06/26/15, 11:50 AM
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Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 6,494
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I don't know if you have ever lived in a really cold climate but it is very different. You have to adjust. Practicality in all matters is very important. You can dress to protect yourself from the cold but it is still going to be cold. You can have back-up systems for heat, water, food, transportation, communications etc but most importantly you need to be self sufficient AND safety minded.
A lot of your Northern happiness will depend on attitude. Don't let people frighten you. They love to do that - on our first camping trip at least a dozen people told us - a tent is just a sandwich bag for a grizzly bear. haha.
It does take considerable strength to live up here but you can acclimatize and get used to anything.
Everyone told us that the dark days of winter would drive us crazy. They never bothered us. We were always too busy in the morning and evenings to dwell on it. And then in Jan and Feb when the light starts coming back it does so very quickly. On the other hand the nearly 24 hours of daylight did drive us crazy the first year but now we just lie down and go to sleep. In fact we just got black out curtains this year and we miss the late evening light so never draw them. Oh well, they will help cut the cold off the windows in winter.
Same with the cold. The first year not one inch of flesh was exposed and I was so bundled up that I needed help to stand up if I fell down. Now I don't even zip my parka until it hits 25 below zero if I am just out for a short time or in town.
The North is not an inexpensive place to live but if you have employment you can still live the homesteading life and do much of what you want to do. You do have to be practical. If you can't raise your own feed then it will be expensive to buy. We don't have chickens because we don't want a large scale business and for the little we would use it is just not financially practical. But there are lots of people who do raise poultry on a large scale - or have goats or bison or potato fields - so you can barter a lot or go in on co-ops.
Everyone we know works off their place - full or part time, seasonal or contract. They are flexible. One neighbour is a nuclear physicist who now guides tourists into the wild in summer and winter - the Japanese just love the Aurora Borealis and want to get married under it. A friend is a French submariner who now runs an off the grid coffee house in the middle of the gold fields. My husband thinks he lives in paradise and his job is just fun followed by more fun because it involves helicoptering, boating, camping and exploring all over the place.
You wrote that you have time to plan which is to your advantage. Read as much as you can and if you can find some people to chat with on Facebook or other sites they will be able to give you the best information.
And lucky you - there is a Costco in Fairbanks.
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4Likes
If you are a hunter having horses will open up a ton of realy good hunting areas that are otherwise closed to motorized travel. But they will cost you ALOT of $ to board.
