Introduction

POSTED BY IN Featured Posts, Travel @ June 24, 2011 - 10:46 am

I was recently in our glorious capital of Washington, DC, where, after explaining all of the crazy adventures I have been on over the last couple of years, multiple people voiced the statement, “Oh wow you’re such a free spirit.”  When I was on the train speeding away from the mighty District of Columbia, I thought about this statement.  Am I really “such a free spirit?”  I must say I disagree.  A free spirit brings to mind, at least in my opinion, images of dancing hippies and laid-back surfer bros…people who seem to not sweat the small stuff, nor care about the future or past.  They live in the moment and don’t have a care in the world, well, except maybe where their next camping spot will be or the next big break.  I, Tucker Vest Burton, am not a free spirit.   Like most people, I stress about the future, I pay too much attention to silly small things, and I freak out about the unknown even though I seem to continually throw myself into it.   Personally, I think a more correct statement should go something like this, “Oh wow you are such an adventurous and wandering soul.”  Yep that’s what it is, and for the most part this statement seems to trump everything else, including all the anxieties that come with moving to a new place.  So that seems to be the reason why I decided to move to Homer, Alaska.

“Why Alaska, or more specifically, why Homer?” seemed to be the most consistently asked question when I told people about the big move.  Well, from just using the standard expansive search engine Google, it seemed to me that Homer was, first off, flat out gorgeous.  We are talking Alaska at its best, what with the glistening Kachemak Bay in the foreground lapping up on the doorstep of the small town which is then overlaid with an utterly stunning backdrop of snow caped jagged peaks looming in the horizon and dappled with several oozing glaciers sliding down their serrated faces. Combine that all together and you pretty much have our natural world at it’s finest.  Secondly, Homer is known to have the best weather, as far as towns go, on the Kenai Peninsula.  Coming from sunny Colorado, better weather is always a huge flashing green sign in my book.  Lastly, Homer, from what I collected, seems to be a happening tourist spot in the summer, which could potentially turn into more available employment positions.

So with the knowledge that Homer, Alaska was the place of the hour, well at least in the eyes of me and my two best friends Mimi and Evan, who had both decided to take the plunge with me, the big move was officially finalized and the date set for the 31st of May.  Under the name Team Alaska, the three of us decided that by far the best way to move North would be to road trip it up so as to fully experience everything the big move has to offer.  So with only a one-way plane ticket booked for Seattle, Washington (our starting point for the road trip), and the wisdom that I was going to do everything in my power to make the move a reality and a success, we set in motion our adventure of a lifetime!

Over the summer, I hope to share with the TRA (The Real Alaska) readers, my entire experience/gained knowledge of moving to and living in Alaska.  This will include my road trip up, finding a job/housing, and all of the crazy adventures that I hope to embark upon over the next couple of months.  The goal is to ultimately create a collection of not only interesting and entertaining stories about Alaska, but to also create a knowledgeable database for those that are curious about this magnificent, vast state.  I am incredibly excited to be writing for TRA, and I hope that you, as a reader, will be enthralled, inspired, and informed about everything that this great state has to offer!