Travel days don’t usually make for great vlogs and I’ll be upfront about that at the start. Today is driving to Anchorage, returning the rental car, and catching a 2 p.m. flight. The question is only whether something interesting happens along the way.
The rental car needed a wash. I couldn’t figure out why cars get so dirty in snowy environments — something about the road treatment, I assume — and noted that I remembered my parents’ cars looking exactly like this during Pennsylvania winters. The Seward Airbnb was one of the better ones on this trip so far, and I want to say that before I leave: parking right outside the door, which sounds like nothing until you’ve hauled gear down eight floors of hotel hallway for the fourteenth time. Little things.
The Last Seward Stretch
There’s a spot on the drive back north where a glacier-fed lake sits right alongside the road, that particular shade of blue-green that exists in glacial water and nowhere else. Looks like the most expensive Gatorade you’ve ever seen. I passed it twice coming in to Seward and never found a place to park. Going out I slowed down and shot through the windshield and noted — not for the first time — that a spot like that would take a full afternoon to do properly. You’d want to wait for the light to change, listen to the water, find the right angle. I had a flight to catch.
This is the recurring tension of this project. You’re moving fast enough to see fifty states in a year and slow enough to feel everything you’re missing. I don’t know how to resolve that. What I’ve decided is that it makes a decent argument for coming back.
On Action Cam Settings
Purely practical note for my own reference: the hyperlapse on the DJI Action cam has some kind of self-leveling that produces an up-and-down wobble as the car accelerates. I need to find the setting that turns that off. I also want to look at mounting it outside the car — grill mount, suction cup, remote trigger — because shooting through a dirty windshield has limits as a long-term creative strategy. These are the notes I take to myself that will either get acted on or won’t.
Gratitude for the Journey and My Health
I’ve said it before, but I’m so blessed to be able to travel and see the world. I’m especially grateful for my eyesight. A couple of years ago, I had retinal detachment surgery, and there was a time when I feared I wouldn’t be able to travel or photograph again.
Basin Palmer did an amazing job, and now, every time I look out at a scene like this, I’m filled with gratitude. There’s nothing quite like spending hours photographing landscapes, waiting for the light to change, and listening to nature. But today, I’ve got a flight to catch, so it’s time to keep moving.
Lori
I want to thank my sister. When I was planning the Pacific Northwest leg of this trip, I was on the fence about Alaska — whether to add the flights, whether the timing worked, whether to just trim those days and rest. She said: you’re right there. Just go.
She was right. Not in a way I could have understood before getting on that first plane to Anchorage. Alaska is its own category. The wildlife, the scale, the light that doesn’t stop, the drive down the Seward Highway that played Where the Streets Have No Name at exactly the right moment. None of that happens if she doesn’t say go.
The plan for the next Alaska trip: time it so I can watch bears catching salmon at a waterfall. Moose Peterson has done this kind of thing and documented it beautifully. That’s the version I want to build toward.
Until then: home. Then back out. The year is just getting started.
In Episode #20 of my 50 at 60 journey, I depart my Airbnb in Seward for a scenic drive to the Anchorage airport, reflecting on my unforgettable experiences in Alaska and the travels I’ve embarked on so far. Along the way, I discuss my lodging choices and the role of AI in planning this adventure. I make a final stop to photograph a glass-like lake reflecting the stunning Alaskan landscape and sky, a moment that fills me with gratitude for my eyesight. Join me as I share more reflections and thoughts from the car before arriving at the Anchorage airport to begin my journey home.
