Need lots of advice and suggestions!
Hello! I posted this on r/hikinggear but didn't get any traction, so I'm trying here.
I'm tentatively planning on traveling to Iceland this upcoming March. It's my understanding that it will still be quite cold and snowy at that time, in the 20/30 degree range with wind chill as well. I'm planning to tour the ice caves and see the northern lights and do some other outdoorsy excursions--nothing crazy, mostly guided tours and hikes. My problem is that I live in the deep south, around the Panhandle, so I don't have any real cold weather equipment or a tolerance to extreme cold. On top of that, I'm fairly petite. I have a 25 in. waist, 36 in. hip and I'm 5'4". The little bit of looking I've done online has indicated that a lot of cold weather hiking clothing intended for women has very limited sizing, a lot of which doesn't seem to accommodate a size 0-2. All this is to say that I need the advice and recommendations of those more experienced. I really need to know how much layering I would need to do and what kind of garments I would need. Likewise, I would greatly appreciate brands, websites, personal reviews, and links to products you feel are the best for this sort of weather and my sizing. And obviously since I probably won't get much use out of this stuff after my trip, I would love to save a few bucks wherever I can. Any and all advice helps! Thanks in advance!