Thanks. This trip is going to happen, believe me. I have always wanted to see Alaska, fish there, see and experience the wild life in person, the native culture and so much more. It's so pristine and so incredibly beautiful and is the last expanse of frontier and open expanse of beauty and vastness left in this country. It's one of the few places left on the entire planet where the pioneer spirit is still alive and well. That in itself, makes Alaska special to me. It also has everything. I suppose what makes it also so alluring is just the sheer magnificence of it and that so few people live there and industry has not been allowed to ruin it. Conservation, hunting and fishing laws and the effort to keep the state's dazzling essence unspoiled as much as possible seems like very serious business there. This is why it is still so beautiful. Too bad we haven't done that as well in the lower 48. Still some decent areas left in Montana, Wyoming and a few other areas, but nothing, nothing offers what Alaska has in the way of topography and the vastness and diversity of nature. Nothing compares.
I have traveled all over the world and yet I have been talking about Alaska for decades it seems. So I am planning on one month to have my first excursion there. I am organizing now bit by bit, starting to make lists of what I need to do/learn about, what we want to see etc., because I want to understand the areas more, plan it out piece by piece, be prepared, know exactly what to bring (especially in clothing and how I may need to prep the plane and so on), down to what kind of flies to tie for fishing. So that's why I am starting the planning now. Plus it's a new goal and something to look forward to that I have wanted to do for many years.
My dream right now is to wake up, walk outside and have the view and just breathe it in. I am especially interested in the wildlife too. My wife and I have been talking about this almost daily for three weeks now. I know what you mean about "tourists". Makes me cringe, have seen them everywhere I have traveled to. I avoid them as much as possible. My idea of travel has always been to experience what the locals experience as much as possible, especially the food. I have eaten my way around the world, shopped where the locals shop, ate what and where they ate, participated as much as possible in their activities, etc. I prefer to hang with the locals and off the beaten path as much as possible. It's the best way to experience the culture for me and the country's history. And you can't do any of that going to just the tourist areas, hanging with tourists and acting like one. I have respect for all cultures and areas and I find that serves me well. I and neither have my wife and I when we have traveled together anywhere, ever been on a tour group of anything. We make our own schedules and itinerary and just go alone, explore meet people, talk to them, hang with them and enjoy the experience. We try to go on as many little different types of excursions as possible, by bike, foot, boat, plane, carriage, horseback, car, by any means available and see what is there. Some of the best times, come from all sorts of little unexpected side trips and who you meet and what you learn along the way. This trip is going to be the beginning of another chapter of my life and of our life together as I won't be working the hours and days like I currently am and it's going to be a celebration of that. Who knows, I may fall so in love with Alaska that it hopefully won't be our last trip there either.
Do you know btw, where totems are still carved by the natives? That is something I would love to see and learn more about. I think I read that there is a carving shed in Ketchican at some sort of park there or something.
This whole deal is just too exciting with all the possibilities of what we can do, see, and experience up there, that now when I get stressed out at work, I just remind myself there is an end and a little shining star (this trip) waiting for us.
