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so my gf has accepted a job opportunity in AK and has asked me to come with.. i have 4 months without her starting at the end of the month and then i will have to decide if i can come with her sometime in July... lets get out of the way I am a city kid in every sense, i love all things city (except traffic). now here is where it gets hard, i want to be with this girl forever, but i do not want to be in Alaska in any way at all. i honestly believe i will hate it but also would regret losing her so a bit of a lose lose situation, and admitting i'd hate it is nothing against Alaska it is gorgeous and i respect the state like crazy from afar.. it just isn't for me from what i have gathered... i don't see how i fit in there or enjoy it.. can anyone help me out? is there anyone out there that maybe didn't want to be in Alaska but did it and it worked out? it is also worth noting that i am considering this and she has told me she has always looked at Alaska as temporary to better herself and her resume but only being there 3-5 years. feel free to post anything that you believe could help even if it doesn't relate directly i really want to find a reason i can be happy there besides her i'm just having a tough time.
Where in Alaska is she going to? Since you posted in the Anchorage forum, I'll assume Anchorage.
Anchorage to me is a mid sized lower 48 city. There are great (and expensive) restaurants here, museums, clubs, sports games. You can live in an apartment building if you want to as well. What is it that you like to do in the "City" that you don't think you can do here? Going to a pro-football game will take a plane ticket as an example. We have big box stores (wal-mart, target, lowes, home depot, cabela's, bass pro shops, "kroger"/Fred Meyers, "Safeway"/Carrs. What I also like are the smaller mom and pop places too.
Plus side about Anchorage, it is located so close to Alaska. And I bet you will like the beauty of the place in due time.
There are negatives as well and there is something about a large metro area that you won't have here... If you love her, you will at least give it a shot.
Five years is nothing. I had to live in Florida for about 8-years... Pensacola then Orlando. I am from the mountains and I detest hot weather... if the temperature gets over 65 I think we're having a heatwave, so you can imagine how I felt about the prospect of living in Florida. I referred to it as my punishment for something I did in a past life (sorry Dak). Anyway, I found things to enjoy about living there... I made friends with people who had fishing boats and I fished in the Gulf of Mexico and the Intercoastal Waterway a lot. BBQ'ed a lot of fresh fish. Went on a lot of roadtrips exploring the Carolinas, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama... I found things to love.
If you love this girl and you don't want to lose her you will find things to love about Alaska, primarily HER.
Where in Alaska is she going to? Since you posted in the Anchorage forum, I'll assume Anchorage.
Anchorage to me is a mid sized lower 48 city. There are great (and expensive) restaurants here, museums, clubs, sports games. You can live in an apartment building if you want to as well. What is it that you like to do in the "City" that you don't think you can do here? Going to a pro-football game will take a plane ticket as an example. We have big box stores (wal-mart, target, lowes, home depot, cabela's, bass pro shops, "kroger"/Fred Meyers, "Safeway"/Carrs. What I also like are the smaller mom and pop places too.
Plus side about Anchorage, it is located so close to Alaska. And I bet you will like the beauty of the place in due time.
There are negatives as well and there is something about a large metro area that you won't have here... If you love her, you will at least give it a shot.
thank you for the quick responses! yes, more than likely Wasilla or Palmer... and we would take up residence in Anchorage to ease my transition but there's also a chance we could be in Soldotna or Fairbanks (Fairbanks being the toughest option for me from research)
the thing with me is my area of expertise is fitness and i have done nothing but research for a while now and it appears that fitness careers pay very well up there but also are tougher to find than some other options due to a great disparity in fitness levels in the state.. and i really am scared to move up there and follow her then become basically like her child and someone she has to take care of for a while.. i want to help share the burden and pull my weight
also the biggest things i would find myself missing about a city is the convenience, i have 4 shopping centers without going more than 5 miles from home, to put in perspective i am 10 minutes from 2 Target stores a Walmart 6+ Starbucks countless restauraunts etc.
and unfortunately i know this probably sounds stupid but my biggest hold up so far is weather(which is why i'm leaning towards going, because you can get thru weather for a person you are weak)... i love hot weather when it dips to the 40s or lower in charlotte i am uncomfortable..
also a poin in favor of going would be i didn't go to college and see this as an opportunity to enroll up there, or go online even, i need a college experience, i have lived in the same city all of my 24 years and the same house for the last 21 of that. so i could get my degree in maybe a place i don't love but come away with a degree and the girl i want to be with it is just very hard to see myself in Alaska and i am trying my best to convince myself i can be happy up there.
Five years is nothing. I had to live in Florida for about 8-years... Pensacola then Orlando. I am from the mountains and I detest hot weather... if the temperature gets over 65 I think we're having a heatwave, so you can imagine how I felt about the prospect of living in Florida. I referred to it as my punishment for something I did in a past life (sorry Dak). Anyway, I found things to enjoy about living there... I made friends with people who had fishing boats and I fished in the Gulf of Mexico and the Intercoastal Waterway a lot. BBQ'ed a lot of fresh fish. Went on a lot of roadtrips exploring the Carolinas, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama... I found things to love.
If you love this girl and you don't want to lose her you will find things to love about Alaska, primarily HER.
this is exactly what i needed! a person who has moved somewhere they likely didn't want to be or wouldn't have chosen. see where i am is the opposite of you.. it's funny you say you explored the Carolinas cause thats where i sit as we speak, but similar to you with the heat i am with the cold i have preached from a young age that i'll take 90 degrees over 40 all day every day.. and alaska is obviously even more extreme in the other direction. i hate snow for more than a few hours, and i wouldn't categorize myself as outdoorsy, yeah i like the occasional canoe trip and i love me a good hike every once in a while.. i did spend every waking hour outside as a kid and still spend a lot to this day but it is typically playing soccer football or heading to the pool in summer. i just worry myself a lot thinking Alaska won't have anything for me besides HER and that's just a lot of pressure to put on her.. she will have much else to worry about with her new career and can't have me miserable at home to worry about on top of that..
Have you visited yet? I wouldn't make any assumptions until you visit.
this is a big part of my problem, she leaves in 2 weeks for 4 months training there and i will be here. i have no means to make a visit before i would have to go for good, i will be going in blind. she will come back late june/early july and be here maybe a week and then it is moving time. so all i have is the research i do, what she says, and youtube vlogs i watch to form a decision but people move places blind all the time and it works out fine, and it will be temporary at least.
There is a high guy to girl ratio up here, she may not come back for you.... just teasing. Here is Indeeds search for fitness Alaska jobs Fitness jobs in Alaska - Indeed Mobile. Some of them are unrelated it seems and it looks to be fairly slim pickings.... You could probably find something if you are creative and consistent. If you come up here you have to embrace Alaska 100% cold and snow and all and learn to love it or you will be miserable. Good luck.
thank you for the quick responses! yes, more than likely Wasilla or Palmer... and we would take up residence in Anchorage to ease my transition but there's also a chance we could be in Soldotna or Fairbanks (Fairbanks being the toughest option for me from research)
the thing with me is my area of expertise is fitness and i have done nothing but research for a while now and it appears that fitness careers pay very well up there but also are tougher to find than some other options due to a great disparity in fitness levels in the state.. and i really am scared to move up there and follow her then become basically like her child and someone she has to take care of for a while.. i want to help share the burden and pull my weight
also the biggest things i would find myself missing about a city is the convenience, i have 4 shopping centers without going more than 5 miles from home, to put in perspective i am 10 minutes from 2 Target stores a Walmart 6+ Starbucks countless restauraunts etc.
and unfortunately i know this probably sounds stupid but my biggest hold up so far is weather(which is why i'm leaning towards going, because you can get thru weather for a person you are weak)... i love hot weather when it dips to the 40s or lower in charlotte i am uncomfortable..
also a poin in favor of going would be i didn't go to college and see this as an opportunity to enroll up there, or go online even, i need a college experience, i have lived in the same city all of my 24 years and the same house for the last 21 of that. so i could get my degree in maybe a place i don't love but come away with a degree and the girl i want to be with it is just very hard to see myself in Alaska and i am trying my best to convince myself i can be happy up there.
Yeah, the Fairbanks area might be tough for you... but I don't know, if you're not outdoorsy maybe it wouldn't bother you as much. The cold here, yeah... there is no way around that. It's pretty cold. On the flip side, it gets pretty hot in the summer... and the sun is out all the time . Still, I stand by my previous post. If you love her and you don't want to lose her, you will find things to love about Alaska.
so my gf has accepted a job opportunity in AK and has asked me to come with.. i have 4 months without her starting at the end of the month and then i will have to decide if i can come with her sometime in July... lets get out of the way I am a city kid in every sense, i love all things city (except traffic). now here is where it gets hard, i want to be with this girl forever, but i do not want to be in Alaska in any way at all. i honestly believe i will hate it but also would regret losing her so a bit of a lose lose situation, and admitting i'd hate it is nothing against Alaska it is gorgeous and i respect the state like crazy from afar.. it just isn't for me from what i have gathered... i don't see how i fit in there or enjoy it.. can anyone help me out? is there anyone out there that maybe didn't want to be in Alaska but did it and it worked out? it is also worth noting that i am considering this and she has told me she has always looked at Alaska as temporary to better herself and her resume but only being there 3-5 years. feel free to post anything that you believe could help even if it doesn't relate directly i really want to find a reason i can be happy there besides her i'm just having a tough time.
Not to be a downer, but... If your girlfriend is moving to Alaska whether you go or not, you might want to consider if that means something. There's no way for anonymous strangers on a forum to know.
Best of luck to you, I hope whatever you decide works out well for you.
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just teasing. Here is Indeeds search for fitness Alaska jobs 
. Still, I stand by my previous post. If you love her and you don't want to lose her, you will find things to love about Alaska.
