6 of the 7 Continents For The Budget Traveler: Utqiagvik, Alaska Journey To The Arctic Circle

I don't quite remember how I learned about Utqiagvik, formerly known as Barrow in Alaska, but I do remember having it in my travel goals for a long time. The mystic aspect of the place, the remoteness, the difference, appealed very much to me, as did the key aspect of the trip, crossing off my goal to swim in every ocean in the world. I did the Atlantic sometime around birth for all I can remember, the Pacific in my early 20s, the Indian in my late 20s, and the Southern in my late 30s.... So the Arctic was the only ocean remaining, that's what brought me to Utqiagvik, a literally 30 second event... However, the 48 hours I spent there brought so much more to my travel spirit with this amazing and strange American place.

Flying into the town

Utqiagvik Travel Tips:

This is indeed a small town, and there are classic day tours here that fly in and out the same day. I don't like big group tours and opted to self tour, in light of the chance of flight cancellations, I made a safety net and booked Utqiagvik for two nights instead of one where I'd fly in and out the next day. That being said...

Welcome to Utqiagvik!
After going to Point Barrow, if you can make arrangements to get here (I'll cover that in a bit), stay two nights! Maybe even three if you are a slow traveler, but for most, I think two will be ideal, the way it is as of now only one flight flies in and out, so two nights means you will land 4pm Day One and fly out 5pm on Day Three, so roughly 48 hours to explore.
The flight cost me $1200, not an ideal price for a budget traveler, however this is the standard price for coming from PHX where I cam from. I had just paid less than that to go to Italy a month prior. But for me it was $1200, I searched different dates, Monday to Wednesday, Friday to Sunday, the middle of the winter, the middle of the summer, no change, always $1200... In coach nonetheless.
Top Of The World Hotel on almost the top of the world!
Top Of The World Building
I chose to stay at the Top Of The World Hotel for a few reasons, the obvious location, it's directly across the street from the famous Whale Bone Arch of Utqiagvik, there's also three restaurants very short walking distance, one of them being on site. Even if you are crazy enough to come here in the winter, these restaurants are a short walk away, no taxi needed. I walked to and from the airport which takes about a half hour, it's a nice way to see the town, and I took different routes to and from, but if the weather is bad or you packed a lot, there are plenty of taxi cabs to call and it's not that expensive for a five minute ride, speaking of calling...
Unbeknownst to me until I arrived, Verizon has no service up there. I was able to make calls in WIFI areas, but once I left those it was like the good old days of pre-smart phone travel. The airport did have free WIFI to call a taxi if you were doing that.

Beach across from Top Of The World and Whale Bone Arch
The Top Of The World did not disappoint, it was $300 a night, yes everything is expensive here, I paid a little extra for an ocean view as this was a rare visit to the Arctic Ocean, the view is not what you may expect if you have been to some famous beach destinations, in North America, but remember this is the Arctic, and it's actually one of the very few towns in the United States that sits on the Arctic.
The Whale Bone Arch, nuff said.
Dining, this will not be the best culinary trip of your life, but for the absolute remoteness of the place, you will be pleasantly surprised with quality food. There are only 6/7 restaurants total, and only half are dine in, the rest are take out only, so plan appropriately and call if you want to be sitting in.

One of the many great plates to try
Wear quality boots, it's muddy up there in summer, and obviously a lot of snow in the winter, for summer low top boots will suffice, for winter you will definitely want tall snow boots.
So summer vs winter, I went in the middle of July, the high was 39f/4c, low was 30f/-1c... Heavy coat and appropriate wear are a must in all seasons. Remember that ocean view I mentioned? Don't forget the sun will not go down in July, I had blackout curtains but it was still a bit hard to get to sleep, and really weird to get up at 3am to take a leak and open the curtain to see pure daylight... Opposite if you go in winter of course.

This Whale Bone Arch picture is taken at almost midnight!
The Polar Plunge! The item that got me interested in visiting this amazing place! Well first things first, I think in winter this is impossible, if you dare to do so in summer, assuming you are medically cleared to... Bring a warm towel down, I just got into the swimwear and ran, I didn't want to give my feet time to communicate to my brain this was a bad idea by waddling in. So I just got down to swim wear and plunged in! In my less than 30 seconds of swimming, there was actually an odd peace... I opened my eyes and the dark water was surprisingly clear when I was fully submersed. My body, my chest, arms, and even head, were at peace.... But those feet! They were not! I felt the cold painfully stabbing every centimeter from my toe nail to ankle! I envisioned losing them at one point, and it was time to get out! I kept my shirt off for a while, and really felt okay feeling the Arctic sun bathing my body, but my feet, I got the boots back on ASAP!

Smiling in joy while freezing!
COLD!!!!

Goal to swim in every ocean in the world, check.
The Town, the town itself is easily walkable in a day, you'll want to focus on the seaside parts obviously, but also check out the Inupiat Heritage Center, it's right across from the grocery store which also is a tourist attraction in of itself to see the sky high prices when everything in the town must be flown in. The football field is pretty unique too, but too far to walk, we passed it on the way to the Point. The other highlights walking for me were mainly just along the beach by my hotel and then on the way back to the airport.
Point Barrow... This was an unexpected gem of the trip. I had read about it, and considered going, but wasn't dead set on it. There are at the time of writing no tours that go there. You may be lucky as I was to find a driver on Facebook Utqiagvik groups. This is not cheap for a relatively short ride, but it is a rough road that not all 4wd drive vehicles may be able to handle. I considered taking a taxi out the peninsula and simply hiking the rest but was wisely informed at anytime of year there is a risk of polar bears being there, so I opted for the driver.
If you are lucky enough and in a vehicle of course, you may see polar bears while there munching down on the whale bone remains from prior hunts. They keep the bones out there rather than in town for this exact reason to keep the big guys away.
Once you cross over into the Point, you now are further north than every single person in the United States. 330 million Americans and you will be the furthest north of everyone! It's an intense place, a little eerie with the bones, and the quiet, but definitely intense. We were also lucky enough to spot Beluga Whales swimming almost right on shore! As well as seals, and lots of birds, no bears, this time. But a true sense of being at the top of the world on the beautiful Arctic Ocean.

Made it to the Top of The United States!

I didn't go into this trip with much expectations other than swimming in the Arctic and saying 5/5 oceans swam, but I left with a sense of newness, and for a guy that has been to a pretty decent amount of places, that's a little rare these days. When I met people there I almost had the sensation that rather than respond in English they may respond in Martian, as the place seemed like another planet. But all the oddness, the coldness, and the eeriness, was over shadowed by the kindness and friendliness of the people I met and talked to there.

Walking the town

Mind you, this is not a trip for everyone, but if you are looking for something remote, adventurous, something different, you found it here. It would be tempting to go back in winter for the aurora borealis, but I was relatively sure as my plane took off that it was good bye to Utqiagvik.... Good bye to the small town that introduced me in person to the beautiful Arctic Ocean... But like all trips, it also lit something up inside of me.... This was my first ever trip to the Arctic Ocean, but I don't think at all that it will be my last.