retired -move to Talkeetna or Willow?

[hoodoowytch]

My hubby and I are looking to move to Alaska..and had thought about Anchorage, but several folks have mentioned that for folks like us Talkeetna or Homer would be best. I am 46 and my hubby is 60. He is retired and we both supplement our fixed income by online work. We are both freelance writers and opening an Etsy shop. I do witchy themed handcrafted items. We are middle-aged Pagan hippies looking for a place to settle for the rest of our lives and live in a nice quiet place, a nice quiet life where we can grow a garden and live with Nature. So far, Talkeetna is ranking at the top pf the list.

Any advice that could help us make such a big transition from the lower 48, namely Kentucky, is most welcome and appreciated. Our biggest concern is the cold. Is it a dry or wet sort of cold in the Winters?

[AKStafford]

Dry cold, but can be windy.

[Haolejohn]

Originally Posted by hoodoowytch

My hubby and I are looking to move to Alaska..and had thought about Anchorage, but several folks have mentioned that for folks like us Talkeetna or Homer would be best. I am 46 and my hubby is 60. He is retired and we both supplement our fixed income by online work. We are both freelance writers and opening an Etsy shop. I do witchy themed handcrafted items. We are middle-aged Pagan hippies looking for a place to settle for the rest of our lives and live in a nice quiet place, a nice quiet life where we can grow a garden and live with Nature. So far, Talkeetna is ranking at the top pf the list.

Any advice that could help us make such a big transition from the lower 48, namely Kentucky, is most welcome and appreciated. Our biggest concern is the cold. Is it a dry or wet sort of cold in the Winters?

If you want a garden you need to look into the Valley area or possibly that Homer area (but I know very little about road Alaska).
One thing you may want to think about is the cost to ship your goods from AK to wherever it is going after it is purchased. SHipping to and from Alaska to/from another state is EXPENSIVE. I will say that I like Talkeetna and have heard good things about Homer.

I don't know what sort of fixed income you are on, but it ain't cheap up here, but the nature is pretty awesome.

As far as winters, I would believe that Talkeetna will have a harsher winter than Homer, much colder, but possibly drier since it isn't on the coast.

[Metlakatla]

Originally Posted by hoodoowytch

My hubby and I are looking to move to Alaska..and had thought about Anchorage, but several folks have mentioned that for folks like us Talkeetna or Homer would be best. I am 46 and my hubby is 60. He is retired and we both supplement our fixed income by online work. We are both freelance writers and opening an Etsy shop. I do witchy themed handcrafted items. We are middle-aged Pagan hippies looking for a place to settle for the rest of our lives and live in a nice quiet place, a nice quiet life where we can grow a garden and live with Nature. So far, Talkeetna is ranking at the top pf the list.

Any advice that could help us make such a big transition from the lower 48, namely Kentucky, is most welcome and appreciated. Our biggest concern is the cold. Is it a dry or wet sort of cold in the Winters?

I lived in Talkeetna and love it up there but...the winters are damned long. That got to me way more than the cold. It would be May, and my eyes would be starving for the sight of green leaves.

[rwjoyak]

Originally Posted by Metlakatla

I lived in Talkeetna and love it up there but...the winters are damned long. That got to me way more than the cold. It would be May, and my eyes would be starving for the sight of green leaves.

Totally agree. That's what caused my wife and me to leave Fairbanks after living there for almost 40 years. We didn't find -60F all that bad since it was what we grew up with. But the length of the winters just finally wore us down.

I think the first time I thought about moving Outside was on a trip to Ann Arbor, MI in early May. One of the folks we were visiting had a cabin on one of the local lakes. We were sitting in floating chairs in the lake having a couple of beers and all I could think of was how thick the ice was back home on Harding and Birch.

We miss a lot about Alaska but the length of the winters sure isn't one of them.

[rspowell69]

Anyone have some new input on Talkeetna ? My wife, son, & I have always dreamed of getting away from it all, and everything we've read and heard about Talkeetna sounds like both heaven and home to us. Interested to learn more about jobs in the area, as my Wife & I are in the property management business, (hotel/motel/resort), and I've always managed the maintenance end as well. So we're hoping to find something even part time, management, maintenance, and even housekeeping. Our friends are always concerned about the cold, but we've lived in the woods most of our lives, and after completing a 2 yr. management job in East Glacier Park, Montana .... I'm ready for Alaska

[Metlakatla]

You can probably find work here:

Mountain-Side Special | Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge

Work as much as you can during the summer so you can get through the winter. The employment link is at the bottom of the page toward your right.

[AlaskaErik]

I'm from Alaska, but when we retired we wanted warmth. We live in Wasilla, but we winter in Arizona. Best of both worlds.