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Oh, OK - thanks for the heads-up, riceme. I will copy and paste my comments on this thread instead of starting a new one, then. Here we go:
We've returned from our trip to Alaska (sigh). I could see spending some time there on a regular basis - in fact, I actually considered buying some property (some in Anchorage and some outside the city) but that will have to wait for another trip. I'm thinking we will bring the rest of the family next time (my two adult children and their partners would be ideal). It turned out to be a bit much for my son to travel alone with me for so long. It's been a very long time since we spent that much time together at all, and I wasn't able to meet all his companionship needs, so he ended up not doing some of the things he wanted to do. Downhill skiing for example - I'm a rusty amateur when it comes to skiing, and the slopes at Alyeska (the only ski area we visited) reminded me of how it usually is here in the Northeast - manufactured snow with perhaps a little soft snow on top/ perhaps not even that, which in any case gets packed down all day until it essentially turns into more of that white, snow-resembling solid ice aka packed snow (the exact conditions that account for why I don't ski near home). I don't feel that I have any control on that sort of surface, and also, I'm older now and less willing to fall (especially onto hard ice-like "snow" instead of deep, soft Snow - and the hard-packed snow increases my chance of falling since I have no skills to ski in those conditions, so...)
A few days after we got there, I caught a virus-bug of some sort. Or maybe I had been infected in NY and it took time to develop into an illness - if so, I hope I didn't pass it on to anybody in Alaska. The boy never did get sick, so it may not have been all that contagious ::fingers crossed:: Anyway as a result, I was various degrees of sick for much of the time we were there (and still sick after returning home, for that matter)... everything was exhausting, so I scrapped the plans for traveling to Fairbanks, Homer, or any other faraway places. We spent most of our time in and around Anchorage. Got as far north as Talkeetna for a few days, and as far south as the Portage Glacier (that was a day trip, we slept in Anchorage as it was not far away and didn't want the hassle of having to worry about food and lodging down Portage way when Anchorage was so close - and it was not a good time of year to find food and lodging outside the city, anyhow).
I love love love love Alaska! I felt very at home, and so did my son, to a lesser degree (factor in homesickness, which I didn't have). Both of us have plans to return in the future, although probably not year-round. But we're different people at very different stages in our lives, so his vision of Alaska Life is not the same as mine (he's much more outdoorsy and athletic than I am). I'm happy that he loved it, though. We'll structure our future trips differently based on what we learned this time, and as I said, I hope to bring more family members next time so he will have someone with whom to engage in the strenuous activities he enjoys.
The reality of visiting Alaska was different from my expectations in some ways, though (including some of the expectations I'd picked up from reading this forum). I'd like to share some of my impressions along these lines, to see what you folks think about what I observed - some of which may be based on my misconceptions, because our visit was sadly so short. (Even shorter than I planned - we returned several days early due to my son's homesickness and my sick-sickness.)
The first big surprise was that we found almost everything we paid for was cheaper in Alaska than it is here here in lower upstate NY. I've been hearing the opposite for decades, so this was delightfully unexpected. Maybe the higher cost of living applies more to actual residents than to visitors - we didn't buy a house, furnish it, pay utility bills; drove a rental car rather than buying and maintaining our own vehicle(s) etc. But for example, gasoline was slightly cheaper than at home, and diesel much much cheaper (around the same price difference as in NY, but in the opposite direction - diesel's more expensive than gas here). Hotels, motels, airbnb rooms were at least 10% cheaper in Alaska than around here, overall I'd say it was closer to 20%.
Food: we are unusual eaters compared to most people - especially me. My son is essentially an omnivore, but I'm a picky almost-vegan, so it was difficult to find restaurants to meet our needs. Ate a lot of french fries, and a lot of pancakes, but that's true of traveling anywhere. My favorite was a Nepalese restaurant in Anchorage, part of the name was Namaste. Both in restaurants and in WalMart, food was either cheaper or around the same than in our part of the world. The only expensive restaurant we went to was Sullivan's, but it wasn't a good match for us. It was hard for me to find anything at all to eat on their menu, and the food we did eat tasted weird, although much of it looked familiar. I probably enjoyed that meal the least of all the food we ate on our trip. Oh well! Next time I think I'll try to have more than a microwave/coffee maker setup sometimes.
All over the Northeast, people generally drive around 10 over the posted speed limit. I'm not claiming Alaskans don't speed, but there were way more cars keeping to the speed limit than we usually see. Here, you are impeding the flow of traffic if you drive that slowly. (Wow, I see from the news that we missed a bunch of bad driving weather, hope everyone is OK!)
This is minor perhaps - but I noticed many, many local people wearing Alaska sweatshirts and the like. The sort of thing I would think of more in terms of souvenirs to take home. You don't see many New Yorkers in "I <3 NY" gear; we live in a tourist town but we don't have shirts saying we are from there. What I take this to mean is that Alaskans are not "too cool" in the same way as NYers. They seem proud to be from Alaska and in Alaska. Understandably!!
One negative thing - it seems folks are less concerned with clearing away ice from driveways, parking lots and even walkways. There were some places I had trouble walking (as I said above, not really so willing to fall as I once was). I'm OK if the ice is textured or has snow on top of it, but when it's like a sheet of glass, especially a sloped sheet of glass, it's difficult! I guess it's more of a hassle to get rid of ice than it would be here. And the locals seem to have no problem walking right on the stuff, just as if it were pavement or dirt. Everyone from babies to elders seem to just stride along the ice fearlessly, and I didn't see anybody falling down. Considering the tourists who go to Alaska are (stereotypically) older people, I was a little surprised by the lack of ice clearing, but I guess there aren't so many tourists and maybe they skew younger outside of the summer.
Something very surprising was stepping outside the door of the terminal in NYC and suddenly a cold wet breeze/wind cut through my coat and I had to button it. I wore my fabulous snow boots nearly every second of being in Alaska (I had packed other shoes but forgot that compartment of the suitcase existed until very late in the trip) and I wished I still had them on! My legs were cold It wasn't colder than in Anchorage, temperature wise, either. It's a different kind of cold, I want to say a dry cold? (Like dry heat in the Southwest) but that doesn't really make sense, or does it? Is it dry because everything is frozen? I really didn't expect to be freezing when I got back home from Alaska. It doesn't help to be sick, but I was outside in shorts the day we left Anchorage (~ a week ago, we went earlier than planned).
Umm, I'll just post this now, and maybe come back later. I realized I had written most of it earlier (before the previous) but now I really do have to do other things. Those ones.
Glad overall you had a good time. I have told people that Anchorage is cheaper and more expensive in some ways that South Florida too. And to me all the NY, especially NYC... Gas and Diesel prices are weird here they change slower than they do back home and flip flop between cheaper and more expensive.
BTW, you should have been here yesterday. We got a ton of soft, white, powdery snow... And I am with you on the packed snow and the ice all over comments. One of the reasons I haven't been skiing up here yet too. But I am a transplant... And most of the people you see walking on it like nothing are wearing some sort of friction enhancement shoes...
Housing is also strange and I will say it's a toss up between cheaper or not. Taxes seem to be a tad higher, the type of house you get is comparable to where I came from. However, home owners insurance is very reasonable....
Of course all this could change in a New York minute with the impending budget problems looming.
When I'm walking on ice like that, I generally have on some type of small crampons. I don't mind ice walks in my Keens snow boots either.
Cost of living outside of Anchorage is different. Houses that are $300,000 here in Soldotna would be $150,000 in Tennessee where I'm from. A decent dinner is gonna be $120. Also, I've bought a lot more equipment (for example, your block heater, and snow tires) than I would have in the -48.
I am going to throw my 2 cents in on the cost of Anchorage. Anchorage's cost of living is very similar to many areas down in the -48. Part of the high costs up here come from the isolation. Factor in how much it cost to go anywhere outside the state and then compare that to a drive. Anchorage is a metropolitian area and has similar costs to other areas. I do think that the groceries are slightly higher (especially the fresh stuff) and once you get off the road, then the costs really sky rocket. I used to pay $15 for a gallon of milk.
Something very surprising was stepping outside the door of the terminal in NYC and suddenly a cold wet breeze/wind cut through my coat and I had to button it. I wore my fabulous snow boots nearly every second of being in Alaska (I had packed other shoes but forgot that compartment of the suitcase existed until very late in the trip) and I wished I still had them on! My legs were cold It wasn't colder than in Anchorage, temperature wise, either. It's a different kind of cold, I want to say a dry cold? (Like dry heat in the Southwest) but that doesn't really make sense, or does it? Is it dry because everything is frozen? I really didn't expect to be freezing when I got back home from Alaska. It doesn't help to be sick, but I was outside in shorts the day we left Anchorage (~ a week ago, we went earlier than planned).
You are absolutely right, it is a dry cold and it is very different from the East Coast.
I lived in the Mid-Atlantic states (PA and MD) for over 30 years and I can speak with certainty about the truth of your observation.
It can be calm and in the high teens here and I walk around with just a medium winter jacket unzippered and I'm fine.
I can wear the same jacket (fully zippered) in PA or MD with calm weather and temps in the high 30s and I'm freezing. The cold is penetrating and you almost cannot wear enough layers to stay warm.
The difference is the humidity level. Here in southcentral Alaska, the air is very dry even though we are adjacent to a large body of water that connects with the ocean (go figure).
Come in the summer and you will pay alot more for car and hotel. $50 -80 a day for car and at least $125 for hotel.
I gotta do some more research then...lol
I couldn't find a hotel for less than $180 and rental cars were same price. Of course it could have just been a high demand time, but I will avoid summer rates at all costs.
I couldn't find a hotel for less than $180 and rental cars were same price. Of course it could have just been a high demand time, but I will avoid summer rates at all costs.
Wow do they really more than double in price for summer and then drop down again, that's amazing. Or do you have some kind of standards you weren't mentioning?
Location: MA/ME (the way life should not be / the way it should be)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by phlinak
I can wear the same jacket (fully zippered) in PA or MD with calm weather and temps in the high 30s and I'm freezing. The cold is penetrating and you almost cannot wear enough layers to stay warm.
i think sweat/moisture under your clothes probally wont help as well, and you sweat more when its humid. as well the water makes the air "feel" colder.
Wow do they really more than double in price for summer and then drop down again, that's amazing. Or do you have some kind of standards you weren't mentioning?
I don't have high expectations. I won't stay in a hotel where I have to have the handgun sitting on the night stand, but I don't have to stay in a fancy place.
We normally stay in places that cost $90ish a night in the winter. We like getting rooms with freezers since we are normally shopping. We also stay near the airport.
Summer costs are insane.
Right now:
Hotel for a week stay-$65-$100+ per night (Avg of $104)
Car for a week-Nidsize-$230 wk
July
Hotel-$130-plus (avg of $204)
Car-Midsize-$550 week
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