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by jwdunne 1686 days ago
Staying in a tent for 2 months in Alaska sounds extremely painful. How did you cope with that?
2 comments

Alaska is huge, and has a wide variety of living conditions throughout the year. I live in southeast AK, and our winters are really mild because we're on the Pacific coast. Our summers are 50s and 60s, occasionally getting into the 70s (F). Our winters are 30s and 40s, occasionally dipping into the 20s. The hardest part about living in a tent here in the summer is the presence of brown bears, and the long periods of rainy days.

In other parts of AK it regularly gets into the 80s in the summertime. In many of those parts one of the hardest parts about living in a tent is the bugs.

The summers in Juneau are super comfortable.

In the area I set up my tent, I found many tents from previous campers-- transient laborers and fishermen I imagine.

Meals: Had fridge space at company's lunch room. I'd arrive early and have breakfast there, and lunch as well. For dinner, a Trangia camping stove and simple meals (canned soup; mixed vegetable & sausage soup; instant noodles, etc.)... or sometimes splurge and buy decent fresh, ready-to-eat food at a grocery store (such as a chicken/vegetable meal).

Showers: the local indoor public pool's locker room

Bathroom: At work. Train yourself to systematically drop #2 in the morning like clockwork, and everything else is a breeze. Disposable wet-wipes to reduce the need to shower.

Dating: I actually met a rock climbing/wilderness medicine instructor lady at a bar who was interested in checking out my tent and she even spent the night. Whereas, a different women, when she heard I was temporarily staying in a tent, lost all interest in me (I don't blame her-- totally normal).

All in all, I suffered some depression, social isolation, and general lifestyle inconvenience. But looking back, it sure helped me get through my graduate statistics course! "If I can live in that tent in Juneau on the mountainside, I can get through this stats course"