Living Alaska- Don’t Look Back

Pictures of Home

Photograph by Author, San Francisco, California June 2021

Leaving Home

I moved to Alaska in July of 2021. It took me a month to get here because I traveled by bicycle. After pedaling for 26 days, I jumped on a ferry and two days later I arrived in Alaska. When I got here, I decided to stay. I called my boss back in San Francisco, California and quit my job over the phone. They had given me a month off work, I was due back the next day. Woops.

The New Place

There were many reasons for my decision, but once I made the decision, I worked quickly to establish my residence and presence here in Alaska. I rented an apartment, got an Alaskan driver’s license, registered to vote, got a library card, got a job, and opened a bank account. I knew that moving to Alaska was a life changing endeavor, so I promised myself to “not look back.” If I had I might have quit and gone back to the city. Even a fifty-year-old can get home sick. I knew everyone and everything in my city. I had lived there for almost 30 years.

Getting Ready

I started training for my bike ride to Alaska in February of 2021. Covid was still king of the country, and I was stir crazy, so I started riding my bike every day for exercise. By the end of February, I was riding two hundred miles a week. By the end of March, I was riding four…