Two years ago, just before I turned 22, I had the spontaneous idea to book a flight to Iceland to see the Northern Lights for my birthday. I like to do things I’ve never done before on my birthday, so I thought it’d be fun to take a trip to a place I’d never been and see the Aurora Borealis.
Long story short, I never made it out to Iceland. Instead, I decided, “I’ll just go for my 23rd birthday.”
I had recently moved into my apartment in Boston before my 23rd birthday. I wanted to spend the day with my friends in the city; thus, I delayed my trip yet again.
A few months out from my 24th birthday, I thought, “Okay, this is definitely not the year. I can’t even get into Iceland given we’re in a pandemic, so unfortunately, I’ll have to wait again.”
Except... I learned that you can see the Northern Lights from Alaska. As soon as I knew that information, I was fixated on taking a trip there. Iceland seems like a cool place to visit, but the biggest reason I wanted to travel there was for the Northern Lights. So, I pivoted my plans and thought, “I’ll be in Utah in December (my birthday is a few days after Christmas), which is a lot closer to Alaska than Massachusetts. This is finally the year I set out to see the Auroras.”
I wasn’t planning on going home for the Holidays, so I figured that I’d solo travel to Alaska for a few nights and head to my apartment in Utah afterward.
That was all good and dandy until I decided it would be depressing to spend Christmas Eve, Christmas, my birthday, New Year’s Eve, and New Year’s Day alone. So, my mom booked me a flight home for four weeks so that I could be with my family.
At that point, my Northern Lights plans were officially postponed until age 25.
Before I moved out to Utah, I drove to Boston one night to say goodbye to a few of my friends. We were sitting on the couch of my friend’s apartment when one of them said, “Taylor we have something we want to give you.”
I opened up a card they handed me and found an airline gift certificate, a picture of Alaska, and a message that read:
Taylor, we are so proud of you for everything you’ve accomplished, we are so inspired by the things you say and we are elated to watch you on the next part of your journey through life! All the love in the world.
I was beside myself to say the least. I was utterly shocked and overwhelmed with gratitude. I couldn’t stop wondering how I got so blessed with such amazing people. A lot of us have bucket list items we try to check off, but when your friends and family want to partake in making your dreams a reality, you have to stop and realize how much love is behind that, which is more than I can explain, quite frankly.
Fast forward to February 28, 2021. I flew from Salt Lake City, Utah to Fairbanks, Alaska, where I met three of my friends. Our trip was a total of four nights; three were spent in Fairbanks and one was spent in Anchorage.
Now, I’m not a travel blogger and even though I love traveling, you won’t find “the top 5 best things to do in Alaska” or in any place for that matter, in any of my posts. There are a million and one bloggers out there who detail every step of their itinerary. That’s a rather saturated niche, if I do say so myself, so I have no interest in laying out my trips step-by-step.
What I will say is that Alaska is one of the most beautiful places I’ve been to. My friends and I drove through Denali National Park and saw snow-covered mountains in all directions for miles and miles. We rented a small, little cabin in the middle of nowhere and made a home out of it for the nights we slept there. We stumbled upon a baby moose and a mama moose on the side of the highway and watched as they meandered through the woods. We saw the Northern Lights dance through the night sky at 11:30 PM from just outside our cabin in Salcha, AK. We went dog sledding, snow mobiling, and swam through a hot spring all in one day. We experienced -13F weather, and I ate escargot for the first time at a restaurant in Anchorage.
I had an action-packed trip and managed to squeeze a lot into a four-day span. It was filled with fun activities and many “firsts”, as well.
You could say that I had every reason to have an amazing Alaskan experience. I solely went to see the Northern Lights, and I was extremely lucky that I happened to catch them given that it’s a hit or miss on whether they’re visible on any given night. But I ended up doing much more than just that.
You could also say that I had an amazing Alaskan experience because I spent it laughing until I cried, singing my heart out during multiple lengthy car rides, and laying in bed with my girl friends while talking about everything under the sun.
The first full day I was with them I remember going to bed thinking, “I am just so happy.” Except the truth is, I thought that in the morning before we did anything. Before I dog sled, snow mobiled, swam in a hot spring, saw the Northern Lights. Before I had escargot or drove through Denali National Park. It was 10AM on our first day, I was in the backseat of our rental car, and I thought right in that moment, “I am just so happy.”
I say all this because I realize that some people will never see the Northern Lights. Some people will never travel to Alaska or even anywhere close to it. There are a good amount of things I’ve done thus far in my life that I know I am beyond blessed to have been able to do. I count my blessings every damn day. I really do.
A step-by-step travel blog is informative and helpful to follow when you’re planning a trip or trying to gather ideas on where to visit. I also think it’s important to note that you can travel to the most beautiful corners of this planet, stay in the most luxurious resorts, and fill your itinerary with activity after activity after activity, but if you forget to appreciate the people you’re with when you’re checking things off your bucket list, you’ve overlooked the real beauty of travel.
There is no city, no resort, no activity, no once-in-a-lifetime moment that doesn’t pair well with people who you love being around. Life is so much more fun when you spend it with friends who make the good times better.
I would say that if I had gone to Alaska alone and did everything I did on my trip, I would have walked away saying, “that was so amazing.”
But I am positive that I am walking away from my trip knowing that the landscape of this Earth continues to amaze me, the wonders of the world continue to blow my mind, and the people who were put here for me to experience all of this with continue to be the real reason why I am beyond blessed.
Count your blessings for everything you’ve done so far in your life, and then count your blessings twice for the people who make it all worthwhile.
I just love everything about you xoxo