From the Editor

I grew up in a small rural town in California where we played in the streets, kept our doors unlocked, built treehouses, and stayed out late until our parents called us in. That all changed over the years.

Sure, I left the state here and there, but I always returned for family or just because it was familiar. With my children grown and moved away, I decided it was time to find a place that was more suited to my personality.

Let’s not gloss over the fact that people in California’s Bay Area have been increasingly driven out due to exorbitant real estate prices and the high cost of living. People have left the San Francisco area for the Central Valley (where I’m from) or the Mother Lode foothills. In turn, the people who already lived in those areas saw the uptick in housing prices across the board. That has spurred many — myself included — to leave the state altogether.

More congestion and higher prices weren’t the only reasons that ignited my decision. There is also the (almost) year-round fire season. It seems like the Golden State could be better described as the Fiery State lately. Though I wasn’t in a town directly affected by the myriad of fires, the constant smoke and ash was a problem.

I searched for new employment in the Seattle area, North Carolina, the Midwest and other places. Some had their appeal, but there are still the usual issues that come with just too many people.

Something told me to check Alaska.

I had always wanted to visit The Last Frontier, and I know a lot of folks who absolutely love living here. I logged onto a job board I’ve had luck with in the past and found an editor/reporter position with a publication in someplace called Wrangell.

The job offered plenty of the duties I’m skilled at and love to do. Check.

The population was listed at about 2,400. Double-check.

The weather wasn’t scorching hot in summer and toe-freezing cold in winter. Triple-check.

“Why Alaska,” Larry Persily, the owner and publisher of the Wrangell Sentinel, asked me during our first phone conversation. I went over the many reasons, but maybe the unspoken one was that it just felt right.

After an in-person interview, a few email exchanges and more phone calls, I came up to visit Wrangell over two days in July. How can you step onto this island and not fall in love with it? My wife and I spent the brief time checking out the businesses, driving out the highway, and partaking of the pizza at the Hungry Beaver.

We found it to be a different way of life, a slower way of life. It’s a way of life that moves at its own pace. And Amazon orders generally take a couple weeks to get here.

We knew this was our new home even before we left.

When I was brought on board the Sentinel, the work of moving an entire household and travel-reluctant cats some 2,000 miles away began. We were quoted nearly $30,000 to move the contents of a 938-square-foot home. After regaining consciousness, we had to approach the moving problem from another angle.

“It’s just a remote place to move,” one agent told us. Plus, it would take a maximum of six weeks to get our stuff if we went with a moving company. We came up with a Plan B: Move it all ourselves. For a fraction of the cost, we rented a U-Haul, booked ferry passage, and got here (with all our stuff and some very stressed-out cats) in just over three days.

Everything from finding a home to rent to returning the U-Haul in a timely fashion to Petersburg (big thanks to Eric Yancey!) has fallen into place. The population has been welcoming and the cats have finally calmed down.

We’re definitely looking forward to many years to come in our new home.