How to Plan an Amazing Alaskan Vacation for Your Family

Thinking about planning a family vacation to Alaska? It’s easier than you think! Brooke Milne from Look It’s Brooke joins Lisa to share all her Alaska trip planning tips and ideas. Learn how to find flight deals, when to start planning, budget expectations, where to stay, how to get around, and more.

This is part one of two episodes with Brooke where you can learn all about planning an Alaskan trip. Listen in next week to learn about which cities Brooke visited with her family and all of the fun things they did while on their trip!

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How did you decide to go to Alaska?

Brooke follows @flightsfromhome on Instagram and noticed some Alaska deals pop up from her home airport, Salt Lake City.

Flights from Home has Instagram accounts for several western US cities so look and see if they feature flight deals from your home airport.

Brooke also searched flights on Google Flights. Pro tip: Use a private/incognito browser when searching for flights and hotels. Thos blocks sites from using cookies and they cannot track you. This will help you find the best pricing available.

Setting a Budget

A trip to Alaska will cost more than your typical beach vacation. Brooke’s family of 5, spent around $7,000 for a full 5-day adventure in Alaska.

They did a big bucket list item of riding a helicopter to a glacier. You get to decide your trip priorities and this will affect your budget.

Alaska Trip Planning Process

Brooke started planning three months before their vacation. They traveled in June and she started planning in March.

Brooke creates a folder in her email and then files all emails pertaining to the trip in this folder. She prints off all reservation info before the trip and it’s easy to find because it’s all filed in her email.

Creating a Google spreadsheet is a great way to keep all of the trip details organized. It is also nice because you can share the file with everyone in your group so they can have all of the travel information.

Do hashtag searches on Instagram (ex: #russianriverfalls) to see what others suggest about these destinations. You can create a bookmarked section on IG to hold all of your trip inspiration.

Look on Pinterest for trip ideas. Once you know which cities you will be visiting, do searches for things to do in each city. You’ll be led to many blog posts and articles with ideas for your vacation. You can create a board where you pin all of your favorite trip ideas.

Deciding Where to Visit

Since Brooke’s flight was in and out of Anchorage, it made sense to have that be the base for the trip. Once you know where you will start, take a look at a map, blog posts, Instagram searches to discover nearby places that sound like a good fit for your family.

Brooke’s family spent 2 nights in Anchorage, 1 night in Cooper Landing, and 2 nights in Seward.

Alaskan Transportation

For maximum flexibility, renting a car is a great option. Book this as soon as you know your travel dates! Right now, there is a rental car shortage and it can be a challenge to secure a car.

The locals say there are two driving seasons: construction and ice.

From Anchorage to nearby cities, plan to take the Seward Highway. This allows easy access to several cities and the option to pull off for great views and even some glacier stops along the way.

There you have it! The highlights of part one of my conversation with Brooke Milne. Stop by next week to learn about where Brooke went with her family on their Alaskan vacation and all of the fun things they saw along the way!

Connect with Brooke:

Look It’s Brooke Website

Look It’s Brooke on Instagram

This week’s sponsor: You can check out our Amazon Travel Shop to find all of my favorite travel gear, games, and gift ideas.

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