Why We Chose Alaska

We're going on vacation y'all!

To the land of the free. The wild. And the whales?

Yup, we're going cruising to Alaska in August for seven glorious food-and-adventure filled days. This is my first cruise and I'm super excited. E's been on two, and it sounds like you do a lot of laying around eating food (that you paid for so long ago it appears free), and sightseeing. Plus shopping! Heaven. Our ship leaves from Seattle so we will be spending a day or so out there as well, checking out the legendary Pike Place Market and visiting the original Starbucks (about time).

So why did we choose Alaska over Europe? Basically, it came down to the numbers, and the type of vacation that we wanted. It was a tough decision. Some of the factors involved were:

Price: While pricey in its own right, the cruise will still be thousands of dollars less than Europe (specifically, Italy and France where we wanted to go). We could've toned down our budget for Europe to match the cost, however, then it would be a trip spent trying to save money. When we first started our savings account for this trip, the number one thing I didn't want to do was travel on a shoestring (hostels, one meal a day, limited sightseeing, etc). If we go, we should do it right!

Planning Time: Europe on a smaller budget than what we had hoped for would've meant limiting ourselves to at most two cities. We also couldn't spend as much time there as we would have liked due to travel and hotel costs. A flight to Italy from France is cheap, but it's still close to 300 dollars for two people. Alaska has a lot of planning involved as well, but the lodging and meals are at least covered and predictable expenses. I do need to figure out how to fit in whales, salmon, and sled dog puppies though!

Family: We are driving back to Michigan and leaving from there for Seattle, which means we get to hang out with our families the week after we return (two whole weeks of vacation!). This prevents my parents from trying to drive out to see us, which they were planning on doing a couple weeks ago before we made these plans. The thought of them driving is pretty scary. Plus this way the dogs can stay with E's mom for free! She adores them too. We haven't been home since December so it will be nice to see everyone again.

Overall Enjoyment: I think even if we went to Europe on a limited budget, we would enjoy it just as much. However, this way we can still have a long vacation with less worries, and save money for our expenses next year (which includes a lot of travel plans!). While it doesn't mean that we don't ever want to go, this feels right for us at this time.

That being said, let the planning begin!