When I recently read that a record number of people had emigrated from Iceland in 2009, “the largest wave of emigration Iceland has ever seen in one year,” I can’t say that I was surprised.

It’s been a difficult time for a lot people since the financial collapse in 2008. What with inflation, unemployment and foreign currency loans, many have found themselves teetering on the economic edge, on the brink of losing their homes, jobs, cars and businesses.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, as they say, which for some Icelanders has meant leaving their home country behind in search of better opportunities elsewhere.

It goes without saying that picking up your life to start over somewhere else is a bold, not to mention a brave, decision.

But for some, it’s the only decision.

Of course not everyone who left Iceland in 2009 was an Icelandic citizen, nor was each person’s decision to leave directly related to the crash. I’m sure the reasons that people chose to leave were as diverse as the people themselves.

After all, there is a normal ebb and flow to population fluctuations, kreppa or no kreppa.

I soon found myself thinking not only of the 10,600 people who left Iceland last year, but I was also curious about the 5,800 people who moved to the country as well.

With the country in the state that it’s in now, I can only guess that at present it’s far from claiming the number one spot on any “all around most desirable places to live” lists. Today there are probably more challenges than ever for any new arrivals.

Iceland is by no means the richest country, it’s debts to other countries have not made it the most popular place on the planet and to top it off, the bankruptcy and unemployment numbers continue to climb.

And if all of the financial baggage isn’t enough to deter you from moving here, then how about the fact that it is a small and isolated country whose official language is incredibly difficult to learn and, let’s be honest, if you do manage to learn it, it probably won’t come in too handy anywhere else once you step off of the island.

So, with more and more cons versus pros piling up, who in their right mind would want to move here at a time like this?

One unexpected outcome of writing for Iceland Review Online has been the interesting emails that I get from people all over the world.

Many are keen to share their own memories about Iceland and their Icelandic heritage while others tell me that they can relate to my own experiences of Icelandic daily life as I have described them.

But the number one thing that people continue to seek out advice for is how they can move to Iceland.

What initially took me off guard was that many of these people who were so determined to move here had never actually been to Iceland before.

Nine times out of ten they went on to say that they “feel drawn” to the country or that although they couldn’t explain it, they “have always wanted to live here.”

Of course there have been a few who’ve visited Iceland in the past and want to relocate here because as soon as they stepped off the plane, they “felt right at home.”
 
For all of these people, moving to Iceland is more than a strategically calculated professional or financial move (these days, with everything the country seems to have going against it, it would have to be).

No, for these people, it’s a love of the country as a whole that inspires them to make the ultimate commitment to want to call it home.

It’s the scenery, the landscape, the people, the history, the folklore and even that impossible language that drives their desire to come here. It’s a feeling.

And I more than understand where these self-proclaimed Icelandophiles are coming from. There is a “Je ne sais quoi” (or perhaps I should rather say, a “Ég veit ekki hvad”) about this place. There is a magic, for lack of a better word, that trumps any amount of negative press or pessimistic forecasts that are currently bogging Iceland down.

So, as crazy as moving to Iceland may sound, do I discourage these people from taking the leap?

Of course not. I consider myself to be one of them. I wouldn’t have stayed here this long if I didn’t feel that same special something, that feeling of being content in my home away from home for reasons I am not able to fully explain.

I guess it’s just one of those cases where you either feel it, or you don’t. And I know that those of you who have that loving feeling know exactly what I’m talking about...

Alana Odegard – odegard_a@hotmail.com