Come to Alaska with us in June 2027!

Jennie shares the plan for the second annual Authentic Alaska in June 2027! We're excited to plan a bit further ahead this year for Glacier Bay and Juneau. 

Learn all the details here

Save $500 with the code EARLY27 if you pay your deposit by May 29th!

Registration here

Transcript

 Hi everyone. Today I have a super exciting announcement and that is that Jay and I are opening bookings for our small group tour in 2027. As you know, unless this is your first time listening to the podcast, as you know, we are leading. A group trip, a small group trip together. Authentic Alaska is the name of our tour this June, um, 2026. And we decided that it would be a good idea to try to get this off the ground before the tour season for next year rather than in the fall like we did this year. So this year's tour, 2026 is going to be, well, let me. Just start by saying what our vision is for these tours. So our group size is only eight people, so this is, and we intend to do it once a year. So this is not something that's ever gonna scale up to a big sort of full tour option. Um, I work as a tour director for another company most of the summer. Jay does some guiding, um, not every year, but some years on small ships. And so we're not, we're not ever intending to do this full-time. We are just planning to do it once a year, but we would like to do it every year and alternate between these two different parts of the state. And our vision for this is really to create something that doesn't already exist, that goes to places that don't scale. What that means is that large groups can't do what we are doing. We couldn't do this over and over and over all summer, and because of that it's a really a special experience for people who want to travel deeper and go places that maybe not everyone else is going, but are going to provide. A truly magical, unique, and authentic experience, in our case in Alaska. And so that's why it's called Authentic Alaska in 2027. It will also be called Authentic Alaska, even though it's a different itinerary. So in 2026, that tour is happening in June. Registration for that has been closed for a couple months and we are really excited to take our group to Lake Clark National Park and to land on a glacier in Denali while we're in Ta Keo, weather permitting pull for us on that one. And also to the valley. So in 2027 we are going to Glacier Bay National Park and. Juneau and Glacier Bay National Park. You've heard me talk about it before many times, including quite recently, 96, 7, 8, something like that. Percent of visitors to Glacier Bay a. Go on a cruise ship, which I will tell you is also a wonderful way to see Alaska. This is different from that, but it is a great way to go. But Glacier Bay is just so magical when you get to be on the ground and not only do the day boat tour, which we will do a bay to see the glaciers at the head of the bay. To look for wildlife, to see the incredible scenery, but we'll also get to stay in Bartlett Cove for three nights. So that gives us time to go kayaking in the park, hiking in the park, visit the Huna tribal house, which is just such a unique thing in the. , National Park System, and you get to learn about Huna Klingit culture while you're there, which is so cool. And it's just an absolutely magical, um, park and experience. So we are excited to include all of those things. And then we'll head over to Juneau and stay at a small boutique, locally owned hotel. It's called the Silver Boat Inn. It's just a really wonderful place to stay. It's really small and uh, it's downtown. And if you're thinking, whoa, Jennie, you know it's gonna be super busy down there with cruise ship guests. Well, that's true. During the day, downtown Juneau is busy, but downtown Juneau is also wonderful, and this is why we are going to have three full days there. We will get to go to. Places that are far away from crowds. We're going to be kind of doing everything in Juneau, in the small slow way and like whale watching and, um, canoeing across Mendenhall Lake, uh, to get closer to the glacier and away from the busyness. We're also gonna go to some great restaurants in Juneau and win year. In Juneau in the evening, the ships all leave and then it's just a really fun, local experience in town. So everything about this trip is, is I am just so excited about, I feel so grateful that Jay and I have the opportunity to do these two tours, and we'd like to keep doing them and alternating between these two itineraries or variations on them because. These are like our sort of dream itinerary of what we wanna show to other people. For the month of May, well until May 29th, so not quite the end of May, we are offering a $500 discount on this tour for each person. So if there's two of you, you're gonna save a thousand dollars, which is a big deal. So if you can mobilize and commit, , you can really save some serious money, . So, I wanna encourage you to do that. And it helps small businesses like ours and the small businesses that we're partnering with for this tour. So registration is open now, and, I'm going to put the link on my website that has all the details and nitty gritty, all the details about pricing and deposits and when payments are due and what's included and all of those things. I'm gonna put that in the show notes so you can follow that link to learn more. I'll also put the registration form, in the show notes as well. Okay. Couple other things. Um, I wanted to mention this tour is not wheelchair accessible. It's not okay. It's a problem. We do have. At least one first floor room each place that we're staying. So we can definitely accommodate people with limited mobility. That is not a problem. But the tour is not fully wheelchair accessible, and I think if you have. Any, um, mobility challenges, I would recommend that you read through the sales page and then email me, um, and we'll see what we can make work for you also this tour is not for people who want to go, go, go from 6:00 AM to 9:00 PM I mean, you could go, go, go on your own extra hours. We have meals included, and we have one phenomenal adventure included every day. We also have downtime and free time every day. That's an important value for Jay and I, and we are happy to help you fill up every minute with all kinds of stuff on your own. This week's tuesday episode of Alaska Uncovered is with some of my former guests from a bus tour, and so we're gonna talk in that episode about how to have fun on a bus tour if you really want to cram a lot in. And that honestly is what I do most of the time. We have very, very, very busy. Itineraries. And that's awesome for people who want that. We are providing something a little different and you can see the schedule and what's planned when you look at the page on my website so you can figure out if it's for you and you're welcome to ask me any questions. It's jen@ordinaryadventures.com. And I'm happy to answer your questions. And I'm even happy to help you find another tour that's a better fit for you for any reason. So please feel free to ask. I'm happy to point you in the right direction as far as tour companies and tour operators. Okay., One other thing I wanted to mention to you is in Alaska, outside of like big chain hotels, which there aren't any in the places that we're going on this tour, there are not many rooms with two beds, and so we have a very limited number of rooms that we can. Do you, , as two beds. So that's something I ask about on the registration form. And similarly, we have a single supplement. We have to do that because where we're staying is the biggest expense on this trip. I would love to encourage you to find a friend and encourage them to come with you and, share a room with them. Okay, I think that's everything I wanted to say. You can read all the nitty gritty, all the fine print on, the page on my website, introducing the tour, so encourage you to check that out. And my website is ordinary-adventures.com, but I'll also put the direct link in. At the show notes. If you can commit before the end of May, you will get to save some money and also help our planning. So thank you so much for listening. We wouldn't be doing this without the podcast most likely, see you Tuesday.