1. The True Meaning Of “Starry Night”
Stargazing in Alaska is better than it is anywhere else in the world. With so much vast openness, there are no city lights in most places to interfere with the beautiful view.
2. How To Pronounce “Aurora Borealis”
Aside from just stars, Alaska’s also got a great view of the Aurora Borealis, commonly known as the Northern Lights. Aurora’s occur when charged electrons from solar wind interact with certain parts of earth’s atmosphere, thus creating the greenish glow you see. And for the record, it’s pronounced “uh-roar-uh bore-ee-al-less.”
3. You Quickly Learn How To Spot A Tourist
Tourists in Alaska make themselves very obvious, asking questions like “Do you accept American money?” and “When do they turn on the Northern Lights?” Roughly 2 million visitors are expected to travel to Alaska this year, fortunately they tend to stick to the larger cities and their cruise ships.
4. Don’t Expect A Snow Day, Ever
With some areas of Alaska getting an average of 300 inches of snow every year, don’t expect the state to shut down over a few flurries.
Instead, people in Alaska usually have some creative way of still getting where they need to be when weather takes a turn for the worst. A good jacket will become your best friend.
5. Snow Machines Are A Perfectly Acceptable Means Of Transportation
It’s no surprise the long stretches of road that stretch through the Alaskan wilderness can get pretty gnarly during the snowy seasons, so more times than not, a snowmobile will get you further than a car in Alaska.
Plus, it can also double as a toy, recreational snowmobiling in Alaska is a pretty big deal.
6. You’ll Quickly Learn You Get Paid To Live Here
Any resident that’s been in Alaska for a year with plans to stay longer gets a yearly paycheck from the government called a PFD or permanent fund dividend. The lowest it’s ever been was $331.29 in 1984, while the highest cut was $2,069 per citizen in 2008. PFD day is basically a holiday, as thousands of excited Alaskans often rush straight out to splurge on something.
7. Duct Tape Is An Alaskan’s Best Friend
Earlier this year, a pilot put his plane back together with duct tape after it was viciously attacked by a bear. It doesn’t get much more Alaskan than that.
It’s also the perfect example of how duct tape is essential to the Alaska lifestyle. Subject to harsh weather, with many areas still being true wilderness, residents are forced to make fix what they’ve got when it breaks instead of buying new. The tool most elect to use is duct tape. It’s not uncommon to see it holding together a vehicle or even a house in some areas of the state.
8. Mushers And Their Pups Are Celebrities
Alright, the stereotype that every Alaskan rides a sled to work every day isn’t exactly accurate. That being said, dog sleds are still a pretty common site, especially during Iditarod season, the 1,000 mile dog sled race from Anchorage to Nome.
It’s the most popular sport in Alaska by far, with the best teams achieving hometown hero status.
9. You Learn The Delicious Reason Why Alaska Is Known For Their King Crabs
Alaskans take their crabbing pretty seriously. The Alaskan king crab fishing mortality rate is 80 times higher than the rest of the fishing industry and yet people still continue to pull these creatures from the sea. Fishermen catch millions of pounds of soon-to-be buttered crab legs every year, which gets frozen and shipped all around the world.
Alaskans have it the best though, they get crabs fresher and cheaper than anyone else.
10. That Alaskan Fishing Is The Best
It’s not just about the crab legs, Alaska has the best seafood in the world. Home to great fresh and saltwater sources, fishers have no problem filling their nets with salmon, shrimp, and colossal scallops.
Living in Alaska spoils seafood lovers, as they’ll regularly get some of the largest, freshest fish around.
11. You’ll Learn How To Be A Survivalist Really Quickly
At this point, Alaska has been thoroughly explored, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a wild frontier. Sure, there are a few bigger cities in Alaska, but a lot of people live hours from the closest town. This makes learning to hunt, fish, and use an outhouse a necessity.
After all, when harsh weather hits, people in the rural areas are on their own to fend for themselves resorting to things like ice fishing and trapping.
12. What It’s Like To Live Side By Side With Nature
When people barely turn their heads when a moose strolls through town, it leaves little doubt that Alaska truly is a wilderness.
Aside from having beautiful landscape and crazy weather, the state is also home to some of the biggest animals in North America. The ocean is full of whales, the forests house 98 percent of America’s grizzly population, and bald eagles are a common sight.
Alaskans see huge mammals on a regular basis, which means every Alaskan knows how to avoid a confrontation and every Alaskan knows to always keep their trash cans shut tight.
13. You’ll Learn That Moose And Cars Don’t Go Well Together
It doesn’t surprise any Alaskan to hear that the Moose is the most dangerous animal in America, causing more injuries to humans than any other species.
While the rest of the country is off dealing with their deer, Alaska’s got to handle something six times that size. Often weighing up to 1,400 pounds, hitting a moose can rip a car in half. That coupled with the aggressive nature of the animal you’ve got a beast that it’s best to just stay clear of.
14. Despite What Disney’s “It’s A Small World” Would Have You Believe, Alaska Isn’t Full Of Igloos
When most of America thinks arctic lifestyle, an igloo often comes to mind. New Alaskans quickly learn that there aren’t igloos in the “Last Frontier.” Igloos are actually something used by the Inuit people of Canada and Greenland, but not so much in Alaska.
Native Alaskans generally built more durable, longer lasting shelters, saving igloos for emergency situations.
15. The Alaskan State Fair Is A Huge Deal
Literally half the state goes to the fair, attracting 300,000 people annually to Palmer. Visitors travel hours to get food from hundreds of vendors, see crazy things like the 138.25 pound cabbage, and hear great live music during the 12 day event.
Some of the more unique attractions include Fred Scheer’s Lumberjack Show.
16. People Here Are Extremely Friendly
One of the benefits of having so few people in such a large space is that pretty much all of Alaska has that “small town atmosphere” vibe. People are always looking out for their neighbors, knowing that in order to thrive in a place like Alaska, you’ve got to rely on community.
Complete strangers can become best friends in a matter of seconds whether they sit down to drink at the same bar or bump into each other at the store.
17. Alaskans Learn How To Sleep When The Suns Out
One of the most surprising things for visitors to Alaska are the 22 hour days during the summer. With less night time, it can be very disorienting to new residents. But every Alaskan has their trick to surviving the long days of summer, whether it’s taking frequent naps or investing in state-of-the art blackout blinds.
Eventually Alaskans figure it out and you will, too.
18. You’ll Learn To Love Reindeer Meat
While the rest of the country is thinking of Rudolph and his bright red nose when they see a reindeer, an Alaskan will be thinking about the delicious hot dog they could be having.
A little bit like beef, a little bit like lamb, reindeer is one of the juiciest, most flavorful cuts around. Once you try some of it tubed and on a bun, it will ruin normal hot dogs for you.
19. A Deep Abiding Passion For All Things Espresso
Maybe it has something to do with the cold temperatures or the long days, but Alaskans love coffee, specifically espresso. Most will claim they need it to survive. In fact, Anchorage has more espresso stands per capita than anywhere else in America, making it a great place to get your caffeine buzz on.
20. There’s No Such Thing As A Quick Trip To The Store In Alaska
Sure, Anchorage has two Targets and a few Walmarts, but for the Alaskans not in a big city, just going to the grocery to pick up a forgotten ingredient isn’t usually an option as the closest store might be many miles of ice covered road away.
21. And There’s Also No Such Thing As A Cheap Trip To The Store
Being so far away from the rest of the U.S., it kind of costs a lot to get stuff to Alaska. That additional cost becomes very obvious, as prices of common packaged goods, like frozen pizzas and potato chips can cost two to three times as much as they do in the lower 48 states.
22. You Learn Why It Costs So Much To Ship Things To Alaska
Alaska is literally in the middle of nowhere, at times it can feel like its cut off from the rest of civilization, especially during the snow filled colder months. Over 500 miles away from the rest of America and 50 miles away from the Russian mainland across the Bering Strait, Alaska really is a land of on its own.
23. Alaska Makes Seattle Look Like Scottsdale Arizona
Alaska isn’t all just snow. Alaska is such a huge area, the weather is very diverse depending on where you’re at. Some places in Alaska are notorious for rain, like Ketchikan which averages over 150 inches of rainfall per year.
To put that in perspective, the highest average rainfall in the contiguous states is around 130 inches in certain parts of Washington. And every Alaskan knows that lots of rain means lots of fog.
24. Precisely Why “Ice Road Truckers” Is A Thing
Travelling in Alaska can be pretty darn inconvenient, with cities very spread out. This often means hours of driving to get anywhere, frequently on icy, unpredictable roads.
A lot of small towns don’t even have roads going to them, making it common to need a couple types of transportation to get where you’re headed with ferries and small planes are commonly used.
At least the beautiful scenery gives you something to look at.
25. You’ll Learn To Deal With Subzero Temperatures In Alaska Like A Champ
We all know weather in Alaska can get pretty crazy, but most of America doesn’t realize just how crazy it can get.
Sure, there are warmer parts and colder parts like any state, but as a whole Alaska gets pretty nippy during a large portion of the year. Take Fairbanks, for example. While summer temperatures can get in the 90s, winter months bring temperatures below -60 before windchill.
Some places in northern Alaska have year round lows below freezing, with the record low at -80 recorded during January of 1971 in Prospect Creek. Brr.
26. You’ll Learn What Fresh Air Really Smells Like
So far removed from any huge populations, there’s not a lot of pollution in Alaska making it one of the cleanest places in America. According to the American Lung association, Anchorage has some of the best air around. But any Alaskan could’ve told you that!
27. Alaska Is A True Melting Pot
Unlike most states in America, where families have lived in the same town for several generations, Alaska is a true melting pot. While Native Alaskan culture is still prevalent, it’s surprising how many people in Alaska have travelled from completed different parts of the country to live there, at times it seems like everyone spent a large chunk of their life out of state.
28. Everyone Here Lives A Very Active Lifestyle
In a state that’s overflowing with opportunities to be adventurous, it’s hard to just sit on your couch watching television. With unique sports like cross country skiing, snowmobiling, and ice fishing, along with world class hiking, biking, and kayaking, there’s something for everyone.
29. There’s No Prettier Place On Earth. Period. Point Blank.
Alaska is absolutely breathtaking. There’s no other place on earth like it. Far away and isolated from the rest of America, a trip to Alaska can feel like a trip to a foreign country. A landscape covered with expansive forests, glaciers and huge mountains, including Mt. McKinley, the tallest in North America, and some of the most diverse wildlife in the world, it’s hard to get to but it’s even harder to leave.
Feature Image: Flickr user David Burn
What’s something you learned living in Alaska? Tell us in the comments below!
