i’ve thought about a million different ways to write this post, and everytime i try i sit there staring at the blank screen with about 328 memories flooding through my head. i use this blog as a way to look back and remember, but the problem is i want to remember EVERYTHING so where do i even begin? i approached this trip in a similar way i approached Colombia. i brought my camera, and though sometimes i forced my friends to be my pretend engaged couple….for the most part i just shot for fun. and i chose the pictures i did not because they are amazing, or the best, or any of that- but simply because i love them and what they represent. i don’t care if they aren’t in focus, or if i have no makeup on, or if they break all the rules of photography….i just wanted to shoot the way i did in high school- when i would just shoot what inspired me.

if you think you are a country boy/girl….move to alaska- they will show you what it really means to be country! hungting, fishing, 4wheeling. they don’t buy fish…they catch it. they don’t buy meat…they hunt it. one thing that surprised me about alaska is that i have never seen so much greenery in my life. it felt so ironic to be walking through the rich green land of alaska in jeans and a shirt, and yet be surrounded on all sides by snow capped mountains in the distance. things like this apparently exist.

another thing i learned exists….reindeer. yup, listen up people. reindeer are NOT an urban legend.

we hiked mountains, walked on glaciers, and relaxed on a boat. why not hang out at the top of a mountain with three of the most amazing people…when it’s 11pm and still light out. we had many roadtrips with the most ridiculous of adventures on the way to our destinations. i will never be the same after andrea’s mexican mother made us homemade enchiladas. there was kaladi brothers coffee and alaskan white beer. smoked salmon that was caught, marinated and smoked by my friend’s dad himself. i can now say i have had Alaskan King Crab legs….from Alaska :) there was cherry coke and vodka w/chocolate ice cream floats. if you get nothing else from this post, please just go to your kitchen make these asap.

and then there was that time i got stuck in a ditch.

this was a last minute trip (this seems to be the trend with me) that i went on with my friend Andrea, her husbad Michael, and son Lennon. you see she grew up in Alaska and her family is still there. so not only was this an awesome trip because it was Alaska (duh), but also because we got to spend the week living like Alaskans as opposed to staying at a hotel and having no idea what to do. we had to carry a gun all week to protect us from wild bears- which alone is so different from home. there was Gatorade Lake. which really isn’t a lake made of gatorade at all…but is actually a lake made from the a melting glacier. however walking up to it you would never know the difference and so this is what i named it. you’ll see what i mean :)

the simplicity of doing nothing but feeling the cool alaskan breeze is enough to make me want to go back. i loved every moment. from the coffee when we woke up, to our morning workouts outside, being covered in mud on a daily basis, and overlooking the horizon as the sun finally started to go down. there was so much laughing and having silly fun…i miss it already.

i definitely can’t wait to go back and continue on the adventure….for now i invite you to take a look back with me :)

To see more of my fun travel adventures check out:

Colombia:: La Boquilla + Cartagena

Colombia:: El Rodadero + Barranquilla

Colombia:: Santa Marta

Colombia:: Taganga

Colombia:: Medellin