Alaska On My Mind

In December 2010, I was thisclose to packing a bag containing a bikini, some flip flops, and my cherished RayBan's and moving to an island in the Caribbean for the rest of my life. However, I am a woman of many words, little courage, and a propensity for taking the easy route-plus I have a dog that I wouldn't know what to do with. So, I am still in Texas, going to a job that is becoming quite tenuous, and living a life that can characterized as boring at best.

However, just the other day, I received a shot of excitement when my mother called to see whether I would be up for going on a family vacation this year. Assuming she was talking somewhere relatively close, I suggested rafting down the Colorado river in the Grand Canyon. "Umm yeah, that could be fun" was her response, followed by "but your father and I were thinking maybe Alaska." Alaska? Heck yeah! Count me in! Ever since my parents had visited Alaska several years ago and independent of that, ever since I had read the book "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer, I have always wanted to visit Alaska. I think it has something to do with the vastness of land that is largely untouched by the modern world. Somehow, I knew that this trip was just what I needed to have something to look forward to in 2011.

Our family quickly decided that instead of flying to Alaska and picking our own vacation spots, that we will go on Carnival Cruise Line's Spirit for a 7 day trip. We will set sail from Seattle, Washington on August 9, and hit the ports of Skagway, Juneau, Ketchikan, and Victoria, before pulling back into Seattle one week later.

Immediately I began looking at shore excursions, and to my surprise, there are A LOT to choose from. Too many really. The selection was quite overwhelming, as were the prices on some of the excursions. Overwhelmed, I decided that I needed to take a systematic approach to deciding how I would spend my time and my $$$. So, I decided to start a blog for a couple of reasons: 1) to allow me to do research and share some of the most interesting aspects of Alaska's history, geography, people, and culture; 2) to help me research and pick the shore excursions for each port; and 3) give me a hobby to write about every once and a while.

So yeah, Alaska is a far cry from Aruba, Jamaica, Kokomo, etc., but I think an adventure (even if it is "Fun Ship" safe, may be just what I need to get my spirits up in 2011.