Travel Diary: Alaska

About three months ago I had just finished a book called The Great Alone, which is an amazing novel by Kristin Hannah that takes place in Alaska. The book completely transfixed me and I spent an entire weekend reading it and avoiding all human interaction and responsibilities. ha. After finishing the book, I knew I needed to goto Alaska ASAP. We also have some friends who live in Anchorage that we have been wanting to visit and so we quickly put together an impromptu trip and booked our flights! 

Alaska did not disappoint. Wow. Last week was a complete dream and so refreshing to the soul. The beauty and wildness of Alaska completely mesmerized me and I could sit and stare for hours at the serene mountains, bald eagles out the window, and the wildflowers popping up everywhere. After 2 weeks visiting family in California, it felt so nice to just unplug and relax with nothing to do and nowhere to be. We didn't pack everything in while we were there, we simply did what we wanted to and did rush ourselves. 

What we did:

-We stayed in a city just north of Anchorage called Eagle River. Our first day we drove up to the small towns of Wasilla & Palmer and we went into the cute shops, bought books at a local book store, and just explored!

-Our third day we drove down to Seward, a small fishing town on the Kenai Peninsula. It was a beautiful sunny day (apparently rare for Seward) and the boys hiked up a mountain, while my friend Ashley and I spent the day shopping, walking on the water, and drinking coffee from the cutest cafe's! 

-After a day in Seward, we headed to Homer which was just as cute! Homer is where Summer getaway dreams are made of. The Spit is a narrow peninsula of shops, restaurants, hotels, and condos for rent. It is in the middle of Kachemak Bay and overlooks the most beautiful mountains. I swear, Alaska is magical! 

-In the middle of road tripping, we would stop on the side of the road to explore, take photos, and goof off with our friends. The trip was filled with so many great conversations, realizations, and reflections. 

-GLACIER KAYAKING! The most adventurous thing we did on this trip was kayak in Bear Glacier! This was truly a once in a lifetime opportunity. There is only one company that has the equipment to get people to Bear Glacier by river boat and they only do this excursions for a couple month out of the year. We spent an hour in a long and bumpy river boat going through the wave-filled ocean to get to a small river where the glacier was. Outside of the glacier was huge icebergs that we got to kayak around. It was extremely cold & rainy the whole trip but it truly was an unforgettable experience. We went through the company, Liquid Adventures, for our trip and I would highly recommend them to anyone! 

What we ate:

Oh boy, we ate, a TON! One fun fact about me is that my favorite food in the entire world is Salmon! I'm not going to lie when I say that I could eat Salmon for every meal! We ate like royalty on the trip and I'm not mad about it one bit. Most days I ate a salad with salmon for lunch and then salmon and veggies again for dinner! It was pretty easy to eat healthy there because most restaurants just offered fresh fish and veggies! 

On top of Salmon, I indulged a bit and got hot mocha's a couple of times, which I never do normally! I try to have as little sugar as possible but it felt nice to indulge a bit on vacation! I also indulged in wine a couple of times while we were spending late dinners overlooking the ocean. I think it is really important to enjoy simple things like a good glass of wine, especially if you hardly ever drink alcohol like me and so it felt nice to treat myself! 

Places I would recommend:

-BEST pizza in Anchorage: Moose's Tooth

-Best coffee shop in Eagle River: Jitters

-Restaurant in Seward: Chinooks

-Restaurant in Homer: Fresh Catch

-Store for Alaska goodies: AK Starfish has the cutest stuff and I got pretty much any salmon-related product they offered! haha 

This trip made me realize that traveling truly is so good for the soul. Traveling gives you a fresh perspective on life, love, and the things your passionate about. I feel so refreshed and restored from this trip! I'm already dreaming about where I want to explore next... 

Here are some photos from the trip! I hope this inspires you for your next travel trip!!