These are illustrative stories — composites drawn from the kinds of moves Alaskans make every year, written to show what the decision and the logistics actually look like. Names and details are not real people. Have your own story? Share it with us.
We'd had enough of the cold, so we decided to move in January. In hindsight, that was exactly backward. We were trying to escape winter by moving in the worst of it.
Everything was harder. The movers charged a winter surcharge, and I understood why when their truck didn't want to start on loading day. The house took months to sell, because almost nobody tours a house in the dark at 20 below. We carried two homes for longer than we'd planned.
The one thing we did right was hiring a licensed interstate mover rather than a one-man outfit someone recommended at church. We looked them up on the FMCSA website, checked that they were registered for interstate moves, and got everything in writing. Our goods arrived in Phoenix intact.
For the car, we drove down to the ferry terminal and took the Alaska Marine Highway to Bellingham, then drove the rest of the way south. It was a strange, slow, lovely way to leave — watching the coast go by, knowing we weren't coming back to live.
What we hadn't planned for was the PFD. Eligibility depends on residency for the whole qualifying year, and with our move date we lost it. That one stung, because it was entirely avoidable with a little reading.
We love Phoenix. We just wish we'd gotten here in September.
Guides for a move like this
Planning a move like this?
Build a dated, week-by-week roadmap for your move. Or tell us about your move and we'll connect you with independently licensed, FMCSA-registered interstate movers, who give the quotes.