Alaska on a Budget - 2009

My third trip to Alaska in three years…

Since I arrived back from my short winter trip to Alaska in March 2008, I’ve been thinking about heading back up in the summer of 2009. I am on a budget like a lot of folks, so I started saving for this trip during the summer of 2008.

There are a number of activities & adventures on my life’s ‘to-do’ list that I desire to achieve and Alaska seems like a great place to accomplish them.

- Ride & sleep on a Ferry (maybe see a whale or two)

- See the Southeast Alaska ; Ketchikan , Sitka , Juneau , Haines & Skagway

- Relax in the Hot Spring

- Go whitewater rafting

- Glide on a zip line through the trees

- Go deep sea fishing (for halibut, however, I would settle for any kind of ‘huge’ fish

- Drink a cold Alaskan Amber Beer and Midnight Sun Beer

- To spend more time at Denali National Park , hopefully see some wildlife & Mt. McKinley again

- Maybe hike on a glacier?

- Spend more time at some of my favorite locations again; Homer, Seward

- Spend time with my co-worker in Anchorage and meet her baby

This time the planning was easy & quick since I knew what resources to reference; The Milepost, Eyewitness Alaska Guide Book & the internet.  

I planned to use my frequent flier miles to fly & to save on that transportation cost. However, I was thinking of starting the trip by taking the Alaska Marine Highway starting in Bellingham , WA and finishing the trip in Anchorage , which would lead to a direct flight home (which I prefer.) I learned that one can not use your frequent flier miles one-way, it had to be round-trip. So I simply changed the itinerary to fly round-trip from Minneapolis to Seattle & back. My best friend lives in Seattle and the chance to see twice within a few weeks would enhance the trip more, plus she would be the first person I’d call to tell her how the trip went! I contacted her to find out if we could stay with her and if she would drive us up to Bellingham , WA – wasn’t a problem.

Then I navigated around the Alaska Marine Highway reservation website to book my ferry rides. I realized if you want to stay & sightsee at a location like Ketchikan, you must get off the ferry and take another one to the next destination. It’s not like a cruise ship where they dock for a day and sail at night. The ferry stays at port for a designated time frame and then continues to its next destination. The duration of the first portion of the trip was determined by the ferry schedule.

I learned from my first trip to Alaska to book early for deals & guarantee space. We booked/reserved the following on Jan. 25, 2009

- All Ferry rides w/ berth accommodations with the Alaska Marine Highway

- Redeemed frequent flier miles with NWA round-trip from Minneapolis to Seattle

- Alaska Airlines Flight, one-way flight from Juneau to Fairbanks (with layover in Anchorage )

- Alaska Airlines Flight, one-way flight from Anchorage to Seattle , WA

- Alaska Railroad from Fairbanks to Denali, then Denali to Anchorage

- Rental car in Ketchikan , Sitka , Juneau , Fairbanks & Anchorage

We waited until the end of March to book the rest of our hostel stays and adventure activities. The trip is now finalized!  I organized & coordinated this entire trip. The Type A Personality in me created a trip-tik with schedules, correspondences, confirmation numbers and had it bond so it was organized completely and it stayed in my backpack throughout the entire trip as a reference guide.

Go with your Gut Instinct

I did not travel alone this time. A friend that I’ve known for 14 years (since college) begged me if she could come along on this trip. Since my first trip to Alaska in 2007, I realized that I enjoy traveling by myself. After my friend kept on asking me about coming along, I changed my mind to include her. I thought it would be nice to have a friend to travel along with & to share all the amazing views & adventures that we will have. I will say, traveling alone or with someone has it’s pro’s & con’s. This trip confirmed that I prefer to travel alone or hopefully in the future I will have a travel companion like a boyfriend or husband. (I have chosen to block my friend’s face that traveled with me on this trip in our pictures.)

On April 2, 2009, the company that I work for announced that changes & lay-offs are coming. I contemplated do I go on this trip or not after everything is booked? What do I do? All these ‘what-if’s’ came into play. In the end, I went on the most incredible 23 day trip of my life!

I LOVE Alaska. It is my dream to permanently live in Alaska. I will make my dream come true!!!