What Stays With Students After a Week in Iceland?

When groups leave Iceland, we often find ourselves asking the same question.

What will they remember a year from now?

Will it be standing beside an active volcanic landscape? The first glimpse of a glacier? The sound of Gullfoss? Or will it be something much less obvious?

This July, GeoCamp Iceland welcomed Breck School for the school’s first educational journey to Iceland. Over nine days, students explored Reykjanes UNESCO Global Geopark, hiked to recent eruption sites, learned about geothermal energy and renewable resources, travelled through South Iceland to the glacier lagoons, visited Vestmannaeyjar to understand natural hazards, and traced Iceland’s history from the Settlement Era to modern-day Reykjavík.

Along the way, we discussed climate change, renewable energy, geology, resilience, and how people have adapted to life on this remote North Atlantic island for more than a thousand years. From the first settlers who relied entirely on the natural environment to today’s communities responding to volcanic eruptions and a changing climate, Iceland became more than a destination. It became a place to ask questions.

The Question That Mattered Most

On their final evening, Breck’s teachers asked the students a simple question. “How do you have a better understanding of yourself because of this trip?” Their answers reminded us why experiential education matters.

Some students wrote about putting their phones away and becoming more present.
Others reflected on finding confidence by stepping outside their comfort zones and building friendships with classmates they barely knew before arriving in Iceland.

Several mentioned becoming more aware of food waste and understanding that sustainability isn’t just an idea discussed in classrooms. It’s something expressed through everyday choices, including supporting local communities and businesses.

One student wrote about sitting quietly at Gullfoss, wondering what future generations might experience if climate change continues unchecked. Another reflected on seeing Iceland’s political leadership and realising that governments do not have to look the way she had always imagined.

And one comment, in particular, stayed with us: “Touristy things can be fun, but it’s more important to find your own Narnias. The impromptu moments, talking to locals, finding their favorite spots and learning from them.”

It is difficult to imagine a better description of the kind of travel experience we hope to create.

And the “Narnias” they mention? We knew exactly what they meant. They aren’t famous landmarks or places you’ll find at the top of a guidebook. They’re the hidden corners that reveal themselves unexpectedly when you’re out in nature, a hidden canyon, a quiet lava field, a hillside with a view no one was expecting, or simply a place where the group decides to stop and take it all in. They’re the moments when someone says, “I had no idea this was here.”

​Those places are rarely the reason people come to Iceland, but they often become the reason they remember it. They remind us that the most meaningful experiences are often found just off the beaten path, where there is time to slow down, explore, and discover something that feels like it was waiting just for you.

The Moments You Can’t Put on an Itinerary

People often assume that educational travel is defined by where you go. In reality, it is often defined by everything that happens between the destinations. At GeoCamp, we spend months planning programmes, confirming accommodations, monitoring weather forecasts, arranging transportation, and making sure every detail works. Those things matter because they create the conditions for learning.

But the moments students remember are usually the ones no one could have scheduled.
They are the conversations during a hike. The shared challenges that build confidence. The quiet moments spent simply sitting in nature. The stories exchanged around the fire at our family farm after a long day in the field.

Those experiences create space for reflection in a way that classrooms rarely can. As guides, we also receive something in return. Every group allows us to revisit landscapes we know by heart through fresh eyes. Places we may have visited hundreds of times suddenly feel new again because someone notices something we have overlooked or asks a question we have never considered.

That may be one of the greatest privileges of this work.

Thank You, Breck School

We are grateful to everyone at Breck School for trusting GeoCamp Iceland with your first programme in Iceland. Your students approached every experience with curiosity, openness, and a genuine willingness to learn—not only about Iceland, but about themselves and each other.

As one of your own journal prompts reminded students before they arrived: “Return home with stories, skills and a better understanding of the world… and of yourself. Because in the end, the most important destination is not the place you visit. It is the person you become on the journey.”
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Reading the students’ reflections, we have a feeling that journey has only just begun.
We hope this was the first of many visits from Breck School to Iceland.