Moving to alaska from Florida help me please (Anchorage, Fairbanks: lease, buying)

[retiredinhomer]

A lot of oil patch activity on the Kenai Peninsula.
Come up here with a skill. Welding, cdl, equipment operator, stuff like that.
Keep a clean record. The Canadians do not allow felons or dwi to enter country. I have driven up here 5-6 times. The trip in 2000 from Naples to Fairbanks through Michigan was a very nice drive once we got out of the states.
You need money up here as it is more expensive but you need a skill more. Spend some of your savings' and get some training. A lot of the oil companies up here have native hire preference. The certificate of training gives an advantage-which up here might make you about even with the locals.

I wish I had moved up here 10 years earlier. Only been here for 33 years. This is still kind of a young mans state. Long days in the summer.
Do your prep. work and come on up!

[warptman]

Slope Jobs...It's not what you know, it's who you know.

[retiredinhomer]

Originally Posted by warptman

Slope Jobs...It's not what you know, it's who you know.

so true.

[Csbest12]

Thanks guys!

[MissNM]

Originally Posted by Csbest12

Thanks
And yea I was looking in Craig's list for trucks in AK and they are definitely cheaper her in FL. So I'm going to attempt to drive up. Though I'm 19 and obviously don't have as much experience as 95% of people that would make this 3,840 mile drive. Though with 2 people I we wouldn't stop at all so we would get there in about 3 days

3 days from Florida . . . nope.

3 days from SoCal . . . not even!

Plan for no less than a week, else there will be only one person left in the truck. Cross-country drives are tough on relationships. Take your time and stop often to view the scenery and stretch your legs.

[Csbest12]

Yea and it will obviously all around cost more.

[Dakster]

Plan for a week - it will most likely take less time. Especially if you have a mindset of not taking a large amount of rest stops and making them quick and count.

Taking a week doesn't mean spending a week in a hotel room every night. We did a hotel every other night. Just slept for a bit in a rest area and kept on trucking until the next night - we usually stopped at 8pm and left at 8am. You need it to reset, even if you are switching off driving. Since you are going to AK - the part of the drive that you need to concentrate the most on is AT THE END. You know Florida, but it sounds like you don't know the Northern US, Canada, or Alaska.

You are young so it is easy to stay up later and you recover quicker at 19 than you do at 41. (At least that describes me). I still don't think you understand just how much mountain driving with switch backs that have high degree inclines and declines take it out of you. Rural areas you gotta watch out for critters. The critters are not like Florida Gators or Armadillo's, we are talking Moose and Bison that are 3,000 pounds (or more). Until that 6' Moose at the shoulders walks in front of you and your car, you have no idea just how freaking big that animal is. BTW, some areas they recommend you never drive at night. Bison have nothing on them that reflects light. An hitting a 3,000 pound animal at 50-60 mph is gonna hurt. There are no lights on the highways on many of the roads you will take. You don't want to slide off the road, get in an accident, or break down in no man's land either. So giving your vehicle and you a break is a good idea. You need to also allow time to check how your vehicle is running too. And I would start putting in Window Washer fluid instead of water like we typically do in Florida. Frozen windshield washer water is no fun when you can't wash the mud off the windshield.

I am only warning you because I have done it and many drives like it. I want to see you make it to AK in one piece and be happy.

[Csbest12]

That's most likely what I'm going to do. During the summer of 2015 I will fly up with my wife and just get some bassic summer job there for both of us.. The jobs that you sleep at like in Denali park. And I'll come back to FL get a job save up and then move. Fly or drive not decided yet. I've already had 1 incredibly bad accident and don't want another. I have no experience mountain driving or any other type of driving then here in Florida.

[warptman]

I say drive. If a Senior Citizen can drive a RV Bus up from Florida, you can drive a car/truck up.

How to Drive to Alaska in the Summer - ExploreNorth

[Csbest12]

Didn't think of it like that. Hahah probably what I'm gonna do