Moving to Alaska 2026 (Post #1): Initial Thoughts

It feels pretty crazy (and scary) to write this post, the first in a series about moving to Alaska in the summer of 2026. Moving to Alaska feels like a monumental undertaking and one where our lives (my partner and I) are bound to change. We have never lived this far north before; we are both originally from Alabama. As of writing this post, neither of us has ever even been to Alaska. So this trip and this move are going to include a lot of firsts for us: my husband’s first visit to Canada, our first big move together, our first “real” winter together, our first time in Alaska, and many more “firsts” we will discover along the way.

Driving from San Antonio, TX (where we currently live) to Anchorage, AK is projected to be 4,112 miles (6,618 km). The longest road trip I had previously completed was an Atlantic-to-Pacific trip in 2021, covering more than 2,834 miles (4,561 km), but I did that for travel, not to move, and was able to break the trip up with a week staying at a cabin in the Rocky Mountains. The upcoming move to Alaska is both the longest trip and the longest move I have completed so far. Add two unhappy cat passengers, a U-Haul, and an uncertain departure time due to my job timeline, and this trip begins to feel daunting.

Background on the move:

I am blessed to have a job that offers transfer options to Alaska, ensuring that after the move, I have a reliable source of income. My husband does not have a job with transfer opportunities, so he is currently dealing with the stress of virtual job hunting.

A downside of my job is that I am struggling to get an exact timeline for my move. There are a lot of things that need to happen in San Antonio before I can leave for Alaska. This is not my first move for this job, but I am encountering more hurdles than I encountered for previous moves.

All of this is to say that the move is going to happen. I will end up in Alaska, but there is a small <5% chance that I will not be able to complete the move the way I want, a long road trip with stops along the way. Due to time constraints at work, we may have to change our plans, and I may have to fly to Alaska first, or we may not be able to take as many stops/breaks as we had originally envisioned.

I have struggled to create this post because, although I am excited about this move to Alaska, there is still more uncertainty than I feel comfortable sitting with about the details of the move. I have decided to share our plans for the trip, even if it doesn’t end up happening as planned.

Separate from my work, there are many details of the move that I am attempting to navigate right now. From scrambling to get our cats seen at a vet “right before” we leave, so they can meet requirements to be brought into Alaska, to trying to order a satellite phone for the drive on the Alaska Highway in Canada, to looking up Canadian regulations for what items can be brought into Canada for a move. Hopefully, out of all this stress, I can compile lists, recommendations, and timelines to help the next traveler (and also to help me when/if I return to the lower 48).

Planning for stops and “Rest Days” during the move:

We are blessed that my job allows us some vacation time during the move (theoretically), so we plan to stop and take breaks at national parks along the way. I am still working on our exact itinerary, including where and how long we plan to stop at different places. Some of the national parks we are considering stopping at include White Sands, NM; Great Sand Dunes, CO; Grand Teton, WY; Yellowstone, WY; and two parks in Canada: Jasper National Park, AB, and Banff National Park, AB. Some of these places we will only be able to stop after a short travel day, and others we will try to spend several days before continuing our journey.

Before I continue, I have to give my first shout-out to the Roadtrippers website and App. Roadtrippers, as the name suggests, helps plan out roadtrips. It lets you set your start and end points and decide where you want to stay each day and how much you want to travel. They even have an AI feature called autopilot that creates an itinerary for you, which you can adjust as much as you like. For me, all of these features are nice, but what really sold me on the app was that they make suggestions for cool things you might like to see along your anticipated route. Because of this feature, we learned about the “World’s Largest Pistachio” in New Mexico, which we are now looking forward to seeing as a fun stop on the way.

This is a screenshot of the route I have created for a "Dakotas" roadtrip that is on my bucket list. You can't see stop #1 because it is in the same place as stop #13 in Sioux Falls, SD. We would rent a car and drive north stopping at the interest points along the way.

This is an example of the first few days of the trip and how it calculates how far and how long you are driving. (I haven't decided where we would want to stay on day 2, this is a theoretical trip at this point).

Roadtrippers has a free limited version, but I opted for the “Premium” membership with extended features. I found the cost of a one-year membership to be reasonable at $59.99. There is also a 6-month option for $29.99. The app is available on both the App Store and Google Play, so I have it on my phone, which works great for actually completing the road trip. It also allows you to collaborate with someone else, so you can share a road trip with family. (Getting a premium Roadtrippers account also gives you a 30% discount with an AllTrails Plus membership.) (This is not a paid promotion, I’m not getting any benefits from suggesting it to you, I’ve just been really happy with the app so far.)

This is really all I have to say about the move so far. I plan to get into more details about legalities and logistics in future posts. Happiy adventuring!