It’s the first day of summer here in Iceland. Gleðilegt sumar! Iceland really only has two seasons — winter and summer. I’ve decided to keep true to its two seasons and do life updates at the start of each.
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So much has happened since last update:

WE won a hackathon!

We won a hackathon with my friend Diego with our idea for a ridesharing app called Góða Ferð.

This is a web app that will make it really easy for people to connect and find shared rides to and from the West Fjords. This is a project that we want to build for our community in the West Fjords and we are really excited to build it and launch it so it’s ready for the summer season. You can check out our pitch and progress at godaferd.app

a magical trip around iceland

Last September I took a trip all around Iceland with my sister, it was the most magical time!

I 100% recommend to rent a camper van and go around the island if you’re ever in Iceland and have about 10 days to travel freely.

Being amongst Iceland’s insane landscapes grounds me like nothing else. We saw northern lights, walked amongst glaciers, enjoyed the autumn colors and crisp air, and got to live the cozy small town life (it's the best).

I also love seeing people’s first impressions of Iceland. It’s such a unique place but having lived here now for 9 years, I can sometimes forget how unique. It’s always nice to re-experience Iceland through the eyes of someone who is seeing it for the first time.

AN AI ART TOUR THROUGH THE WEST FJORDS

Last autumn I also had the chance to give AI Art workshops in 11 different school across the West Fjords as part of Pukinn Festival. I have been playing around so much with Midjourney and it’s now part of my everyday work. I was super excited to teach the kids the basics of AI Art and how to leverage AI to superpower their creativity.

MITdesignx business accelerator

I was in full business mode on during the winter. My venture Co-Living Iceland was one of the 10 projects selected to be part of MITdesignX business accelerator. It was truly a transformative experience and I learned skills that will serve me for life. We had a lot of different training and went through a full framework designed by MIT.

I want to share with you a little trick related to public speaking: At the end of the business accelerator we had to pitch in the main hall of the building we were at and we were all so nervous! A few days  before we had a training with an Icelandic actress and she was amazing!

She taught us how to own the room. If you’ve ever feeling nervous about public speaking, visit the room you’ll be speaking at a few days before. Walk around, touch the chairs, inspect the whole room. Own it. This completely changed our perspective.

We were also taught to imagine we had the sun in our chests prior to going out to speak. Flicking your chest and imagining the sun in your chest was an incredibly simple exercise to boost confidence and calm prior to pitching. Truly an unforgettable experience.
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I’m still working on Co-Living Iceland and I’m actively looking for a co-founder and a developer. You can check out the journey here. And if you want to join the team (as co-founder or developer) please reach out!

working from hafnar.haus

Having the right place, environment, and people around you when you're trying to build something is crucial. I can't stress this enough. Throughout my time exploring the digital nomad lifestyle i've learnt the best hack to integrate into a new place is to find a community. Joining a co-working that matches your interests is a great hack for this. In Reykjavik, this place for me is Hafnar Haus.

A vibrant community of over 400+ artists, designers, developers, scientists, entrepreneurs, and makers right by Reykjavik's harbour. I spent two amazing months working here and I can't wait to go back when I'm in Reykjavik again.

learning how to speak machine (becoming a software developer)

Being part of this accelerator taught me so much and even shifted my gears in a way. I realised I want to build more smart products and solutions for all kinds of social problems. This is just the beginning. Since then, I've adopted the mission of becoming a software developer.
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It’s a very ambitious goal and I’m so excited about it! I want to access different ways of thinking and solving problems that will immensely complement the skills I already have in brand design and venture design. I do understand the importance of locality and I want to move to a place that further feeds my goal. This new goal has made me crave a season in Berlin (or any culturally rich city, really). So that might be where I’ll be heading next autumn. I want to learn, be exposed to new people and ideas, and do a software development bootcamp. I can’t wait!
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For now, it’s the beginning of summer here in Iceland and I want to enjoy it fully. I want to experience the midnight sun in all its glory. I want to absorb the uniqueness of the Icelandic summer and let it fuel me creatively. I’ll be spending the summer season in Ísafjörður, West Fjords, roadtripping around, and doing nature photography which I absolutely love and have not done much of since being absorbed by a season of business thinking.

‍This summer season is the return to art and the art of living.
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Talk to you next time,
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Leiry. 🤎