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Post by flyboy9994 on Dec 11, 2006 23:46:50 GMT -5
O.K. Post #1
First thanks to Washkeeton for showing me this great website.
Short story long... I'm about to turn 44 and my lifelong dream of moving to Alaska has now become the major focus in my life. I am currently living in Kentucky and am a licensed helicopter pilot. I have done some research and it looks like I could get a seasonal flying job in Alaska pretty easily (April thru September). Of course my goal is to find some land and set up a homestead. Off grid would be fine. Solar/generator with good water, hunt, fish, trap and garden etc. I believe I could make 25/30K flying seasonaly. Can I live off this in the bush??
My ultimate goal would be to get my airplane license and become a bush pilot.
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Post by Washkeeton on Dec 12, 2006 1:57:02 GMT -5
Your welcome.  Oh yes and Hi. |
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Post by Chuck on Dec 12, 2006 2:49:12 GMT -5
I could retire on that.  |
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Post by ugashikrobert on Dec 12, 2006 9:46:20 GMT -5
flyboy:
One of the things you need to consider is your overall financial posture . Being debt free would be ideal and being able to pay cash for at least some portion of your initial investment would cut down your monthly expenses. I think you will find the more you scrimp on day to day essentials the lower your chances of long term success. A lot of people spend a lot of time going back to the things they deprived themselves of to locate in a remote area and the expense of doing that is very high.
You are in a excellent field for employment that will allow you access to areas most Alaskan's only dream of. The avaition business can be tough nut to crack as one of the first things a potential employer will look at is how much "Alaska" time you have.
With your skills and income I think you are much further ahead of the game than most with your ambitions. When we made our leap of faith I was under the false assumption that "living off the land" was a practical way of existing on a minimal retirement income. Living in the bush is a lot but its not inexpensive in terms of labor or money but the rewards match the cost.
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Post by Chuck on Dec 12, 2006 16:19:00 GMT -5
Bob gave you some very good advice. Lot of bush life is deciding what you are willing to do without and what you can't live without. We live about as basic a lifestyle as is practical. We still have to generate an income to meet certain needs. If the average city dweller new what we make they would think we are nuts. We are actually better off than most. We have NO DEBT, we own our home. Those are two must.
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Post by flyboy9994 on Dec 13, 2006 16:27:51 GMT -5
Hey all
Thanks for the great replies. Ugashickrobert: Your advice about being debt free makes a huge amount of sense and that would be my ideal situation. If my plan holds, I should be in Alaska no later than Spring 2008 which will give me a little over a year to chip away at my relatively smalll amount of debt so that should not be a problem. Again, I'm just starting my research phase and I don't have any idea what a decent homestead site will even cost. The company I'm considering has two bases, one in Juneau and one in Skagway. I literally know nothing of these areas and am not sure if homesteading is even possible in these areas. Also, I know what you mean as far as "Alaska flight time" goes but this company will take on new pilots for the tourist season thus allowing me to start building Alaska time. Again, my ultimate goal would be to get my airplane license and get into bush flying. Then I believe I could pretty much live anywhere I wanted to. I'm fairly certain I could be in the bush or on the edge anyway within just a few short years.
Thanks again for the replies and I look forward to learning a lot more. Seems like I found the right place for sure. Thanks again Washkeeton!!
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Oh yes and Hi. 
