> the trip to Alaska seems unnecessary.

Staying in one easy 70°F place did not satisfy the project goal. From the meteorologist behind it (emphasis mine): "Imagine that you really like days where the high temperature is 70°F AND YOU WANTED TO PLAN A ROAD TRIP where the temperature always hovers around 70°F"

A 13,000 mile road trip is probably always unnecessary. Yet awesome! :-)

I think it's impressive he fit the Alaskan diversion into the problem constraints. (Also, I love road trips to Alaska.)

Unnecessary but fun. This maximises travel and experiences while keeping the temp the same. Someone needs to do this for their gap year

Careful, there -- many historical average charts are no longer particularly useful, and you really do need to look at current data. In June of this year, San Francisco had a high temperature over 70F on one out of every 6 days, including a high for the month of 79F.

Rising temperatures in a city where nothing was built anticipating the rise is a recipe for a bad time. Plus, the instant you get beyond the city limit of SF and a few adjacent suburbs you head right into temperatures typical of summer in many other parts of the country (the NOAA station at the airport in San Bruno, for example, reported a high of 87F in June, with daily highs over 70F for the majority of the month).

San Diego is pretty much 68 to 72 year round. In the summer it might get a little warmer and in the winter a little colder on select days, but it's a pretty tight range.

Did you miss the part where he said San Diego?

You need to work on your courtesy.