So You Think You Can Hack It? The Cold, Hard Fucking Truth About Alaska

[Gimpyknee]

31. I hacked it for three years and it was a wonderful experience.

I’m not sure where you live in Alaska but living in Fairbanks was not as harsh as you portray. The Midnight Sun typically lasted from mid-May to the end of July, about ten weeks. One of the advantages to these long sunlit days was finding 10 pm golfing tee-times. The weather certainly had major shifts. I experienced a high of about 90 degrees and lows in the minus 60’s. Sunlight in winter lasted from 10 in the morning to about three in the afternoon. I missed most of that sunlight while teaching a the University of Alaska.The cost of living was indeed high, but was manageable with my teachers salary ( with any annual bonus stipend). I was able to have two meals a day at the U at a reasonable cost and shared an abode with three other teaches within walking distance of the campus. I don’t regret a single day I spent there. I don’t believe there is a more beautiful and majestic state in the lower 48.