Since I was a teenager, and after seeing a TV special on Alaska, I’ve wanted to see this magical place for myself. Years ago, my Aunt and Uncle sold their home for big RV and spent over a month traveling from California through the Yukon to Alaska. After hearing their stories, I knew THAT was how I wanted to see Alaska. I wanted to head into the interior and spend quality time with the people who live there. Fast forward to age (almost) 63 and I’m finally getting to Alaska. As I would love to do an entire month traveling around in an RV like my aunt and uncle, my husband Alex isn’t retired yet so I had to scale the trip down a bit. I couldn’t wait any longer… I have to go NOW. It takes a whole 5 days just to get to Alaska by auto from California (one way) so we decided to fly to Anchorage and rent a car.

Why not rent an RV? Well, I did toss that around, but I decided it was easier for us to rent a Camry (fuel efficient) and get lodging. Plus, I didn’t want the hassle of breakdowns in a rented rig, and a whole host of things that comes with driving a large home on wheels. Trust me, we know! I know, it could all work out just fine, but I didn’t want to take the risk. Maybe one day we will take our own rig way up North.

Why not a cruise? Cruise ships just ain’t our thing. If it’s yours, more power to ya! We will get our fill of being on the water with the four boat tours I have planned (including the ferry).

So, here I am just a few weeks away from when I get to book this adventure with lodging, excursions, ferry rides, rental car, air fair, as well as making lists of what to pack, where to eat, other things to do and see. Alaska is a BIG STATE and the area of Alaska where there are roads is a small portion of the state. However, this area is STILL BIG and to see every single thing would take you a couple of months, maybe more! Heck, I haven’t seen everything in my home state of California and I’ve lived here for years! 🙂

In the posts to come, I will detail all of my planning for the next year, how I go about my booking, who has helped me and so on. Maybe you can plan your dream trip to Alaska using my notes. Believe me, it takes a village to plan this adventure but you don’t have to re-invent the wheel. Just make some modifications to fit you on a wheel that works!

My first thing to do was join a few Face Book Alaska Travel groups. In these groups you will find a gold mine of information and advice. I befriended a gal in Michigan who just came back from her epic road trip just like the one I have planned. She has been so kind to send me soo soo much information, even her epic color coded spread sheet itinerary that is detailed down to the hour! Thank you Suzan Donato Hicks in Michigan! I’m using her wheel with a few of my own modifications.

Here is how our trip looks at this moment.