Things to do in Alaska that will change your life

Raw and crisp, the glacial air bites. Our Zodiac slows in a fjord choked with ice. Gloved fingers and bonneted heads embrace their warmth as frigid floes drift by. Like frozen freshwater barges, they sail towards the saline sea freighting harbor seals; their furry figureheads.

I’m in the glacial heart of Southeast Alaska. American Queen Voyages steered me here from Sitka on the Ocean Victory, an X-Bow expedition ship originally built for the ice-strewn waters of Antarctica.

Here, at South…