Living Alaska
I rode my bicycle from San Francisco, California to Alaska. I have lived in Alaska, for six months. I am not an expert on living in Alaska, but I can tell you what to expect and reflect on some of the idiosyncrasies I have found here. I write sci-fiction stories usually, but also wrote a book on riding my electric bicycle to Alaska. The Mounties in Canada turned me back due to Covid 19 restrictions. So, not to be thwarted from seeing my 50th State, I went to Bellingham, Washington and waited for the Alaska Marine Highway System ferry to arrive. While I waited the four days for it to arrive, I applied for a job with the Ferry system.
This “Living Alaska” article is meant to be the first in an ongoing series of Articles about living in Alaska. So, a little background information is necessary to put this into perspective. I am in my fifties going on twenty. Yes, you read that right. I am an overgrown kid. I am still single and live a guy’s lifestyle. I still wear my baseball hat backwards and workout at the gym five days a week. I still ride my bike and like playing in the rain. I think getting muddy riding my mountain bike is an accomplishment. I played Rugby in High School and College and think getting injured is part of journey. I am not a daredevil, but I take risks that most people my age would cringe thinking about. So, when I talk about things I have done or seen take that into consideration.
Alaska is not for the weak at heart. People here are not your run of the mill city type’s. To fit in, you will need to keep your wits about you and dive into life headfirst. Do not think that all you need in a Swiss Army knife and a Bic lighter. You can march off into the wilderness with your camping and survival gear and never be seen again. I came for a different reason and stayed because I like it. Remember I came from a metropolitan city and have a degree in economics. I worked in a professional environment for years but found that it did not suit me. I am not a hunter, fisher, or a survivalist that wants to live out in the wilderness. I am your average guy from the suburbs that likes camping but stays in nice hotels when I travel. If you are looking for a survivalist guide, this is not the blog for you.
I applied for a job with the State of Alaska. I thought that a well-rounded college educated guy from California is just what they needed. They hired me, so maybe they do. More likely they just need healthy people to do some real work. Nothing is easy here. Nothing is cheap here. The weather changes by the hour. Fine dining is found at McDonalds. But they do have hard-working down to earth people. I can assure you there is plenty of room for more people. There is plenty of challenging work to do. There are job opportunities galore. There is no room for half asses and cry babies. There are some here, but they do not last long.
Most of the people I know have two or three jobs. Some have two jobs and a side business as well. Very few people have nothing to do even in the dark winter. If you want to challenge yourself, if you want to work hard and get paid a decent wage, well come to Alaska. Most of the people I have met here have moved around the state but have not left Alaska. Once they have been here for a while, they tend to stay. Why? Well, honestly, I have not been around long enough to tell you the whole story. I plan to buy a house here and look forward to the shortest day of the year in sixteen days. Will I last the year? Will I last the winter? I know I will because I like it here. There is something to be said for living in a forest with mountains and clean rivers with abundant fish in them. If you like hunting and fishing this is the place to be.
I do not hunt but like to fish. I am not a fisherman, but a businessman. I have no intention of going into the fishing business. I never met a single hunter in San Francisco or Los Angeles when I lived there. I have met more than fifty hunters here in six months. It is a different lifestyle here in Alaska. Rather than talking about startups, high-tech, AI, and software updates at the local bar, you hear stories about successful hunting expeditions and who had a baby recently. I live in Alaska’s fourth largest city, and it is a small town. It is also small town friendly.
I know just as many people here in Alaska on a first name basis as I did in San Francisco. I lived in California for 35 years and here for six months. Anyone that has ever lived in a small town understands small town friendly. You cannot hide in the shadows in a small town. Everyone wants to know who you are and everything about you. There is no hiding from the truth of who you are. They will find out one way or another, even if you do not tell them. I came with nothing to hide and fit right in with the small town friendly.
As I said before, I rode a bicycle here from San Francisco. That is 1,700 miles north of my old home. I came with my riding gear and two extra t-shirts. It snowed last night, and the ground was still covered with snow when I rode to Wal-Mart. Yes, there are Wal-Mart’s in Alaska. It is a ten-mile round trip, and I learned that riding in the snow is not easy. In fact, it is quite dangerous. I wore my helmet today. I do not always do that when riding around town. It is not the riding that makes it so dangerous but the cars that are slipping and sliding next to you. If you hit a patch of ice and go down, you will be crushed by the car behind you.
I love Alaska and the challenges it brings. I plan to continue this blog with little stories about life here in Alaska. Some stories will be funny (like dating in Alaska), some that are technical (like going to the DMV and taxes), some of them personal (like being alone on my first Thanksgiving here) and some of them just downright strange, because this is Alaska. If you have specific question or want a lower forty-eight perspective on living and working in Alaska, comment below and I will answer questions as they arise. From Ketchikan, Alaska with love.
