Back from our Alaska Winter trip! I'm still cold... but it was unforgettable!
If you're unsure if Alaska in the winter is an experience you want, I think I can inspire you to plan it for next year. From the Northern Lights to hot springs, read on for ideas!
You know me and how I can’t ignore news or try to positively influence the people I meet to take an active role in politics… well, we just spent a little over a week up in Alaska and stayed so busy that I didn’t have a chance to read the news or doom-scroll on social media, so I’m out of the loop and will get myself up to date tonight. In the meantime, our trip to Fairbanks was incredible. I hadn’t been up to Fairbanks, AK for years and I had forgotten how much fun it is. I’m still updating our travel journal from the trip, but it should be complete soon.
I love getting to bring the whole family on work trips because they give a great perspective that’s outside of my field of view. I don’t love the cold, they do. I am not a dog person, they all are. I’m not a foodie, Chris is. Our week in Fairbanks was a surprise each day with everyone finding something else they loved. Today I’m sharing highlights of what we did and saw, as well as what else we have coming up for travel.
What’s New on our Blogs:
Seeing the Lion King on Broadway - 2TravelDads.com
Antelope Canyon in Page, AZ - 2TravelDads.com
Beautiful Ruins at Hovenweep National Monument in Utah - 2TravelDads.com
Best Kona Coast Tours - MyAlohaTrip.com
Visiting the Hulihe’e Palace in Kailua-Kona - MyAlohaTrip.com
Trip to the Key West Butterfly Conservatory - TheKeysExplored.com
Review of the Coconut Beach Resort, Key West - TheKeysExplored.com
Kayaking in Door County, Wisconsin - PaddleYourState.com
Kayaking Michigan’s Upper Peninsula - PaddleYourState.com
Lower Peninsula Michigan Kayaking Spots - PaddleYourState.com
We’re always working on lots of things at once, but really we’re spending the most time writing on our Alaska, Hawaii and Florida Keys travel sites. They’re so much fun to work on and I love seeing people use the information we’re putting out there!
How was our Trusted Housesitters experience?
I don’t know why we hadn’t used Trusted Housesitters before, but this was the best experience that actually made our time away even better. Let’s call them T&C for our purposes. We got to talk with them in advance and read through their previous house-sit reviews before committing to letting them stay at our house for a week. Between getting to scope them out in advance and then hearing the questions they had about our cats and how thoughtful they were, we felt confident leaving our home and kitties with them.
While we were gone we got little updates (nothing overwhelming or annoying) and they sent pictures a few times. They for sure spent lots of time at the house with the cats, which is really important for our little guys because they’re so needy. They took advantage of our outdoor space and bikes, which made me happy, and when they were done they gave us a little checklist of what they did before leaving the house. And OMG, they left our house in immaculate condition, and actually maybe even more clean than we left it for them. I’m so thankful we did this, and we will be using the service again.
Notes: there is a fee to sign up for Trusted Housesitters because it provides both a network element AND a reference element. It’s a worthwhile service and tool, without a doubt. PLEASE ASK US QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS. I want to write about it and would love to hear what questions people have about it.
If you want to try Trusted Housesitters, here’s a link for a discount!
Highlights from our Fairbanks Winter Trip
You’ll be able to read about our whole trip around the Fairbanks area soon, but in the meantime I wanted to share the highlights. Visiting Fairbanks in the winter is both just what you’d expect and a total surprise. It was chilly and there was a ton of snow, but it was beautiful and full of fun. Check out our travel journal here! And don’t worry, everything we did is going to get a detailed write up on MyAlaskaTrip.com and then be a part of bigger travel guides on 2TravelDads.com.
It’s tough to choose the highlights, because each activity was so much fun and so unique to what we normally do, but I’ll try.
I’ll start with Aurora viewing. Seeing the Northern Lights is at the top of EVERY Alaska bucket list, whether you’re visiting in the winter or any other time. Yes, you can see the lights outside of wintertime, but this is THE BEST time to see them. And we certainly did see them. We stayed at Borealis Basecamp in an igloo with a ceiling made of one big window and laid in bed watching the stars and Northern Lights. We visited Aurora Point for a night of hot cocoa and watching the Aurora. Then Chris and I did the COOLEST tour from 10:30 pm to 3:30 am where we did a snow cat up the mountain for the BEST Northern Lights viewing. Amazing!
Another highlight was all of the dogsled activities. The kids love dogs and getting to spend time and pet a million of them was a complete hit for them. We got to meet sled dogs everywhere we went. We enjoyed a morning out with mushers on the trail, we held sled dog puppies, we visited several dogsled kennels and even got to watch the North American Dogsled Championships. Such an awesome week of unique Alaskan culture. And yes, it is a culture and a complete way of life for mushers. You’ll get to read all about it soon.
One final highlight was getting to visit Denali National Park in the winter. I love Denali (I used to work there) and last summer, our visit got foiled by a forest fire, but this trip we got to visit. The drive there with Northern Alaska Tours was fun, making stops in Nenana and lots of viewpoints to watch wildlife. And the park was gorgeous in the snow. Access is very limited in the winter, but there are still trails open and great opportunities if you brought your own snowshoes. I’m so glad we got to experience it!
There is so much more to share, because each day was full of highlights, including snowmobiling, hot springs, ice carvings, ice slides, ice castles, icy roads and more. By next week I’ll have it all sorted out in my mind and hopefully a lot of it on paper.
Upcoming Taylor Family Trips
Travel can be political, and right now it certainly is. Deciding to not be conquered and continue to find joy in life alongside work and fighting the incoming fascism is important. We are finding ways to keep things upbeat while still doing what we can, making travel decisions that support the arts and LGBTQ inclusive communities, and taking action to support our futures when things can be very unsure. And travel is a part of each of those things for us.
So here’s what we have going on in the coming months and how that supports our goals in life and the communities that are important to us.
Florida Keys - this is to build up this element of our business AND encourage visitation to a place that’s been welcoming and inclusive, and in particular Key West and its vibrant LGBTQ population. Lots more coming to TheKeysExplored.com!
New York City - we’re all heading to NYC in April to have an arts-focused visit, both to bring us joy AND to write about travel activities that support a community that’s facing censure and backlash.
Houston - starting the summer off with science and art visiting the Houston Space Center, seeing In the Heights on stage, going to the Mariners v Astros game and more!
Seattle - visiting family, hiking and doing my high school reunion (that’ll be fun!)
Hawaii - digging into Kauai and Oahu, finding more history and agritourism to write about on MyAlohaTrip.com
Alaska - exploring SE Alaska and the Kenai Peninsula for MyAlaskaTrip.com
I love having work trips and fun trips to look forward to. It helps me to have these calendar markers to keep me both motivated and inspired. Knowing that we have exciting things to do together as a family is just a nugget of joy I keep in the back of my mind when things get crazy and get me down. I’m never going to stop being thankful for my job.
That’s all for this week. I’m pretty tired from our trip home yesterday, which was an ongoing saga of flight cancellations and rebookings (including American Airlines rebooking Elliott alone to Dallas instead of with the rest of us). Anyways, I’m glad to be home and hopefully our checked luggage will get to us soon.
Have a great week, and if you ever have questions about our lives and travels, we’re a pretty open book and happy to share. Stay safe and healthy, and we’ll be back to you next week!