Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or wherever you find your favorite podcasts.
The following is an edited transcript of this episode of Humans Outside.
Greetings from the road in Alaska! Or, more specifically, greetings from the my van where I am talking to you from a parking lot just off beautiful Resurrection Bay, in Seward, Alaska.
Let me scene set for a minute. In front of me is the bay, with giant mountains jutting up out of the water. This bay is technically a fjord and it’s a deep water port that doesn’t freeze, so even in the dead of winter when it’s very cold here, the water still looks like it does today.
While it can be bright and sunny here in Seward in the summer, the last few days have been very rainy with unseasonably cold temperatures. I am not sorry to be parked in an RV camping area overnight where I can plug the van in and have heat without draining the shore battery.
I’ve been on the road for almost a week traveling around Hope, Cooper Landing and into Seward as I do research for a Lonely Planet travel guide im co-authoring on Alaska. Yes, it’s a super cool assignment. I’ve been able to do some of the more touristy stuff I had never gotten around to in the past, and really gotten to know these little town where I had paused to play a little or just passed through. It’s also been a great excuse to pause and eat at a few restaurants when I’d normally be cooking out of the van.
I’m sure I’ll have lots of reflections on this later, but for now here are two things I’m thinking about.
First, I’m leaning into the value of doing some of the tourist where you live stuff. We talk a lot about staycations, but how often do we actually do the things?
Next, because it’s been very rainy the entirety of this adventure week, I’m reminded that sometimes you just have to get out there and have a good time anyway. There were times this week that I wore four jackets at once, but I was out there having a great time even though it was gross outside. That would be a tough sell to me under normal circumstances and simply a reason to stay home. But I’m glad I pushed through it and have a good time anyway.
You can see photos of these adventures on Humans Outside on Facebook and Instagram, and of course share yours with me with #humansoutside365. Until next time Ill see you out there.
