Emily
Alaska Is...
Alaska is a place of connections. First, connecting with 70 other people who quickly become your Alaskan family. Some familiar, some strangers but indefinitely your support, encouragement, company, and friends. Alaska is also connecting with nature in it's purest form. Here the opportunities to enjoy Mother Earth and all her beauty are endless. Whether it is climbing a mountain, relaxing by the riverside, or enjoying the majestic view from your van window, nature and wilderness surround you 24 hours a day. Wildflowers like bluebells and lupine color the landscape. Enjoying sounds of red squirrels and glacial rivers. The familiar small of crisp Alaskan air. All of these things well remembered will continue to stay with me for years to come. Finally, Alaska is most importantly connecting with yourself. Each year I return I am challenged, and learning a great deal more about myself each time. Who I am as a participant, as a leader, as a friend. Things can be pretty fast paced as a large group but once you can settle in and have a moment to yourself you really begin to connect with your thoughts and emotions. Truly mind, body, and spirit converge to create an even more amazing journey than Alaska already is.
Final Reflections
As we pack up our belongings, clean out the vans and the church we have called home many times along this journey I can’Äôt help feeling joy and sadness simultaneously. I am looking forward to the comforts of home and having a bit of solitude after living out of a backpack for three and a half weeks, however, I know I will truly miss my Alaskan family soon after we leave. Upon arriving in Anchorage the air smelled so familiar, even after 11 years I recognized the sweetness. There were many things I remembered so fondly like the tree swing and amazing view in the meadow at Seaside Farms, the feeling I had standing on the top of Mount Healy, or the delicious Soup Bread n’Äô Butter at the Alyeska Bake Shop. Also there were unfamiliar and unexpected aspects that really make this trip worth it. New faces all around mean 71 new friends. Sharing stories form the day around a campfire and even the bout of seasickness on our boat tour in Homer. All of it is exciting, spontaneous, and memorable. I will carry this trip with me for the next eleven years at least or until I can return again for another exciting adventure with AGLP. Tomorrow night may be lonely not receiving 71 hugs before bed but the warmth I have shared with all of you will stay with me for years to come.