topic Re: Alaska! in Community Chat

Alaska!

Kachina624 — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 04:54:50 GMT

Has anyone else noticed how we're being bombarded with programs about Alaska? We've got Alaska, The Last Frontier, Life Below Zero, Buying Alaska on Destination Discovery with a similar program on HGTV and Alaska State Troopers. I've been there twice and agree it's gorgeous. I can see the attraction for outdoors types, fishing enthusiasts and hunters.

It's such a raw, hard life for many people. Just getting water or staying warm seems to be a monumental struggle for those who revel in "living off the grid". Life Below Zero features, among others, a middle age woman who lives alone in a tent on a remote outpost where she must kill her own meat, clear runways on her little airport and cook for paying guests in the summer. In the winter she is stalked by wolves and polar bears. She also has some health problems and had surgery recently.

Try as I might, I just can't see the attraction of this kind of lifestyle. I understand wanting to be independent, but why not do it where you can be reasonably safe and comfortable? That poor woman on tonight's episode was out in a semi-blizzard stringing ropes between her buildings so she could find her home in a whiteout. Wind was blowing like crazy and it was snowing. I'll say one thing...she's not afraid of hard work

Anyone here have a yen to "rough it"?

Re: Alaska!

croemer — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 05:03:48 GMT

Yes I have noticed. Parts of Alaska would be spectacular but if I were a single woman...no way would I live out in the boonies.

Re: Alaska!

colliemom4 — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 05:06:07 GMT

It's stunning but I would not care to live there.

Re: Alaska!

Yuban3 — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 05:21:11 GMT

It's what makes them happy. Could I do it? No way. Living like that isn't for everybody. Who says that we all have to live a certain way?

Re: Alaska!

Kachina624 — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 05:33:25 GMT

I just wonder how many people give up everything they have in the "lower 48" and after their first winter, decide to go home.

There was a couple on the HGTV home buying show last week, recently married blended family with about 6 kids, from I believe South Carolina. He was a native Puerto Rican. They were totally clueless, looking for a huge home near Fairbanks. I bet they gave away a couple of kids after they got their first heating bill. I wonder if they made it through the winter. They knew nothing about the wildlife, had never driven in snow etc. Totally unprepared for life in sub-zero temperatures.

Re: Alaska!

Nancy Drew — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 05:37:44 GMT

As far as the men ratio to women remember: the odds are good, but the goods are odd.

Re: Alaska!

Kachina624 — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 05:41:57 GMT

Yeah, they do keep the Alaska State Troopers busy. They have more than their share of oddballs.

Re: Alaska!

Big Sister — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 06:13:50 GMT

But, but, you can see Russia from there!

Re: Alaska!

Shorty2U — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 07:25:26 GMT

I think its a nice place to visit but I would not want to live there. This Winter in PA was enough for me. lol. Im a former city girl living in a country world. I am not a roughing it girl.

Re: Alaska!

Elstongunn — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 07:50:20 GMT

I've seen the shows and have watched people's video series on YouTube of their life in Alaska. You really have to be independent, self-sufficient, and have a lot of skills generally not needed in the lower 48 to make it there. I think people get caught up in the beauty and don't think about the hardships. Like the young man who went there thinking it would be a wonderful adventure and ended up dying alone, starving to death, in an abandoned bus.

Nice place to visit, but not my idea of a lifestyle.

Re: Alaska!

qualitygal — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 10:39:39 GMT

I love Alaska!!!

Re: Alaska!

bathina — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 19:42:30 GMT

On 4/10/2014 Nancy Drew said:
As far as the men ratio to women remember: the odds are good, but the goods are odd.

Re: Alaska!

Topaz Gem — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 19:48:08 GMT

You can live in Alaska and not live in the wilderness, as they have cities and towns where you can live a modern life and still enjoy the scenery. I think that living in the wild is attractive to a lot of people, but they must not do the necessary preparation before attempting a life away from everything and everyone. If I lived there, I would choose to live on the outskirts of a big city or in a town of at least several thousand people. I need my link to the modern world! LOL.

Re: Alaska!

bathina — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 20:10:52 GMT

My husband has a friend who lives in Barrow, where it's dark 24/7 for part of the year. He sends my husband pictures and while there's a quiet beauty about the place, it's stark and frozen and bleak. I would last a weekend at most.

Re: Alaska!

FlowershopGirl — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 21:27:47 GMT

My brother knows a lady who moved here to take a job. Her family grew up and was raised in Anchorage area. She said that though its beautiful, the winters are cold and long, the price of food is really high (especially fruits and veggies in winter), and the very draw that many find like nature, being off the grid, independent, etc. also is very attractive to very nefarious characters who don't like the close scrutiny of the law. She said it can have many drawbacks too.

Re: Alaska!

chickenbutt — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 21:30:04 GMT

On 4/11/2014 qualitygal said:
I love Alaska!!!

Re: Alaska!

Puzzle Piece — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 21:41:09 GMT

I admire those who really know what they are doing there. Not those who have romantic dreams and just visit when the weather is accommodating.

Kachina - Maybe Alaska might hold an interest if you enjoyed Alaskan jade along with your turquoise.

Re: Alaska!

4OU2 — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 23:11:06 GMT

I watch every show about Alaska that I run across. Will never understand why anybody would want to live without running water, live where you know it will be minus 30 degrees or more, live where the loo is outside and 50 yards from the house and more times than not in 3 feet of snow, and live in a tiny house 24/7 with the same person(s). The mosquitos in summer would be enough for me to not go. Never mind you can't get sick or injured and expect to get any kind of medical attention. Then there's that bear thing. Oy.

Re: Alaska!

traveler — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 23:18:07 GMT

Anchorage has a population of 300,00 and we have all the positive and negatives of any city. I think the shows on TV are mainly out of the norm except for the Troopers. People watch because it's different much like all the "redneck" shows. We noticed all the odd show from the South.

Re: Alaska!

HappyAndIKnowIt From NY — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 23:33:07 GMT

I'm curious about the woman who lives alone at a outpost. When she is caught in a blizzard or stalked by animals isn't there a team of camara men and or women around filming her every move? Just how alone is she?