'So great to hear from so many of you so soon! My cousins lived in Fairbanks when I was a kid and all my extended Italian family caravaned there to visit. Mine was the only family who did not. In later years, when I was working, my mother and her sister, brother-in-law and grandson trailered to Alaska. Again, I was envious! I few years ago my immediate family took a Princess Cruise to Alaska and loved it. It left us begging for more!
In a PM I was asked about details.
1) route going and returning
2) whether you are primarily
boondocking or staying in campgrounds
3) length of the trip
4) whether you would drive overland or take ferries between points
There are NO DETAILS as of yet as I'm hoping there are experienced folks out there, such as Norm and Ginny, who can advise us. Please let us know if any of you have favorite resources, books, websites especially oriented for folks traveling with trailers/RVs. This thread seems to be helpful
Caravan to Alaska - Page 2 - iRV2 Forums. Books that were recommended are
The Alaskan Guidepost and
Alaskan Camping by Mike and Terri Church. Also look on the Internet at rv.net (Good Sam Club) and enter "Alaska" for your search.
Yes, traveling as a group has its pros and cons.
Pros:
The FUN of:
sharing stories at day's end.
creating a family of sorts.
creating shared memories.
possibly sharing in food planning and preparation and cleanup.
the safety in numbers. If there are mishaps/illnesses, etc. we can help out each other.
Cons:
Takes a bit more planning than going solo.
Taking into account a variety of preferences/personalities/etc.
Less flexibility
In reading about other folk's caravan experiences I learned a few things. We'd agree to a general itinerary at the start of the trip.
We'd need leaders/coordinators/wagon masters for various aspects of the trip: Itinerary, group meals, mechanical adviser, entertainment, tours, etc.
The idea is not to have all trailers travel on the road at the same time because that would just frustrate other drivers. We would stagger our exit (the previous night's camp) and arrival (the next night's camp) times which allows for folks to travel at their own pace. The last trailer would serve as back-up should anyone break down along the way.
We could travel north together and then disperse and go solo (or choose our travel companions) going south.
I expect this to be a 2-3 month trip as we are retired.
We have a year to plan this so let's start dreaming!