Gather ’round, travelers, and let us tell you how we came to be. Before we were a company - before we had quests to offer or stories to share - we were just a tale waiting for a bard. Our beginnings weren’t forged in a boardroom but in the lived adventures of a curious soul who crossed continents, chased starlight, filled notebooks with ideas, and treated maps as best friends. From those experiences, we, Sidequest: Iceland, slowly took shape like a legend unfolding. And like all good stories, ours starts not with a grand arrival, but with an unexpected journey.

Our tale starts like many do: with a little chaos, a little courage, and the slightly unhinged belief that there had to be more magic out there. There was not a moment of confidence or a wizard with firework. There was no visionary investor deck or perfectly timed market entry. There was, however, a woman, not a hero or influencer, but just a person with an idea. She had endured a few years of set-backs. A medical scare and loss of hair; jobs coming-and-going and literal robberies happening; bizarre breakups and never-in-a-million-years moments. And through this all, the late nights on a tiny sofa with a very unimpressed cat, the world's longest Notion list, and countless no's, a conscious, stubborn decisions to choose joy and authenticity. To build something of her own.

And, thus, Sidequest: Iceland was born.

The Spark (eh, doom scroll) that started it all

Our tale starts, not with a crone's prophecy or the flick of a D20, but with TikTok. Somewhere between a Game Changer clip and a romantasy reenactment, a realization hit:

“Wait. Nerd culture isn’t niche anymore. Nerd culture is culture. It can be cool to be uncool.”

Fantasy readers, science lovers, D&D players, geology enthusiasts, romantasy girlies, Viking reenacters, board-game goblins, sci-fi binge watchers, casual meme philosophers — they weren’t hiding in basements anymore. They were building communities. They had disposable income. They were proudly, joyfully themselves. And suddenly, all the stray puzzle pieces — the love of Iceland, the deep science background, the years spent traveling (and working in travel tech), the untouched nerdy manuscripts, the longing for authenticity — snapped together with a satisfying (ASMR, some would say) click.

In the before time: from campfire dreams to practical magic

Initially, the dream was enormous: an entire themed adult summer camp in Iceland. A place where people could raid the snack bar like it was a tavern, discuss their hobbies with like-minded campers, trade fan theories under midnight sun, roll dice, make crafts, and/or go on hikes, and make friends the way kids do at sleepover camps of Hollywood lore.

But this idea was too big to tackle at once. Every great quest requires a training montage and breaking the mountain into stones. So the idea was deconstructed, studied, and reforged:

Start with what can exist now.
Build toward what can exist later.
Let it all stay fun and on-theme: truly authentic.

Our Science and City tours have come first - easier to launch, deeply meaningful, and rooted in real expertise. Small groups. Private experiences. Deep dives. Moments that feel handcrafted, not manufactured.

Through this business journey, Sidequest was being shaped. Not by venture capital or titan of industry coming to help, but by one founder building a website at 1AM with her cat as the sole employee of the month. By crying in the shower. By filming content in wind that aggressively disagreed with. By “will anyone like this?” whispered in another moment of anxiety.

And, critically, by watching one too many tourists get herded on rigid timetables and seven massive buses at one northern lights viewing location, far too close to city lights. And etched into our brains is the story of one young woman traveler who was injured, told by her guide that they could not stay, and left alone at a waterfall to await help. These moments burned into the heart of the company. Travel should never make you feel disposable. Travel should feel special.

The Choice to Change the Narrative

So, we decided we wanted to try our hand at this. Sidequest was built on a simple vow:

No buses.
No rigid scripts.
No “you have five minutes here, please do not wander.”

Instead:

• Flexibility.
• Deep storytelling.
• Choose-your-own-adventure routes.
• Breaks for bakeries.
• Detours for rainbows, sheep-crossings, or mysterious glowing clouds.
• Media-rich explanations (graphs, lore drops, interpretive dance if necessary).
• Guides with credibility who genuinely want to be involved in your experience.
• Your hobbies are our passions.
• And the belief that every traveler deserves to feel like the main character — not one face in a crowd of fifty.

Behind it all stood one truth that guided every decision: Adventure doesn’t have to be dangerous to be meaningful.  It just has to be yours.

A company built from courage, community, too many bullet point lists and millennial jokes, & a little Nerd Magic™️

Sidequest: Iceland wasn’t born from stability. It was born from late-night doom scrolls and upheaval — illness, career endings, financial scarcity, and the kind of fear that only exists when the future is both uncertain and entirely yours. But from that struggle came clarity:

• Iceland isn’t just a destination. It’s a story.
• Nerds aren’t a niche. They’re a powerful, joyful, passionate global community (that we are a part of!).
• Travel shouldn’t be passive. It should be playful, curious, wildly individual.
• Authenticity isn’t a branding choice. We are just being ourselves because we do not know any other way.

And so Sidequest: Iceland stepped into the world — a little scrappy, a little nerdy, deeply rooted in integrity, and determined to build something that felt like a home for others who love wonder, knowledge, and whimsy. It’s a love letter to the seven year old version of our founder, who didn't always feel seen or included, and wanted to not just see the whole world, but learn everything about it and meet everyone possible.

Sidequest: Iceland today

Sidequest: Iceland was founded on the belief that travel should feel like your favorite story - immersive, meaningful, and filled with the things that light you up inside. Not just views, but experiences. Not just itineraries, but side quests.

Let's talk brand for a second. Our logo and the entire ethos of the company was inspired by the Icelandic concept of "ævintýri." This hard to pronounce word means adventure and also fairytale, encompassing aspects of wonder, storytelling, and journeying. And we want to honor and respect our Icelandic roots. At Sidequest: Iceland, we create tours and events that bring the meaning of ævintýri to life.

We believe in:

✨ Travel that embraces your special interests, not ignores them.
✨ Adventures that feel personal, not mass-produced.
✨ A world where everyone feels included, and free to be themselves.
✨ Storytelling over sightseeing, always.
✨ Travel that your inner child would lose their minds over, struggling to pick which quest to do first because they all look ridiculously fun.

Sidequest: Iceland is built by nerds, for travelers who crave something deeper than cookie-cutter, big bus excursions. We are here for the dreamers, the book lovers, the science buffs, the DnD players, the quiet geeks, the bold adventurers, and everyone who wants their trip to Iceland to feel like a story worth telling and that there’s always something more to learn.

This is our origin story.
And we can’t wait for you to join the adventure.