You're moving WHERE?!

The past couple weeks, I've had a few people ask me how born-and-bred midwesterners wound up in Anchorage, Alaska. It started me thinking about our journey to get here and how many others have a similar story. This conversation always leads to the inevitable question I can never figure out a way to answer - "What is it about Alaska that makes you never want to leave?"

Most transplants I've met start their story the same way we do - "There was a job opportunity..." In 2015, we were both working for a big box retailer at stores in Central Ohio. I'd grown up in Missouri (outside St. Louis) and he had grown up in in Ohio (outside Columbus). We were perfectly happy with our daily lives - work, family, occasional vacations. We both enjoy the outdoors, and he'd been on numerous back packing trips with a desire to move out west closer to mountains. I'd been to Alaska on vacation, and fell in love with it.

On a random Monday in October 2015, we get a phone call from a previous boss of ours who was up that week to travel stores in Alaska. During the store visits, it's casually mentioned they need a store manager and are having a hard time finding applicants. A lightbulb goes off in his head, and we are the lucky recipients of his phone call. "Alaska is looking for a store manager - would you be interested?"

Monday afternoon, the resume goes in for review. Tuesday afternoon, a call is received that a ticket is booked to Alaska - he leaves Wednesday. Thursday brings in person interviews and store tours. Friday brings a job offer and a phone call to me - "Are you sure you want to move to Alaska?". I didn't even hesitate. A chance to move to what many consider a dream destination AND have a job when we arrive?! I went home and started packing my bags. We were packed and relocated by the middle of November and never looked back.

2023 brings the start of year number 8 living here. And I still can't answer the question of why we stay. Saying "We love it here" tends to satisfy most people, but a deeper explanation eludes me. There is something about the camaraderie amongst residents, the shared knowledge that we experience year round what some people wait a lifetime to see. The never-ending opportunity to see truly untouched wilderness and places no man will ever set foot. No one hesitates to help others, yet everyone kind of minds their own business. We still operate on a word of mouth system for many things, and asking someone for a recommendation will get you an honest answer - not just what's on the front page of Yelp. Instant willingness to offer up assistance without hesitation. The fact that grocery stores are still gathering places to connect with people from out of town or chat with friends you haven't seen in awhile. Alaska gives you a sense of what a true community should be. The list of reasons we will never leave is endless, yet I continue to search for that one answer to explain it all.

Anchorage, taken from Earthquake Park 2015