For many visitors to Iceland, outdoor adventure is the main goal. And who could resist? With a million-and-one breathtaking places to explore, wild camping, and the ease and relative safety of hitchhiking, more and more people are looking to Iceland as a destination for some serious adventure.
There are many risks to this kind of travel. Iceland’s weather is fickle, unpredictable, and can turn severely bad at any moment. It can be easy to get lost seemingly-endless otherworldly landscape. There can be a pretty large distance between towns, and sometimes days-long gaps in traffic (even on the ring road), making it difficult to find help if something were to go wrong.
In comes 112 Iceland: quite literally to the rescue. This app allows you to check in with Search & Rescue along the way by periodically sending them your GPS coordinates, giving them a record of your movements in case they need to look for you. In an emergency, the app allows you to call for help at the press of a button, sending your location to the Search & Rescue team and letting them know you need their assistance. It also stores information for an emergency contact, should they need to reach anyone on your behalf.
If something goes wrong on your adventures, 112 Iceland could save your life.
Unfortunately, this app will only work if you have phone service in Iceland, but a SIM is cheap and easy to obtain, and would be well worth the expense to have this extra safety measure on hand, especially if you’re going off the beaten path.
The app is available for iPhone, Android, and Windows phone, and can be downloaded here.
I’m Katy, a Seattleite quitting my normal life to pursue my two greatest passions: travel and music. I’m documenting my general travel adventures, as well as great record stores, labels, festivals, and music I find around the world.
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