Iceland Summer: Travels Along the Ring Road

Vividly illustrated by Julia Oldham, Iceland Summer recounts Caswell's journey traversing the country by foot and bus accompanied by his lifelong friend Scott. The pair set out from Reykjav璭 and travel clockwise along the Ring Road, stopping along the way for backcountry walking trips. Caswell immerses himself in the natural beauty and charming eccentricities of the tiny island nation. With his drinking and hiking buddy by his side, and fueled by a steady diet of Brenniv璯 (fermented grain mash) and pylsur (Icelandic hot dogs), he explores the Hornstrandir peninsula, walks to the famed Dettifoss waterfall, waits for a glimpse of the lake monster Lagarflj鏒sormurinn at Egilssta簨r, visits the world's only penis museum, and pays homage to centuries of Icelandic literary tradition at the 臆ni Magnson Institute.

Writing in the tradition of other pairs who have traveled in Iceland, like W. G. Collingwood and J鏮 Stef嫕sson, and W. H. Auden and Louis MacNeice, Caswell meditates on the value of wild places in the modern world, travel as both pastime and occupation, the nature of friendship, and walking, food, and literature. Scott is the Sancho Panza to Caswell's Don Quixote, offering a ribald humor that grounds Caswell's flights into the romantic. The two travel well together and together arrive at the understanding that what anchors them both is their lifelong friendship.