Alaskan Honeymoon: Tips for the BEST Vacation

Our honeymoon to Alaska was probably the BEST way we could have started our marriage. It was adventurous, it was different, it was the farthest away we've been from home. Spencer and I aren't really beach bums, we're more like the let's-go-hike-around-and-explore kind of people. We really wanted to make some great memories on our honeymoon and not just stay at the hotel.

And you would not BELIEVE how beautiful Alaska is. It's like something out of a book. Every where you look it's GAH that's freaking gorgeous. Oh look at that over there, it's the most spectacular thing I've ever seen. Well, would ya look at that it's a majestic moose just wandering around downtown. 


We did all kinds of crazy stuff like dog sledding (I GOT TO DRIVE THE THING), a helicopter ride to a glacier, and oodles of hikes. It was just like, man, why don't we get out in the world more often? Why don't I just go out in the wilderness, eat berries, and live off the grid? Oh, right because I have an Internet addiction.

[gallery ids="1390,1391,1392,1393,1394,1395,1397,1398,1400"]

For the full Alaskan experience you should totally watch our honeymoon video. It is beautiful if I do say so myself. The background music is actually a song that my brother and his girlfriend wrote for us for our wedding. It is probably the most beautiful gift I have ever received. Now that I've hyped it up so much you have to watch it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZX_W8iAlTM

Anyway, we learned a couple things along the way and would like to pass them along to you should you ever visit Alaska. Because you should.

1. Alaska isn't cold all the time. I was a bit skeptical at first. I always associated Alaska with parkas and Balto. But in certain parts of Alaska it is very temperate. We stayed in Anchorage and it was like 75-80 degrees most days. Considering that it was 105 degrees in Texas, Alaska felt like heaven.

2. Talk to the locals. I know this might be a little out of your comfort zone. I mean, sometimes I'm like "Guys, I'm on vacation to get away from people." But talking to the locals really makes the whole experience more colorful. When we were down in Seward this guy in a random book shop was holding a couple of husky pups. The hubs and I stopped to talk to him and low and behold, he was the youngest Iditarod champion, like ever. Now, the Iditarod is like football to Alaskans so he was basically a celebrity. AND HE LET ME HOLD THE BABY HUSKIES! He was like, "Yeah, I'm training these little pups for the next Iditarod."

Spencer really nerded out over the guy that took us dog sledding. Imagine a kind of red neck guy with a crazy beard, not that many teeth, and a kinda mustardy smell (He's been living at the glacier dog camp for the past 6 months). Turns out he has a doctorate in PARTICLE PHYSICS and just runs the Iditarod because he loves it so much. He and Spencer spent most of the time talking about science-y shtuff and I pet the doggies.

3. Listen to the horror stories. Yes, Alaska very wilderness-y compared to the rest of the United States (or the "Lower 48"). I actually have some family up there that we visited for a day, Ray and Kathy. Ray used to work with with Parks and Recreation (not the TV show) and spent the better part of the day telling us about his buddy that got mauled by a polar bear, his friend's wife who got trampled by a moose, or those doe-eyed honeymooners that drowned in quicksand by the beach. Yes. We were a little terrified. But, that made us a lot more prepared for hikes. Spencer and I don't like to do too many touristy things, so it was great to know someone who knew the less beaten path. Yes, Alaska is beautiful, but there are potential dangers. Don't let that stop you from going, just be aware and be safe.

4. Don't wear yourself out. In the summer the sun hardly goes down. It gets kind of dusky around 3 a.m. but that's about it. We'd go hiking at like 10 at night just because we could. We tricked our bodies into staying up from 6:30 a.m. to 2 or 3 in the morning. Do we regret doing that.... nah not reeeeaaaallly. We crammed in a whole lot of adventures that way, but on the last day we totally crashed. Just know your limits and how long you can keep going. It would be horrible if you pushed yourself too far and got sick or something. Not a cool way to spend a vacation.

5. Eat well. You're going to be hiking and kayaking dog-sledding and working up an appetite. Eat whatever you want, man. There is sooooo much good food.... like everywhere. A lot of food is locally farmed because it's kind of a long drive for shipping stuff. Restaurants are largely family owned and operated, at least where we ate. Everything was good. So good. I had the best fish and onion rings of my life down in Seward. MY LIFE. Those onion rings changed me y'all.

6. Groupon all the things. Pretty much our whole vacation was made possible through Groupons. We saved sooooooo much money on food, adventures, and our amazing B&B. Groupons, Groupons, Groupons.

I hope these tips have convinced you to go to Alaska for your next big vacation. It's totally worth it. Every. Second. It was the best honeymoon we could have hoped for!

Have any travel tips for Alaska or any other off-the0-beaten-path honeymoon destinations? Leave them in the comments down below!