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Wanting to spend a year in Alaska
Wezoin
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
For a long time I've wanted to live in Alaska for a while. I think it's a beautiful place and think it'd be a really neat experience to live there. I think I'm finally about at a time in my life where I could take a year off from university and go find myself a job out there. Thing is, I've never lived away from my parents.
Living in Ontario (and Montreal before that), I'm used to a fair bit of snow, and from what I hear Alaska isn't actually that cold. I really don't know where to begin.
First thing I think I would need to sort out is a place to stay and a job to fund that place to stay. My intention is to do this as both an experience and make a bit of money to pay my tuition at the same time. I'd obviously be intending to rent, rather than buy, a house/apartment/other abode as it would just be a temporary move.
My questions include:
1) How do I go about finding a job in Alaska before I make the move? (I have looked into Monster and craigslist, and both seem fairly promising in terms of potential job market, but how hard is it to get a job there?) I have a great deal of computer knowledge (though no formal education for it) and would probably do well in a tech support style position (which there seem to be alot of around there) but would rather something where I wouldn't feel like I might as well be anywhere. I have also been considering retail type jobs, but don't know if I'd be able to afford to stay on that kind of money.
2) How much worse are prices in Alaska?
3) Do I need AWD/4WD? Bassically, do I need a huge SUV or would a car do?
4) I'd much rather live out in the "wild" but still close to a city, am I likely to need a gun to protect myself from bears and the like?
5) I intend to go to law school after I finish my bachelors degree, would it be better to wait until I'm finished my bachelor's degree, as having one would likely increase my income potential and ability to get better jobs, or would taking a year off after my 2nd year be just as good? And when job ads say "Bachelors degree preferred" (for stuff like assistant manager at stores) are they generally looking for a completed degree, or would a partial degree be likely to be enough?
Living in Ontario (and Montreal before that), I'm used to a fair bit of snow, and from what I hear Alaska isn't actually that cold. I really don't know where to begin.
First thing I think I would need to sort out is a place to stay and a job to fund that place to stay. My intention is to do this as both an experience and make a bit of money to pay my tuition at the same time. I'd obviously be intending to rent, rather than buy, a house/apartment/other abode as it would just be a temporary move.
My questions include:
1) How do I go about finding a job in Alaska before I make the move? (I have looked into Monster and craigslist, and both seem fairly promising in terms of potential job market, but how hard is it to get a job there?) I have a great deal of computer knowledge (though no formal education for it) and would probably do well in a tech support style position (which there seem to be alot of around there) but would rather something where I wouldn't feel like I might as well be anywhere. I have also been considering retail type jobs, but don't know if I'd be able to afford to stay on that kind of money.
2) How much worse are prices in Alaska?
3) Do I need AWD/4WD? Bassically, do I need a huge SUV or would a car do?
4) I'd much rather live out in the "wild" but still close to a city, am I likely to need a gun to protect myself from bears and the like?
5) I intend to go to law school after I finish my bachelors degree, would it be better to wait until I'm finished my bachelor's degree, as having one would likely increase my income potential and ability to get better jobs, or would taking a year off after my 2nd year be just as good? And when job ads say "Bachelors degree preferred" (for stuff like assistant manager at stores) are they generally looking for a completed degree, or would a partial degree be likely to be enough?
Wezoin on
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1) I'm not sure about in Anchorage or elsewhere, but I have contacts with a software company in Fairbanks, they usually have spots open for tech support / QA-type positions. I can check into it and, if they need people, put you in contact with managers there -- assuming you're going to Fairbanks, that is.
2) Consumer goods cost a bit more, energy costs a fair amount more, housing is about average. It's not a cheap place to live, but it's a deal less than most metropolitan areas (Fairbanks again -- I'd never even think of living in Anchorage).
3) If you're driving in the winter (and if you live out of town, you will be), it's probably advisable to have a 4/AWD vehicle. The Subaru Leone is extremely common, along with the larger / newer Legacy / Outback; both vehicles are sturdy, AWD-standard cars that get acceptable fuel mileage. Due to their prominence, there's plenty of replacement parts to be had for them, which makes them all the more attractive.
4) Though it's unlikely you'll ever encounter a bear, it's reasonable to have a firearm for self-defense in the off chance a bear will try to break in (this does happen, but again, very rarely). Make sure you're trained in the use / cleaning of the weapon, and have the correct sort -- for bear deterrence, my folks pack a 12-gauge shotgun with slug shells, though, thankfully, they haven't yet needed to use it. They also go much farther out-of-town, so you may not require such an item at all.
5) I'd probably hold off until you have the degree in-hand; regardless of what the degree is in, it looks better to employers when you have it.
Edits: tweaks to wording and clarifications.
Yes, yes, nobody you know lives there.
Also, the mosquitoes are terrible on the tundra in particular -- seriously ravenous.
I don't really know what parts of Alaska are like, but from what I hear the areas immediately around Anchorage have both ocean and mountains and are really nice, but I'd be open to any other recommendations. I figured being near Anchorage would also be good for employment.
The land around Anchorage is, indeed, very nice. Scenic, even. The city itself, however, is downright awful -- it's as though, in their desperation to be considered a "city," the people of Anchorage took it upon themselves to exemplify the worst aspects of American cities, resulting in a filthy, crime-ridden place, packed with vagrants and beggars.
Fairbanks may seem bodunk or tiny by comparison, but I'm prepared to say that the Alaskan experience there is more authentic. The environment is more harsh, and as such, fosters a nearly-begrudging sense of community in the residents -- hippies, libertarians, Vietnam vets, natives, et al.
This could simply be me waxing romantic, but I honestly avoided Anchorage when it could be helped, and advise the same for those considering a visit or move to the state.
I got 57 mosquitoes (I counted, slow night) with an open handed slap to my roommate's back at one point. It can get pretty bad. Staying with some friends in Girdwood once we camped out in their backyard, around morning time one of the guys stumbled hungover-ly out of the tent to go to the house and walked right by a bear. You have to be careful with these kinds of things, I'll second the advice that owning a firearm is a good idea.
if you need a town with a walmart and stuff, anchorage or juneau and stuff
It's more expensive in most any aspect, when compared with similar sized towns on the continent. Milk here is 5.68 a gallon and gas is 4.87 a gallon. I'm paying 640/month in rent. Jobs aren't too hard to come by, if you have a connection. I would recommend holding off until you have a job, as just showing up looking for work is going to get you all kinds of dicked over and in debt. You're walking into a lot of tight rural communities and you need to have a place to go so you can start to build relationships and advance.
Ryan M Long Photography
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This dude is totally wrong, FYI. Fairbanks is a frigid shithole (I lived there for 5 years) and Anchorage is awesome. There is less crime, filth, and vagrants than he would lead you to believe (though there are a lot of vagrants, but nothing like Seattle or some other places). A lot of people hate Anchorage because they came up here for some fucking wilderness experience and they don't think that Anchorage is part of the "real alaska" or some shit. But from the perspective of someone who grew up here and whose parents came here for jobs not wilderness, I think Anchorage is the best place in Alaska to live. Also Anchorage is right in the middle of the awesome Chugach mountains, I can get in my car right now and in like 30 minutes I could be looking at fresh bear shit.
Also Anchorage has the best weather, cheapest prices for everything except real estate, and the most job opportunities of anywhere in the state.
I think I may go up for my next summer for 4 months and see how I feel about spending a whole year. I think I'd enjoy it, but at the same time dont want to commit myself to a year off of university if I don't know for sure.
What would I find in Wrangell? Is it wilderness-y? (Just noting that $640/month in rent is about half of what I've been able to find on any real estate site, and therefore is likely much more affordable than anywhere else)
Most towns along the inside passage are similar to Wrangell. Look at Ketchikan, which is a little bit bigger, as well.
Ryan M Long Photography
Buy my Prints!
What time of year did you come? Nothing's really open on the weekends, and nothing is open after 7 on any given day, really.
Ryan M Long Photography
Buy my Prints!
It was july on a thursday (not a big liner cruise or anything, just a day trip).
I guess I was there from about 10:00am to maybe 3:00pm or so
It was really really strange.
maybe it was some kind of holiday or something?
But that's strange, there should be plenty of people around in July.
Ryan M Long Photography
Buy my Prints!
Yeah I read that part. I was trying to give the OP a different and better perspective so he didn't get the wrong idea about Anchorage. And Fairbanks. Because Fairbanks sucks.
1) Check out www.helpwantedalaska.com and www.adn.com. ADN is the Anchorage newspaper and might have some stuff.
2) I think that prices here are really high, but I don't know what kind of priced you pay for stuff so it may not seem so bad. The food prices are really high compared to what I was used to, but I know gas is a bit cheaper than it is in the lower 48. Again, don't know what prices are like in Canada. And hey, no sales tax!
3) I drive a Hyundai Elantra, and have never had a problem with the roads. I do mostly stick to main roads though. Even if you don't get AWD, you could always get studded tires.
4) Well, I was in the car, but I have come across 2 bears in town. Not sure on this one. If you plan on going out into the wild a lot I don't think it would be a terrible idea to have something. On hikes and stuff we just usually bring bear mace.
5) I would finish your degree, but when some jobs say degree preferred sometimes they will accept college credit as long as you have experience in the field.
Hope this helps!