We don’t get back to Alaska as much as I would love to. The honest reason? The tickets are pricey and the cost for our family to travel goes up as the kids get older. It’s rough, but it’s life. For this reason, I was super thankful for my parents who generously shared their airline miles this winter and brought my family all together for the Holidays. It ended up being a super special time, despite the weather not cooperating as much as we would have liked (last year this time AK was setting snow records!)
Obviously, traveling with kids changes things immensely. Despite all our attempts to travel with as little as possible (sort of..) we still needed to make sure the essentials were covered: Car seats, pack ‘n play, clothing, diapers, Chariot, skis…you know, the “essentials”. In all seriousness, most of the true essentials were covered by friends and family in Alaska, but we still preferred to not have our car seats banged around AND wanted to be able to ski as a family up there.
Enter Alaska Baby Rentals.
Sarah and Sandy (a husband and wife team) have something awesome going on in Anchorage and it isn’t just for travelers. Seeing a need for families to be able to get the gear they need while traveling AND try stuff out before they make a big purchase, they started their business. With two children of their own (and one on the way!) they know their gear, and know what works best for families. They’ve honestly thought of everything.
A family ski with Grandma and Grandpa
We used two of their car seats and a double Chariot (with ski and jogging attachment.) Despite the fact that our flights came in after 10 pm AND left before 7 am, they were promptly there with our gear to drop off and pick up. The car seats were ready for the kids (sized to the best of their ability thanks to the information I gave them) and the Chariot was the brand new 2013 line. In fact, we were the very first borrower. They knew the airport well (to help aid us with meeting them) and even sent off our kids with match box cars (a gesture the kids loved and we appreciated as they kept them busy on the long flights.) Emails were responded to quickly as we made plans to meet, texts were answered and we didn’t worry if we would be left at the airport without safe seats for our kids. The peace of mind was incredibly valuable (especially after a long day of flying with young kids.)
Despite the fact that the snow wasn’t awesome, we did manage to get in a bunch of skis over our trip. It was so freeing knowing that we could get out as a family (and bring along Grandma and Grandpa or an aunt and uncle). In fact, the kids took many of their naps in the Chariot over the course of those 10 days (and that’s ok!) It opened up a whole new world of possibilities as far as adventures without spending even bigger bucks to haul our bulky (and precious) get-outside-with-your-kids gear.
A list of the best of Alaska Baby Rentals:
- Excellent customer service
- Gear is impeccably clean and in great shape
- They come to YOU (to help ease the travel issues of airports!)
- Their rent to own program helps you test the best gear before you buy
- They sell off their rentals (Chariot in particular) each year so get on their email list!
- They know their gear and Alaska.
A List of (some of ) their Available Gear:
- Chariot CTS systems (double and single; all attachments)
- BOB Strollers (double and single, car seat adapters, weather shield, handlebar consols, travel bags)
- Britax Car Seats (15+ models)
- Thule Cargo Boxes (Rent AND buy)
- Bumbleride Strollers
- Bouncers
- Exercausers
- High chairs
- Cribs
- Safety Gear
- And much, MUCH more……
I love writing reviews about people and businesses I can’t say enough good about. This is one of them. If you live in Alaska or are planning to travel there, make sure you get in contact with Alaska Baby Rentals so you can continue being active (without hauling all that gear) OR test out some new stuff!
You can find Alaska Baby Rentals on Facebook and Twitter or by emailing them at info@alaskababyrentals.com.
What any baby does BEST in the Chariot!
Make sure to check back in next Wednesday for a guest post by Sarah – it involves Chariots and Avalanches. Really. **Link will be live starting January 30th**
While Alaska Baby Rentals did provide us a Chariot rental free of cost, we paid for the car seat rentals. Despite their kind gesture, the opinions expressed here are completely and honestly our own and are exactly what we tell our family and friends. These guys are real, awesome and 100% recommended by us!
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