Visiting Fairbanks in January (Central, Chicken: how much, houses, buying)

[Nereid77]

Hi! I'm from South America and as the thread title says I will be visiting Fairbanks in January Yes.. I know cold.. very cold and dark...
I will be staying with someone in a dry cabin and even if i have asked him and others a lot of questions and I have researched a lot in this forum and in the web.. there are still some things that worry me and I think should know or be prepared. I keep being told "not to worry. That I will be ok and safe" but it IS my nature to worry!

I know all about the dry cold that burns the skin and wearing layered clothes, etc.. but I would like to know things like:

1- How much would I spend on food per day or in a week and what kind of food is covered there? (I'm a thin person but i DO eat well)

2- Do you recommend I buy food in restaurants or from the stores and cook my own meal to avoid spending excessively? (This really varied a lot in countries and cities I've been to..)

3- Would regular boots be ok for the snow or do I have to buy special ones?

4- What is the temperature inside the cabin (assuming the heater works properly)?

5- How much does it cost to take a shower or doing laundry in those places I have read about?

6- How does a city female from the hottest region of South America survive in a dry cabin during the Alaskan winter?

Thank you all in advance!

[Nereid77]

yay.. thnx......

[Dakster]

Hard for someone to really answer most of your questions... Not from my Alaskan cold experience, but from cold weather experience in general I will do my best, since no one else chimed in.

1. What do you eat? How would anyone know?

2. I can't think of one place in the US where it is cheaper to eat out at a real restaurant vs. buying food at a grocery store and making it yourself. (now, of course, you can go crazy in a grocery and really spend a bunch of $$$) One of the better meals I had on my recent trip to AK was one we made at a cabin and bought the food at a local safeway.

-- I really couldn't answer the above two questions if you were visiting my home town --

3. I would leave the open toed shoes, high heels, crocs, and sandals at home. Slippers (for inside the cabin) along with a nice pair of wool socks and WATERPROOF boots would be a plus.) Would I go out and buy a $300 pair of boots just for the trip, probably not. But that is me - Define 'regular' boots. I have many, many South and Central American friends and there definitions for things and mine at times are waaaaaaayyyyy off... So not trying to be sarcastic.

4. If you have a good heater, what temperature are you setting the heater to? If you set it to 50F it turns off at 50F. Most of us tropical people find 68-70F nice. Although depending on the type of structure you are in and the temp. outside that might be a stretch. Does the cabin have a fireplace? You could be as warm as you want there. (or just invite Stiffnecked over - I'm sure he could keep a nice South American girl warm for the night...)

5. Don't know about the shower - all the places I stayed in had 'free' showers in the room, cabin, or nearby. Laundry is typically around $3.00-$4.00 (US) a load (including drying). FWIW, my family of 4 needed two loads for 5 days of laundry... Might want to ask the place you are staying about that.

6. Layered clothing and a positive attitude....

[aknan]

1- How much would I spend on food per day or in a week and what kind of food is covered there? (I'm a thin person but i DO eat well)

Probably $15 a day. Don't count on getting good produce or meat. My family of three averages $150 a week in groceries.

2- Do you recommend I buy food in restaurants or from the stores and cook my own meal to avoid spending excessively? (This really varied a lot in countries and cities I've been to..)

Buy from the grocery store, go out to eat once or twice, there aren't many great restaurants to pick from anyway!

3- Would regular boots be ok for the snow or do I have to buy special ones?

Regular is fine unless you are going to be standing around outside for a long time, then try to pick up a pair that are rated for cold weather. If you just have regular ones, get some wool socks and make sure they aren't too tight - cutting off your circulation will make you colder.

4- What is the temperature inside the cabin (assuming the heater works properly)?

Same temperature as any other house in the winter? Depends on how stingy your mate is and if they have an oil heater or woodstove, I used to get my cabin up to 85 degrees when I was sick and had the chills.

5- How much does it cost to take a shower or doing laundry in those places I have read about?

I don't remember, but I think taking a shower at the laundrymat is about $3.00. Count on about $10 for two loads of laundry. If your friend is a university student, you can steal their student ID and try for one of the campus showers. Your mate will know where to shower, if they shower at all!

6- How does a city female from the hottest region of South America survive in a dry cabin during the Alaskan winter?

Why are you coming up here then?

[Nereid77]

Thank you both! I know questions might have sounded silly but your answers really do help me to organize myself better.. I've had experiences in trips before that just because of not taking into account details I overspent in very unnecessary things. Anyways, I'm working on my budget and this is really very helpful.

DAKSTER

1. What do you eat? How would anyone know?

I eat just anything. Have no allergies to any food and I like most things I try. So there really is no problem there.. I've been told moose is often cooked there and frankly can't wait to try it. That's why my question was so general.. I don't mind WHAT... but I eat a normal ration, 3 times a day.. whatever is available as long as it satisfies my body needs. Definitely not the kind of girls that live on diet and have only lettuce or something.

3. By regular boots I meant the ones sold to use in the not so cold cities. No high heels is an interesting advice! not that I like high heels a lot but it's good to know so i can choose properly.

4. I know this was probably the silliest question.. but.. you know.. we don't have heaters here! our winter is a joke, basically.. so I wondered if I could be inside the cabin in lighter things or I would also look like an over-stuffed rag doll.. I don't know who Stiffnecked is but no thanks. No, there is no fireplace.. just a big stove as far as I know.

AKNAN

That was very very informative!
3. I think I should buy some boots once I'm there.. I wouldn't find anything proper in this side of the world.. and I would like to be outside as well.. not just inside a cabin the whole time.

5. No, he's not a university student so ok *writes down prices on notebook*.
"If they shower at all" ha! I guess sometimes..

6. I am "being called" and I'm too decided to stop myself from answering

[Dakster]

The reason I asked what do you eat (or in this case what do you want to eat) is that the prices of food varies wildly. I didn't eat Moose, Caribou, Elk, Bear, Goose, Rabbit, Wolf, Lynx, or sheep when I was in AK. I did eat Bison, Cow, Chicken, Fish (Salmon and Halibut) - and they were not cheap either. When I did see some of the other exotic meats (to me, maybe not a long time Alaskan) they were more expensive. And to be honest, not that I wouldn't try it, I wasn't really interested in paying a premium for something I may not like. I can get most of those meats locally from some of the gourment grocery stores around here anyways.

If you go to a Wal-Mart before you get to the cabin you can choose your meals. You can eat fairly cheap or spend a bunch. We were on vacation, so we ate well and hit some of the more expensive restaurants. 2 adults, 2 kids and a nice dinner typically ran us around $120. JUST FOR ONE MEAL. Then again, we could eat at a 'subway' and get away with spending less than $30...

Sorry, Stiff - looks like you got turned down again, I tried for you.

[Nereid77]

Sorry the delay to reply.. At least I can say it's official now as I already bought the flight tickets
I got so many winter coats from friends that I'm not sure how I will put them all in one luggage.. winter clothes do take a lot of space and I DO NOT plan to take more than one luggage! I think clothing part is covered

I'm a big fan of exotic meals.. I can't wait to try some of what I've been hearing.. stuffed moose heart, anyone? yummy?
I've heard there is a lot of Asian restaurants there that aren't so expensive but do serve well.

The only thing that is still worrying me a bit is the lack of water part.. and the lack of toilet, specially haha.. Here in my land (I repeat it's really hot and we have a lot of humidity here) we are very used to shower every day, I drink a lot of water the whole day and tend to wash my hands compulsively (ok, not that much)..

So.. how do you manage to stay clean over there? I'm hoping there is some female here that could give me some advice.. or anyone who knows about it :P

[1stimestar]

Well, if you are not sweating, you don't really need to shower every day. Of course, if you are out dog mushing, cross country skiing, etc. you will want to shower. But basically, you can wash up pretty well out of a pan of hot water. Start at the top and wash down as far as possible. Then go to the feet and wash up as far as possible. Then wash possible. Bwhahahahhah I kill myself.

Many people that have outhouses, also have what is called a honey bucket to use after it gets cold. It's contents are about as far away from honey as one can get. These are emptied into the outhouse. Don't worry too much about it. Be flexible and go with the flow. Your friend that you are coming to visit will show you how things are done.

[Nereid77]

"Be flexible and go with the flow"
Takes note...

Thank you for the info! That was all very helpful.

I guess I might see you around.. If you see some girl with really long auburn hair shivering around.. that's probably me...