Don’t Be a Tourist, Be a Snorri!

Note: Deadlines for Snorri and Snorri Plus 2025 have been extended! Snorri applications will be accepted until Monday, February 17. Registration for Snorri Plus is open until Saturday, March 1. For more information and to apply, visit www.snorri.is. Questions? Email info@snorri.is. 

Julie Summers
Snorri Programs Co-Project Manager
Snorri 2012 alumna

Exploring the Garðar BA, Iceland‘s oldest steel ship that now rests on the beach near Patreksfjörður, with host parents Hrafnhildur and Sæmundur in 2012. (Photo courtesy of the author)

It sounds cliché, but it’s true: one summer can completely change your life. It was just over 13 years ago that I first discovered the Snorri Program. To be more precise, it was New Year‘s Day 2012. I was at home with my parents for the holidays, having graduated from college in 2010 and recently completed a year as an AmeriCorps volunteer in the beautiful San Juan Islands. I was still living on Lopez Island and working part time while searching for my next big step. I grew up visiting Lopez every year, and after living there for a while I knew that it was an incredibly special community, but being small and isolated, it was also a place you could easily get stuck. I was never one for New Year’s resolutions, but that New Year’s Day, I resolved to do something totally out of my comfort zone that year, something to shake things up and challenge me. For whatever reason, Iceland popped into my head. I grew up knowing I was of Icelandic descent and figured I would visit someday, but I had never actually taken steps to do so. I found myself googling something – I still don‘t remember exactly what I searched for – and suddenly I was exploring the Snorri Programs’ website. With every sentence that I read, I thought, “This is exactly what I‘m looking for.” It seemed too good to be true. I scrambled to get my application in before the deadline, which was about ten days later, and in February I found out I‘d been accepted.

To say that the summer of 2012 changed my life would be an understatement. The Snorri Program helped me understand and connect with my Icelandic heritage in a way that no solo trip could have. I spent three weeks with relatives in the wild Westfjords, where my great-grandfather was raised until emigrating at the age of 9. I worked in the little village bakery – and then in the fish factory alongside Icelandic teenagers and Polish and Portuguese immigrants. I found common ground with my Icelandic host family, despite not even having a common language.

I came away from that summer bolder, stronger, more confident – and determined to return to keep studying the Icelandic language. I did just that, moving to Reykjavík in 2014, and stayed for six years, studying Icelandic as a Second Language and then translation. During those years, I remained involved with the Snorri Programs in one form or another, serving as a board member from 2016 to 2023. In fall 2023, I took over as co-project manager alongside Atli Geir Halldórsson.

Julie and 2024 Snorri Plus participant Alicia Bjornson of New Jersey on a rainy day at Hverir. (Photo courtesy of the author)

Engaging with the programs in this capacity, as staff rather than participant or even board member, has been its own kind of adventure. It‘s given me a tremendous appreciation for the individuals who brought their vision to life back in the late 90s and made this program a reality, and for all the individuals who have worked hard to keep it alive over the past quarter century. Getting to shepherd other young people through the program was a slightly surreal and very rewarding experience.

Julie with her host pabbi Sæmundur in summer 2023. (Photo courtesy of the author)

I‘ll admit that when I started working as co-project manager, I was more nervous about working with the Snorri Plus program, simply because it was less familiar to me. With Snorri, I knew what the program was, what the experience is like – both the high points and the challenges. With Snorri Plus, I was worried I might feel a bit out of my element, not having experienced the program firsthand. But it was an unfounded fear, as my first Snorri Plus group was full of curious, adventurous, and – most importantly – truly kindhearted people. Each one had a different background, a different relationship to their Icelandic heritage. Some were highly knowledgeable about their family history and already deeply connected to Iceland, whereas others had never been to Iceland before, and we even had a couple participants not of Icelandic descent. But every single one of them had an inquisitive spirit, a positive attitude, an open mind, and a desire for real connection – with Iceland and with each other. Traveling with those 11 individuals on the adventure tour made for one of the most memorable weeks of my life and gave me a deeper understanding of what the Snorri Plus program is and how it is just as impactful as the original Snorri Program.

Julie and 2024 Snorri Plus participant Eric Oddleifson of Alberta at Hraunfossar. (Photo courtesy of the author)

Twenty-six years after the first Snorris arrived in Iceland, we are excited to welcome new cohorts of Snorri and Snorri Plus participants this summer. Experiencing Iceland as a Snorri is something you really can’t replicate with any other trip; the camaraderie and deep connections that form between participants, unique opportunities like meeting the president and touring the Parliament building, meeting your Icelandic relatives and discovering day-to-day life in an Icelandic household, whether it be in the capital area, a remote farm, or a tiny fishing village. Whether you’ve long been dreaming of visiting Iceland or have only recently become more interested in your heritage, we can’t wait to meet you and help you connect to your roots.