I Won't Be Moving To Alaska

Last week TLC ran a mini-marathon of one of those home buying shows called Buying Alaska. Having never seen it before I went ahead and recorded the 8 episodes. To my surprise I actually learned a lot about life in Alaska from watching what was basically House Hunters in Alaska.

The big take away, Alaska is not a place I ever want to go. Some 30% of the "homes" have out-houses instead of bathrooms. During the summer they get 23 hours a day of sunlight. Many live without running water. You basically have to have a gun because the wildlife (bears and such) come right up to the houses. Food costs more because everything has to be shipped (except if you want to kill your own meat). It's super cold and snowy. Much of the state is only accessible by plane or boat.

A large part of the state seems to have been frozen in a time before bathrooms, electricity, running water, cable and such. Can't imagine living in a place like that. What was so interesting is that the people on the show truly loved it. They all hunt and/or fish. Some had their own planes to get around with. The whole out-house situation didn't bother them. To be fair a couple of the women were not crazy about the idea but they still bought places without bathrooms. Can you imagine running outside in the middle of the winter to do your business - in Alaska? They are indeed a hearty breed of people.

I've never been hearty, even before all this chronic pain, so it's hard to relate to people who enjoy living so remotely. At the same time, I admire them. They have skills and knowledge that I will likely never have. If something happened to the city water supply that we use I would be lost. Same thing with the sewer and electrical systems. This kind of living provides them with a connection to the natural world and themselves that is enviable. Even though I may never relate to these people there is a part of me that connects with the relative simplicity of their lifestyle.