Anchorage, Alaska

Another solo travel for my wandering soul and I was so excited especially after meeting two amazing human beings this past year who were from Anchorage. Chris who I met in Maui and Tricia who I met in Seattle – our memories will always be in my heart.

I flew from San Jose, CA to Seattle, WA to Anchorage, AK. It was my first red eye flight and I was arriving in at around 1-2am. The flight was a new experience for me despite flying so often because I didn't realize how long daylight was in Alaska.

I took a taxi (there's no Uber in Alaska) to my hostel, Base Camp Anchorage Hostel. It looks fairly small on the outside but was surprisingly roomy with even a second floor. The owner was kind enough to move me to a different room where no one was staying in so I had a dorm to myself and so I wouldn't need to worry about tiptoeing around either.

I woke up so early (had around 3 hours of sleep) because like I mentioned before, I was completely unaware of how long the day was here during summertime. I've always heard stories of how it's dark all day and some residents would even need to take vitamin pills so I just assumed it would be cold and dark. But it's summer! So I checked in with the front desk since I came in so late and was given a tour. Everyone was so incredibly friendly and I felt so comfortable already. I met two great girls there – one who was a graduate student at Duke and the other who just started working at the hostel and had moved here from Seattle. We bonded over stories, country music, and boys.


We went out to hike together borrowing a car from another worker there who was very proud of this car we were using. It cost him less than $300 and did its job. Well, as it turns out, it wasn't too reliable and broke down on us going up a hill. But that led us to all hitchhiking together and my first time sitting in the back of a truck. It was so exhilarating going up the mountain with the wind tossing my hair everywhere I couldn't stop laughing. I felt so happy.




We parted ways with our kind driver and made our way up the hill like he suggested this was the trail. It was unfortunate because there was no clear trail, some scat (bear or moose) which scared us a bit, and so we all decided it was best if we just went back down. We went out to this great breakfast place and I was able to try reindeer sausage for the first time which was so juicy. It's definitely my favorite breakfast sausage now. I was a little hesitant to try at first only because I forgot reindeer aren't mythical creatures...oops. I was just thinking oh my god, I'm going to eat Rudolph.

After breakfast, we went back to the hostel together and I was ready to explore a bit of Anchorage on my own. I rented a bike from the hostel and the same worker (he's a very nice guy though!) who gave us his broken car...lent me a broken bike. It's funny because there were about 20 bikes to rent from but all were too tall for my 5'1 frame so this was the only bike that fit me perfectly. I found out a little too late as I was going down the hill and realized my brakes weren't doing anything. I remember thinking oh no, should I jump off now or...but luckily there was a neighborhood I turned into. So I walked my bike back up the hill just to not risk anything else and swapped my bike to another one. A bit taller than I'd like but safety first.






I biked for around 13 miles and took in the views. I stopped to snack on my trail mix and took a nap on a patch of grass overlooking the coast. Anchorage is such a small town with so many sparse shops none really open too late. It was very quiet but it was nice. Definitely a very homey feel to it all. Everywhere I went out to eat the staff were all attentive and friendly. I can't wait to come back someday and rent a car so I could actually venture to places such as glaciers and different towns. A roadtrip through Alaska would be amazing and maybe learn how to fish.

Anchorage, you are a wonder to my heart and made me feel so welcomed. There's no doubt I'll be coming back one day to Alaska. And I saw moose! And learned they're not as cute as I thought.