Guest Bio
Einar Torfi Finnsson is the founder and CEO of Arctic Hiking and Expeditions, and a pioneering figure in Iceland’s adventure travel scene. Born in Kópavogur in 1965, Einar grew up immersed in Iceland’s natural beauty, inspired by nature-loving parents. His passion for the outdoors took root early through mountaineering with the Reykjavik Alpine Club and two decades of service with the FBS-R Mountain Rescue Group. By his early twenties, Einar had already trained as a National Park Ranger and begun guiding winter and summer expeditions across Iceland’s rugged terrain.
In 1989, Einar transitioned to guiding full-time, specializing in cross-country ski journeys and remote trekking adventures. His career has included landmark expeditions across the Icelandic Highlands and Greenland Icecap. In 1993, he co-founded Icelandic Mountain Guides, later launching Iceland Rovers with his wife and close friends. After these companies merged in 2008, Einar continued to lead until his departure in 2020. Today, he brings decades of hard-earned experience to Arctic Hiking and Expeditions, leading small-group treks through some of the North’s most awe-inspiring landscapes.
Show Summary
In this episode of the Big World Made Small Adventure Travel Podcast, host Jason Elkins speaks with Einar about a lifetime spent exploring the far reaches of Iceland and Greenland. From his early days hiking volcanic plateaus to leading ambitious crossings of the Greenland Icecap, Einar shares what it takes to guide safely and meaningfully in some of the most remote places on Earth.
The conversation dives into the evolution of Einar’s guiding career, the founding of Arctic Hiking and Expeditions, and the philosophies that drive his approach to adventure travel. Jason and Einar also explore the changing climate’s impact on glacial landscapes, the role of local culture in expedition experiences, and the powerful draw nature has for travelers seeking perspective and connection.
Key Takeaways
- ✓ Einar has spent decades guiding in Iceland and Greenland, with deep roots in Icelandic outdoor culture.
- ✓ Arctic Hiking and Expeditions specializes in immersive, small-group trekking experiences.
- ✓ Expeditions can range from one-week hikes to multi-week remote journeys across glaciers and highlands.
- ✓ Travelers are encouraged to match trips with their fitness level and previous experience.
- ✓ Winter and summer seasons offer dramatically different opportunities for exploration.
- ✓ Nature serves as a retreat for many travelers looking to disconnect and reset.
- ✓ Greenland expeditions, including full icecap crossings, are uniquely demanding and rewarding.
- ✓ Einar’s early life on a farm sparked his lifelong relationship with the wilderness.
- ✓ Building a tourism company in remote regions requires resilience and flexibility.
- ✓ Cultural elements like local cuisine and traditions are core to each expedition’s experience.
What You’ll Find on Arctic Hiking and Expeditions
- Remote trekking expeditions through Iceland and Greenland
- Expert-led winter and summer adventures
- Small group sizes for deeper connection and safety
- Focus on environmental sustainability and local culture
- Customized itineraries for experienced hikers and adventurers
Learn more about Arctic Hiking and Expeditions and connect with Einar at:
https://www.arctichiking.gl
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Podcast Transcript
This transcript is auto-generated on recording, and has not been edited by a human. It may contain lots of mistakes, crazy words, and stuff that makes no sense. The host and the guest are not responsible for the accuracy of the transcript.
Jason Elkins (00:01.07)
Welcome back everybody to another episode of the Big World Made Small podcast for the adventure traveler. Very excited today. We’ve got a wonderful guest. We’ve got Einar Torfi Finnsson He is the CEO and the lead guide for Arctic Hiking and Expeditions. Einar, welcome to the show. Happy to have you here.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (00:19.975)
Yes, thank you. Thank you.
Jason Elkins (00:22.38)
We spoke for our listeners, we spoke a few weeks ago and had a nice conversation and really haven’t had too many conversations with people from your part of the world and look forward to doing that. Right before I hit the record button, you were explaining that you’ve got your short day light, which I wasn’t sure what that was, but it’s a function of where you live. So, Einar, where do you live?
Einar Torfi Finnsson (00:45.433)
I live in Iceland. It’s actually a little bit twisted, but I got a home up in North Iceland on a farm. And then I have also a place in Reykjavik, the capital in the south part. So.
Jason Elkins (00:59.758)
We’re, okay, and we’re late November, early December. What’s the weather like there right now?
Einar Torfi Finnsson (01:07.657)
Well, it’s actually quite nice where I am now. I’m in Reykjavik. It’s a northerly wind, frost, maybe minus two Celsius or something like that. Pretty calm, but up northeast it’s windy, it’s stormy. So it’s very often like that. It’s not the same everywhere on the island. It’s a big island, Iceland.
Jason Elkins (01:34.862)
and you don’t get a whole lot of daylight during the day. Did you grow up there?
Einar Torfi Finnsson (01:39.761)
Yes, I grew up here.
Jason Elkins (01:41.996)
So I’m not going to ask you if you’re used to it, but.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (01:46.633)
It’s not a long day, Like you say, it’s getting shorter. We’re down below six hours now of daylight.
Jason Elkins (01:56.344)
Wow, Well, I appreciate you taking time out of your short day to join us. That’s very great. And before we get started, I want to learn much more about kind of your path, how you got from where you were to where you are now. And let’s start by giving our listeners kind of an idea of what you do with Arctic hiking and expeditions, just so they can kind of know what is Arctic hiking and expeditions before we start digging into your past.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (02:25.52)
Yeah, so it’s actually we have two companies, me and my childhood best friend. We have a company with this brand name in Iceland and another one in Greenland in Kulusuk on the east coast of Greenland. And what we do is that we run hiking or trekking trips and expeditions on skis.
in both countries, but our main focus has been the east side of Greenland for the last years. And it’s wonderful, actually.
Jason Elkins (03:06.398)
So I assume we’re talking, is it all multi-day trips? And if so, what’s the average length of one of your group trips or one of the trips that you run for your clients?
Einar Torfi Finnsson (03:17.648)
Most of our trips are one week to 12 days, but we do longer trips like the crossing of the Greenland Ice Cap. And that one is like around four weeks. You know, and it’s, you have to be flexible because the crossing itself can take from three to four weeks. And then you have always a little bit time before and after.
So we normally count five weeks for the whole thing.
Jason Elkins (03:51.662)
Just when I hear you say this, I’m envisioning kind of maybe intense, physically intense trips, maybe even mentally for your guests. that what somebody calls you and says, geez, I want to go, but I’m not in great shape or I’m not really the type to sleep on the ground, that type of thing. How do you help them decide if this is the right fit or not?
Einar Torfi Finnsson (04:18.704)
Well, we do ask people for a CV of their activity. and, well, I mean, if somebody is sure that he doesn’t want to lay on the ground, then that’s easy. He has to take a trip with us. That is all inside. We do offer, you know, hut based trackings, but you know, if it’s a person that doesn’t have the experience, but wants to do it, then we
have offered possibilities like polar training, private training for winter trips. So we can offer the preparation of that as well.
Jason Elkins (04:59.544)
Okay. So knowing very little about Greenland and Iceland in my mind, I’m thinking that trekking trips on these expeditions mostly would be summer trips. But I think maybe I’m wrong. So help me, help me understand your seasonality.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (05:19.398)
Yeah, so we have a winter season that is mainly March and April. May would still be the winter. And then we have a summer season June, July, August into September. And the summer season is by far the biggest in number of people, but we sometimes have really big trips in the spring, like I mentioned.
So things like the crossing of the ice cap we do normally start in the end of April and into the end of May.
Jason Elkins (05:56.398)
What, I know everybody’s different. I’m sure you’ve had clients from all different motivations, walks of life, but what do you think typically inspires somebody to go to Iceland in the winter to do stuff like this? Or agreement.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (06:16.146)
Good question. think some, you know, NY4 or wanting adventures dive into pristine nature maybe. It’s different from one to another. I mean, there are people that are checking boxes, you know, wanting to have something they can brag about.
So there are various reasons for people to do this. I to disconnect, to… Because I mean, I can tell you that whatever you have worries about when you’re skiing in Greenland, I don’t think the prices on the stock market are going to hunt you much.
Jason Elkins (07:11.918)
That’s a good point.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (07:12.912)
I I think as it is for me, I I’ve been in position where I’ve been a bit stressed and worrying about a whole lot of things. And then I’m on my skis and whoop, you know, it just leaves and I’m there. So it’s like being in the moment thing to be, you know, crossing the ice cap is like three to four weeks of being in the moment.
You don’t have the time or the possibility to actually worry about much. You’re just doing your thing to get across. And that means taking one step in front of another. know, what I have found out that actually what comes to me in, that’s probably very individual, but what comes to me when I’m doing a long trip like that is I get a lot of music in my head.
I think about my family, my friends, but I totally get rid of my worries.
Jason Elkins (08:19.64)
it always been like that for you?
Einar Torfi Finnsson (08:22.108)
Yes, yes, definitely.
Jason Elkins (08:24.846)
Okay, so when you speak to somebody that’s from maybe closer to the equator, and I suspect a lot of them just don’t really get it. I’m not sure I completely get it. I grew up in Wyoming. I used to go out in the winter at times, but it was usually pretty short. I might go camping for a couple days, you know, go up and, but not much more than that. So I suspect.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (08:48.263)
Mm-hmm.
Jason Elkins (08:52.91)
I suspect you get a lot of people that just can’t get their head around it and that’s okay. But yeah, not sure where I’m going with this. just fascinated. I think it’s pretty cool.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (08:58.63)
Yeah, that’s all right.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (09:07.94)
I mean, it’s an experience that is not for everyone, that’s for sure. And you have to be ready for it and wanting it. But when you’re there, I definitely think that people get unplugged from the world, especially from what is stressful of the world.
Jason Elkins (09:33.954)
Describe crossing the polar ice cap, or I guess the Greenland ice cap. In my mind, just, I mean, I’ve seen documentaries, but it’s hard for me to kind of get my head there. Is it just flat ice, or are you going through mountain passes? What is the ice cap like, and what do people see?
Einar Torfi Finnsson (09:39.058)
Mm-hmm.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (09:56.473)
It is mainly, well not totally flat because you’re, we’ve been doing it from the east side so you’re climbing something like 100, 220, 40 meters per day. So that’s like, I don’t know, 500 feet maximum a day. And so it’s a very flattish.
But it’s like a surface of snow that is worked by the wind. it has astruchies, are these like ice or snowy waves of formations created by wind. It has all different types of lights, but you kind of…
Stop seeing mountains on day 3 from the east and you will see them again maybe the day before you arrive at the other end.
Jason Elkins (11:00.29)
Roughly three weeks, three, four weeks later, just based.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (11:03.656)
Yeah, so let’s say three weeks. Yeah. And then there is one phenomenon on the way that we do see and we visit and that’s called Tide II. This is an old radar station built by the Americans on the ice cap from the Cold War. And that’s a phenomenon. You know, I don’t know how pronounce that word, but it’s a thing.
that looks like a monster on the ice cavern. It’s like two thirds of the way. It’s a ridiculously big metal structure with a radar, you know, like a bowl or what do you call it? Like a round shape protecting the radar on top.
Jason Elkins (11:54.414)
Okay.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (11:55.849)
And it’s like from a science fiction film to come there. And some people are excited about that place. Others don’t really like it, but I think it’s neat to stop by and see this thing. It’s…
Jason Elkins (12:13.08)
And I’m assuming this is, it’s decommissioned. It’s, don’t have any people out there maintaining it, taking care of it or anything like that, do they? It’s just an old.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (12:21.21)
Now it’s the mission since the late 80s when satellites took over the role. But the thing is now it’s going into the ice cap slowly but surely. So when I came there first in 96, you you would start from the top, no, sorry, from the bottom and up. So you would go down and climb big stairs.
up to the main building and then up it’s like seven, eight stories or different levels. Now, when I was there last time, three years ago, we went up on the roof and entered the building with a door that is just beneath the Raider ball.
Jason Elkins (13:15.374)
All right, you’re gonna have to help me understand that. Is it that the facility or the building is sinking somehow or is it just that the ice and snow are piling up?
Einar Torfi Finnsson (13:27.664)
Well, mean, that’s how a glacier works. You have the slowly built up of snow layers on top of another snow layer and then slowly it gets covered because it’s a big thing and the precipitations are not very high. It takes time. But now it’s like 40 years or more since it was abandoned.
then it’s going slowly and so in another 20, 30 years it’s going to disappear.
Jason Elkins (14:08.846)
So maybe this is time to ask us, and I don’t know how much you’d like to discuss things like climate change and global warming, but it is a thing that comes up when we talk about, you know, Greenland, Iceland, glaciers, and I hear you saying the ice kind of piles up and stacks up slowly over time, but then we also hear awful lot of talk about the Greenland ice cap melting.
or the glaciers receding and stuff like that. if you could, you’re an expert on this, if you can help me get my head around that. I’m sure there’s some listeners that have a hard time getting their head around it as well.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (14:46.569)
So when you are in the mountain areas of Iceland or Greenland, it’s very, very clear to one that has the minimum knowledge that the glaciers are receding. But it’s a complex system and like the ice cap is a very big thing. I mean, if the Greenland ice cap would melt entirely, it would raise the waters of the ocean about eight meters or like what, 26, seven feet.
So it’s a lot of mass of water. And what you see in East Greenland, which is a very alpine landscape, is that the small alpine-type glaciers that are hanging on the slopes of mountains, they are disappearing very rapidly. So the lower alpine-type small glaciers, are going away. You also see that
the big glacier outlets that are coming from the main ice cap, they are getting shorter and shorter so that they’re melting. So it’s happening from below and goes up. But the main ice cap is very high and that’s not going to melt anytime soon. It takes a lot of time. And the main ice cap is also quite far north. So when we brag about crossing the ice,
ice cap of Greenland. We’re actually not crossing it where it’s widest, but where it’s most convenient because there are airports on both sides. That’s about 540 K crossing, but it’s about double that, a little bit more than double that actually, up north. And in that area, it is actually quite dry. is, precipitations are low with changing climate that could also increase for a period of time the
precipitation so it’s a possibility that it just completely changes the balance of the ice cap. So maybe the south part of the ice cap will disappear and the north part will grow for a while and then maybe start to melt if the warming continues. And it’s a complex system but you know being at the lower altitudes in Greenland it’s so clear that
Einar Torfi Finnsson (17:09.385)
the ice is melting because you see all these moraines with nothing behind or you know big moraines and a tiny glacier behind because it shrunk so much.
Jason Elkins (17:23.502)
Got it. That makes… Yeah, go ahead.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (17:24.401)
And I mean, yeah, so when you’re there with people and you’re explaining this to them, it becomes quite visible for everyone. mean, nobody tries to deny it when they’re standing in front of it.
Jason Elkins (17:36.687)
Well, it makes complete sense that, you know, as long as it stays below freezing, things aren’t going to melt. And then as you get closer, lower in elevation, maybe further south, it’s getting warmer where it used to be stay frozen. But now I think I know what you’re saying. That stuff’s melting, but the stuff, the real high elevation is warming up, not enough to melt, but warming up enough to get more snow. It sounds like, yeah, okay. All right.
cool. Well I have a bunch of questions but I think we’re going to work our way back to them. I’d really really like to figure out how you got from where you were to where you are now. So if I don’t know if we need to go all the way back to you know when you’re a two-year-old or something like that out with your dad in the ice and snow but give us how far back we need to go to kind of get to understand you, Ainar.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (18:31.795)
question.
I mean, my childhood definitely, when I realized in my heart that I was in love with the outdoors was when I was a kid, I think eight years old when I was sent to a farm in the summer. And this was a custom thing to do in Iceland at the time. It’s not happening so much anymore, but kids were sent to farms.
to stay for a period of time over the summer. My first summer I stayed for four weeks and these were friends of my mom that had the farm. Very kind people actually, so I was really lucky with the place where I landed. And they gave me a lot of freedom to explore and from that time I’m sure that I was, you know.
I was in love with the outdoors, with the freedom of the greater spaces and the nature. So yeah, think that’s when I realized myself.
Jason Elkins (19:45.583)
You mentioned it was more customary to do that for your kids to go out to a farm in the summer. But is it always a scenario like friends of your parents? You go to a friend’s farm or do they have farms for people that don’t have friends that have farms? I’m just trying to imagine how that works.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (20:04.775)
Yeah, I mean, when we were older, like teenagers, we would go to farms and
Yeah, we would go to farms and work so we would get paid for that a little bit. And I did so the summers I was what 15, 16 and 17 I worked on farms in the summer. And that was with people that we wouldn’t necessarily know just somehow you figured out. mean, some of the farmers would just put a little advertisement in the little paper of the farmers or
or they had an office in Reykjavik actually recruiting kids. But that’s also, at that time you needed hands. Now it’s all with machines more or less, so you don’t really need so much extra hands.
Jason Elkins (21:02.888)
imagine that back for the machinery probably a fairly short growing season you probably got to do a lot of work over a short period of time and then you don’t need the help in the winter when it’s frozen so yeah okay that makes lot of sense do you have did you have siblings growing up that were doing this as well
Einar Torfi Finnsson (21:25.223)
Yes, my two younger siblings were doing this as well and also one of my older brothers, but I think I have the family record of staying away in the summer.
Jason Elkins (21:45.038)
could ask you what that says about your relationship with your parents.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (21:50.133)
No, I can tell you the truth is that I really enjoyed being at the countryside. So, and I grew quite independent in that sense very early.
Jason Elkins (22:05.87)
Was there a moment when you remember deciding that you wanted to work in the outdoors, a, maybe in a guiding capacity or tourism capacity or leading tracks and, and skiing and stuff like that. Do you remember when that first entered your head?
Einar Torfi Finnsson (22:24.65)
Yeah, I mean, at 14, I was lucky to get a work like a summer job at the National Park. It was a service for the National Parks and the nature reservations. And at that time, I was pretty sure that I wanted to do something that was like a connected to nature and outside job.
I didn’t see guiding as a possibility that early, but I think maybe from the age of 16 when I realized that the local touring club had tour leaders going with groups in the mountains, I somehow started to develop the idea in my head. And I think I was 19 when I got my first trip with the local touring club as a tour guide or tour leader.
But it was not very well paid at the time, but I mean, you know, it was, it was the start.
Jason Elkins (23:33.07)
I’m curious, did you ever have an opportunity to go with the touring club as more of a guest or an intern or they just put you right into a tour leader or guiding job?
Einar Torfi Finnsson (23:48.735)
No, I mean, I had gone with them on trips before, yes. like one or two occasions, my father was the tour leader and I was a kid. And then, yeah, I think…
Jason Elkins (23:52.152)
You have, okay.
Jason Elkins (23:58.007)
Okay, cool.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (24:07.562)
I did a few trips with them as a guest, definitely.
Jason Elkins (24:11.97)
You mentioned something interesting. You just mentioned that your father was a tour leader. that part of his regular work and job or what was he, what was your dad doing when you were growing up?
Einar Torfi Finnsson (24:26.5)
He was doing a lot of different things actually. He was for a period of time a teacher. Then he didn’t like that as much as before. So he became a sailor and he was doing first the normal sailor’s work and then as a cook on a small trawler.
from close to Reykjavik. And then he became a journalist and from that he developed the interest of law. So at 44 year old, he started studying law and became a judge. That’s a short version of him.
Jason Elkins (25:11.992)
Wow.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (25:16.426)
I’m
Jason Elkins (25:16.526)
All right, so what’s the biggest influence you think he made on your life and on the direction you ended up going?
Einar Torfi Finnsson (25:27.986)
I think…
I mean, both my parents were a lot into nature and his interest in birds and nature definitely had an impact on me. Also the fact that he was a national park warden for a couple of summer seasons. We stayed with him in the big park in the southeast of Iceland. Just being there in the area and he was busy working.
me and my siblings, younger siblings, we were kind of taking care of ourselves during the day. He had, so we had a big breakfast in the morning, then we had like a two o’clock, we had a big meal, you know, like a late lunch, and then we had dinner, and that was the checkpoints. So between breakfast and the midday meal and the dinner, we were just taking care of ourselves mostly. And he hadn’t.
And that also had a big impact.
Jason Elkins (26:29.058)
to you.
Jason Elkins (26:32.558)
Do you remember doing things you probably shouldn’t have been doing, but that you’re happy that you did?
Einar Torfi Finnsson (26:39.943)
Well, probably. Yeah, mostly about, you know.
Jason Elkins (26:40.13)
with all that freedom that you’re willing to discuss on a podcast.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (26:47.743)
Well, I I wasn’t very naughty, but we did go places where maybe we shouldn’t have been going, like, you know, into small canyons and, you know, dipping into places where we maybe wouldn’t have been allowed if he knew. You know, stuff like that.
Jason Elkins (27:12.494)
a lot of you know your adventurous sense now and going out and exploring new things so that’s cool. All right so at 19 you got a job as a tour leader so what happened with that how was that?
Einar Torfi Finnsson (27:16.768)
Mm-hmm.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (27:23.817)
Yeah, the first tour little job I got, that was an Easter ski trip with the Korean club, like a cross country, back country skiing. And I was there with my cousin, who was always my companion for all this stuff we did. And at that time also, I must say we had started our training for
Mountain Rescue. So that also helped us getting the job because being trained for Mountain Rescue meant first aid and lots of mountain training. Yeah, so it was good. mean, we were ambitious and tried to do our best. And apparently, when I look back, I see that we really tried hard to do our job correctly.
And it’s about entertainment also when you have people in a hat in the mountains. So you have to be entertaining as well. And that’s what we did.
Jason Elkins (28:28.494)
So what would you do to entertain them? I’m curious, are there some customary or traditional things that you do in that part of the world to entertain your guests?
Einar Torfi Finnsson (28:37.449)
We would have what you call it awake or something. I don’t know what it’s called in English, like, like maybe that’s not the word, but it’s like having a program in the evening, singing, maybe a little bit of improvised, you know, games or, a little bit of a play. Like, let’s say, you know, you there’s designated group that has to play, you know, the Wolf and the what did
Jason Elkins (28:49.367)
Okay.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (29:04.395)
Little Red Hood, what was she called in English? Yes. You know, or a similar story like that. you get, know, there’s the script. Now you have to play that and you have 10 minutes to prepare and then you have 10 minutes to do the whole thing. You know, or we would definitely play the guitar and, you know, sing a bit and, you know, having fun.
Jason Elkins (29:09.688)
Yeah.
Jason Elkins (29:28.558)
All very cool. Were you typically in some sort of wilderness camp, hut, tents? What was that like in the beginning?
Einar Torfi Finnsson (29:36.236)
In the beginning it was hat based and it was like Easter trips, winter trips. End of the year, like a new year thing. But it wasn’t a lot, but it was the start of our thing in this. then when I was 21, I got a position as a national park warden. I was quite young, but…
I couldn’t attend the course until I was 20, so as soon as I was 20, I signed up for the training of being a National Park Warden. And again, the Mountain Rescue training definitely helped me because it was a big plus for people working in the wilderness. And I worked three full summers and two partial summers as a National Park Warden, but
Jason Elkins (30:35.022)
So what does that job entail? What does a national park warden do in Iceland?
Einar Torfi Finnsson (30:35.455)
then
Einar Torfi Finnsson (30:41.771)
It might have changed a little bit since then, but at the time it was a lot about going around these vast areas and making sure that things were okay, cleaning out remote toilets, helping people with information, marking trails, all sorts of stuff.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (31:12.605)
It was quite an amazing job in many ways. know, lots of outdoors.
Jason Elkins (31:18.126)
that you like most about it.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (31:24.745)
That’s a good question. think maybe both the roaming that, know, to go around with, you know, hiking the trails to check if they were okay. And also the fact that we had like an educational program. So we had shorter walks, like, you know, an hour walk or a two hour or four hour walks where we created an in
a program where we would show people the different geography, geology and plants of the area. And I love that because to show people, to let them discover is a great thing.
Jason Elkins (32:13.772)
So these just visitors to the park that are coming in and you’re doing these nature walks and hikes and stuff with them.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (32:22.017)
Yep.
Jason Elkins (32:24.29)
Was it mostly other, what do you call somebody from Iceland? Icelanders? Yeah. So were most of the people you were interacting with back then Icelandics, Icelanders?
Einar Torfi Finnsson (32:30.848)
And Icelander, yeah.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (32:40.3)
About probably about half the people were Icelanders at the time. That has totally changed now because of the volume of the tourism in Iceland. But at that time at least half of the guests were Icelandic.
Jason Elkins (32:57.528)
So was this, at what point, well I guess so probably, when you were younger and you did the job when you were 19 as a tour leader, was that mostly Icelanders? And those were only. So it sounds like what I hear you saying is when you stepped into the park warden job, it’s when you really started to interact with more of the international tourists, is that right?
Einar Torfi Finnsson (33:08.595)
only.
Mm-hmm.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (33:22.476)
Yes, yes, yes, that’s correct.
Jason Elkins (33:25.23)
Do you remember any of your initial impressions? Was that exciting? Was that nerve wracking, intimidating? What was it like as you started to work with more and more international guests? What were your takeaways from that?
Einar Torfi Finnsson (33:43.083)
No, I mean, I was excited about it because, you know, Iceland was a bit, you know, reserved and isolated at the time. So it was like a bigger window to the outside to meet people from all over. And I had to practice my English and, know, it was mainly just very nice and interesting to do.
because in generally people are friendly, you know.
Jason Elkins (34:16.632)
Yeah, yeah. I don’t want to put you on the spot. And if nobody comes to mind, that’s fine. But I’m curious, was there a particular interaction you had with someone from outside of Iceland early on that really kind of made a lasting impression on you?
Einar Torfi Finnsson (34:37.644)
Not really, it’s more like overall. I mean, I remember some persons like a guy with a dislocated shoulder that I helped, know, or a couple of Americans that, you know, had an accident with their car. So I mean, I had longer interaction with people where something happened and I had to help. But not nothing that is really coming up to mind, no.
Jason Elkins (35:05.122)
Yeah, I was curious because some of the, you know, some people I speak with, they had no idea that certain places existed until they met somebody that shows up and say, you know, where are you from? Well, I’m from this place. What? And it just starts that the wheels, wheels turning, and then you find yourself going to some place that you’d never even heard of because you met somebody that was visiting your country. was just wondering.
Cause you mentioned that kind of opened your eyes, helped open your eyes to the world out there.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (35:38.248)
Yeah, I think for me, it was the bigger game changer when I started guiding and I started meeting people that had traveled quite remote places of the world elsewhere. And I got to hear stories from, because then I was with the people for a long time and I would hear stories from different places in the world, like Africa, where I had never been and I had never really heard that much about.
And it all starts with this thing that I was working for my mountain rescue group at their office doing stuff like helping with different, because the rescue, mountain rescue in Iceland is auto financed, so they have to get the money themselves. They do not get much from the state. And I was working on different stuff, like we had a lottery.
We were selling Christmas trees and stuff, I mean, just finding ways to get revenues to run the mountain rescue. And I was working at the office and the phone rings and there’s a guy from a small travel agency in East Iceland and he’s asking me if I know someone who can ski on cross-country skis and speaks French. I knew a couple of guys. So I…
gave him the names and helped him find the numbers and then I said, well, if they’re not available, I’m happy to go, but I’m just, I only speak English. And the thing is that a week later or so the phone rings again and he says, well, I can’t find anyone. So I went.
Jason Elkins (37:23.663)
How quickly can you learn French?
Einar Torfi Finnsson (37:26.432)
Not that quickly. So I got a group leader with the group that translated, a French lady, and I did the ski group and it was fantastic and they were really happy. It was a weak trip in the mountains. And then the year after he hires me again for two trips this time and that year he didn’t even search for someone else, was easier to go with me. And then…
I met an old friend in a place called Landmannalöö in the highlands and it’s a place where there’s a like a hot or warm river you can bath in. So you’re sitting there after a good day of cross-country skiing in the mountains, you’re sitting in the warm river and we’re talking. And he says to me, actually, it’s a guy like you that we need. And the we was that he was working for a brand new company
working with French clients. And that was in April. And he said, you know, you have to learn French, of course. So the first of May, I was in Paris, signing up for a French course. And the 18th of July, I took my first group. So I had 10 weeks to learn French.
Jason Elkins (38:48.558)
So you could learn French pretty quick apparently.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (38:51.54)
Well, yeah, I must admit it was very basic at the time. But enough, I learned enough to communicate basic.
Jason Elkins (38:57.294)
Did you?
Jason Elkins (39:01.678)
Did you find a lot of the French clients that you had at that time also spoke some English? I mean, I’m just curious, I can imagine maybe you need to speak French, but then I’m sure some of the guests were speaking English and it might just been easier to do that or…
Einar Torfi Finnsson (39:10.486)
Some did.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (39:16.972)
No, I wasn’t allowed. And that was very clear to me because you are hired as a French speaking guide and the clients are expecting that. So you stick to French and the English speakers, they would help me find words in the beginning. So I would maybe ask them, how do you say this in French? But then I would continue in French. If you slide to the other side, then you’re in trouble.
Jason Elkins (39:23.822)
Jason Elkins (39:42.51)
Well, yeah, because then you could somebody, people in the group start to kind of sense, geez, his English is a lot better than his French. And then it kind of defeats the purpose, I guess.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (39:54.233)
No, yeah. So, you know, with the French, I met a lot of people that had been traveling, you know, both in Asia, like in Nepal and in Africa and in the desert, in the Sahara Desert. And that’s where I got much broader idea of the world, actually. So I later started to go to some of these places myself just to discover.
Jason Elkins (40:18.702)
Do you remember the first place that you started really getting excited about before you went to visit? At some point in this process, was there just that place that you just had to go? Maybe it took you a while to get there, but it was the one that you kept coming back to.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (40:36.224)
the desert, the Sahara. And I went there.
Jason Elkins (40:40.078)
Not too interesting. Why do you think that is?
Einar Torfi Finnsson (40:44.842)
Why? Because the French spoke so highly about it and because partially the highland deserts of Iceland was one of the things that they actually appreciated so much. when I was a kid, nobody was really talking about the Icelandic highland deserts as something interesting. It was just eroded. I mean, we had a little bit of this very old fashioned
farming way of thinking that, you know, green is good and sand is bad, you know, so when I was guiding the French, I discovered that they were, you know, amazed by walking a full day in black sands. You know, they found that very interesting. And so that changed my way of thinking a bit. then, yeah.
I got the idea of… I needed to go to Sahara and see what it was like.
Jason Elkins (41:50.67)
Was there a particular country in the Sahara that drew your attention?
Einar Torfi Finnsson (41:56.11)
I mean they talked a lot about different places, but Algeria probably most but but when I went I went to Niger in the desert in the the Tenerife part of the desert
Jason Elkins (42:11.724)
roughly how long after you started thinking about going until the time you actually had the opportunity to go, what kind of timeframe was that?
Einar Torfi Finnsson (42:22.381)
around maybe 10 years.
Jason Elkins (42:26.966)
wow, okay. Did it live, and you’re talking about it now, I’m guessing it sounds like it was a good experience, but did it live up to your expectations or?
Einar Torfi Finnsson (42:38.943)
or the trip to Africa? No, it definitely did.
Jason Elkins (42:40.492)
Yeah.
Yeah, sounds like it surprised him a bit.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (42:45.389)
I mean, I’ve been to Morocco a lot of times. I’ve been to Niger once. I’ve been to Mali once. All these trips were fantastic, but I think the highlight of them all was the trip to Mali in the Sahel. And one of the things is the music of these, you know, the touric music and the…
Countries like Mali, Mali has a particularly magnificent fusing of music. there are really, really interesting groups and artists to listen to there.
Jason Elkins (43:38.019)
You’ve mentioned music a few times in this conversation. It’s come up whether you were playing guitar with your guests in the beginning, you mentioned crossing the ice cap with music in your head, and now we’re talking about music. So there’s, tell me more, there’s something about your connection with music that is obviously, seems to be pretty important. Where did that come from?
Einar Torfi Finnsson (44:06.849)
Yeah, that’s a good question. I mean, my mom probably. was, you know, very interested in music, was a big fan of country and folk music and different stuff. Both my parents liked singing, but she may be more than my father. And yeah, I mean…
During my childhood, I remember her putting records on the record player all the time. So I guess it’s mainly from her. then I started listening seriously to music when I was like eight or something. When I bought my first record, I went downtown with some money I had gathered and I bought a…
Single with Slate. I don’t remember if you don’t know if you remember, you know the glamour rock group from England Slate
Jason Elkins (45:11.83)
I do not know them.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (45:13.773)
I mean it was this so-called glamour rock but my parents were, I was only eight, my parents were expecting me to come home with some child songs, know, children lullabies or whatever, I don’t know, you know, and I came home with the newest… neither, they were just very surprised, they were very surprised.
Jason Elkins (45:17.902)
Mm-hmm.
Jason Elkins (45:27.918)
So are they happy or upset about that? They send you back, pick something out, age appropriate?
Einar Torfi Finnsson (45:37.857)
And then the same year, I actually listened for the first time to The Beatles and I fell for The Beatles when I was eight. I’ve been a big admirer since. Yeah, so music has always been quite important to me.
Jason Elkins (45:38.062)
I’ll be back.
Jason Elkins (45:55.276)
like to go to concerts as well.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (45:58.03)
Sure, I do. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I just fulfilled last week a childhood dream. I went to see Paul McCartney.
Jason Elkins (45:59.193)
Yeah, yeah.
Jason Elkins (46:10.594)
And wow, that’s cool.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (46:11.853)
in Hamilton in Canada, so I just returned from that trip. That was like a mission I’ve had for a long time, but now finally I got it done.
Jason Elkins (46:24.194)
Very cool. What’s the next task on your list? I shouldn’t say task. That doesn’t sound right. The next, are you thinking about something else that’s been important to you for a while? Because I heard you say it took 10 years to get to Africa. You didn’t lose focus. You got there. You just went and watched Paul McCarty or, you know. So what’s next on your list?
Einar Torfi Finnsson (46:44.877)
I think probably it is to go on a long private walk, not guiding, but for me. You know, I’ve been dreaming about the PCT for a long time, but maybe the easier start for me will be to do a long trail in France, for example. I mean, many people…
Jason Elkins (47:10.414)
So when you say the PCT, I think Pacific Coast Trail. But maybe that’s because I’m from the US. OK, I got it right. All right. OK.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (47:17.695)
It is.
Mm.
Yeah, so I mean, France, like many countries in Europe, has a big system of what they call the GRs, the trails of big walks. At the GRs, you can walk, let’s say, for example, know, this trail in Spain to Santiago de la Compostela. That’s a very…
Jason Elkins (47:23.788)
What’s in France?
Einar Torfi Finnsson (47:52.419)
popular trail, but people started normally in the Pyrenees. But actually in France you have a series of trails. you know, if you would be living in Lyon, you could walk all the way to Compostela from there. Or if you start in Paris, there’s a lot of French people that went all the way to Compostela back in time. So there’s like a tree, if you imagine a tree that has one stem.
you know so so that’s one thing i mean another like an interesting trail in france would be to to to follow the pyrenees from the mediterranean to the atlantic ocean which is about 30 to 40 days walk yeah so it’s some kind of a walk like that that i dream about
Jason Elkins (48:45.678)
And you kind of frame it with not guided, not guiding, but go on a, you use the word private walk. So is this.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (48:54.594)
Yeah, because I do so much with clients still. no, it’s just that meeting people on a trail is different from having the role of a leader.
Jason Elkins (48:59.148)
Yeah. You need a break.
Jason Elkins (49:11.862)
Yeah, no, I get it completely. And that was the part that I was curious about was when you envision this, do you envision yourself interacting with people on the trail or is it more like put my headphones on and my blinders on and not blinders, but just spend 40 days by yourself, not talking to anybody. Or if it was more, if there was a social aspect to doing a hike like this.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (49:36.537)
First of all, if I’m not in a glacial environment like the ice cap or something, then I never put on headphones because I don’t want to cut off my hearing. I like to hear the environment. I like to hear birds and animals and whatever is there. So definitely not headphones.
Jason Elkins (50:02.35)
Okay.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (50:03.758)
And yeah, I mean, I think it’s really nice to communicate with people that you meet on a trail. It’s on this, you know, equal level, not being in the role of a guide. I mean, I’ve done that a lot of times. I’ve been guided also when I’ve gone to countries like, you know, Morocco or the desert or Mali. I always had local guides. And I really appreciate also having someone leading me when I’m…
not the one that knows the best.
So.
Jason Elkins (50:38.702)
So if you had the opportunity to walk one of these trails, because I wonder about this sometimes, just for myself a little bit, but if you had an opportunity to walk one of these trails, but nobody was going to be there. You knew that it was only going to be you the entire time.
Jason Elkins (51:03.726)
I don’t know how you quantify this, but how much does that change for you? Would you be like, nah, I don’t even want to do it? Or is it like, okay, fine, I’m still gonna do it.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (51:16.918)
No, I could still do it. mean, it’s like, know, nature is there.
So, and part of it is also to be with yourself. mean, it all has its appealing sides.
Jason Elkins (51:34.893)
I guess that’s where I was going with that is, you know, some people need a little bit more social interaction and the idea of being alone for three days on a trail, just they can’t even get their head around it. And then there’s other folks that I like time by myself and I’m perfectly fine doing that. Doesn’t mean that you don’t like people, but I was that, I guess that’s where I was going because for me,
know if you say well I’m gonna drop you in the most beautiful place on earth but it’s just gonna be you there for me I feel like it’s a missed opportunity I would be sad about that to be there by myself and not sharing it with someone just because those that’s just I just value that the shared part of those experiences so I was just curious kind of what your perspective was but it sounds like you’re maybe a little bit better at connecting with nature and not necessarily needing someone to be chatting with you
Einar Torfi Finnsson (52:34.006)
I like both, but I think it’s just whatever happens when you go on a trip like that. And I’ve also said to my friends, if I get to the point that I can put this dream to reality and go on a trip, then I’m happy to have friends working with me. Just don’t want to organize it for them, because that’s what I’m always doing.
Jason Elkins (53:02.958)
That could be the challenge, right? Because yeah, you invite your friends all of a sudden and they know what you do for a living. they’re, know, yeah, that could be one of those situations. It’s kind of like when you let onto people that you know something about computers, all of a sudden you handle all of their computer issues. That type of thing. Yeah, yeah. All right, very cool. So what do you think needs to happen for you to have one of these?
Einar Torfi Finnsson (53:22.22)
Yeah.
Jason Elkins (53:33.774)
Hikes come to fruition.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (53:39.183)
Honestly, I I need to give myself the break. So I need to organize my work the way that I’m not, you know, what do you call it? I’m not needed. And also just take the decision long time ahead so that I can’t avoid it. I can’t escape it because it’s…
Jason Elkins (53:55.81)
Uh-huh.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (54:08.098)
because I’m still running a small company and the trap is that I have the tendency to be thinking about that all the time. yes, mean, there’s actually nothing that should stop me except for my own head.
Jason Elkins (54:33.582)
Yep, I can relate to that so much, I wanna make sure that we cover kind of you getting your own business started because I think where we kind of left off was, you you got a job as a guide and speaking French. And that sounded like it was at a full-time job, a seasonal job, and kind of walk us from there into the future, or into the present, I should say.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (54:47.743)
Mm-hmm.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (54:58.126)
Yes, so it’s in 89 I started guiding as a main job. So from 89 my main income is from guiding. It was a summer job and then a short winter season, but it was much better paid than most other jobs that I could get at the time. And I filled up the gap.
by working different jobs. I worked for my mountain rescue around Christmas and New Year’s. I did for the mountain rescue school, I did lectures, teaching. I worked in a, what do you call it, a mountain equipment shop, you know. So I just did different odd jobs to fill up the gap with.
with the guiding. Then I went to school in France in 91. So I stayed three years in France and learned my French much better and studied geography as well. And at that time we were already with my brother, my cousin and a friend. We were already thinking about creating a company which we did in 93, just before Christmas in 1993, we created a company.
called Icelandic Mountain Guides. What led to that was two things. There was kind of like a little bit of a need or a demand for guiding on glaciers in the National Park in the Southeast. And as well, me and this friend, the fourth person in the quartet, we were really interested in the…
the backpacking area of south of the Wat Naegwyd glacier in Iceland. It’s a fantastic wilderness where very few people had actually been roaming for any other things than gathering sheep in the autumn. So in 92, we started preparing by hiking in this area. yeah, so we created this company just
Einar Torfi Finnsson (57:21.09)
before Christmas 93 and our first season was December 94. And it was a struggle for quite a while.
Jason Elkins (57:31.17)
What was the biggest struggle right off the bat that maybe surprised you a little bit?
Einar Torfi Finnsson (57:37.251)
Sorry.
Jason Elkins (57:38.498)
What was the biggest struggle right off the bat when you got started? What was the biggest challenge or struggle that perhaps was a surprise? Perhaps you didn’t even realize it was going to be that difficult.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (57:45.262)
Mmm.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (57:51.14)
I mean, we knew mountains, we knew guiding, but we knew nothing about marketing or sales or organizing as an office. I think maybe the biggest surprise was that the clients were just not waiting in a line to go on our trips.
So it’s actually, it was much harder work than we anticipated to get going. And the revenues were tiny in the beginning.
Jason Elkins (58:27.63)
Doesn’t it suck when you have this thing you know is really great and you know that you can deliver it to somebody and share it with them and really give them an amazing experience and then they don’t come. That’s very disappointing, isn’t it?
Einar Torfi Finnsson (58:43.479)
Yes, it is. But at the same time, we were fueled by the interest that grew, even though was slowly, it grew still. I mean, I remember, I think it’s the first summer we are operating, and we had distributed a little bit, you like a leaflet in the south. And I met an Icelandic lady that had seen
And she had heard about us also maybe through the touring club or something. So she said, we are actually a group of people that are interested in your four day work in this area. You know, things like that. Yeah, okay. So there is someone noticing at least. And actually the year after I guided that group in, know, so it grew even though it was slow, it grew. And then in…
96 we got connection with the big French travel agency and you know it’s you know so 10 years after we started we already had like four people working five people in the office and and then another 10 years passed and then we had about 50 to 60 people in the office and I mean maybe a couple of hundred guides on the payroll so
Yeah.
Jason Elkins (01:00:10.734)
Wow. Do you attribute that to, cause you said in the beginning, we knew nothing about marketing and sales. We about what we were offering. We just didn’t know how to get it in front of people. it kind of the arc that I just heard was it progressed. I’m just curious, was there a, did you make a traumatic shift in what you were doing with the marketing and sales side or did it just organically just through word of mouth and reputation?
build up on its own that way, or a combination of the two.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (01:00:43.439)
I mainly organically in the beginning because we didn’t have the internet going yet at the time. So there was no homepage or anything. It was just organically. But I mean, like the little excursions on the glaciers, like three hours walk on ice.
that we were offering at the time was seen as extraordinary mountaineering stuff or something like that. And ordinary people in the travel business would frown upon it. Today it’s actually the biggest activity that people do in Iceland, tourists, is to go on a glacier or into an ice cave.
Jason Elkins (01:01:33.134)
Why did the tourism, why were people frowning on that earlier on? Help me understand.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (01:01:37.507)
because they had never tried it. actually the main challenge we had actually was to get bigger travel agencies to understand that it was a good product and that they could sell it to normal people without a problem.
Jason Elkins (01:01:51.0)
to people that were already going to Iceland anyway. They didn’t even want to put, okay.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (01:01:54.307)
Yes, yes, as an activity. And that took a little bit more than 10 years and then it exploded. For a while we were the biggest operator in that field.
Jason Elkins (01:02:11.244)
And I suspect that if you’re doing that, maybe the people that you’re doing the three hour tour with are not necessarily going to come back and book a, know, Greenland ice cap expedition. But it helps you get some reviews, helps you get some traffic, helps you kind of just get in front of people a little bit. Or what was the, right?
Einar Torfi Finnsson (01:02:24.631)
No, necessarily.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (01:02:31.981)
Yeah.
Yeah, so I mean the company was about day tours on one side and longer trips on the other side. And I was always more into the longer trips. And at the period of time I was a lot in the office organizing the longer trips. I always guided at least one or two trips every season. But I also got a bit…
into this thing being the leader of a section of the company that took care of the longer trips. To make a long story short,
we had a big investor coming into the company and then with COVID, we were in a very bad position and I actually got pushed out of the company.
Well, I mean, everyone was sucked at the beginning of COVID because there was nothing happening. And then I kind of went to the roots again. So I started Arctic hiking with my childhood friend, Kristin, and I’m back guiding a lot.
Jason Elkins (01:04:08.014)
Okay, so this was a different company all along in the past for, like about 20 years. Something like that.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (01:04:16.398)
Yeah, I think I spent 25 years with Mountain Guides. So I was the CEO of Icelandic Mountain Guides for 11 years or 12 years and then the leader of the group department for another 12.
Jason Elkins (01:04:21.71)
Okay.
Jason Elkins (01:04:36.75)
Okay. So now what you’re doing, you’re spending a lot more time in the field with clients guiding. And it’s a smaller operation. It’s the two, you and your friend that are doing this. What’s your mix now? Is it all longer? Yeah, I guess we started at beginning of the conversation. We talked about pretty much all multi-day stuff now, right?
Einar Torfi Finnsson (01:04:43.766)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (01:04:50.254)
Mm-hmm.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (01:05:03.318)
Yeah. So I actually, there was a lot of things that I didn’t anticipate when I was working in Icelandic mountain guides back in the days. I mean, I had no way of understanding how big tourism would become in Iceland. It was pretty small when I was starting.
I think when we created the company it was like 150 to 70,000 people a year visiting the country mainly in the summer. Now we are probably around 2 million in Iceland. The day trips, which I think it’s cool, it’s really a good experience for people to do that, but it became…
too much of a mainstream commerce and the long trips is always where you disconnect and I think it’s more meaningful in a way. For me at least it So now when I’m back in a small company which I only share with one other person,
Jason Elkins (01:06:16.428)
I get that.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (01:06:28.748)
I do mainly what I love to do. So I do no day tours. It’s mainly tracking and hiking. We’re not doing bus tours. Skiing, yeah, stuff that we love to do.
Jason Elkins (01:06:48.31)
that that’s not everybody figures that out sometimes they stay right in something else until it’s too late and you still have a lot of things to do you got to go take a hike somewhere and and you’re doing what you love i’m i’m curious what’s the one piece of advice you would give your younger self if you could if you could speak to yourself at 19
You know, you just got hired to be a trip leader for a couple of these things with the Touring Club. What’s the one piece of advice? And it doesn’t have to be business related or tourism related. I’m just curious, what would you, what piece of advice would you give your younger self?
Einar Torfi Finnsson (01:07:32.527)
Good question. So let me start with business-wise. I would say even though you build something up, don’t be afraid to change, to stop what you’ve been doing and start again from zero. There’s always a possibility to do something new or do better something old.
Yeah, on the private… It’s very good question. What would I…
Einar Torfi Finnsson (01:08:13.452)
My younger self. Maybe I would tell my younger self to…
Slow down a little bit.
You know, breathe, breathe in. You know, enjoy life and…
you know, don’t run that fast. But I think that’s what age gives us, know, the perspective of, you know, sitting on a stone and just watch the horizon.
Jason Elkins (01:08:45.453)
No.
Jason Elkins (01:08:49.578)
It’s interesting because as you know, I’m getting older as well and the things I would tell myself, a lot of them are the same things my parents were telling me back in the day when I was ignoring them. They’re what do you know? You’re old, what do you know? That’s not how the world works.
Now I find myself thinking, oh, I remember when my mom told me I needed to relax and slow down and enjoy life a little bit more. And now I’m at 52, I’m reminding, trying to remind myself that, you know, every day or so. I’m like, you know, I wish I, I wish I would have been open to hearing it back when I was 16 or whenever she said it, but, that’s not how the world works. it? I’m kind of figure things out on her own, guess. So.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (01:09:40.908)
No, I mean, and I see my son doing a lot of the same things that I did.
I think, you know, it just has to go through this. know, it’s, it’s, there’s no, and what I do understand is that when he’s doing stuff the same way as I did, he’s, he’s learning. You know, he’s learning from, from the mistakes also. And, you know, it’s something that, you know, it’s just normal. It’s just normal.
Jason Elkins (01:10:21.134)
It’s just normal and it’s, you know, I’ve got kids as well and it’s, it’s hard not to share the wisdom that you think maybe you’ve gained along the way. It’s hard not to share it because you don’t want to see them in pain. You don’t want to see them make the mistakes, but that’s really, they, that’s, that’s just how it works. So maybe we just, we tell them what we think, just, I don’t know, maybe I tell him and my daughter what I think just so I can.
feel like I’m doing my job to advise them and then they’re gonna go do whatever they’re gonna do. That’s fine, I respect that. Even when it’s hard to watch, I respect it. I appreciate that. How many you’ve got the sun? Do you have one sun or we didn’t really get into that too much.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (01:10:56.61)
Mm-hmm.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (01:11:05.344)
I have one son and one daughter.
Jason Elkins (01:11:08.726)
Okay, are either one of them involved in trekking, hiking, skiing, tourism, any of that stuff?
Einar Torfi Finnsson (01:11:16.31)
My daughter is not exactly in tourism, but she’s a bit hiker. She really loves hiking in the mountains and being outside in nature. And she’s actually helping me with social media. So she is working a little bit in the field.
Jason Elkins (01:11:35.128)
So cool.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (01:11:42.573)
Yeah, so she’s definitely interested in all this nature stuff that I’ve been doing. My son is less, but he’s a good person, so I mean, what do want? You want kids to be happy and to be good people? And he definitely is a good person. And he’s not so much into hiking or trekking at the moment, but…
Maybe that will come, maybe not, doesn’t matter.
Jason Elkins (01:12:15.63)
Yep, very, very cool. And we’ve discussed a bunch of different things, a roundabout way. Appreciate everything you shared with us. And I’m curious, what did I forget to ask you? Or what do you wish I would have asked you? Or what do you want to make sure our listeners know either about you or Arctic Kite King and expeditions or Greenland or Iceland or just anything in general before we wrap up?
Einar Torfi Finnsson (01:12:40.438)
Well, good question again.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (01:12:50.434)
Well, maybe if I promote myself a little bit, think for us it’s a very important aspect of the trips we make that people learn about the country where they’re in. And the part of Greenland we are traveling in, mostly is the East part.
Jason Elkins (01:12:56.172)
Yeah, absolutely. Please do.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (01:13:17.9)
which is the most isolated, I would say, of Greenlandic towns and villages. are 3,000 people altogether living in the east of Greenland. And they speak their own language, which is a different, not… It’s even a little bit more than a dialect from the West Greenlandic language. It’s a different language in many ways.
And it’s the most authentic Greenland from my point of view. Wonderful people that live there. And I consider myself lucky to be there. In Iceland, of course, that’s where we’re native. And we try to share as much as we can about who we are, what we are,
So it’s a big part of our trips is to be educational, to transmit the culture and even if we’re hiking we still want people to know who are living here and what are they doing.
Jason Elkins (01:14:34.862)
I’m you brought that up and I suspect as I was listening to you I was thinking I’m sure there’s some really interesting food opportunities to try things that maybe most people from outside that part of the world might seem a little different to them and stuff like that.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (01:14:51.042)
Well, in both countries there are food opportunities that we don’t even try to present because they’re too remote for people. But there are also lots of food opportunities that are very, very interesting for people.
Jason Elkins (01:15:05.176)
When you say they’re too remote, don’t present them because they’re too remote. What do you mean by that?
Einar Torfi Finnsson (01:15:11.02)
Like in Iceland we have this tradition of eating fermented shark.
Jason Elkins (01:15:16.526)
I’ve heard of that.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (01:15:17.642)
and fermented skate, you know, the fish. That’s you can give the shark as a taste, it’s like a hard food experience for people if they’re not acquainted. And in Greenland, it’s a bit the same, you know, if you don’t really offer a fermented seal meat to a tourist, but fresh fish, but fresh fish, that’s excellent.
Jason Elkins (01:15:32.923)
Yeah.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (01:15:47.214)
you
Jason Elkins (01:15:49.487)
we don’t need to get too graphic, but I’m curious either. Is that because they’re just really, it’s just too weird to think about for people that get grossed out or is it because you’re on a hiking and a trek and you don’t need somebody to be needing to use the bathroom every 15 minutes because their body’s not used to it?
Einar Torfi Finnsson (01:16:12.055)
Yeah, mean, well, it’s mostly the cultural aspect is that if you get people to taste something that is too remote and too different for them, that’s a negative experience and we want to avoid that. of course, but we try more, we try more to go for the food that is easier for people, but it’s still local.
Jason Elkins (01:16:27.445)
okay. All right.
Jason Elkins (01:16:34.752)
Mm-hmm. Yeah. Very, very cool.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (01:16:38.765)
So if that is like if that’s fresh fish in both countries is that the basic, know, that’s you have like in East Greenland, you have trout and salmon, you know, in summer of a quality that is totally different from something that comes from fish farming, you know.
Jason Elkins (01:17:00.728)
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Well, very cool. I hope to, our paths will cross someday in Iceland or Greenland. They’re both places that I have not been and I would love to go and hope to share some time with you at some fermented shark because I will eat anything. I’ve never eaten anything that was a negative experience, no matter how difficult way it was for me to get my head around it and my body around it.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (01:17:26.381)
Well, mean, in Iceland in late January, we have the old month of Thorri starting and then we have these traditional feasts where we eat fermented sour, dried and smoked food. So if you are happy for a tasting like that, then please come, you know, late January and join us on a traditional meal feast. It’s.
Jason Elkins (01:17:49.102)
All right.
Jason Elkins (01:17:53.774)
That actually sounds a lot of fun. I think that sounds pretty cool.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (01:17:56.591)
It is a lot of fun and we drink Black Death Snaps with this.
Jason Elkins (01:18:02.926)
huh.
If you said you did it in July, I would be a little bit more excited. January sounds really cold in Iceland, but maybe not.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (01:18:15.023)
It’s not very cold in Iceland because it’s an island but it is of course cold compared to the place where you’re sitting now.
Jason Elkins (01:18:23.5)
Well, but you know, yes, you’re right. And I can’t speak for everybody that’s outside of Iceland, but there’s something about the name of the country that probably just makes it seem a lot colder than it really is. What do you think?
Einar Torfi Finnsson (01:18:38.223)
Yeah, it’s a topic for another interview probably, but the two countries I’ve been presenting should switch names.
Jason Elkins (01:18:46.782)
I have heard that before. I have heard that, so very cool. And thank you so much. I appreciate you coming out sharing your stories and educating me and our listeners on quite a few different things. So appreciate it so much and look forward to having another conversation another day, maybe in January or we’ll have a much deeper food conversation. Thank you so much.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (01:19:11.971)
Yeah, thank you, thank you.
Jason Elkins (01:19:14.806)
chat with you soon. Bye-bye.
Einar Torfi Finnsson (01:19:16.868)
Bye.
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