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If you're looking for something different and off the beaten path, consider Southeast Alaska. It's truly like visiting a different country, and offers a different appreciation for Alaska that the more touristy, urbanized areas up north lack.

Juneau is the capital of Alaska, and the entry point for many visits to Southeast. The city itself is larger than several states, and is one of the most scenic places you'll ever visit - especially when the sun comes out. If I tell you that it is located in a temperate rain forest and tends to rain often, you should take that as a cue to bring proper rain gear.

Now I'm not going to claim that travel around Southeast is cheap: a gallon of gas costs $3.59 on average here. There aren't that many roads, so you don't drive all that much - ferries, small planes and boats are used to get between most of these towns, and getting around can be a hassle. .

BUT, if you like outdoors stuff, hiking, camping, skiing, snowboarding, biking, running, fishing, birding, kayaking, wildlife, funky towns mind-blowing scenic beauty, then you will love it here.

Juneau has dozens of trails within it's 45 mile-or-so road system. You can climb up an alpine mountain during in the morning and go explore beaches later on in the day. You can check out downtown, a funky place filled with tourist shops for the cruise ship folks and highlighted (to me) by the houses set on the steep hills above and sweeping views of the nearby Gastineau Channel. Bars, coffee shops, and resteraunts and the like can be enjoyed either before or after that hike to the numerous mining ruins in the area, or that visit to the glacier. Like most towns in the area, there is a sizeable native population that also lends to and enhances the look and feel of the place, making it even more unique.

They have houses that can't be accessed by vehicles, and instead stairways climb the hill to these homes in lieu of a road. Historical buildings from the mining days abound.

Juneau has several nearby glaciers, and the vast Juneau Icefield nearby, but the most popular and easiest to access is the renowned Mendenhall Glacier, a drive-in glacier. This glacier has been receding for years and has retreated several miles since the old days. You can hike up to it and touch it if you're in fairly good physical condition, or you can take a guided trip or even a helicopter up to it (and others), though these options can get pretty expensive. There is a visitor's center run by the Forest Service that is outstanding.

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