Feeling Lucky
i have been feeling insanely lucky lately. when we were in alaska, i thought to myself “wow, not many people get to come here.” i think people don’t know what they’re missing so they don’t even think to add it to their list. this earth is so incredible and each new place we go, there are so many unique things to discover about it. i’ve just had so many realizations coming to me of how amazing this world is and how much is in it and how every little thing was created with a purpose.
i don’t like to brag or be too flashy about our travels. i don’t want to make others feel bad that they don’t travel as much as they wish. like i said, i know that i am incredibly lucky. i still find myself being envious of people traveling abroad and taking long trips to europe. then i stop myself and say, wait a second, you’re so lucky to be doing the same thing! after all, studies show that it doesn’t matter how long you travel in order to make you a happier person. plus, we have big plans for some trips abroad hopefully in the near future :) i’ve always wanted to travel the world and now i’m doing it (which i don’t realize sometimes)!
we get pretty antsy when we haven’t flown somewhere in a little while, so that’s when we hop on a plane for a new adventure. it’s so fun living these experiences with riley! travel has truly become one of our priorities. i can’t even believe the places we’ve been and things we’ve done and seen! a couple weeks ago, riley texted me and asked, “do you want to get lunch in alaska tomorrow?” i asked if he was serious, and of course he was. but the next morning, we woke up and just wanted to keep sleeping haha!
so, last week, we made plans with riley’s friend from high school and his wife who just moved to juneau for the summer. they showed us all around the small city. alaska is exactly what i always imagined alaska to be! that hardly ever happens when we go new places. i don’t have words to explain it, but it really did feel like “the proposal” (even though that wasn’t really filmed in alaska). it’s secluded, surrounded my mountains, snow, trees, and water. it feels like a mountain boating town, which is a pretty unique combination. it felt like hawaii in that there are a lot of “locals” and it almost feels like a forgotten gem. the nature in juneau was so unique and beautiful. i saw a glacier for the first time, but sadly no bears. but we did see like, a hundred bald eagles! i loved all of the colorful homes too!
for those who want to know specifically where we went and ate, here’s a quick list. i loved all of them! donna’s cafe for breakfast right next to the airport. the island pub for dinner (on douglad island). we got the salmon spread and the pork-a-pine pizza, it was so delicious! Mendenhall Glacier–it’s common to see bears and porcupines here! the part of the glacier you can see is only a teeny tiny piece of a 13 mile long glacier! The shrine of st therese–such a pretty spot in the mossy woods right on the water. we went on a couple of walks that i don’t know how to tell you where we were. we were trying to find bears, but they were just coming out of hibernation so i think we missed them all. any hike or walk you go on, you will see amazing things! i know we only touched the surface of juneau, so we are already planning on going back in a few months!
you didn’t think i’d leave you without our snapchat story, did you? ;) watch it below if you’d like and follow me at kianalee22.