I began driving buses and giving tours and honestly, it was quite challenging. I am quite an extrovert when the situation demands but it was taxing being “on” day in and day out. What kept me going were those truly kind and truly excited passengers. I also enjoyed my new group of 30 friends who I could always sit in the front yard or down on the dock with and recount the day’s adventures. And then there is the history and natural beauty of the Skagway area up the Klondike Highway and into the Yukon.

At the end of my first summer, I felt that although it had been a life changing experience, being a tour guide was a one season deal. I tend to be a bit hard on myself and needed time to process how I had grown during the summer of 2004. What I found was that it had been a lot! More than I ever expected and I started to think that continuing the challenge could only be more beneficial. I had been finishing up my degree in community recreation and every opportunity in Skagway had built up my leadership and reinforced the importance of travel in people’s lives. Why wouldn’t I go back?!

I called my division manager and told her (at quite the last minute) that I would be interested in doing the scheduling and occasionally driving for the upcoming season. She welcomed me back and now it is 2007 and I am the Transportation Services Manager. Each season has been different and each has brought new challenges and joys. I have never been so busy. I have never laughed so much. I have never made better friends. In the words of one of our returning drivers, “I love my job!”

To end, I would like to say that tour guiding or working with tourists is probably not everyone’s dream job. Still, I have been so surprised by how much I have grown and learned.

(P.S. Traveling is one of the great loves of my life and this fall I will be taking a “friends and family” discount Princess cruise through Rome, Naples, Athens, Ephesus, Istanbul, Mykonos, Cairo, Alexandria and back to Rome! Another great thing about working for Princess!)

I learned and grew a lot that first summer. I drove a bus with 44 passengers up into the Yukon Territory of Canada. I met interesting people from all over the world and entertained guests with stories, jokes, and tales of my adventures in Alaska during my free time: Kayaking Glacier Bay -seeing orcas, humpbacks, seals, and otters so close that I could touch them (but didn’t); driving up the Dempster Highway thru the fall colors of the alpine tundra all the way to the Artic Ocean and; hiking the Chilkoot Trail with four of my best girl friends.

I also enjoyed living in company housing, where I became fast friends with the 20 other drivers on the same adventure…many of whom I am still friends with today. In fact, one of those drivers is now my husband. We met our first summer, got engaged at Jewell Gardens in Skagway four years later, and have been returning ever since. Now I am the Division Manager and he is a Brakeman on the White Pass Scenic Railway…I never would have thought that first summer that one day I would be managing the division. Over the years, I have worked in several different positions with the company- Dispatcher, Driver Instructor, and Transportation Services Manager. I enjoy the incredible people that I work with and the opportunity to travel that working for a leader in the hospitality industry provides. Now as the Division Manager, I enjoy encouraging all the new arrivals as they start out on what I hope will be as memorable and life-changing experience as my own.

The flight from Seattle to Juneau was a blur. I was so nervous…which is not like me. I like to try new things and I like to just go and do! But Alaska?!? When we landed in Juneau we immediately got onto a tiny, tiny plane destined for Skagway. The flight from Juneau to Skagway was worth the trip already! It was beyond beautiful. When we flew into the valley of Skagway, it seemed so tiny. By then my nerves had calmed down and I was ready to get started! I had not been trained prior to coming to Alaska…so I spent the first three and a half weeks training in a bus. It came pretty easy! By the time I had earned my CDL and was certified to drive passengers, I was ready to go! I was so excited to give my first tour that I could hardly stand it! I love talking to people and I love driving; so what better job than being a driver/guide. The summer went forward with no problems and here I am three summers later…still working in Skagway for Princess and Holland America.

After my first summer, I returned to school at Brigham Young University – Idaho. I am studying Outdoor Recreation Leadership. After talking with one of my professors about my summer adventure…he mentioned that the experience would count as my Beginning Internship. At my school, the Rec. students must go through two separate, 400 hour internships before graduation. I definitely had worked over 400 hours, so I talked to the internship office, then to my manager back in Alaska…and all was figured out. I was done with my beginning internship. The next summer I came back as a driver/guide again. I had so much fun my first year that I could not find a reason why I shouldn’t have come back. Once again, my summer was full of driving, fun, and well…fun!

After that second summer, I had to start preparing to graduate from school…so I needed to find a Senior Internship. I talked with the company and found out that a position in the office would be opening soon for the summer of 2007. I applied and had to wait forever to find out if I got the job. Once I did, I arranged it with the school and work for my internship to count. In order for my senior internship to count, I had to have a little more responsibility than a driver…so it was perfect that I was hired for my current job.

Being a dispatcher is nice because I’m slowly starting to see more aspects of what really makes Princess and Holland America run! It is definitely different than being a driver…the florescent lights give me headaches. And I miss driving like crazy because driving is never stressful…it’s just easy. Working in the office is hard. But I am learning a lot and I really am enjoying myself. Because of this internship, I will finally be able to graduate from college in April! Whenever I tell people about my last few summers, they are always intrigued as to why I keep coming back. To be honest…it is like a paid vacation. Who gets to spend their summers in beautiful Alaska? Who gets to go camping and hiking whenever they want? When do you get to see glaciers on a daily basis? What is wrong with loving a company who really strives to take care of their employees? The question is, why wouldn’t you want to come back? And after I graduate in April…will I come back? Who knows…

Well, two weeks later I couldn’t handle the stories another minute! I borrowed some money from my sister & hopped on the next Alaska Airlines flight out of Portland. When I arrived in Skagway, I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was truly the most beautiful landscape I’d ever seen. It didn’t take long before I was hooked. The next summer I became a driver guide for the company. I was actually earning money while laughing at my own jokes, it was brilliant! My favorite tour was our Yukon Expedition. Showing tourists this remote part of the world was such an incredible experience. The Klondike Highway leading to the Yukon Territory has all the remote mystery of a true frontier. I enjoyed giving tours each day, but still sleeping in my own bed each evening. Skagway’s location was perfect for me!

This is my fourth season in Skagway.  I married that boy who had this great idea to begin with. Together we’ve made Skagway our summer home and have enjoyed adventures we would have never had otherwise. Top on my list? Definitely driving the Alcan Highway from Bellingham, Washington to Skagway, Alaska! Wow. This season I am the Passenger Services Manager and am constantly surprised that even a self-proclaimed Indoor Person can find their niche in beautiful Southeast Alaska.