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Alaska is good. My husband flew home for a week to take care of a family medical issues which forced us to REALLY slow down and just live an adventurous life in a different place. The kids are loving it. Our adventurously simple life if in full bloom.

We parked for 2 weeks in Talkeetna, Alaska a small town on the way to Denali National Park. I have been here a number of times over the past couple decades because we have family living here. This year has been an experience unlike any I have experienced in the past.

Talkeetna is a unique Alaska town. It is the convergence of several rivers, the jumping off point for Denali (formerly known as Mt. McKinley) climbing expeditions, offers a number of different viewpoints of "the mountain," and offers a unique Alaskan experience. The Alaska Railroad also has a stop in this town, it's one of the few small towns where you can arrive by plane, train, or automobile. There are no chain stores, no gas stations or corporate hotels in this town. There are lots of handcrafted and artisan experiences. The local ratio of 4-wheelers to vehicles is probably 3:1.

We stayed on family property which offered a unique local style experience. This year I was in shock at the number of people that flood this tiny little town each day, it's mind-blowing. Which has me wondering, What is the tipping point of tourism? When does business overshadow the quality of life in this small town. Talkeetna is located at the end of a 14-mile stretch off the Parks Highway. Each day we count 15+ tour buses drop off people to walk the town. Busses are not allowed in the downtown area (there is no parking or infrastructure to turn around) so they drop the at the train station. We watch as vehicles line the shoulder of the main corridor to get a picture of the roadside Moose who makes the swampy area his home. While supporting local businesses is a key element to untourism, I have also felt the weight of overtourism and doing what we can to avoid the crowds.

We have seen so much wildlife that I don’t feel compelled to pay for an experience. The kids participate in local library programs, we SUP on a lake where we had to watch for float planes landing, and biked to one of the best look outs of Denali mountain with no one else on trail. It seems impossible to capture and share the reality of this lifestyle experiment. It also has me questioning my role as “travel influencer” and holding the tension for both supporting others on their travel lifestyle goals while respecting locals.

I see couples hand in hand experiencing their own bucket list in Alaska. Walking through Talkeetna leaves an impression. It's the former set of Northern Exposure and many discovery channel stories. I have also heard from couples on tour busses disappointed that they invest all this money and spending most of their time among hoards of other people barely getting off the highway or tourist checkpoints. They aren't able to really "see Alaska."

I am exploring how I can be an asset the travel industry and teach people how to travel in a responsibly brave and meaningful way. Perhaps the best form of untourism is driven by empathy with locals. One way is to teach people how to be an untourist through building custom untourism plans - helping to plan your next travel experience in a responsibly brave and meaningful way.

Reply back and let me know where your travels will take you. I am currently offering The Untourist Guide services to walk alongside 5 clients to help you plan an untourist travel experience. Stay tuned to the podcast as I share several untourist tips and experiences too.

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A simple adventure win of the week

While a gap year might sound adventurous, it is based on a foundation of a simple adventure. Last week while hiking in Denali National park my youngest decided he was done. Here are five different tactics that help us make it through the hike and still take in some of the magic of Denali.

• Find the most unique cloud
• Create an imaginary story we are a part of during the hike. The oldest surprised our youngest with a stick he could use as a tool (he used it as a shield to protect us from bears)
• Do something they want to do. For us that was a stop at the stream to explore for 10 minutes.
• Challenge them to reach a tangible distance as their next stopping point. Using my husband's Garmin we tried to see if we could make it .3 miles to the next stop. (we may have pushed it to .5 miles)
• Rewards. He is always motivated by ice cream, even though the local shop closed at 9 PM we were able to reward the accomplishment the next morning on our way out of town.

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Something we are appreciating this week

I shared on Instagram that the weather this summer in Alaska has been extremely rainy and the mosquitos are in full force. Here are three items that we use to help keep us adventuring even when the bugs were less than ideal.

The combination of spraying our clothes with permethrin, battery powered bug zapper raquets and on really bad days (ie fishing or mountain biking) we add a bug net. Many of the stores and gas stations were sold out of bug spray or insanely expensive (one dud paid $26 for 1 can of Off!). Having this combination was better than any bug spray we have used.

Is there anything you are using to make adventures easier this summer?

Heidi Dusek
Founder and Host of Ordinary Sherpa Podcast and Author of Beyond Normal​
​Listen: Ordinary Sherpa

Read: Beyond Normal: A field guide to embrace adventure, explore the wilderness, and design an extraordinary life with kids. ​

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Inspiring families to connect through simple adventure experiences