The Mountains Are Calling

Chugach Mountains, Valdez, AK
June 2018

Five years ago today, I first laid eyes on Alaska. It was love at first sight. I've never been the same. 

Believe it or not, Kyle and I first traveled to Alaska in 2013 entirely on a whim. We'd both taken a week off from work and had actually planned on visiting Mt. Rushmore, though we (uncharacteristically) hadn't made any concrete plans. About a week before our intended departure, Kyle mentioned that we should probably book a rental car and make plans for our road trip. Right as he was getting ready to click "accept" on the online rental agreement, Kyle said, "Do you want to go to Alaska instead?" I recall screeching with delight.

On that trip, we traveled to Juneau, Sitka, Ketchikan, and Glacier Bay. I fell in love. With the mountains nestled next to the ocean, I felt like I was home. For the first time, I felt like I could breathe. It was there that I gave myself permission to choose happiness: I returned from that trip, quit the job that was crushing me, and applied to grad school. That trip gave me the clarity I needed to begin again.

Since 2013, I have longed to return to Alaska. I've felt that unmistakable pull west with every fiber of my being, with every beat of my heart, no matter how unsuccessfully I tried to silence it. 

"The mountains are calling and I must go," John Muir once wrote. 

"Go, go, go," my heart replied. 

And finally, I listened. 

Just over a month ago, Kyle and I packed everything we owned in a Uhaul and drove across the US and Canada to our new home in Valdez, Alaska. We live here now. Alaska is our home. 

I plan to write more in the upcoming months about this incredible journey, what brought us here, and the joy and heartache that have come with it. I'm so very grateful for the chance to follow my dreams and begin this new chapter on the Last Frontier.

Hello, friends. It's been awhile. I hope you'll stick around. I'm so glad you're here.