Kayaking around icebergs in Alaska.

My grandma, my siblings and I at our lunch stop.

A couple years ago (2015) my mom, my 5 siblings, my grandma, and my aunt and I went to Alaska for about 2 months.  While there we discovered what I would consider one of my favorite places on earth, Valdez Alaska. Valdez is located in Prince William sound, and the drive to valdez is simply breath-taking. You drive through a canyon, mountains on either side, waterfalls every where you look and glaciers tucked away between the mountains.

Upon arriving in valdez we walked through town and talked to the tour companies to see what was available.

We found a tour company named Anadyr Adventures. Through them we booked a 10 hour kayak trip up to the Columbia glacier. (TEN hours in a kayak oh my..) my mom and my aunt decided that was a bit too long of a tour for them so they took a boat trip instead.

We showed up early the day of our tour. They took us outside showed us the 2 person kayaks we'd be using, explained how we would get in and out of them and paddle. Then it was time to gear up. I was wearing a hoodie and jeans.  Over that we all put on water proof pants (you know the kind with the bib that comes up) and rain jackets all in bright yellow and orange of course! They also gave us rain boots, life jackets and a kayak skirt. (A little skirt like thing you wear that stretches over the opening in the kayak to keep the water out) then we were ready to head out!

Pushing off!

We boarded a little water taxi and took a hour long boat trip out to where we would be kayaking. During this time, we got to meet our guide and learn about the area and all the wildlife we would see.

We pulled up to a gravel sandbar and unloaded the kayaks, we all buddied up and off we went!

The water was a odd gray color caused by all the silt in the water from the glacier crushing rocks down to a thin dust over hundreds of years. It was also very cold!

Right when we started there were icebergs everywhere! Some of them the size of houses!  We were a few miles from the glacier itself (the glacier recedes at a rate of 4 feet per day and was particularly active calving while we were there so we kept our distance)

The friendliest otter

there were sea otters all around us swimming and playing in the water and floating around on smaller peices of ice. They were extremely friendly and would come right up to our kayaks!

Over the next several hours we kayaked around giant icebergs, played with sea otters and watched the beautiful mountains. At one point we were quite close to a particularly large iceberg (about 50 feet tall) admiring the bright blue ice when it suddenly shook and flipped completely over! We were shocked.  It was so amazing to watch and as we bobbed around in the wake it caused we stared in awe at the amazing color of the fresh blue ice and how clear it was.

After awhile we stopped at a gravel bar and ate lunch. It was the 4th of July so our guide had brought some face paint with her, we painted flags on our faces then took off towards a hidden waterfall.

We went right up under this beautiful waterfall in a hidden cove then stopped and took a hike around a lilly pond. The ground was composed of mostly moss and you sunk in. It was like walking on a cloud.

Once our 8 hours of kayaking were up we met back up with the rest of the group boarded the boat and headed home.

On the boat trip home our captain spotted a pod of orcas (killer whales) and decided  to take us into the middle of the feeding pod of whales! The whales were twice the size of our little boat! There were about a dozen in all and we watched them for a half hour feeding on salmon.

We finnaly arrived back at port after a long  exhausting day. We went out for dinner at a local restaurant and informed our mom about all she missed out on. We took the next day off to celebrate the salmon festival then went kayaking again. But this time thru icecaves!

We got robbed by a bear.

The thief.

Our RV is on the left.

Why i am traveling.

Ok, to be completely honest, I’m traveling because I live with my mom and she travels. So really, I’m just along for the ride.

But, in 2013 my family and I took our old 2001 rv and headed off to Louisiana. We purchased a new rv, and decided to drive up the west coast. We took 9 months and explored the entire west coast, it was amazing.

And that was all it took, we were hooked. We stayed at our home in Texas for a year, debating if we should travel full time or not, and spending time with family.

In the spring of 2015, my mom told us we were going to full time. We spent a week selling everything from our very large house. A lifetime full of useless things piled up. I went from having my own walk in closet, to having just a single shelf. It was scary at first, seeing all these things you’ve grown used to, being thrown away or given to other people. And honestly, I found myself asking “am I crazy for doing this?” More than once. But when it got right down to it those things were just that, things. And as we found out, there are a lot of things you don’t need in your life, but that’s for another post.

So in 2015 we took off to Alaska  my family and I and this time my grandma and aunt came along too. It was a blast,  we had so much fun and I saw so many things I never even dreamed of being able to see. but again, that’s for another post.

After Alaska, just last year, we traveled up the east coast all the way to newfoundland!
So you might think my mom is crazy for selling our house, you might think I’m crazy for going along with it, but honestly, what’s crazy is staying in the same town your whole life collecting “stuff”.
Sure living in a rv has its hard spots like living in a small space, not having much stuff, being away from your hometown, repairs, long days stuck inside, did I mention being stuck in a small space with your siblings? But the pros seem to outweigh the cons.

We left behind paying for property tax, electric bills and water bills (much cheaper for rv hookups) mowing the lawn, landscaping, spending hours cleaning our house, (can clean the whole rv in under a hour it’s awesome)all the useless junk, all the fake friends, the desire to “fit in”. and I’ve found that without the pressure to be “normal” and own “stuff” life is a heck of a lot easier.

My family ditched the rat race. We left behind ordinary and found extraordinary.

Why I am starting a blog.

Hi, so for the past few years, I’ve been debating if I should share my story, thru a book? a diary? a blog? Well, today I decided blog.

So 2 years ago my mom sold our very large house and moved us all into the rv.. now, a rv is quite small, ours is 38 feet long and just over 6 foot wide. So imagine putting 6 kids, 4 cats, 2 dogs and one adult into that small of a space, for extended periods of time… you get the picture? We went from 4 and a half bathrooms to one! For seven people. So as you can imagine things are a bit hectic.

Since then, my 2 older brothers have both moved out, our 2 dogs were adopted by other families, and we’ve gained a fifth cat.

And everywhere I go I get asked “how do you live like that?” “Where does everyone sleep?” “Why are you traveling?” “Where have you been?” And honestly, it’s a bit too much to explain in a single conversation.

So I’ve started this blog, I don’t know how often I’ll update, but I will be posting stories from past events and adventures, alongside current adventures. With some other posts thrown in, cause honestly I’m not sure what I’m going to blog about.

So that’s all for now, but I hope you stick around to read about my journey.