If you relocated to Alaska, how did you do it? (Anchorage: HOA, find a job)

[riceme]

Originally Posted by Dakster

Congrats to you both.

Still trying to sell my Florida home so that I can buy an Alaskan one.

Oh, I am familiar with this phenomenon... You are in need of a hurricane, my friend.

Nothing like a hurricane to spin up the housing market in Florida!

[rhiannon67]

Originally Posted by Dakster

Congrats to you both.

Still trying to sell my Florida home so that I can buy an Alaskan one.

I understand.

Our home will go on the market once hubs has done a few things to it. The house we're in now was his when we married, so he will be the one to deal with the ins and outs of selling it. The good news is we're in an area of the country that is in EXTREMELY HIGH demand, so the house should sell pretty fast. Plus, hubs has a very good income so we can absorb a period of time of having to pay rent in Alaska while the mortgage here gets paid until this house is gone.

I have redirected my nursing focus into a subspecialty whose growth in demand is exponential, so I should have no issue finding work at all once up in Alaska. It doesn't have to be full-time, either.

We will rent for about the first year in AK and then buy what will hopefully be our ideal home to live in for the rest of our lives.

But the time to move is this summer, because if we don't do it now, it will never happen. Too many things in our lives have aligned just right to NOT make the move.

I'll shoot myself if I have to spend another year here LOL

[LiveFromTheNorthSlope]

just friendly advice here, don't move above the Arctic circle. You will hate life most of the time

[Music_Man]

To answer the original question: by car

[Dakster]

Originally Posted by rhiannon67

I understand.

Our home will go on the market once hubs has done a few things to it. The house we're in now was his when we married, so he will be the one to deal with the ins and outs of selling it. The good news is we're in an area of the country that is in EXTREMELY HIGH demand, so the house should sell pretty fast. Plus, hubs has a very good income so we can absorb a period of time of having to pay rent in Alaska while the mortgage here gets paid until this house is gone.

I have redirected my nursing focus into a subspecialty whose growth in demand is exponential, so I should have no issue finding work at all once up in Alaska. It doesn't have to be full-time, either.

We will rent for about the first year in AK and then buy what will hopefully be our ideal home to live in for the rest of our lives.

But the time to move is this summer, because if we don't do it now, it will never happen. Too many things in our lives have aligned just right to NOT make the move.

I'll shoot myself if I have to spend another year here LOL

We have been doing the mortgage and renting thing for a year too. We now know that Alaska is the place for us. I live in a high demand area too. Should not be long before I get it sold and closed. Selling hasn't been the issue. Someone who wants it and CAN afford it is the issue.

I kinda didn't want to sell what we already had, until we knew we wanted to make AK our permanent home.

and yes, we just had to do it or it would never happen.

Again, congrats to you both...

[BarrowWx]

Three one-way tickets from Gainesville, FL to Barrow. National moved our house goods all the way there.

[grandma4mom5]

i drove from Houston, TX to Bellingham, WA, taking a couple of weeks of scenic path. household shipped by ABF to Bellingham. explored SE by ferry in March (buried in snow), leaving car behind. came back for car and pop up bought in Seattle (with propane heater), drove up and around to Haines. household stuff still in Bellingham. worked one summer in Skagway. after 2 years of living in Haines, reluctantly moved to Anchorage, stuff still in Bellingham. 4 years here and this summer looking to move out of Anchorage and back into Alaska somewhere. stuff still in Bellingham. craigslist and people i've met have helped me with household items. i need to make the time to get back and sell/get rid of most of what's in storage. i did sell off a lot before moving, and gave stuff away, and left stuff at my 4 bedroom house i sold in TX. after a lifetime and 4 kids, i had a lot of stuff. some of what i'll be bringing up (when i can get it), is stuff that has personal meaning, like a sewing desk my grandfather build for my grandmother, etc. and i have another kid that has some stuff in there too. I'll probably rent a uhaul and drive it up on the ferry. and the borders going into canada are not open 24/7.

[4brynnenjosh]

NewbiePoster: "Why do your kids want to move to AK "so badly"? It wouldn't have occurred to them if you and your husband hadn't been feeding the idea to them for 10 years. That's hardly a justification. Truck driving in winter up there can be dangerous. Working in dry cleaning might be a safer bet, IF you decide to go through with this. I think WA State has everything to offer you that Alaska does, minus the risks and the expense. Are you sure you can handle the long, dark winters? You won't know until you get there, and then it would be too late to change your mind."

This is the husband to the OP, Brian. I've read every post before this thus far and some of you crack me up! My kids love snow and the outdoors. We really miss the changing seasons. We haven't been talking about Alaska in front of them for the last 10 years (LOL), it's been a year at best.

Truck driving anywhere is dangerous. I'm a 22 year vet and I've been into Canada several times when it's been like, -58 deg. and the snow was blowing sideways! I'm working for a restoration company now as a supervisor in the warehouse and the storeroom, I help to coordinate deliveries, answer phones, and cover in the office as required. It's not my dream job, but it's a job.

Washington State just sucks! If I liked the idea of Washington, I'd be moving there...or Juneau, AK. I've been looking into this move for more than a dozen years now and if I hadn't married my wife and soul mate, I'd already be in Alaska.

I don't consider myself to be much of a people person and I tend to keep to myself because people mostly think of themselves first and last! I'm different in this regard (you'll have to take my word for it). Anchorage isn't my first choice, but this is where the majority of the work is and it's just a stepping stone.

My wife never addressed why we want to leave the lower 48, so I will cover a couple points:

1. A sever lack of respect and understanding for true freedom and personal responsibility,
2. TOTAL RAT RACE- Keeping up with the Jones', etc.
3. Rules, HOA's, building codes, etc. Everyone is trying to control everyone!!!
4. High population density,
5. AK is the last place to truly get away.

[rhiannon67]

Originally Posted by 4brynnenjosh

NewbiePoster: "Why do your kids want to move to AK "so badly"? It wouldn't have occurred to them if you and your husband hadn't been feeding the idea to them for 10 years. That's hardly a justification. Truck driving in winter up there can be dangerous. Working in dry cleaning might be a safer bet, IF you decide to go through with this. I think WA State has everything to offer you that Alaska does, minus the risks and the expense. Are you sure you can handle the long, dark winters? You won't know until you get there, and then it would be too late to change your mind."

This is the husband to the OP, Brian. I've read every post before this thus far and some of you crack me up! My kids love snow and the outdoors. We really miss the changing seasons. We haven't been talking about Alaska in front of them for the last 10 years (LOL), it's been a year at best.

Truck driving anywhere is dangerous. I'm a 22 year vet and I've been into Canada several times when it's been like, -58 deg. and the snow was blowing sideways! I'm working for a restoration company now as a supervisor in the warehouse and the storeroom, I help to coordinate deliveries, answer phones, and cover in the office as required. It's not my dream job, but it's a job.

Washington State just sucks! If I liked the idea of Washington, I'd be moving there...or Juneau, AK. I've been looking into this move for more than a dozen years now and if I hadn't married my wife and soul mate, I'd already be in Alaska.

I don't consider myself to be much of a people person and I tend to keep to myself because people mostly think of themselves first and last! I'm different in this regard (you'll have to take my word for it). Anchorage isn't my first choice, but this is where the majority of the work is and it's just a stepping stone.

My wife never addressed why we want to leave the lower 48, so I will cover a couple points:

1. A sever lack of respect and understanding for true freedom and personal responsibility,
2. TOTAL RAT RACE- Keeping up with the Jones', etc.
3. Rules, HOA's, building codes, etc. Everyone is trying to control everyone!!!
4. High population density,
5. AK is the last place to truly get away.

Couldn't agree more regarding WA. Have lived here now over 20 years and let me just say I've renamed this place The Big Brother State.

Can't wait to call Alaska our home! Agree with all the reasons you gave for leaving the lower 48.

I will also add the fact Anchorage has an ideal climate for me!

[Metlakatla]

Well, you know what they say, y'all can run, but you can't hide.

I live in Oregon these days, and I pretty much do whatever the hell I want when I want and how I want. You know what I don't miss about Alaska? People in your business all the flippin' time. Anyone who honestly thinks that you're getting away from people in Alaska has never lived in a small isolated village where there's nothing to do but talk about who picked their nose last. About personal responsibility -- explain that one to the citizens of Talkeetna who had to put an end to a well-loved tradition because visitors to their community apparently
have no concept of personal responsibility. The Moose Dropping Festival didn't go away because out-of-staters were trashing the place. That lovely legacy belongs to Alaska residents from the valley and Anch.

Before anyone gets all offended and starts crying that I "hate" Alaska, that's really not the case. I still have a lot of fondness for the old place, but my rose colored glasses fell off and busted years ago. I've seen a lot of people come and go who thought that Alaska was somehow going to fix what was wrong in their lives....