We woke up in Maui for our first day on our second of three islands. We had been debating whether to visit Maui or not because there had been a big fire the year before. However, we'd seen a news article with Maui residents advertising that they were functional and reliant on tourism for their … Continue reading Hawaii Part 2: Maui
In March of 2025, my mom, sister, and I visited Hawaii. It wa a trip more than 5 years in the making. My goal had originally been to visit all 50 states by the time I turned 25. But because I ended up attending school internationally, my dad got sick, and then COVID hit, my … Continue reading Hawaii Part 1: Oahu
This last year was a great travel year for me. Alaska was state number 49 in my quest to visit all 50 states before I turn 30! The family trip itself was incredible, and it will likely be high on my list of places to go back to during my lifetime. Between Denali National Park, … Continue reading Heading into 2025!
Our last day in Alaska was back in Anchorage as a full-circle moment for the trip itself. The extra 24-ish hours in Anchorage allowed us to do some things we'd thought about doing on the first day but hadn't had time. Our flight out was at 11:59 PM on that last day, so we really … Continue reading The last day in Anchorage
With one solid hour of sleep, we were up bright and early for our 5 AM Denali National Park tour. Denali National Park was founded in 1917 to protect the Dall sheep population in the park from hunters who were seen as a growing threat as the establishment of the Alaska railroad made the inner … Continue reading Denali
The next day was our big travel day. We woke up in Seward and caught the bus up to our next stop, Talkeetna. We took a two-and-a-half-hour drive back up to Anchorage, catching a ton of beautiful views of mountains and lakes on the way. We had lunch at 49th State Brewery in Anchorage. The … Continue reading Talkeetna
Our second day in Seward, we woke up, grabbed breakfast at our hotel, and caught the shuttle to the small boat harbor in downtown Seward. We were heading off on a 6-hour boat tour into the Kenai Fjords. We quickly stopped at the local hardware store to buy some binoculars (which mom has had on … Continue reading The coolest boat ride ever
The second full day of our trip was our train adventure. We woke up before 6 and made our way to the train station. Now, all three of us are fairly well-traveled, and we’ve taken a fair number of trains in our lives. But at least Becca and I have never taken a train simply … Continue reading The train to Seward
We arrived in Anchorage around 8 PM, and I was immediately struck by how normal everything was. Obviously, Alaska is a state, and thus you would expect it to be the same as any other state. But I’ve been at so many foreign airports in my life that at this point, arriving at a new … Continue reading Anchorage
State number 49! This one has been a long time coming. Somewhere around my 21st birthday, back from study abroad and starting to look into my future, the goal solidified. I'd been traveling since I was 6 months old, being comfortably held in my parents' arms as I "walked" across the Golden Gate Bridge in … Continue reading Alaska, finally!
WANDERING 