I tried to learn Icelandic back in 2010 with an eye towards moving to Iceland because anywhere where Birgitta Jónsdóttir can be a successful politician has to be a good place. I did not have any more success learning Icelandic than I did German, French, Latin, Greek or Russian, which is to say none at all, but I still think Iceland would be a great place to live for anyone less inept with languages than me.
You know, (bfv too), I've been half-eyeing a two week stint in Iceland next summer-ish. Have a professor from college who I'm close with who's up for letting me crash at his place...at the University of Iceland...
seriously, Iceland was dope as hell when I went. talk about a world of ice and fire.
I was there for a few days last summer. Beautiful place. It's a bit spendy, so having a place to stay would be a fantastic windfall. Iceland Air is really reasonable, and I noticed last time I was through SeaTac that they fly out of there. My only advice would be (a) bring a sleeping mask, and (b) bring some serious insect gear if you're planning on hiking. Both of those bits of advice would have made my stay marginally more enjoyable. Definitely recommend though.
There's no way I'd be there and not end up spending significant amounts of time hiking. Thanks for the advice! The last missing piece of the puzzle would be transit, really.