist’ identity. I liked to think I was an ecotourist, also called an alternative tourist, sustainable tourist, or an environmentally friendly tourist. But then these terms lead us to more definition inconsistencies, since “eco” and “environmental” and “sustainable” are all buzzwords overused and often misunderstood.

After completing my thesis, I realized the term ecotourism is a vague, green-washed term, whose definition is undecided among academics, and sometimes unidentifiable in practice. I like to travel, and I love the natural world we live in, but often times by carbon emissions and ecological impact contradict my obsessive compulsive desire to go all over the place, taking boats, planes, cars and buses at an unsustainable rate. It’s easy to feel guilt about my carbon footprint but also unclear where I can accept accountability for planes and buses that will take their routes with or without me.

However, it is possible to have an ethical travel consciousness without identifying as an ecotourist. Ecotourists pay more for greener experiences and off-set their flights by planting trees, but for sustainable tourism to become a thing of elitists is not fair. Ecotourism has also been set aside from culture tourism, offering strictly nature and adventure getaways in wild areas, but humans are an intrinsic part of nature and the true ecotourist should still be touring the cities and villages people call home. Mass tourists take their flights and book their all-inclusive hotels or cruises but travel intensively for only one or two weeks. My travel style has fused and forgiven aspects of both styles of tourism, into something I have coined “lotourism.” It is a philosophy of travel for the weary backpacker who wants to see the world and everything in it. They do not pay more, but pay less, and see more, over longer periods of time, with fewer modes of transport taken by traveling locally and avoiding long-haul flights.

I had the idea to invent a new word to describe the way I travel since it doesn’t suffice to say I’m a backpacker, just a traveler, a tourist, or an ecotourist. I want a word that describes my travel mentality and approach to seeing the world in a more sustainable way. I have a dialect of English my friends call Katrin-speak, but this is isn’t a word I’m pulling from my bad English vocabulary – its more like a philosophy of travel that I’ve adopted and want more people to share. “Lotourism” is a theory of tourism that isn’t captured by any other, one word.

I like to think I travel sustainably, but not just natural resource sustainably – I am financially resourceful, traveling with minimal luggage, staying with locals, and traveling slowly but steadily over short-haul distances. I can live off $10 a day or less in some places. I never stay in hostels or hotels, but couchsurf and make new friends everywhere I go. I have one small backpack and all my possessions and necessities for 3 months in it, a 35L 20kg bag.

Im not really a backpacker, since I avoid backpacker hostels and hate being defined by the stuff in a bag on my back. Im not always a tourist, since I try my best to camouflage into my surroundings and see things from a local perspective. I adopt the local way of living, eat where locals eat, dance the way they dance, dress as indiscriminately as possible, and don’t say much unless I’ve learned the local language since I never want to be that white girl screaming English in slow motion to someone who has no idea what I’m saying. I’m definitely a traveler, but so is the American guy sitting in business class flying to Dubai for a 2 hour business meeting before returning to London via Dakar for dinner in England’s most authentic Turkish restaurant. So I’ve realized there are different types of travelers, doing different types of travel, and when asked how I travel, my new answer is “I’m a lotourist.”

Lotourism is, in a nutshell, is kind of like ecotourism, but redefined and on a budget. It is travel that is low-impact, low-cost, localized, and lonely. So, for any other lotourists out there, get the word out on the new word. And, if you understand the idea, agree with the philosophy, and like the way it works in travel, spread the word so more lotourism can exist in this globalizing, traveling world of ours.

see the rest of this article at http://www.coldnoon.com/March-2012/Katrin-Einarsdottir.php