How did you end up in Alaska?

[Whopper Stopper]

How did you people happen to end up in Alaska? Just curious if you were born there, stationed there and stayed, work relocation, maybe acted on a dream and sold everything and moved there.

The appeal of the great State has always held a burning interest for me.

             WS

[love em and leave em]

I was born here 1966.

[evilsnipe]

Mom n pops did it at the Bun drive in, in Anchorage, in the Summer of Love 1969.

[groundsluice_pete]

Brought up from Montana in 1964. Been here pretty much ever since, but no more family up here with me.

[akdube]

Jumped off the plane in January of 97 with $1400 in my pocket and didnt know anyone. Came for the hunting and fishing..

[firefish5000]

Wanted to do my job in the most remote place I could think of besides russia, decided on AK , Will never leave ( except maybe to russia )

[firefish5000]

By the way not to open a wound here but what happened to this Alaska thread this last couple months being over run with lower 48 posts Is the fishing that slow down there or are all the advertisements for AK over the last couple of years catching up to us?

[jiggenfrogs]

When I finished college in 2002 I landed a job a on commercial fishing boats out of Dutch Harbor and the Gulf.  I commuted for a few years until I took a summer off to fish and well that is all it took.  I moved up the next summer 2004.

[Akhardwater]

I tricked my wife into moving up here 5 years ago.  She went to college up here back in the late 90's so it wasn't to hard.  What she didn't realize was that my hunting and fishing addiction was all consuming.  She thought she married a rock climber.  Ha

[jkw]

Born here march 1985....have not lived anywhere else cept for a few summers on dads ranch in northern idaho....will never  live anywhere else......

[PikeSticker]

Came up right out of college in 1970 on an invitation from my aunt and uncle in Kenai to spend the summer on a fish site or Cook Inlet drifter and go back to CA with 5 grand in my pocket. BIG money in those days. Arrived on a DC10 Western Airlines prop plane ("The ONLY way to fly" for those who are old enough to remember the toucan bird and champagne glass) with everything I owned in a duffle bag, a carton of Marlboros, $10 in my pocket, and my last $150 spent on a Pentax 35mm camera to document my experience ........ and a month later was calling this place "The Armpit of the World" and ready to hoe weeds in peoples' yards to muster up the $150 for a ticket out of hell.

42 winters later I'm still TEMPORARY and that's the truth. Just haven't found anywhere in the World that is worth leaving this place to move to. Ah, I love the smell of musk in the mornings! Pass the deodorant. 

[trout slayer 21]

i wanna live there in the worst way im sick of these pple down here i wanna move up there to peace and quite .............. trapping hunting and fishing

[NEK]

When I moved to Fairbanks in July of 1967, The old timers told me, that people come to live in  Alaska for one of two reasons, you're either running from the law or a woman - with me, it was a woman. I stayed for 19 years and left when I retired. Those winters are just too long - dark and miserable cold to retire in. To me, it's a young mans country. If you are young and dreaming of going - git-er done! Don't wait till you are almost 30 yrs old like I did. I should have taken my dads advice and gone up right out of high school, like my brother did. Just remember - when you go - make sure you have "get away money" stashed someplace. Enough money to get back home on - because you just might decide you don't like it or can't stay for some other reason. I can say this with authority, because I have loaned "getaway money" for plane tickets back to The Lower 48 several times.

[akjack]

I came up for a summer while in college to work on a commercial fishing boat.  Within a week of being here I decided to transfer colleges and finish school up here.  That was 18 years ago,  I wouldn't live anywhere else.  By the way, it was -52F a couple weekends ago just an FYI.

[jkw]

people seldom realize that up here is jus like everywhere else.....they say they want to get away from everything....well, your just as close to it here as anyplace else....drugs, violence, theft, crazy *****s, ridiculous traffic, loud nieghbors, you name it.....it just costs more here

[trout slayer 21]

people seldom realize that up here is jus like everywhere else.....they say they want to get away from everything....well, your just as close to it here as anyplace else....drugs, violence, theft, crazy *****s, ridiculous traffic, loud nieghbors, you name it.....it just costs more here

i want more north than that i want to be so far north that there isnt even a dang rd

[kasilofchrisn]

I moved up in the fall of 1997 from Minnesota when my job ended down there. My parents lived up here already after my dad fell in love with Alaska on a hunting trip.
They gave me a place to stay witch was great as I only had $700 to my name.
My dad encouraged me to move up.
They had flown me up the previous Christmas and I got to experience Ice fishing Alaska for the first time.
It took me a few months to find a job. Started working at a crab cannery on St. Paul island for a whopping $6.50 an hour.
Ended up making $6,000 in the three months I was there and was able to buy a vehicle and start looking for some good work.
Now I work on the slope and have for years and I love it. Alaska and my job! But it took a lot of years of hard work to make it and I was single until just the last couple of years. If I had kids and/or a wife I would have to think long and hard before doing that kind of move again.
I would not move up here without a visit first and a backup plan. the idea of saving some return home money is a good idea.
Having friends/family who will give you a cheap place to stay until you get on your feet is a good thing. They can also help you find work.
I have seen a few people get stranded in Alaska. Some end up working the slime line at the cannery to get enough $$ to get back where they came from or get friends/family to send them some $$.
Alaska is expensive and living off the land and building your own cabin Ala Dick Pronneke is a pipe dream at best for all but a scant few people.
Living where there are no roads means $10+ just for a gallon of milk or $8+ for a gallon of gas in many villages.
It isn't cheap nor is it easy. And as others have said living on the road system doesn't get you away from crime or people etc. especially during tourist season.

[trout slayer 21]

I moved up in the fall of 1997 from Minnesota when my job ended down there. My parents lived up here already after my dad fell in love with Alaska on a hunting trip.
They gave me a place to stay witch was great as I only had $700 to my name.
My dad encouraged me to move up.
They had flown me up the previous Christmas and I got to experience Ice fishing Alaska for the first time.
It took me a few months to find a job. Started working at a crab cannery on St. Paul island for a whopping $6.50 an hour.
Ended up making $6,000 in the three months I was there and was able to buy a vehicle and start looking for some good work.
Now I work on the slope and have for years and I love it. Alaska and my job! But it took a lot of years of hard work to make it and I was single until just the last couple of years. If I had kids and/or a wife I would have to think long and hard before doing that kind of move again.
I would not move up here without a visit first and a backup plan. the idea of saving some return home money is a good idea.
Having friends/family who will give you a cheap place to stay until you get on your feet is a good thing. They can also help you find work.
I have seen a few people get stranded in Alaska. Some end up working the slime line at the cannery to get enough $$ to get back where they came from or get friends/family to send them some $$.
Alaska is expensive and living off the land and building your own cabin Ala Dick Pronneke is a pipe dream at best for all but a scant few people.
Living where there are no roads means $10+ just for a gallon of milk or $8+ for a gallon of gas in many villages.
It isn't cheap nor is it easy. And as others have said living on the road system doesn't get you away from crime or people etc. especially during tourist season.

thanks that was cool i had a aunt and uncle that lived up there they said it was expensive but i dont care bout that im a ruggade and knowledgeable person when it comes to the out doors i just think it will be a good chalange
 

[evilsnipe]

Bravo, Kasilofchrin! "Especially during tourist season." Bravo good sir.

[kasilofchrisn]

i want more north than that i want to be so far north that there isn't even a dang rd

I would seriously consider an Alaskan vacation before a serious move.
Plan your trip to focus on the area you want to live in so you can get a feel for what it is like.
Alaska is so big there are many areas without roads so that statement is a bit vague.
If you decide to live anywhere near a town/village without roads outside of that village it will most likely be a native village. Be prepared as they don't always like white people. Especially strangers who just want to come and fish/hunt their lands.
Work in those areas is scarce and living off the land is not really a viable option anymore especially when you consider you will not be a resident for the first 12 months. Hunting and fishing licenses for nonresidents aren't cheap.
You can learn a lot in a 2 week vacation.
Just some advice I thought would be helpful.

[groundsluice_pete]

I would seriously consider an Alaskan vacation before a serious move.
Plan your trip to focus on the area you want to live in so you can get a feel for what it is like.
Alaska is so big there are many areas without roads so that statement is a bit vague.
If you decide to live anywhere near a town/village without roads outside of that village it will most likely be a native village. Be prepared as they don't always like white people. Especially strangers who just want to come and fish/hunt their lands.
Work in those areas is scarce and living off the land is not really a viable option anymore especially when you consider you will not be a resident for the first 12 months. Hunting and fishing licenses for nonresidents aren't cheap.
You can learn a lot in a 2 week vacation.
Just some advice I thought would be helpful.

Maybe take a winter vacation up here and see if it appeals to you.

[jkw]

again, trout slayer, dont be naive....everything you think you can live without, youll find it to be much much harder than you ever imagined.....challenge it may be but more likely a foolish waste of time.....vacation first, make freinds, pick an area where theres work and transportation is readily available, then try living there first, before you jump off the grid.....Vermont is nothing like Alaska, in almost every way imaginable.....

[PikeSticker]

Maybe take a winter vacation up here and see if it appeals to you.

Now that would be some of the best advice to give. Especially a month long vacation. My first winter here was '70/'71 and if you research out that winter you will find it was one of the worst, i.e. coldest, on record on many days. In Kenai alone, it hit -35°F every day for 3 1/2 weeks before the weather broke. Good way to test your "metal" to see if you have the right stuff....especially having lived in CA all my life up to then. HA. Surfer Boy! Good thing my uncle versed me on all the correct winter clothing and boots to wear. Actually worked outside that entire winter at the refinery without any issues.

.....vacation first, make friends, pick an area where there's work and transportation is readily available, then try living there first, before you jump off the grid....

Also very sage advice. Having a source of income is the MOST important part of surviving your initial stay in AK. Those who try it and never return are those who couldn't support themselves with an income first. You can always use that cheechako time wisely to research out other areas of AK you may eventually want to move to. All of this is a MOOT POINT if you are independently wealthy and can just do it! 

One thing about Alaska that holds true forever: No matter where you are located .... 200 miles from the nearest road or a quarter mile down a jogging/bike path in Anchorage .... IF you turn your back on Alaska and take anything for granted you are dead meat. Even in the biggest city of Anchorage there are bear maulings occurring on the jogging trails and people have been trampled and killed by moose in town at bus stops and on university property. Its not Kansas! 

[kasilofchrisn]

Maybe take a winter vacation up here and see if it appeals to you.

Your right a winter vacation would be best.
I grew up in MN and have seen -50* down there and 8' snowdrifts etc.. I had a pretty god idea from my Dad what things would be like and was prepared for the cold and snow.
I was not prepared for village life living on St. Paul for 3 months though and was lucky to have room and board at the cannery.
Alaska is not to be taken for granted but, I wouldn't leave it for anything.

[trout slayer 21]

thanks guys for the info i will try that first and such ,,, im just a simple person im a hunter trapper and avid fisherman i was up there about 5 years ago but it was summer and i was younger but i still liked it alot