Another "I'm moving to Alaska" thread (Anchorage, Hope: renter, credit report)

[AlaskaChris]

Hello everyone,

Let me start my saying I've been lurking on here for several months and you have answered so many of my questions already. Thanks.

My husband and I are moving to the anchorage area in June. I can't wait. We've been talking about "someday when we move to Alaska" for years so I'm really excited about it finally happening.

We have lots of things figured out already. My husband has a job (with a 3 yr contract) lined up, I'm still looking but worst case if I don't find something we'll be ok with husbands salary. Yes I do know that everything is more expensive there. I've been haunting craigslist for several months and I have a good idea what the going rental rates are for what we want. I've planned to add another 1/3 more for all of our household and grocery expenses (and our current budget is already for an expensive area).

We've going to be housesitting for a friend of a friend for June, July, and half of August. That should give us some time to explore the area and find a place we want to live. I know it's much harder to find rentals in the summer. Will we have problems finding a place in August? Or is that late enough that many of the seasonal folks will be leaving? Worst case we'll look for something starting Sept and say in a hotel for the last few weeks of August.

Since we're housesitting we're going to put most of our stuff in storage for the summer. Any recomendations for good stroage places on the North side of Anchorage or in Eagle River? We'll be living in Eagle River and working near the UAA campus.

Our plan to get everything there is to use one of the you pack/they haul type companies or a pod type place. So far the only one I've found that services AK is ABF UPack. Anyone know of any others? I'm not really interested in trying to haul things myself or deal with crating or barging our stuff.

We'll be driving up the AlCan. We're still trying to decide if we want to take the faster eastern route or head west to Portland and visit some family before heading north on the western route. We have two weeks for the drive so the question is do we want to spend some of that in the lower States visiting family and friends or head striaght to AK and spend that time exploring our new home.

[Grannysroost]

Originally Posted by AlaskaChris

Hello everyone,

Let me start my saying I've been lurking on here for several months and you have answered so many of my questions already. Thanks.

My husband and I are moving to the anchorage area in June. I can't wait. We've been talking about "someday when we move to Alaska" for years so I'm really excited about it finally happening.

We have lots of things figured out already. My husband has a job (with a 3 yr contract) lined up, I'm still looking but worst case if I don't find something we'll be ok with husbands salary. Yes I do know that everything is more expensive there. I've been haunting craigslist for several months and I have a good idea what the going rental rates are for what we want. I've planned to add another 1/3 more for all of our household and grocery expenses (and our current budget is already for an expensive area).

We've going to be housesitting for a friend of a friend for June, July, and half of August. That should give us some time to explore the area and find a place we want to live. I know it's much harder to find rentals in the summer. Will we have problems finding a place in August? Or is that late enough that many of the seasonal folks will be leaving? Worst case we'll look for something starting Sept and say in a hotel for the last few weeks of August.

Since we're housesitting we're going to put most of our stuff in storage for the summer. Any recomendations for good stroage places on the North side of Anchorage or in Eagle River? We'll be living in Eagle River and working near the UAA campus.

Our plan to get everything there is to use one of the you pack/they haul type companies or a pod type place. So far the only one I've found that services AK is ABF UPack. Anyone know of any others? I'm not really interested in trying to haul things myself or deal with crating or barging our stuff.

We'll be driving up the AlCan. We're still trying to decide if we want to take the faster eastern route or head west to Portland and visit some family before heading north on the western route. We have two weeks for the drive so the question is do we want to spend some of that in the lower States visiting family and friends or head striaght to AK and spend that time exploring our new home.

Sounds like you have it pretty well figured out. Unless you plan on taking a trip back to the -48 to visit, I think I would see who you want before coming up, once here you will have time to explore as getting here in the summer months.

[stiffnecked]

In my humble opinion the western route is more senic.

[warptman]

The Fraser Canyon is sweet north of Hope, BC.

[AKNana]

There are a few storage places in Eagle River, here's one that is centrally located:
Publix Self Storage - Anchorage & Eagle River Alaska
Your plan seems good. I would say visit the lower 48 folks on your way up, or come on up, enjoy the whole summer, and plan on flying down to see them in winter. But you'll probably be having too much fun to do that! I think most rentals come open in spring, early summer. Good ones can be hard to find, so I suggest you jump on one, if it is right, even if you still have house sitting time. At least you can get your stuff out of storage.The landlord may be willing to wait a month or so, but I wouldn't count on that. Much depends on your budget, of course. You might want to gather a credit report and some recommendations from employers/ previous landlords to bring with you. Getting a good renter can be more important to landlords than the exact amount of rent. Good luck, and enjoy your trip!

[akvarmit]

AlaskaChris -
Sounds like you've done your homework That's the first sign of a successful move up here. I don't have too much to add, just wanted to say enjoy your trip, enjoy the process and take lots of pics.
It will be a trip/transition you'll never forget
Dawn

[helars]

I recommend the west route, taking a little 1/4 day trip off to Stewart BC/Hyder AK past Fish Creek and seeing the Salmon Glacier... breathtaking. You have all summer to absorb Anchorage and it's rich, culturally diverse landscape When we made the move, we opted to stop in Eugene to see good friends instead of taking the Alcan, but we had taken the Alcan before so we had a choice. I think I liked the west route better up or down.

[stiffnecked]

A stop in Hyder is a must.

[AlaskaChris]

Thanks for the advice and best wishes.

I think we're leaning toward the western route up. Sounds like that is the more scenic way and since we have time we're wanting to take it slow and enjoy as much of the scenery as we can. I'll have to look up the places everyone recommended.

One potential problem with that we'll be traveling with our cat. He's never been on a long road trip so I have no idea how he'll do. It does limit us on what we can do for sightseeing as well. We can do the drive-by type sightseeing but we're really much more the go for a long hike, get of the beaten path type tourist. Problem is what to do with the cat when we're away from the car? I'm thinking we may try to break the trip up by doing a day or so of long driving followed by a couple of nights in a pet friendly hotel. If we stay in the same hotel for 2 nights the cat can stay in the room one day while we explore.

Our other option is to have the cat stay with family for a few weeks and then have him shipped up to us. Then we have more freedom on the drive to explore and camp. I'm a bit nervous about shipping the cat that far unattended. There will be at least on layover and what happens if the airlines mess up and doesn't get him on the right plane. Or the flight is delayed and misses the connection. If he gets stuck somewhere overnight who will feed/water him? Plus I can't imagine how much he'll hate beeing in his crate for a day or even two if things go wrong. He hates the 1/2 hour he's in it for vet visits.

Anyone taken a long trip with a cat and have any advice?

[Rance]

Maybe declaw the cat before the trip...so it doesn't shred you when it get's mad for being locked up in a crate!