A video of two travelers stumbling upon a tiny “self-service grocery store” in a remote Icelandic town has gone viral on TikTok.
THE clipposted by user @_kristinarose, has racked up over 1.2 million views since it was shared on August 27.
The text overlaid on the video says: “When you’re traveling on a budget that’s a little too high and you find yourself in a difficult situation, rural town without restaurants or grocery stores.” According to the location shared with the post, the video was recorded in the western region of Iceland.
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The footage shows two women walking on a deserted road with mountains in the background. They soon reach a “grocery store” the size of a telephone booth.
“We found the grocery store in town,” a woman says in the video, adding, “It’s a self-service grocery store. It’s the only food we have access to.” The women open the door to the stall and the camera pans to a shelf, showing bags of tomatoes and a few other items. In the video’s comments section, the user writes that the store also sells “dehydrated fish sticks.”
In the video's caption, the video's author said, “We ended up making oatmeal for dinner using our camp stove and some oatmeal packets we brought from home.”
Newsweek reached out to @_kristinarose for comment via TikTok. This video has not been independently verified.
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The viral post comes as travel is expected to hit record highs this year. Global tourism spending is expected to hit $2 trillion, fueled by demand for leisure, according to a December study by Euromonitor International, a market research firm.
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The survey showed that niche segments of tourism, such as adventure, wellness, luxury, eco-tourism and sports travel, were poised to become major growth sectors in 2024 as consumers prioritize personalized experiences that align with their lifestyle and values.
In a comment, the author wrote: “We were in disbelief, as if this was listed on Google Maps. We expected a small store, but we didn't know it would be like this.”
The poster said they “did not buy anything (at the self-service grocery store) because we did not know how it worked and if it was only for locals,” adding: “We did not want to take the food in case the locals needed it.”
The author of the article clarified in other comments that they had just arrived in the country for their vacation and were unable to stock up on food before heading to the airport. rural place“So that's all we could find in that specific area.” The women were able to get food from another grocery store the next day.
“It's wild”
The viral clip has left TikTok users amazed and amused, with one writing: “This is so cool. I want to see the world.”
Another added: “This is so cool, you are blessed but not blessed just yet. Safe travels my queens.”
“This is really funny,” one user wrote, while another said, “THIS IS CRAZY BUT ALSO FUN.”
One commenter added: “This is so cute and by cute I mean tiny.”
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