Stupendous Stuff |
Moving to Alaska by Cory McKinstry
Links and resources for those considering a move to the great state of Alaska.
Picture from the side of a cruise ship inside Glacier National Park in May 2007.
Fantasizing about Living in Alaska
If you have ever been to Alaska then you can certainly appreciate the picture above. Alaska is a magically beautiful land of pristine landscapes, serene calm, and escape from the monotony of life in a big city.
Many times at a social function, party, or even work, I have participated in conversations about how nice it would be to escape all this fear and nonsense by packing up the car like the Beverly Hillbillies and moving to Alaska.
Nice as it sounds, after a few days of research and writing out the logistics, it seems a bigger undertaking than one may think.
At first, one is tantalized by the visual images conjured with any search engine. The idea of being completely protected from the throngs of people, rush hour traffic, unstoppable advertising at every turn, and marathon pace of this modern life by such peaceful and calming landscapes lures one into an actual job search on craigslist.org or monster.com. I totaled 2 solid hours of searching on Google for houses on the market by my friend simply saying, "Did you hear about the Senator from Alaska?"
As one starts seriously considering the move a revelation occurs. There is snow in Alaska. Lots of it. It is cold too. A quick search on Wikipedia for Juneau shows the following:
"Average annual rainfall ranges from 55 inches (1,400 mm) to over 90 inches (2,300 mm) depending on location; annual average snowfall is 101 inches (257 cm)."
I don't know about you but 101 inches of snowfall scares me.
Let us assume however, you are okay with that. Snow isn't a big deal and you can handle 20° like a champ.
What about the distance? What about the economy? What about the fact that Alaska has one of the highest incident rates of Fetal Alcoholism Syndrome in the U.S.?
Distance and Size of Alaska
Alaska is big! Texas would fit into Alaska over two times. The distance from Seattle, WA to Juneau, AK (1,399 miles) is greater than the distance from Seattle, WA to San Diego, CA (1,255 miles). Simply amazing, especially given you probably aren't considering moving to Alaska if you already live in Seattle. Think of the guy in Austin, TX that wants to move. The total distance (remember this is not a road trip, it is a full fledged move complete with kids, furniture, and all the resources you can muster) from Austin, TX to Juneau Alaska is 3,742 miles. If you are moving to Anchorage from Austin the distance is an incredible 4,264 miles. That is roughly covering 18% of the circumference of the earth! Gas, at $3.50/gallon, in a car that gets 25mpg would cost $600.
Alaska's Fishing Economy
There is very little agriculture in Alaska as one could imagine given so little arable land. So you better like fishing.
According to the Alaska Job Finder homepage:
"The fishing industry is Alaska's largest private employer and employs over 65,000 people for summer, seasonal and year-round employment. The state's fisheries average over $11.2 billion in revenue per year and account for nearly 38 percent of the dollar value of fish and seafood landed in the United States. Roughly 57% of these jobs are filled by nonresidents of the state. Many of whom are college students and other adults who spend a season or two in Alaska earning great money, meeting new friends and having an experience of a lifetime."
With such a huge fishing industry you can expect to smell like fish or at least to smell fish a large portion of the year. This is of particular importance if you have an aversion to shell fish or seafood.
Would you have a problem working in the fishing industry in some capacity? Odds are that you will.
| 1 of 2 | Next => |