At this very moment, a German tourist is hiking alone at the foot of Vatnajökull and livestreaming his journey on the Twitch platform, reports mbl.is. Icelandic Association for Search and Rescue (ICE-SAR) is monitoring his hike.
The tourist is travelling solo, and online users have voiced concern for the man, with some even suggesting that search and rescue teams may need to be dispatched. ICE-SAR is aware of his movements, keeping one eye on his stream, and currently has no concerns for his safety.
The tourist, named Benjamin, has been travelling around Iceland for the past week, livestreaming the entire adventure. Viewers have, among other things, watched him sleep under the open sky, eat at gas stations, and hitchhike from place to place.
Benjamin hasn’t yet made it onto the glacier, but over the past 24 hours, viewers have been watching him climb east of Skaftafell and make his way upward toward it.
On Reddit, lively discussions have sprung up about his journey, with many users suggesting that what he’s doing could even be illegal and that he’s putting himself, and others, at risk.
One Icelandic commenter wrote: “I wouldn’t say this is a good idea, and it would be a waste of ICE-SAR’s resources and manpower if he got stuck. But it’s not exactly illegal.”
According to mbl.is, ICE-SAR are aware of Benjamin’s travels but were not currently worried about him.
“We’re keeping an eye on him,” Jón Þór Víglundsson, ICE-SAR’s communications officer told mbl.is, adding that he’s fairly certain many foreign tourists undertake similar adventures every year without live streaming them.
More than a thousand people are currently watching Benjamin live, and according to Jón Þór, there is a certain safety benefit in that. “People are aware of his whereabouts, which is, for example, part of the philosophy behind the SafeTravel campaign: letting others know where you are.”
Watch Benjamin’s livestream here.
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