Michaela and Hakim went from urban jungle to untamed wilderness when they traveled from New York over Fourth of July week this summer. Experiencing the state’s largest Independence Day festival was among the memorable events of their trip, along with plenty of wildlife spotting and communing with nature. Follow their trip from adventure in Denali to the Mt. Marathon race in Seward in the latest How They Got Lost blog installment.

This summer on the blog we’re featuring interviews and discussions with our guests on how their trips went: where they took their vans, what they saw, what the highlights and challenges were while they were on the road, in our continuing series How They Got Lost. Read about the real trips that different travelers took in their travel vans.

(As usual, the responses have been edited only a little.)

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Here’s Hakim:

Give us a brief overview of your itinerary:

Picked up Get Lost Travel Van upon arrival to Anchorage. Stocked up on food at Walmart and camped for the night at Centennial Campgrounds (cost $20). Next morning, drove 4.5 hours north to Denali and camped there for 2 nights in a nearby town called Healy at Waugaman Campground (cost $45/night). While in Denali, we did some sightseeing, ATV tours, and whitewater rafting. After two days, we drove 7 hours down to Seward and camped at Spring Creek campground (cost $20/night) for another two nights. While in Seward, we drove into town, saw the Mt. Marathon race, and watched the 4th of July fireworks from our campground and went on a glacier cruise in the Kenai Fjords. On the penultimate day, we drove back to Anchorage to drop off our campervan, and Ubered to an Airbnb and celebrated our fabulous trip in downtown Anchorage with a fine meal and drinks at Humpy’s.

Did you have your trip planned before you arrived, or did you choose what to do/where to stay during your trip?

Trip was pre-planned and discussed extensively between the both of us; however, the places where we stayed were decided upon arrival to each town using the Milepost and prior research.

What were the highlights of your trip?

Highlights included seeing all the wildlife in Denali & Seward, Glacier Cruise with Kenai Fjords Tours, being at peace with nature, and interacting with lovely folks from Alaska. We will never forget this entire experience. Oh, and of course, our Get Lost Travel Van… which was the biggest highlight!

Were there any unexpected challenges to deal with? If so, how did you manage to overcome them?

Finding the most suitable campgrounds to meet our needs was our biggest, unexpected challenge. A lot of patience with cell service and research allowed us to overcome this challenge.

What advice or tips do you have for other travelers who might want to do something similar?

Pre-plan the trip if you want to have a relaxing trip, but allow yourself time to enjoy the peaceful scenery. Definitely book a Get Lost Travel van, if you want to make your journey in Alaska seamless and cost-effective. Pre-plan simple, easy meals that do not require much refrigerated items.

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Michaela and Hakim, many thanks for renting one of our vans! We’re so glad you had an amazing experience in our great state, and humbled that our vans were such a big part of it! Know that there’s adventure around every corner, even in the city!

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Follow the How They Got Lost series on this blog for more on the places you can go in a travel van. If you’re contemplating taking a trip like Michaela and Hakim’s, book your van now, or let us know what your questions are. We have answers!

All photos in this post © Hakim Lahlou