Why should I move to Fairbanks? And how can I travel back and forth?

April 28, 2009 6:05 AM

How can I convince my mother it won't be the end of the world if I move to Fairbanks, AK?

My husband and I have been offered what look like very god jobs in Fairbanks, and are trying to decide whether to accept them.

My entire family, and my mother in particular, are really upset by the notion. In addition to being concerned about the weather (on my interview, people entertained themselves with telling me about weeks when the high was -40 (F, C, it doesn't really matter)), she is convinced that she won't be able to see us and the grandkids, because it is way too expensive.

So: any tips on travelling to and from Fairbanks that don't cost $800 - $1000/person?

What is great about Fairbanks?

What should we be worrying about?

I saw MsMolly's previous question, but I'm also really concerned about the travel issue.

posted by leahwrenn to travel & transportation (17 comments total)

Have you considered paying for her to visit twice a year?
posted by By The Grace of God at 6:10 AM on April 28

Where is your mother traveling from to get to Alaska?
posted by mathowie at 7:15 AM on April 28

It's worth pointing out that Fairbanks basically is the end of the world, which is kind of the issue, no? We're talking about the northernly-most population center in the US of any appreciable size, six hours north by car from Anchorage, which itself doesn't exactly fit most people's idea of a weekend jaunt.

I really don't think there are any good ways of getting out there for less than about a thousand bucks a head. If your new jobs don't pay well enough to fly her out once or twice a year--or if you just aren't willing to do that--her concerns are probably valid.
posted by valkyryn at 7:16 AM on April 28 [3 favorites has favorites]

Great about Fairbanks -

Hot summers
Beautiful spring - right now. It was light until midnight and it's supposed to be 70F by Friday.
Small town atmosphere
Nice college
Good schools

Travel Tips -
We keep AlaskaAir Visa cards around and use the yearly companion fare to offset travel outside.
Negoiate with the prospective employer for travel outside once a year. The company that I work for has such a program.
Understand that it's Alaska and it's expensive to get here. or get away from here.
posted by GoodPuppy at 7:23 AM on April 28

My parents are in Illinois; the rest of my family is all over the place. I doubt my mother would accept money from us to come visit---they're even making noises that we shouldn't be planning on visiting them too much (at all?) because of the expense.
posted by leahwrenn at 8:00 AM on April 28

What is great about Fairbanks:
Everyone I know that lives in Fairbanks loves it, are very proud of it and all its idiosyncracies. (I have visited numerous times, and as an East Coast city slicker, I can't stand it.) But I think it takes a certain type - you like to be outside a lot, hiking, camping, fishing, hunting, that kind of thing? Eat wild game? Like quirky, interesting people? There are lots of interesting characters up there, also folks at UAF. Not much night life, but enough restaurants, festivals around. Its only a few hours from Denali and other incredibly beautiful places. You can drive to Anchorage, its only 300 miles. The weather is liveable between April and September. Potlucks - everyone does potlucks.

What should you be worrying about:
Fairbanks has really, really nice weather in the summer, but it doesn't last long. When its -40 or whatever you have to cover every inch of your skin to go outside. The winter is long - its dark for a few months and incredibly cold. People get and stay depressed from Thanksgiving to Valentine's Day. Personally, I don't think the people are particularly nice; you will hear a lot about how great and small town Alaska is but its always felt very provincial and irritable to me, a lot of that whiny "we're so special cause its so rugged and different" stuff. Annoyingly Northern Exposurish.

Tips on Travelling:
The travel sucks, if you are coming from the East Coast expect about 12-16 hours of travel depending on connections, of which you will have at least one. You are not going to find many tickets for less than 800, maybe there is some trick to early reservations.

I can think of two travel "tricks" By necessity, you'll be flying a lot. The airlines that fly there offer really great frequent flyer packages, so after a while you'll have a lot of freebie flights. This doesn't help in getting someone from the lower 48 to Fairbanks, but might help you getting out of Fairbanks. The other "trick" (not really that good) is flying in and out of Anchorage if you don't mind driving five hours for pickup and dropoff. Its cheaper to fly in the dead of winter.
posted by RajahKing at 8:09 AM on April 28

I don't think it's fair play for your mom to criticize the locale's remoteness, while at the same time refusing to accept any travel assistance from you.

It seems like she is trying to create a no-win situation that would dissuade you from moving.
posted by OilPull at 8:31 AM on April 28 [3 favorites has favorites]

The issue is not really whether Fairbanks is a nice place to live. It could be made of chocolate and ruled by benevolent unicorns and your mom would still be upset -- because it's remote. That is the issue you have to address. By suggesting a move to such a faraway location, you have posited a fundamental change in your relationship, and that's what she (and the rest of your family) doesn't like. The "oh, but we won't be able to visit!" line is simply an attempt to influence your decision-making process to suit her, not a neutral assessment of the situation.

Now, I'm not saying her concerns aren't valid; if she's used to seeing you on a regular basis, of course it would be difficult and an adjustment to go from that to seeing you once or twice a year. Vacations will have to be planned and saved for. She'll have to experience her grandkids' recitals or soccer games, etc. via video instead of in person. There's a whole host of things that will change. But I will say two things about that: 1) change is bearable, even when you fear it's not, and 2) families all over the world deal with great distance on a regular basis, and still remain loving and close families even if they're not next door.

These are the topics where I think your mom (and the rest of your extended family) need some reassurance from you, while simultaneously you and your husband go forward in making the best decision for you. In other words, you need to guard against letting your mom's (or dad's, or aunt's, or brother's, or whomever's) discomfort make your decision for you. (Which is a nice way of saying that you shouldn't let yourselves be emotionally blackmailed.)

Good luck!
posted by scody at 9:22 AM on April 28 [4 favorites has favorites]

It's not hard to fly there at any time of year, just expensive. -40 is for real, and you get used to it. The arctic is amazing and beautiful and terrifyingly so. There is a significant Native population in Fairbanks and a lot of fascinating and beautiful cultural activity as a result. Alaskans are great people, if Alaskans are the kind of people you like.

Yeah, it's basically $1000 to get there and back from anywhere in the lower 48. But you fly in real jets the whole way.

And you can always tell her "at least it's not Barrow." (Another 90 minutes by air north of Fairbanks, truly the northernmost place you can fly into commercially.)
posted by fourcheesemac at 9:25 AM on April 28

Also, there is a direct Chicago-Anchorage flight on NWA/Delta, takes about 5 hours as I recall. So they're 6 hours by air from you, which is not much more that it would take them to fly to visit you in Santa Barbara or anywhere else involving a connecting flight.
posted by fourcheesemac at 9:27 AM on April 28 [1 favorite has favorites]

I was stationed at Ft. Wainwright, which is in Fairbanks for 1 1/2 years, just a couple of years ago. I absolutely hated it. Others think it is heaven on earth. I think they're crazy.

Your mother is right; it is the ends of the earth.

The negatives:

It is extremely cold. I'm from MN so I thought I knew cold. I didn't. Cold bitch slapped me the minute I arrived. And, it is cold most of the year. Everyone and I mean EVERYONE leaves their cars running if they are only going to be indoors less than one hour. You go to the grocery store (one of the four that exist in that town) and every car in the parking lot will be unattended with the engine on. You absolutely must plug your car in to keep the engine block heater running if you are going to be parked for long periods of time. Otherwise, it will freeze. There are electric plug ins most places. Warm in April? Yes, compared to February it is warm. I ice fished at the end of May in downtown Fairbanks in 2006. The auger drilled over 6' before it hit water. That's not warm weather. On the other hand, you adjust. We ran PT outside until -20. You just get used to it. Btw, consumer thermometers don’t go below -22.

It is dark for months. Due to Fairbanks location so far from the equator, the day/night differences are extreme. By the winter solstice it will be light less than one hour per day. This results in depression, which often results in alcohol abuse. On the flipside, the summer months are light all of the time. This causes problems for a lot of people because they cannot sleep if it is light outside. Many people cover their windows with darkening drapes and blinds to keep the light out. Personally, it had a positive effect on me. I loved being able to go running at 11 p.m.

Many houses do not have running water. Yes, there are houses worth hundreds of thousands of dollars that do not have running water because they cannot dig a well. This is why every other vehicle you see is a pickup truck with a humungous white water tank in the bed. That is how many people get water to their homes. They fill up water tanks at the gas station. And this is COMMON.

It is an arctic desert. This could be a plus or minus depending on your outlook. Because it is so arid, it does not get much snow. It does however get a lot of ice, of which the town’s people use gravel for traction. Not tiny gravel, but marble size and larger. This is way most vehicles have cracked windshields. If you wear contact lenses, you will most likely switch to glasses. No matter how much eye lubricant you employ, you will go through contacts like mad because they dry out and ruin so quickly.

It is expensive. Everything, yes including gas, has to be shipped in and you pay a premium for that. On the bright side the produce is very good at Fred Meyers albeit costly.

No good shopping, especially clothing. I had to buy a suit for my job. The one existing department store in Fairbanks did not carry women's office type clothing. The sales associate told me to "just do what we all do, buy it in the men's department." Shudder. I did manage to find an old run down Sears that actually had suits and separates for reasonable prices.

No consumer protection, no licensing. There is very little consumer protection in Alaska. Renters are screwed. There is no licensing or housing inspection system. This is why you will find people living in garages, shipping containers, and tents. I had soldiers who would go home from work one day and find entire families residing in their garages. The landlords rent out the garages to people who live in campers during the warm months. Imagine coming home from work, expecting to park your car in the garage only to find that it had been turned into a weird indoor/outdoor apartment. Imagine renting a place only to find exposed electrical wires and gas leaks. Who do you call? Landlordbusters? No, you suck it up and repair it yourself or move because there is no governmental oversight on rental housing.

It is expensive to travel to and from Fairbanks. You have two choices - fly or drive. I used to fly to Minneapolis every six to eight weeks. Tickets ran $500 - $800. On the upside, I racked up a ton of frequent flyer miles. The drive to Anchorage may be only six hours in the best of conditions, but it is much longer most of the time. Normally you are driving in the dark and on ice through the Denali mountains.

Positives:

It is the ice cream capital of the U.S. More ice cream is sold in Alaska than any other state. You can buy ice everywhere you go. There is even a year round ice cream drive though in Fairbanks. Just look for the giant ice cream cone on the roof.

Running events galore. Every week there is a themed 5k, 10k or marathon. And the best part is the local newspaper publishes the complete results. My grandmother loved getting the news clippings with my name and place. The midnight sun run is particularly fun. People fly in from around the world to run at midnight.

Barnes & Noble. When the B&N opened in 2006, it was the most lucrative grand opening in its history. B&N made more profits in that one day than any other B&N made in the company's history. The B&N, complete with cafe, fireplace and comfy chairs almost make Fairbanks bearable.

Salmon fishing. You can almost reach into the crystal clear waters of the Tanana River and pick up huge salmon during spawning season. I caught four very large salmon in less than one hour in October '05. Of course, I had lost all feeling in my feet and hands due to the cold, but those salmon were good eats.

Guns galore. AK is a NRA stronghold. Everyone is armed. Now, this could be a positive for you. I make no judgments if it is. But, if you're like me it will come as quite a shock when you notice that everyone you talk to is wearing a holster or at least has a firearm in their car. I used to ask people why they lived in AK. The most common answer was "so I can carry a gun."

Hunter and survivalist paradise. Hunters come from around the world to hunt in AK. Game animals are common. Moose parade through town, just like on Northern Exposure. Bears abound. In 2006 there was a grizzly problem where they had been sighted close to people's homes. That is a very bad thing. I'm not sure how it was addressed. Many people wear bells when fishing, hiking and sometimes running in order to scare off the animals. Frankly, I never believed in the bell theory and because I was the only person in the town not armed, I just avoided running in areas where the general public couldn't see me. There are a lot of survivalists, people who live off the land.

The northern lights are beautiful.

There is no event that you cannot wear jeans and a sweatshirt, including weddings, graduations, and baptismals.

Ice sculptures. Fairbanks has an ice sculpture competition every year. Local businesses employ ice artists to create giant sculptures which last all winter until thaw. Many are quite breathtaking. The ice sculpture outside my apartment was a life size bear family in its “apartment”. The detail was amazing. These sculptures are scattered throughout the town and always lit with special lighting. There is also the annual ice competition where international artists come to compete. This draws huge crowds. I saw John Leguizamo there for a ribbon cutting. The crowd was so massive that he couldn’t get out (he was adorable in his parker and hat).

Everyone who moves to Alaska is given a chance to prove themselves. People are not judged by what they did in the past, they are accepted into the fold and judged by what they do in the present. It’s a great place to start a new life.

Boy, I hope this info helps you. I could go on about Alaska for ages. Sometimes when my husband wants to relax, he'll say "tell me about Alaska."

Good luck.
posted by Juicylicious at 10:04 AM on April 28 [6 favorites has favorites]

Keep telling your Mom, "I love you. I need to take this adventurous risk. We'll visit; you'll visit. We'll use skype. Because we love you; we'll work out the problems. I know you hate the thought of me moving so far away. If it doesn't work out, we'll move. I know you're upset. I love you. I'll miss you every day." Hug her a LOT.

If my son was moving to Alaska, I'd be constantly anticipating how much I'd miss him, and I'd be sad. If you have kids, her grandchildren will be far away. It's a big deal. I'm not saying don't go. But acknowledging your Mom's fear and sadness may help.
posted by theora55 at 10:30 AM on April 28 [2 favorites has favorites]

As an Alaskan (actually from Alaska, not an outsider) I have a few comments on the above:

No consumer protection, no licensing. There is very little consumer protection in Alaska.

The first sentence is flat-out false. The second is debatable. To the best of my knowledge Alaska's consumer protection laws are on par with Washington state.

Everyone is armed. . . . [E]veryone you talk to is wearing a holster or at least has a firearm in their car.

This is an extreme exaggeration.

There is no event that you cannot wear jeans and a sweatshirt, including weddings, graduations, and baptismals.

Another exaggeration/generalization. I don't think Alaska as a whole is much different than the rest of the Northwest in these sort of cultural expectations. (Yes, I have been to informal weddings, but I have also been to very formal weddings, etc.)

Everyone who moves to Alaska is given a chance to prove themselves. People are not judged by what they did in the past, they are accepted into the fold and judged by what they do in the present. It’s a great place to start a new life.

Ha ha ha, no. I'm generalizing here, but we don't particularly like the people who come here to run from their past, and if it's a criminal/evil past we're quite happy to see you get arrested or leave the state.
posted by D.C. at 11:31 AM on April 28

Everyone who moves to Alaska is given a chance to prove themselves. People are not judged by what they did in the past, they are accepted into the fold and judged by what they do in the present. It’s a great place to start a new life.

Ha ha ha, no. I'm generalizing here, but we don't particularly like the people who come here to run from their past, and if it's a criminal/evil past we're quite happy to see you get arrested or leave the state.

That was a compliment, but your disdain for newcomers is noted.

Everyone that I met in Fairbanks encouraged newcomers to stay and make it their home. Of course, I didn't travel in seedy crowds, so maybe my experience was different than others. Fairbanks depends a great deal on tourism, most people are nice in order to sustain it. Although I never got the feeling it was not sincere.
posted by Juicylicious at 12:23 PM on April 28

Normally you are driving in the dark and on ice through the Denali mountains.

I've visited Alaska twice, my husband three times. Each time we flew into Anchorage and either drove or took the train to Fairbanks. Saying you drive through the Denali Mountains makes it sound like driving through the Rockies or something - it's not like that at all. Fairbanks is at higher elevation than Anchorage, 400 feet vs 100 feet. My husband has cycled it. It is a slow and gradual descent. Denali itself is to the west of the highway between Anchorage and Fairbanks. As for "normally driving in the dark", if you travel out twice a year, once may be in the dark and once can be in total daylight.
I enjoyed our time in Fairbanks - it seemed to have a lot going on as University towns often do. We liked the museum that is associated with the University and attended a couple of talks and demonstrations there. There are restaurants and very conventional shopping is available - you won't lack for basic items at all. Yes, stuff is more expensive.
posted by jvilter at 2:11 PM on April 28

Different tack: travelling to see you twice a year is still hard on a devoted mother and grandmother who doesn't want to miss watching her grandchildren grow. Can you set up some sort of system for her that would allow you to see each other on-line? I'm no one's grandma, but I can understand how hard it would be for her to miss the little things like this week's math test or masterpiece. Tell her you'll wear your woolies, get a light box and take up hydroponic gardening so the kidlets have fresh veg all winter. If you could add regular contact, it might help.
posted by x46 at 4:33 AM on April 29

Different tack: travelling to see you twice a year is still hard on a devoted mother and grandmother who doesn't want to miss watching her grandchildren grow. Can you set up some sort of system for her that would allow you to see each other on-line?

So, here's the thing. Currently my folks are in central Illinois, we're outside Philly, my in-laws are in Southern Oregon (although my husband grew up in Anchorage, so I have some more of an idea of what Fairbanks might be like than others), my sister's in St. Louis, my grandmother's in southern Florida...so to some extent, we're already in that situation, except that they're close enough that flying to see us is only $200 - $400/person, or if they've got the time, 2 days' drive.

We already iChat with my folks about once a week, and have been seeing them 3 or 4 times a year (usually over Thanksgiving, Christmas, often in the summer, usually for Passover). What is a problem is that we probably won't be able to attend the big family gatherings at Thanksgiving and Passover, because my husband and I are both academics with restricted schedules during the school year, and I can't see spending on the order of $3000 - $4000 (2 kids) to travel for three days' vacation. And that's not going to be wonderful. But when I suggest that we can still travel to see them, say over Christmas, the response is no, it's way too expensive (i.e., they're worried about it being too much for us to handle financially).

Does anyone have details on how the Alaska Airlines Signature visa works? or their companion tickets? I've heard there used to be deals that AlaskaAir would run involving you give them your permanent fund check, and they give you 4 round trip tickets wherever they fly---any ideas if they've done this in the last 20 years?

(I really appreciate all the thoughtful answers so far. Thanks!)
posted by leahwrenn at 5:37 PM on April 29