(think of it as where’s waldo for the alaska photoset.)

the short and the long of the trip to alaska was: cruise ships are maybe not my style (being penned up on a boat with a lot of old people), but as a way to see alaska’s spectacular inside passage, pretty great. vancouver is a lovely city, and the forest around juneau is easily the most beautiful forest i’ve ever been in. B and i opted for as much adventure travel as was possible while off the boat: snorkeling, ziplining, hiking, rock climbing. it became clear that we were out of our demographic when we kept ending up on shore excursions attended only by us and members of the boat’s crew.

other perks of the week included: eating my body weight in salmon over the course of seven days (mmm). learning to run on a treadmill while the boat heaved over waves in conditions that ranked a 7 on the Beaufort Scale (sometimes you have to embrace the absurd). hanging out with my family (my ADORABLE and much adored niece Geneva has a bright future in chess). experiencing the near-constant daylight of alaska around the summer solstice (blackout curtains do wonders, when you want to sleep). oh, and of course, the polar bear plunge, going swimming in the (unheated) pool on the back deck of the ship while the ship sailed past glaciers in Glacier Bay.

* with apologies to the panama canal guys. i had a palindrome phase when i was a kid…