Pro's and Con's about relocating to Alaska? (Anchorage, Fairbanks: real estate, health insurance)

[OneDawg]

Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Juneau AK
1254 PM AKDT Fri Jul 1 2022

Taiya Inlet and Klondike Highway-Haines Borough and Lynn Canal-
1254 PM AKDT Fri Jul 1 2022

...ANOTHER HEAT WAVE LIKELY THIS WEEKEND INTO EARLY NEXT
WEEK...

[riceme]

Originally Posted by LadyAlaskanDreams

So I'm new to all this so please bare with me.

I'm Stef and I'm 32 years old. My partner (30) and I have been discussing now for the last 2 years about relocating to Alaska as it's been both our dreams since we were kids. I'm a qualified carer and a qualified beauty therapist and my partner makes things such as wooden bowls, cups, furniture etc and sells and he does a lot of fishing.

We are more looking at buying land and building from the ground upwards, but the question is, is there land you can buy? What are the pro's and con's? And What is the cost of living etc? I have looked online but it's not really giving me any answers, then I came across this forum site.

We are aware that living in Alaska isn't straight forward and there are dangers such as the wildlife, very cold temperatures (long winters), etc. We do love a challenge and have started making plans and savings for the move when we have visited a few times to look around and get the feel of it in summer and in winter.

How likely is it to find a job in the area we choose?
Will seasonal fishing jobs be about for my partner?
Is there care jobs available?

I think I covered the first lot of questions just to fully get us started. Any advice or information would be very much appreciated.

Fairbanks chiming-in:

Does your partner have a back-up trade or profession that they could initially work full time in while trying to build the woodworking business? You would not make it if you came up here trying to depend on that to support yourselves.

When you say a qualified carer, are you referring to respite care or care provided in a healthcare setting or some other type of setting? Either way, there is high demand in Fairbanks, but the distinction may lie in the level of compensation. Do you hold certifications or degrees? That would be helpful.

So, full disclosure, I am a woman and I am not completely sure what a beauty therapist is or what setting one would work in. Medical spa, nail (etc) salon, hair (etc) salon, something else? In any case, this is much like above. It depends on what certifications you hold and frankly, how good you are at your job, how good you are with people, and if you can get hired in a good salon, medspa, or whatever. There are a couple nice (Fairbanks-nice, not states-nice) salons and medspas here. Elements, Revive Medspa, Borealis,.. can't think of any others off the top of my head.

There is one universal truth across all professions and services in Fairbanks: customer service here is terrible. I call it The Farthest North Phenomenon. This is quite literally the end of the line. The only thing north of us is Prudhoe Bay, and that is not exactly a tourist destination, so there is a general attitude that "you don't like it? Tough. Where else are you going to go?" as if they don't HAVE to treat their customers well or provide good service. So, if you have excellent customer service skills and you're good at your job, you can do quite well here.

Your partner needs a trade, a profession, or a service to be their full time job while they figure out how to navigate making their passion their full time job. I worked with an amazingly talented artist who was our organization's PR specialist and graphic designer for 15 years while she built her own very successful business to sell her art. She just retired from her day job at the ripe old age of 36. She now works from home, creating amazing art and running her business from home full time. She had very clear financial and business goals that she set for herself before she could retire from her day job, and she worked her ass off to achieve her dream and her goals. Please forgive the snark, but you cannot just declare that work sucks, quit, and decide you're going to fish, make bowls every day and expect to make a living. That is not how life works unless you're independently wealthy.

Be warned that if you find something cheap there is something fatally wrong with it. If it's raw land in Fairbanks, it is in permafrost or marsh. If it's a house, it might have been built on permafrost and has a bad foundation or some other problem. Be very cautious using GoogleMaps to try and estimate a drive to town. I used to live 11 miles from work and in the winter my drive was easily 35-45 minutes in one direction. On the other hand, sometimes the roads are better in the winter because the ice and snow fills in all the potholes. It's a crapshoot. My point is not to put yourself what you think is 30 minutes outside of town. You may find yourself in a very undesirable situation. If you come up here, #1 you really should come visit first, and #2 you should rent first to make sure you love it. Fairbanks is a love it or hate it place. I love it. Not everyone does.

The cost of living here is very high. Save your money and hold back enough to get yourselves home if it doesn't work out.

Realty - realtor.com and input your search parameters
Jobs - indeed.com and input your search parameters

[riceme]

Originally Posted by trb247

It is almost like another Country, even though it is still the good ol' USA. Anchorage, for example, is quite urban, not unlike other cities around the World with 300,000 plus people.

Rural Alaska is extremely different both culturally and economically. Poverty is high and health care is hit and miss on a good day. Alaska Native cultures are varied throughout the state too. Southeast AK Native culture is not the same as Inupiaq culture in places like Shishmaref, Unalakleet and Kotzebue.

In order to move to Alaska and be happy you need 2 things. First, a nice home to live in. This isn't as easy as it sounds up here. The second thing you will want is the financial ability and professional freedom to travel out of State 1-2 times per year at the minimum. Best of luck!

Disagree.

To travel, sure. To travel to the states, no.

I have lived in Fairbanks for ten years and have since been back to the states once when my grandma died. I really don't go there unless I have to.

[Parnassia]

[quote=riceme;63730643]Fairbanks chiming-in:

Does your partner have a back-up trade or profession that they could initially work full time in while trying to build the woodworking business? You would not make it if you came up here trying to depend on that to support yourselves.

Seem to recall the OP mentioning that her partner also fished...but whether that was commercial level or not wasn't clear. If so, that might make "interior" towns too impractical.

[Metlakatla]

The vast majority of people working as deckhands in commercial fishing don't live anywhere near Alaska's coastal communities. It's not a 9 to 5 industry.

[riceme]

[quote=Parnassia;63730996]

Originally Posted by riceme

Fairbanks chiming-in:

Does your partner have a back-up trade or profession that they could initially work full time in while trying to build the woodworking business? You would not make it if you came up here trying to depend on that to support yourselves.

Originally Posted by riceme

Seem to recall the OP mentioning that her partner also fished...but whether that was commercial level or not wasn't clear. If so, that might make "interior" towns too impractical.

I took OP to mean that her partner sport fishes a lot, but it's hard to tell. There are a few Fairbanksans that commercial fish seasonally, but only single folks that I can think of off the top of my head. Definitely impractical, but then so is the slope and tons of families make it work, although I maintain my position that shift and hitch work is super rough on family life.

[RayinAK]

[quote=riceme;63731546]

Originally Posted by Parnassia

[i]

I took OP to mean that her partner sport fishes a lot, but it's hard to tell. There are a few Fairbanksans that commercial fish seasonally, but only single folks that I can think of off the top of my head. Definitely impractical, but then so is the slope and tons of families make it work, although I maintain my position that shift and hitch work is super rough on family life.

Yes, it is hard on the family. Working couple of weeks out there and then spending a week or two with the kids is not the best situation for the family, or even for a couple.

This place is great if you are in good health, are relatively young, and want to work hard for a living. A hard working couple with no children and pets could also do well, and the same for a single hard-working person. It was a lot easier for family and I because all the moving and travel expenses were taken care of by the military, but relocating to Alaska with a family and belongings can be very expensive.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Originally Posted by riceme

Disagree.

To travel, sure. To travel to the states, no.

I have lived in Fairbanks for ten years and have since been back to the states once when my grandma died. I really don't go there unless I have to.

There is a lot of difference between "don't go because you don't want to go" and "can't go because you are too broke to afford the cost of living and can't leave because you can't afford the plane ticket to fly away"

[Arktikos]

Originally Posted by OneDawg

Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Juneau AK
1254 PM AKDT Fri Jul 1 2022

Taiya Inlet and Klondike Highway-Haines Borough and Lynn Canal-
1254 PM AKDT Fri Jul 1 2022

...ANOTHER HEAT WAVE LIKELY THIS WEEKEND INTO EARLY NEXT
WEEK...

Yes, we've had quite a spell of warm, dry weather here. Mostly mid to high 70's, has hit 80 a couple times. It's a bit abnormal but I'm enjoying it.

I got out in my new mini kayak for the first time yesterday. It was a glorious day to be on the ocean.

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by Arktikos

Yes, we've had quite a spell of warm, dry weather here. Mostly mid to high 70's, has hit 80 a couple times. It's a bit abnormal but I'm enjoying it.

I got out in my new mini kayak for the first time yesterday. It was a glorious day to be on the ocean.

We are having sort of a normal type of weather in the interior of Alaska, except that it is very dry because it hasn't rained very much for weeks already. Dry periods like this one results in lots of thunder and lightning that lead to wildfires all over the interior of Alaska. Last summer it wasn't too bad because it rained enough, but now the interior has a "smoke cover". The temperatures haven't been too high, and still cools enough at night. The smoke forecast is for "dense", with multiple hazards (thunder and lightning, plus scattered showers by the 4th of July toward the end of the week).

Forecasted temperatures this week: from the 80's down to the 70's during the day, and from 56 to 52 degrees during the night. NOAA:
https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClic...2#.YsH-Oi-B1p8

There is a fireworks ban throughout the interior, but that's not going to stop us from celebrating the 4th of July. Right?
Lest wish for a happy and safe 4th of July celebration!