I am looking for a change and I am wanting to just be left alone.

Texas is becoming to crowded and I live in the middle of East Texas and can't see my neighbors. I am working my ass off to have passive income so I can have the freedom of moving where I want to. I want acreage, I want to build a simple home for me, my wife, two kids, three dogs. I know Texas and Alaska can be literal polar opposites with climate and temperature. Proper gear, proper preparation, proper precautions make anything possible.

The only thing not allowing me to move tomorrow is my wife's connection to her parents. At some point, I might just say screw it and make the move. I have been wanting to make this move for over 10 years and the current policies and political climate is pushing me more and more to wanting to be left the fuck alone...

School me.

It’s a miracle in my mind Alaska hasn’t gone blue yet.

Well that's not very comforting.

It is well on its way.  Free money has been a thing in Alaska for 40 years.

But there is nowhere else to go.

Nowhere else to go in the US or Alaska?

I am not moving for the free money in Alaska. Didn't even know it was a thing....

Alaska is a big state. I’d start by narrowing down what area you want to live in. Then questions like do you want to be on the road system? On the grid?  Have internet?  How far from a grocery store, hospital etc?

Ever seen the “Last Alaskans” tv show?  I suggest you check it out. I expect less than 1% of Alaskans live anything like they do.

If you want a place where you can’t see your neighbors you’re going to be well away from any support network (schools, hospitals, grocery stores).

People do it, but it ain’t easy.

And you probably  won’t have internet or cell phone access so likely none of us on here are living like that.

30 minutes to town would be find for me. I don't want to have to have a boat or a plane to get somewhere so the main road then I cut my own road.

Hopefully when I make the move starlink will be available there so internet won't be an issue.

Offgrid electric and water more than likely. I don't mind working a little harder to have some perceived freedom.

I will have a greenhouse, chickens, pigs, and cows. Even here I am trying to become as independent as I can and not rely on local food distribution.

If you haven't heard, Texas was colder than parts of Alaska for over a week. I was able to get to work but since I am in construction what was the point? I honestly found that making sure my family was warm, fed, and comfortable while the whole state was in meltdown mode was far easier than my daily job.

I want simplicity. I am a simple man who is still wearing the same t-shirts from high school some 20 years ago. My boys learned more during the lock down from fishing, building, raising chickens and other animals, and not being a drone in a public school system.

I honestly would like to be in a position either here or there, that if the world comes to a screeching hault and is burning to the ground, I am sitting back and enjoying life until the drone strike from China or Russia.

Also,

Your state is absolutely beautiful. You can hunt, fish, trap, anything outdoors. Here unless you have leases, hunting is not much of an option.

Getting away from technology is a good thing, seeing the world is the best thing.

Sounds like you’d prefer it more down south. While Texas was colder than parts of Alaska it can hit -50 -60 in the interior and north slope. Taking care of animals and keeping them alive in that can prove difficult. Not impossible, but difficult. I had chickens and ducks in Fairbanks and spent a lot of electricity keeping their coup warm and water thawed.

Being 30 minutes from town and being off the grid and owning 5+ acres will be a little difficult. Especially down south. Unless the town you’re talking about is a 1 store town(Healy, delta, glenallen etc).

Have you ever visited Alaska?  If not I suggest you do, explore the whole road system, get a feel for it and where you would want to be.

I don't want to be bush but I want to have the ability to piss off my front porch.

I have not been to Alaska as my wife will not allow me to go up there. She's scared I won't come home....

Sounds like what you want is pretty close to my life. We're 45 minutes from town on ten acres, have a small homestead (garden, chickens, spring, etc.). We have electricity now but we were off grid for 5 years. We still haul water and use an outhouse.

It's a lot of work. It's not nearly as glamourous as it sounds. It's really bloody expensive.

Also, despite the fact that parts of TX had coldrr temps than parts of AK, don't expect the weather to be anything similar to  what you experienced. We usually don't get daily temp swings in the middle of winter, due to the low angle and short duration of the sun. I.E., it's 0f all night, and 0f all day. Or -40.

My wife won't go for the outhouse part I know. There not a way to put in a septic with field lines?

I know Texas weather is not nearly as harsh as yalls. We had a 90 degree swing in 72 hours.

We are hoping to install a septic system this summer. Still building the house, too.

Gotcha.

Do you use snow for water when everything is a frozen waste land?

Most people without a well haul water. They sell water for cents on the gallon in town. Boiling snow would take forever for a household worth of water.

So most of yall, are yall rural or live in town?

I got on realtor and basically followed the roadway from Anchorage all the way up to fairbanks back around and I only found one or two properties that have any kind of acreage.

And is land not available?

My understanding from my time stationed there is a vast majority of the land is owned by Native Corps, State and Federal Gov.

Have you checked the Delta, Tok and Glennallen areas?

I was on realtor and nothing really showed up. It might be one of those things where contacting local real estate agents might be a better bet.

There was one house and 80 acres but it wasn't what I was looking for. I want trees for privacy and for fuel and this place was pasture and hay.

I live 23 miles outside of Fairbanks on a dead end road but can still see my neighbors in the winter when the leaves are gone.

Land is available. It’s just gonna be out there for the amount you are talking. And still for sale by the state. Buddy just bought 10 acres from the state for $16,000 outside of livengood.

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10-20 acres is what I am shooting for. More as I get established and want to expand.

The old saying is, I don't need  more land except the land right next to mine.

Texas is the exact opposite. It's 99% private land.

The state has land giveaways once in a while. The problem is, they usually giveaway remote land that isn't suitable to build on.

The grass is always greener. I'm considering moving to Texas BEAUSE it's 99% private.

It is always greener. It really is getting very crowded here. Traffic even in the smaller city's are getting annoying, transplants from California are making things stupid, independent mindset is completely gone.

I think you need to visit for a while. Your ideas are "down south thinking" and you are missing the point on how things work up here. Really. You want cows and grow hay... we have to ship it up here from Idaho. Weather, materials, and other things are not on your radar. Tok and Delta are in the 20's in late August, snow is the regular. We camp in Dot Lake late August and are ready for cold then.

I wish I could drive 30 min out of town... I can't, the road doesn't go that far.

I don't want to discourage you , but your wife will tell you she is going back south within the first year.

Come up and visit, do your homework. It's a great life if you can make it work. I have seen this place destroy marriages and sent folks home very fast, and plenty of them. Don't forget the darkness, it gets light about 1030 and sets about 1430 in ANC. That is messed up any day of the week.

Oh yeah, been here a long time and have been very successful. You can do it if you if you get things in the correct order.

Don't forget medical. My wife got cancer and all the treatment is done in Seattle... Flights, appointments, hotels, rental cars, missed appointments due to weather and flights... too much fun.

C'mon up, I'll take you fishin.

Oh I fully am aware of all the points you made. I would never make a move this large without going and spending some time there.

I think the wife would stay there if things are logistically set up correctly and has a shitter inside. if she doesn't like it and decides to end the marriage over it, adios, me and the dog will be happy.

I want my kids to experience life. I want them to see the world and what a simpler way of life can bring. I want a simpler way of life.

The invitation to go fishing sounds amazing. Throwing a big slab of salmon on the grill with some fried sea cucumber and prawns sounds amazing right now.

Are you willing to lose your children with your wife? Or planning on being a single father? But you didn't say anything but you and the dog, so ......

Come up and rent for a year to make sure you like it. The weather will have you too spoiled to move back. I’d rather have winter here twice than summer back in Houston.
If your kids are going to be in school you probably want to live in the valley, then select which part based on what the school is like.
There really is a lot of public land to hunt. But, very little access that is shared by everyone else.
The real estate market is insane this year with values up over 10% locally. Maybe if you time it right the bubble will pop before you buy.

If my marriage was that fragile, it was going to fail regardless.

That is a good idea about renting. Try before you buy...

I am thinking more and more about home schooling. If we move up there we both will not work so no point in putting my kids in public school.

If you rent, make sure to use a Realtor. Not every missionary working overseas with an empty house here is the real thing.

And yet you're looking to leave.

Its a positive and negative. Positive being private property is private property and the government doesn't own it. Negative means I dont have many places to hunt or explore with the kids.

And my scenery is nothing and will never be like yours.

Best bet will likely be willow or near Talkeetna to get what you want within a reasonable price range. We need more people like you moving here, not the liberal locusts that have ruined the state.

I am as far right as you can get man.

And I'll look into those areas.

Lol Texan thinks he can do Alaska temps just because he did it for one week.

Easy killer. It was a joke.

Check landinalaska.com  for leads. Keep in mind that the dream and reality rarely converge. We have a very high cost of living.  Too many people come up here with the expectation that the State will subsidize their lifestyle with food stamps, medicaid, and the PFD. Alaska’s elected officials on the right and left are not the brightest and are corrupt. They have dug us into a deep fiscal hole.

I will never make a move banking on someone subsidizing anything.
Again, my goal is to have passive income here and enough of it to subsidize myself into freedom. That's my goal and I am working towards it as we speak.

So what is your passive income going to consist of does it support you now and can it support the raise in cost of living? Have you ever lived a homestead style life.  Do you plan on/have experience with raising livestock?  I mean say you find the acreage and buy it whats your plan after do you plan to build your own home or have it built. Running electric or doing renewable.

Alaska isn't cheap, and it is easy for people to get stuck when they really just want out.

For some 10-20 acres, 30 minutes to town and without outrageous land prices I'd probably look in the Anchor Point/Ninilchik, Delta Junction or Willow/Big Lake areas myself. Happy to chat or text about it, I've lived here all of my 45 years and my family is from Texas.

Passive income in real estate and I am currently working on another source of income.

Yes I have experience in raising animals but not on a huge scale. Chickens, rabbits, small garden.

Home will have to be somewhat self-sustaining and live on renewable.

Pm coming.

Land prices as well as material are at stupid levels now even with people leaving state..Do alot of research and remember Alaska is a community property state which means she gets half if she leaves and kids are 28% of gross income for child support. No alimony in Alaska

Matanuska Valley or Kenai Peninsula.

Reasons?

Texas is the same plus alimony.

MSB is a 2nd class borough which means less oversight and regulation than other areas that are "Home Rule" its a huge thing with the Alaska state constitution and what level of government powers exist etc. You really should read on it, it's fairly important but I expect the MSB to move to a 1st class borough which means policing and public health authority. Which means AK State Troopers would slowly divest themselves from response in the area if a new Borough Level LEO agency is created.

Land in both area KPB and MSB that have good water and access can be tough to find (deep dry well or high arsenic levels in some areas) Note that MOST of the KPB has suffered from beetle kill (Spruce beetle) and huge fires the last few years and projections are that they wont get any easier. Revenue is down state wide and both KPB and MSB have some sort of sales tax in spots (Palmer & Wasilla in the MSB), I'm not sure on the KPB but cities can levy sales taxes and often do.

The only real "freedom" that you seem to want to be able to live would be Glennallen, (population 411)  Tok (population 1289) or Delta Junction (993) but those temps out there are HORRIBLE even for us that live here and honestly they can be prickly about outsiders. Expect sub freezing temps Late Sept till Late April in that region or a little longer depending on the winter

Honestly to move here buy land and live like you want LOW end estimate is 300,000-400,000 and thats cutting close if you intend to build anything other than buying a double wide trailer. Alaska is not like the TV shows those of us who have lived here years have seen the steady train of texans and louisiana folks move here in 2006-2010 when the economy slowed down in the lower 48 and they are the first ones leaving. I've been here 28 years and I can tell you in 5 years 6 months I am gone.

One thing that is serious like Les Paul mentioned above is medical, many insurance companies now will send people to Seattle for non emergency surgeries because its considerably cheaper to do it. Medical costs have done an up and down for a bit. 20 years ago going south for medical was a thing, then it became more affordable now its hit or miss.