Pacific Northwest + Alaska

As of July 2025, I am officially entering my 10th year in the US, and my 10th year in Indiana. Over the years, I have met people from all over the world, some of whom became lifelong friends. Many of those friends have moved away to different parts of the country and the world, while I've stayed put here in Indiana.

Something I am learning in my early-to-mid twenties is that people come in and out of your life. As hard as it is to say goodbye, every friend leaving Indiana means another place to visit. This summer, I decided to do exactly that by visiting a few friends in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska.

I was a little anxious beginning this trip, worried that I had been too ambitious during the planning process. Four years in engineering school has left a permanent engraving in my mind that reads "be efficient, minimize input , maximize output". In two weeks, I planned to see three sets of friends in three different states, crossing four different time zones. While there were some tiring and anxiety-filled moments, I am happy to be able to say that I live to write this blog and that I had the most wonderful time with old friends in new places.

The itinerary for this trip looked something like this: a few days in Portland with my millennial friends; work from home for a couple of days, then my NYC friend flies in, and we drive up to Olympic National Park in Washington. We stay in Forks, where Twilight is set, before driving back down to Portland, hug and say goodbye. From there, I fly to Fairbanks to meet my college friend. We made a last-minute pivot due to some wildfires in Fairbanks, so we took a road trip down to Anchorage. Then, finally, back to the Midwest.

Phew, two weeks, three states, four timezones and five cities later...

The Pacific Northwest, while not my first time visiting, did not fail to take my breath away. As the plane approached PDX, we were greeted with a picturesque view of two snow-capped mountain peaks. As someone who swears by the window seat, I felt a momentary pride for securing one for this flight. More used to aerial views of cornfields and farmlands, I was in awe at the sight of these beautiful geological works of art, admiring our planet's capabilities.

I visited two new national parks - Olympic and Denali - each with its own unique fauna and flora, filled with millions and millions (maybe billions?!) of trees, animal footprints, bird nests, insect colonies, and moss-covered everything. We watched the Fourth of July fireworks at the beach, hiked the trails of Hoh National Rainforest, Olympic, and Denali. We visited local bars and made friends, bought lots of souvenirs, hugged some trees, and ate some incredible food.

In total, I stayed at six different lodgings, three of which were unique off-grid cabins. The first was a completely off-grid treehouse-type cabin with no cellular service or running water in Olympic. This cabin was in the middle of a field, in the middle of nowhere, and despite the non-zero chance of being kidnapped, it was nice to be disconnected from the rest of the world, and especially our devices. The host was a very friendly surfer guy who had the most quintessential West Coast surfer chill attitude about life.

The second cabin was my friend's in Fairbanks. This one had the best view from the bathroom and the highest number of trees surrounding the cabin. Though the stay at this cabin was cut short due to the hazardous wildfire smoke, I had a great night staying at this cabin.

The last cabin was the most civilized: running water, a shower(!!), and a gas stove, the works. But what stood out the most was the seventeen sled dogs residing on the property, each with its own little house and personality. Honestly, that was probably my favorite part of the trip.

This trip was the biggest trip I took in my 20s - the most ambitious, the most exhausting, and the most rewarding. I ate some great food (I am still dreaming about the smoked salmon in Alaska), saw some of the most grandiose landscapes, and made memories I will cherish for the rest of my life with some of the most important people in my life. This trip truly made me realize how blessed I am to have friends and family spread out across the world and the US.

Traveling is how I grow. Seeing and experiencing is the only way I know how to expand the understanding of the world and myself. After this trip, I came back a little wiser, a little happier, very tired, and full of new experiences to add to my stories repository. And the best part is - I'm only just getting started.