By the end of February my stepmother was doing very well and I decided to take a week off. I had not flown in over four years or traveled outside the United States in almost fourteen years. And so I girded my loins, packed my bag and headed off on a new adventure. When I was a college student in the 1970s my traveling friends referred to Iceland’s national carrier, Icelandic Airlines, as Outrageous Airlines. Funny, or so I thought. Most airlines will haul your first checked bag for free or at most $25-$50. For the privilege of bringing my underwear to Reykjavik I was charged the princely sum of $107 US. Not oversized, not overweight, just one checked bag. Outrageous indeed. The U.S. military has a phrase “O-Dark-30”, the O meaning “Oh My God, I can’t believe I had to get up this early!” And so it was that I caught the airport shuttle at 03:30 a.m. on a Saturday morning. The flight departed at 07:00 a.m. to Seattle. And then I had a seven hour layover before my flight to Reykjavik. Fortunately my friend Gabriel picked me up and we drove around for a few hours. I had my very first crumpet ever. Ok, it was an American crumpet but still pretty tasty. I landed at Keflavik Airport, about 45 kilometers from the city, early Sunday morning. I was on a bus into town in no time. The United States could learn a lot from Iceland about speed and efficiency. The driver was playing “You’re No Good” by Linda Ronstadt on the CD player and I could hear Spanish being spoken behind me. Mexicans on the bus? Dropped off at the hotel I met the only grumpy person in Iceland. Unfortunately he was the hotel desk clerk and informed me that I was seven hours early for check-in. I was allowed to store my bag in a locked storeroom and then had to wander the streets of the capital like a homeless person until my room was ready. I walked a block down to the harbor and started to feel better almost immediately.