Relocating to Alaska in April 2015

[winston77]

Hello , All
I'm brand new to the site , please excuse any mistakes.
We (me , my wife and 1 year old son + 2 dogs) have a ticket for a sailing out of Bellingham in April , making landfall in Whittier .
Bringing a 24'x8.5' enclosed trailer with the belongings. We plan on checking out the peninsula , then heading up north .
Trying to get advice/info on possible places to relocate to. Any big city is out of the question.
Looking at Delta Junction , Seward , Eagle or any other place recommended . Wanting to buy a few acres with road access .

A little background information . We enjoy hunting , fishing , camping , trapping etc. I have 21 years experience in remodeling , construction and concrete. My wife is a teacher/artist. We both have experience living in rough conditions , I was an expat in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (I lived in the bush) and she grew up in the Philippines. We have the tools and experience to build a small home this summer ( I hope).
Any information on possible jobs would be great also.
Thanks

 

[Yukon Cornelius]

Hello , All
I'm brand new to the site , please excuse any mistakes.
We (me , my wife and 1 year old son + 2 dogs) have a ticket for a sailing out of Bellingham in April , making landfall in Whittier .
Bringing a 24'x8.5' enclosed trailer with the belongings. We plan on checking out the peninsula , then heading up north .
Trying to get advice/info on possible places to relocate to. Any big city is out of the question.
Looking at Delta Junction , Seward , Eagle or any other place recommended . Wanting to buy a few acres with road access .

A little background information . We enjoy hunting , fishing , camping , trapping etc. I have 21 years experience in remodeling , construction and concrete. My wife is a teacher/artist. We both have experience living in rough conditions , I was an expat in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (I lived in the bush) and she grew up in the Philippines. We have the tools and experience to build a small home this summer ( I hope).
Any information on possible jobs would be great also.
Thanks

With her being a teacher, you guys should look at teaching in bush for your first year.
I don't think either one of you will have a problem finding work.
Make sure you read the regs on hunting and trapping. Takes a year to establish residency.
Other than that good luck.

 

[Brian M]

Pretty wickedly different places you're looking at in Seward, Delta, and Eagle. Do you want to live coastal with access to great fishing but marginal hunting (great black bear hunting, but marginal for moose and other game)? Prefer moderate temperature swings (cooler summers, warmer winters, cloudy more often than not)? Then Seward, or better yet, Moose Pass might be a great option. In a town of a few thousand with great moose hunting, far from the ocean, with access to a store and a small handful of restaurants/services? OK with extremes in weather (very cold/windy in the winter, sometimes very hot in the summer)? Then Delta looks good. Eagle is similar to Delta in climate, but exceedingly small with basically no services and very little employment opportunities.

Really, you need to think of climate and outdoor opportunity priorities, then folks can give more informed suggestions. Teaching jobs should be out there, but in some small towns on the road system, teachers get those jobs and keep them for 20+ years, so openings can be relatively few and far between.

 

[Yukon Cornelius]

Pretty wickedly different places you're looking at in Seward, Delta, and Eagle. Do you want to live coastal with access to great fishing but marginal hunting (great black bear hunting, but marginal for moose and other game)? Prefer moderate temperature swings (cooler summers, warmer winters, cloudy more often than not)? Then Seward, or better yet, Moose Pass might be a great option. In a town of a few thousand with great moose hunting, far from the ocean, with access to a store and a small handful of restaurants/services? OK with extremes in weather (very cold/windy in the winter, sometimes very hot in the summer)? Then Delta looks good. Eagle is similar to Delta in climate, but exceedingly small with basically no services and very little employment opportunities.

Really, you need to think of climate and outdoor opportunity priorities, then folks can give more informed suggestions. Teaching jobs should be out there, but in some small towns on the road system, teachers get those jobs and keep them for 20+ years, so openings can be relatively few and far between.

This is true. Which is why I suggested Bush. Those road system jobs are a challenge to get, but they do pop up. Usually there is a reason why there are openings.

 

[winston77]

I'm thinking the interior , I had thought of Delta because we could go down to Valdez in the summer for fishing pretty easily.
I have always moved to different places for employment , that's how we ended up in Louisiana , we are moving to Alaska because we want to live there. I am wanting a different lifestyle for our son and us than the one we have been leading.
I would love to start off living in the bush off the road system , I am concerned I would be very difficult because we would have just arrived. As in finding land .
Maybe that concern is unfounded ?
My wife likes the idea of teaching in the bush , any more information would be appreciated.

 

[winston77]

thanks very the replies

 

[sweepint]

I would suggest if you want to be in the interior then look for a place to rent for a year to get the feel of the place and see what the winters are like first. Secure a job and then find some land if that is where you still want to be. You still have a year to wait on residency for hunting/ trapping and fishing or you can pay the non res fees.
You will spend all summer preparing for winter and that is once you are there in the bush. You need machines to get out there and to move around to just sustain life. Unless you have a bank full of cash.... land in the bush cost just as much as land on the road system and then the cost to transport out to that land as well. I think you need to look at getting here, get a job, place to rent and do some scouting before you jump into the bush.
Good luck in your adventure

 

[Paul H]

The catch 22 of Alaska is that it is a very expensive place to live, and the further you are from population centers the more expensive it is. While many people would love to live in a remote location, most need to work to live and most people find jobs closer to the population centers of Anchorage, Palmer/Wasilla, Fairbanks, and Kenai/Soldotna.

On the flip side, you don't have to live in a remote location to enjoy Alaska, you simply have to get out to enjoy it.

Here's a shot I took during a lunchtime walk yesterday, right in the middle of Anchorage. Just myself and the ducks.

 

[winston77]

Lots to think about , I was looking at the town of Kenai today , any thoughts ?
Also , thanks Brian checked out Moose pass it looks like an awesome place !!
The Peninsula looks like it would be a nice place to start out at , lots of access to nature.
I saw some 1 acre lots in the town of Kenai , we could build a small house on and if we decided to move north sell it or rent it out. Hate paying rent.
Moose Pass looks great , when i'm thinking of Alaska that's what I think of.
Thanks

 

[4merguide]

Lots to think about , I was looking at the town of Kenai today , any thoughts ?
Also , thanks Brian checked out Moose pass it looks like an awesome place !!
The Peninsula looks like it would be a nice place to start out at , lots of access to nature.
I saw some 1 acre lots in the town of Kenai , we could build a small house on and if we decided to move north sell it or rent it out. Hate paying rent.
Moose Pass looks great , when i'm thinking of Alaska that's what I think of.
Thanks

Again.......a huge difference between the city of Kenai and Moose Pass. Just to let you know Kenai comes complete with Home Depot, MacDonalds and Safeway. It's not what I would exactly call a small town if you are thinking about Moose Pass. Moose Pass is tiny compared to Kenai. Understand that Kenai is only separated from Soldotna by a couple miles. So in essence they are like one pretty good sized city. Of course not anything like Anchorage, but they do get busy in the summer.....

 

[logman 49]

Lots to think about , I was looking at the town of Kenai today , any thoughts ?
Also , thanks Brian checked out Moose pass it looks like an awesome place !!
The Peninsula looks like it would be a nice place to start out at , lots of access to nature.
I saw some 1 acre lots in the town of Kenai , we could build a small house on and if we decided to move north sell it or rent it out. Hate paying rent.
Moose Pass looks great , when i'm thinking of Alaska that's what I think of.
Thanks

If you need any advice on Moose Pass let me know, my stompin grounds.