I may be a little biased, but I truly believe the Faroe Islands (an 18-island archipelago located between Iceland and Norway) are one of the most beautiful places on Earth. In October, Wayne Simpson Photography and I had the pleasure of introducing a new group of OFFBEAT participants to this wild and rugged corner of the world.
For me, catching the first glimpse of the islands as we fly into the tiny airport always brings a smile to my face and gets my heart rate slightly elevated. There's something about the wide-open landscapes and towering cliffs that plunge straight into the frothing ocean below that makes me feel just a little more wild and free. Maybe it's also the fact that there are more sheep than people in the Faroes, or that mass tourism hasn't quite discovered this hidden nook of the world yet.
The weather in the Faroes is equally dramatic. The old saying, "If you don't like the weather, wait five minutes," couldn't be more fitting. We had a particularly wet and stormy week on this trip, but embraced everything Mother Nature threw our way and welcomed the atmospheric conditions as part of the overall experience. Credit where credit is due, though: this group of hearty photographers brought their best attitudes and embraced the chaos as we constantly ducked, dodged and drove our way between pockets of manageable weather. Our itinerary was fluid, to say the least!
From iconic waterfall locations like Múlafossur and Fossa to the picturesque villages of Bøur and Tjørnuvík, participants had the opportunity to immerse themselves in Faroese landscapes and local life (including the infamous gas station hot dogs!). We were lucky enough to catch a couple of hours of clear skies for some astrophotography one evening, and explored one of the Faroes' only forests another day.
Our home base in Gjógv provided the coziest place to return to each day, complete with unmatched hospitality and homemade traditional Faroese cooking that left us thoroughly satiated every evening.
As always, the photography was fantastic, but it was the people who made this journey so memorable. Getting to share a place I'm so passionate about with people who are genuinely stoked to be there is one of the best parts of my job. A huge thank you to everyone in our group for making it such a memorable trip!
