What do you miss, living in Alaska? (Anchorage, Fairbanks: vacation, work)

[Sweden]

From reading about Alaska and on this forum, you understand that mostly everything (?) is imported from other states/countries.
And so, the question then is: what is it you "miss out on" that isn't imported into the state or too expensive to buy?

Are there other things you miss that you would like to have/enjoy? Not have to do? Wish you could do? Wish you hadn't? Wish you had?
(mosquitos, bears, moose eating the garden vegetables etc)

(You get what I'm trying to ask, right?)

[Alaskan_Adventurer]

Hey Sweden.

I miss my buddy Sir Rancelot. Do you happen to know where he is?
Just teasing.

On a more serious note, I miss being able to take weekend or longer trips to other states. The ability to "get out and away" is something you take for granted before moving to Alaska. In Alaska you are fairly limited on where you can go, and flying is rather expensive. It is such a huge state and you can drive for a full day and still be in Alaska. I guess I miss having a full 4 seasons as well. Here in AK we have Winter and construction. =) Other than these couple of things, there isn't much that I miss.

[Out of Alaska]

#1 - Summer Nights. There is nothing like a dark night, bright stars and a hot day that cooled off. Tiki Torches. Sparklers. (Please note I am NOT griping about the daylight... I love it... but there's nothing like a summer night)

#2 - No discount stores! I would give anything to rifle through the aisles at TJ Maxx or Filene's! All groceries are name-brand... I wish I could just go by the Dollar Store to get my cleaning supplies! Fred Meyer has a monopoly!

[scoobagirl]

just talked to my son; was asking about what happens in Anchorage on 4th of July (thinking of the activities here at home) and he mentioned that there is a kind of fair going on downtown. I asked if there were going to be fireworks, and he said:

Mom, it doesn't get dark here. Kinda hard to do fireworks...

I never thought of that before. I would miss fireworks on 4th of July if I lived there.

[Out of Alaska]

yeah... we have fireworkds... it's just *different* !

[mal_flisk]

You can buy your own about 50 miles outside Anchorage in Houston. But I wish they wouldn't put commercials for Sonic Burgers or Olive Garden restaurants on TV, when we don't even have them here. Otherwise, I like what we have here. Everything's available (except the iPhone) in Alaska if you really want it, and you can always buy by catalog. I would like to see a Trader Joes store in Alaska.

[Tressa]

Originally Posted by mal_flisk

You can buy your own about 50 miles outside Anchorage in Houston. But I wish they wouldn't put commercials for Sonic Burgers or Olive Garden restaurants on TV, when we don't even have them here. Otherwise, I like what we have here. Everything's available (except the iPhone) in Alaska if you really want it, and you can always buy by catalog. I would like to see a Trader Joes store in Alaska.

dido, I wonder if they are testing the market with those commericals if so they've been testing for some time now. What about Red Lobster.

[aleutianflower]

One thing that is awesome about living in the states is the option to go and see a major concert - country, rock. Growing up in Alaska, that is something that I always wished to do or at least have the option of doing. A couple of years ago I was able to see Aerosmith at the Idaho Center. That was cool...my very first rock concert. We had Rascal Flatts, Carrie Underwood, Faith Hill & Tim McGraw here too. The parades are also a lot of fun.

[Blueberry]

I'm getting inspiration from the others:

The thing I miss the most is Spring. There's just something about cool mornings, warm days, and lots of greenery and flowers. We do get something similar, but it doesn't arrive until May, and most flowers don't arrive until June or July. Easter is just not the same with snow on the ground! And I loved sunrise services! In most parts of the Bush, you can't even find cut flowers in the grocery stores, so I usually have to resort to perpetuals. I came from the cemetery capital of the world, so I used to have ready access to beautiful and inexpensive flowers!

I, too, miss dark summer nights--and fireflies! Stargazing at -40 temps just doesn't cut it! My teenage daughter has never experienced the kind of summer nights I grew up with; our vacations have been in the Spring or Fall.

I also miss easy access to travel. I love road trips, but now I'm off-road, so I can't even travel around my own state!

I've got to admit I find Alaskan shopping a bit lacking. The sheer variety that can be found in a large metro area can't be beat.

I miss the rip-roaring thunderstorms with lots of lightning. I fondly recall sitting on my grandparent's porch, watching the rain and lightning. I loved seeing the frogs hop across the yard during these events! It seemed like they were reveling in the wild weather, too!!

TV commercials are very misleading up here. When I first arrived, I was excited to watch the commercials and anticipated trying out some new eats! What a disappointment to discover these places didn't exist in Alaska. Very annoying!!!

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Now, for the reality check. I once started a list of the things I'd miss in Alaska if I ever left. It was a much longer list.

[PghREA]

I have to laugh . . . I just came back from spending 2 weeks in the state, which was absolutely awesome. Before I came, I fully expected to have my Sunday morning cafe vanilla light frappucinno at a Starbucks in Fairbanks. What a shock!