Well, I made it to Fairbanks!! After three months of plotting and planning I'm here. I'm back among friends. I'm back to where I want to be. A little background....
I grew up in a small town in northern Arizona, population 2,500. I graduated from the same high school as my dad, mom and brother. I went to undergrad at Northern Arizona University and moved to Phoenix after graduation. After a year and a half I moved to Alaska to work for Holland America as a purser on a riverboat on the Yukon River. I planned to stay four months and stayed almost five years. I lived all over in Alaska and traveled all over the US for work with Holland America.
After almost five years, I wanted to unpack and forget my suitcase existed, so I settled in Seattle. The plan was to find the love of my life and conquer coprorate America. Well, after an 8 year relationship I found myself single and not liking coporate life. I recently completed an MBA at the University of Washington and thought about looking for a new corporate job.
As I started thinking of where I'd like to apply my thoughts lingered back to Alaska, a place that I am truly passionate about. The friends I made 12 years ago when we were driver guides lived there and I'd visited them throughout my years in Seattle. In September 07 I planned a trip to surprise them, although I did have a secret squirrel to be sure everyone would be around.
When my flight landed in Fairbanks at 1:30am and I stepped off the plane, I knew I was home. The next morning when I surprised them at breakfast, after the hugs and hellos, the nex thing ot of my mouth was "I'm moving up here!" Well, I guess I had made a decison. After a great visit, it was back to Seattle to plan things out. Now, almost four months later, here I am, sitting in Fairbanks, AK, starting to blog about it.
Many people think I'm completely off my rocker to have moved up here. They don't get it. This place helps you to realize what is truly important in life, what do you really need? Do you need that Mercedes? Do you need the internet everywhere you turn? Do you need a Nordstrom or Bon Marche (sorry, I still can't call it Macy's) at your disposal? Do you need indoor plumbing? You need shelter, food, and friends and family. That's it. We've gotten so used to the other stuff that we think we need it. I know, I was there.
After finding myself single after 8 years, the internet didn't keep me warm at night. It didn't put food in my stomach. The biggest thing I was missing in my life was my friends. Sure, I had some friends in Seattle, but it's hard to describe. It takes a lot of work to maintain those friendships. If you don't call soon enough they are busy. When I moved 3o minutes south of Seattle I basically saw no one...it was too far out of the city.
I know I've only been back in AK for less than a week but my friendships here take NO EFFORT at all! It is so natural and normal that they just are. No expectations, no demands...just great freindships. I wonder how many people truly get to experience that? Until now I hadn't. Experiencing it I know 100% that I made the right decision to come back.
Ok, so I went off on a bit of a tangent...get used to it. It happens often with me.
When I quit my job, I explained to my manager and others that I'm not chasing the dream job up here, just my dream life. I have for 38 years put others first and my wants and needs last. It's time to put me first. What do I want in life? Was I going to find it in Seattle? The answer came back as no. What, then, did I want?
After my visit in September, I knew what that was. Sure, living up here limits my options to meet the love of my life but my options were limited in Seattle as well. I'm not one for the bars. I did go out just before moving north and I saw the same tired faces (albeit 11 years older) trying to look all young and hot for a hookup before the night was over. GROSS!! I do not want to be one of them. And I'm sorry but all the delivery people for my area are lesbians so no hopes of meeting a hot delivery man! lol But I digress, my point was, I was single in Seattle and basically alone and not liking where I lived. Here I may be single but I'm not alone, I'm living where I want and have my best freinds around me. The job is secondary to this. A job is not going to be the driving factor in my life. Sure, I need to find one soon and one that pays the bills, but I'm not going to define my life and my happiness by my job. There is so much more to life than that. Some people get it after I explain it this way.
So what else can I tell you? Drawing a blank at the moment but you'll learn more as I post more.
I grew up in a small town in northern Arizona, population 2,500. I graduated from the same high school as my dad, mom and brother. I went to undergrad at Northern Arizona University and moved to Phoenix after graduation. After a year and a half I moved to Alaska to work for Holland America as a purser on a riverboat on the Yukon River. I planned to stay four months and stayed almost five years. I lived all over in Alaska and traveled all over the US for work with Holland America.
After almost five years, I wanted to unpack and forget my suitcase existed, so I settled in Seattle. The plan was to find the love of my life and conquer coprorate America. Well, after an 8 year relationship I found myself single and not liking coporate life. I recently completed an MBA at the University of Washington and thought about looking for a new corporate job.
As I started thinking of where I'd like to apply my thoughts lingered back to Alaska, a place that I am truly passionate about. The friends I made 12 years ago when we were driver guides lived there and I'd visited them throughout my years in Seattle. In September 07 I planned a trip to surprise them, although I did have a secret squirrel to be sure everyone would be around.
When my flight landed in Fairbanks at 1:30am and I stepped off the plane, I knew I was home. The next morning when I surprised them at breakfast, after the hugs and hellos, the nex thing ot of my mouth was "I'm moving up here!" Well, I guess I had made a decison. After a great visit, it was back to Seattle to plan things out. Now, almost four months later, here I am, sitting in Fairbanks, AK, starting to blog about it.
Many people think I'm completely off my rocker to have moved up here. They don't get it. This place helps you to realize what is truly important in life, what do you really need? Do you need that Mercedes? Do you need the internet everywhere you turn? Do you need a Nordstrom or Bon Marche (sorry, I still can't call it Macy's) at your disposal? Do you need indoor plumbing? You need shelter, food, and friends and family. That's it. We've gotten so used to the other stuff that we think we need it. I know, I was there.
After finding myself single after 8 years, the internet didn't keep me warm at night. It didn't put food in my stomach. The biggest thing I was missing in my life was my friends. Sure, I had some friends in Seattle, but it's hard to describe. It takes a lot of work to maintain those friendships. If you don't call soon enough they are busy. When I moved 3o minutes south of Seattle I basically saw no one...it was too far out of the city.
I know I've only been back in AK for less than a week but my friendships here take NO EFFORT at all! It is so natural and normal that they just are. No expectations, no demands...just great freindships. I wonder how many people truly get to experience that? Until now I hadn't. Experiencing it I know 100% that I made the right decision to come back.
Ok, so I went off on a bit of a tangent...get used to it. It happens often with me.
When I quit my job, I explained to my manager and others that I'm not chasing the dream job up here, just my dream life. I have for 38 years put others first and my wants and needs last. It's time to put me first. What do I want in life? Was I going to find it in Seattle? The answer came back as no. What, then, did I want?
After my visit in September, I knew what that was. Sure, living up here limits my options to meet the love of my life but my options were limited in Seattle as well. I'm not one for the bars. I did go out just before moving north and I saw the same tired faces (albeit 11 years older) trying to look all young and hot for a hookup before the night was over. GROSS!! I do not want to be one of them. And I'm sorry but all the delivery people for my area are lesbians so no hopes of meeting a hot delivery man! lol But I digress, my point was, I was single in Seattle and basically alone and not liking where I lived. Here I may be single but I'm not alone, I'm living where I want and have my best freinds around me. The job is secondary to this. A job is not going to be the driving factor in my life. Sure, I need to find one soon and one that pays the bills, but I'm not going to define my life and my happiness by my job. There is so much more to life than that. Some people get it after I explain it this way.
So what else can I tell you? Drawing a blank at the moment but you'll learn more as I post more.
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