has anyone hitchhiked from canada to alaska before? i really want to go to alaska this summer, and i can't find any cheap bus ride or trains that go to alaska. any tips help guys!
My first time hitchhiking was through BC over a decade ago. I bought a greyhound ticket from Vancouver across the border to Bellingham, Wa if I remember correctly. I think it's harder as an American citizen to hitchhike IN to Canada. The border crossing agents tend to frown upon traveling kids with backpacks coming over the border without much money to show in their bank account.
If I were you, and you have your heart set on hitchhiking through Canada - I would buy a greyhound ticket just to get across the border to the next town. Helps if you have a return ticket to show, bank statement showing you have sufficient funds for traveling, and proof (or pretend) that you are staying with a friend or family member while visiting there to be granted entry. Perhaps others could expound on that, who've done it more recently.
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That being said. Hitchhiking through BC/Yukon and Alaska is extremely easy to get rides. Altho, as a woman I'd be VERY CAREFUL doing it alone. Google the Highway of Tears....a stretch of highway in BC that has seen numerous cases of women hitchhikers going missing and/or being found murdered.
Sometimes you can find cheaper flight deals on Alaska Air's website to and from Seattle/Bellingham and Anchorage or Ketchikan. You can also take the ferry (Alaska Marine Highway) from Bellingham all the way to Whittier and then hitchhike from there. (Fares DOUBLE in price for the summer season, so if you're gonna take the ferry take it before the cutoff date. I think it's around April that it changes in price. Also - a good tip - you don't need to pay the whole fare from Bellingham to Whittier. I've paid just the fare from Bellingham to Ketchikan (the cheapest one) and then you just stay on after they leave port. No one really checks your ticket to make sure you paid the full fare. As long as you are just camping out on the deck and keep low key, don't get in trouble....you should be fine doing it. That's what I did last time I took that route. You just can't get on and off at each port when they stop, obviously. Have fun!