Thoughts On Our Alaska Trip, Costs

When we first thought of going to Alaska we had  many preconceived notions, some fears of animals and the trip itself, and so much that we thought we would do. We bought The Milepost and Church's book on the Alaska Highway, talked with friends who had already made the journey, and spent a lot of time on the Internet preparing for the trip. The main concern however was what would it cost.

So here are some numbers and costs of the trip. I would like to add the that many of the costs are about what it would cost us, as fulltime rvers, to travel across the lower forty eight.
For example, lets start with camping fees. We spent nine nights boondocking, other nights in provincial and state parks, but most of the nights in private campgrounds. We wanted to do a lot of boondocking but we had problems with our water system and later wanted to have electricity for the freezers full of salmon.

So our total camping cost was $2682 for an average of  $29 a night. This was the one cost that we could have saved a lot on as our cost for camping the last year, as we traveled in the lower forty eight, was $15.42 per night. Basically the private parks are more expensive and there is no Passport America. There are numerous turnouts and places to boondock but we kind of got in a rut.
Food costs were also a little higher as we spent $2791, or $930 a month. This is about 30 dollars a day and includes paper towels, sundries, soap and other things that we lump into out grocery category. At one place, Healy, Alaska we saw eggs for seven dollars a dozen and potato chip for seven dollars a bag.
We did stockpile a lot before we crossed the border and we did refill our supplies at Anchorage and Fairbanks so the food costs weren't much different then our normal budget down south,(we usually spend $830 a month in this budget category).We only ate out twice and if we had more the food costs would have gone astronomical as fish and chips usually cost over fifty bucks for two people.
Our biggest expense was of course diesel fuel and totaled $3515. The highest price we paid was $7.70 a gallon, at Pink Mountain in Canada, and the lowest was 3.92 a gallon in Fairbanks,(we used our Safeway card and got thirty cents off per gallon).
The total mileage for our trip was 8048 miles with the average cost being 43.6 cents a mile. This compares with 30.4 cents a mile which is what it cost us to travel from Texas to Wyoming, before we headed north. Again with better planning I could have avoided topping my tanks at Pink Mountain but fuel still averaged over $ 5.90 a gallon crossing Canada.

If you do go north be sure to buy the Tour Saver Book as it will save you money. We only used three items in the book but they still saved us about two hundred and seventy dollars. Granted they were things that we normally don't do but how often do you travel to Alaska?
There is one last cost and its one I hadn't prepared for, the cost of repairs. Do plan on things breaking as you drive the frost heaves and pass construction trucks. We had water line and pump problems but luckily didn't break our windshield. We also had a slide that jammed and a water pump on the truck that gave out, but I don't think those should be added to the cost as it could have happened anywhere.
We did talk two two people who had their towed vehicle hitches fail and one lost their jeep without even knowing it as their brake system didn't work. I do think that a lot of this could be avoided as people go way to fast, but that's just me and we were some of the slowest drivers on the Alaskan Highway,(we wanted to see and enjoy the drive, not simply race north, oh and the roads are good till you reach Whitehorse).
Finally, the total cost of the trip was 8991 dollars,(three months), or about $90 bucks a day. This compares with the month of May where we had costs of $2020 or sixty five dollars per day. These totals do not include our prescriptions, or mad money or repairs so what did it really cost us to go to Alaska? As fulltime rvers it cost us about twenty five dollars a day above our normal traveling budget, and that's not bad.
Clear skies


ps I carried two extra tires and never had a single problem but I did put new tires on the fifth wheel before we started. Our suspension held up but we did meet friends who had theirs fail and Good Sams came to their rescue,(ours failed last January in Texas and was rebuilt then). We did shut our phones off, in Canada, and most of Alaska as there are miles and miles of no service. If you depend on a phone buy a satellite phone. Oh and we did stop our satellite tv subscription as you can't connect to the low angle and due to the blocking trees and mountains.
I am also not including fishing liscenses, $145 each, tour cruises, or other entertainment as all were optional.