Wow, what a title! Why Alaska and not the United States? Well, because I can! Honestly, it’s just to lure people into visiting my blog, haha. Even though I’m still jet-lagged, I’m excited to share my travel stories on the blog because it’s thanks to all of you that I dared to dream and decided to venture far with sheer determination. Thank you so much!
When I think about it, I must be crazy, right? Spending money to travel all the way to Alaska and Canada, phew. Don’t ask how much the trip cost because I haven’t even calculated it yet. And even if I did, I wouldn’t tell, haha.
Sometimes, while traveling, I find myself smiling and thinking, “What am I doing here?” I said that to myself when I was sitting at SeaTac International Airport in Seattle, feeling like a lost child. Along with a few other travelers, I became homeless and decided to sleep at the airport before the security checkpoint.
Exactly three weeks ago, I left for Seattle’s airport alone, carrying just a cabin-sized suitcase, a small tote for my down jacket, and a backpack that I got for free. My suitcase didn’t weigh more than 12 kilograms. Oh, how did I end up telling this story? Let me just get to the main, random points.
Oh, do you remember when I posted about “Picnic with Bijo to Santa’s House”? I finally decided not to invite anyone. I chose to go alone to unwind. Since the trip was far and I was stressed out, I decided not to bring anyone along. So, I had to close the ad looking for a travel buddy.
Before that, a few people emailed and WhatsApped me, wanting to join the trip to Alaska and Canada, but one by one, they dropped out for various reasons—some had their visas rejected, some didn’t have a visa, and others wanted to come but I had already decided not to invite anyone. Even a few days before leaving for the US, I received an email from someone wanting to go to Canada. But I’m sorry, I decided not to have a picnic together.
Alaska, Canada, Alaska, Canada! Guess which one is colder, Alaska or Canada?
The journey from home to the lodging in Alaska took about two days. During those two days, I was starving. From the moment I left, I had been daydreaming about getting seafood fried rice at Solaria, but when I reached the check-in counter at Terminal 2 of Soekarno-Hatta Airport, the line was so long. So, I was racing against time from the moment I arrived at the airport until I entered the gate. I even changed clothes and prayed before entering the gate. I changed into a t-shirt and sweatpants before boarding the plane, feeling like I was about to hit the gym, haha.
While waiting in line to check in, I was with some women who were heading to Taiwan for work. We chatted while waiting in line. I was curious and asked them questions, and without me asking, they started sharing their stories. Most of the passengers on my flight were Chinese, and I got dizzy surrounded by people speaking Chinese. Even on the plane, the flight attendant offered food in Chinese, and I was confused about what to eat.
On the flight to Taoyuan, Taipei, I was like an excited child for getting a seat in Economy Elite with plenty of legroom. Wow, my long legs weren’t cramped! I could lift my feet onto the seat and cover myself with a pashmina. I was sitting next to a guy I thought was Chinese. He asked me in English how to change the language settings on the TV screen from Mandarin to English. I said, “I don’t know.” I was curious and asked where he was from. He replied, “Indonesia.” “Why did you ask me in English then?” “Because I’ve been in Canada for a long time, so I rarely speak Indonesian.” “Oh, okay.”
On the plane, I casually munched on spicy cassava chips without offering any to the guy next to me. I was confused whether to offer him some and start a conversation, but he seemed disinterested. He just asked where I was headed. I replied, “Seattle… I mean, Alaska,” to sound cool, not just Taiwan, haha. He then said he was going to Vancouver, not just Taiwan. That was the extent of our conversation, but when we got off the plane, he chatted with the woman sitting across from us, being all friendly. No, he wasn’t her friend or boyfriend.
On the flight from Taoyuan to SeaTac, I was sitting next to a Taiwanese couple who lived in Seattle. They asked about my visit to Seattle. The wife offered to swap seats with her child, who was sitting in the row behind us. So, from a window seat, she wanted to switch me to an aisle seat, and of course, I said no. It was a long flight, and at that moment, I became selfish, sorry. After all, it was my dream seat that I had carefully chosen long before the flight through the website.
On the plane to Taipei, I was served fish with rice and a mixed nuts snack. On the way to Seattle, the meal choices were fish with rice or something else I forgot. The second option was pork congee or pasta. I had anticipated that there might be pork dishes on the plane, so I had considered bringing fried rice to eat on the plane. As expected, on the flight to Seattle, I didn’t eat much—the pasta, just a spoonful, and the rest was bread with butter, not tahu bulat.
When I arrived at Seattle’s airport, I planned to have dinner at a restaurant, but because I wandered around looking for baggage and rested, by the time I got to the restaurant, it was closed. So, I spent 24 hours starving, just snacking on Sibolga chips and Madurasa all night. Hungry.
I spent the night at Seattle airport, having a restless sleep. I was cold, hungry, and anxious. This always happens when I travel far, like when I went to Paris last year. During the layover in Taiwan, I didn’t buy food because it was late and the open restaurants didn’t accept credit cards. Alright, that’s it for now; my boss just arrived.