High Tide Homestead participates in affiliate programs and may earn commissions from qualifying purchases on this post. See our Disclosure page for more information.
As always, we have big goals and bigger dreams for our lives in Alaska. Life off grid is not an easy feat and every year what we want and need seems to change. Looking at how far we come and how far we have yet to go can overwhelm at times, and writing these yearly goal lists help us keep everything manageable. And that remains true even when we don’t accomplish everything we wanted. That said, we have a couple hold over goals for 2020, just like we did last year. But first, a recap of how we did with goals from 2019.
2019 Goals
1. Purchasing a Fishing Permit – DONE!
A fishing permit provides us with income and food. So we got one in 2019, along with a boat, nets and all the other necessary gear. Then we went one step further and bought a whole second permit. This one comes with a beach side fish camp, cabin, boat, nets and any other things we need to fish. We’ll be seeing a lot of salmon in the 2020 season!
2. Spending More Time Hunting and Fishing
As I expected, we cut this back to just fishing. Our first season as set netters took a lot out of us. Plus, two young kids and the cabin addition and we were wiped! We did have a legal bull moose walk right through our yard during moose season for the second year in a row, though. Maybe we’ll be ready for a moose hunt in 2020.
3. Preserving More Food
I managed to can a bunch of salmon, and some caribou friends gifted us. I even canned some dog food with the scraps while I was at it.
4. Getting Equipment Out to Our Place and Clearing Land
I was right about this being pushed from the agenda for 2019. Large machinery is expensive.
5. Finding Our Property Markers – Done(ish)!
We actually used a free Android app called HuntStand for this. We tested it several times in town with friends properties that we knew the (rough) corners of. It turned out to be pretty spot on. So we found the rough corners of our land with it. Now we just need to get a metal detector and dig through 40+ years of vegetative growth to get to the markers themselves.
6. Getting a High Tunnel (Amazon link)
This one did not happen this year. We were much too busy to worry about a garden. It ended up being a good thing though as we had a serious drought this summer and I would not have been able to keep up with watering without a well.
7. Purchasing a Beach Truck – Done!
So this was actually a 2018 goal that we struck from the 2019 list. Well, guess what? It happened anyway! Turns out our trusty Ford Ranger couldn’t handle the weight of the fish we caught. So we purchased Big Red, a 1972 Ford 150 Highboy. Plenty of clearance for rocks on the beach, and lots of hauling capacity.
8. Cut and Mill Lumber in Preparation for Building Our New Cabin
This went the way of adding an addition to our current cabin instead. Maybe next year!
9. Lowering Our Carbon Footprint
Anything we did to lower our carbon footprint in 2019 ended up negated by too much traveling. There will be less of that in 2020 for sure, and also more tree planting!
New Realizations from 2019
After a lot of reflection on the last few years in Alaska, we’ve made some realizations. Those realizations are leading to our goals for 2020.
Realization #1
Even off grid, life with two kids is expensive. So rather than selling only to commercial cannery buyers, we plan to branch out and sell our salmon directly to consumers and businesses. We’ll be catching more salmon with two permits, and selling directly will allow us a more stable income throughout the season.
Realization #2
Because we live so far from the road, often things get pushed off because they need more than one person to complete. Even if it’s just one person to watch the girls while the other works. So, for 2020 we are talking with some of our family about potentially moving out to our place and sharing in this adventure with us.
Realization #3
We’d be okay with more land. I know it seems like we haven’t done much with what we have, but most of that is because we can’t decide how to split up our current acreage in a way that is convenient but still affords privacy. Especially with the plan for family to move out for a bit. Everything I’ve been keeping an eye on is way outside our reach financially. But I’m hopeful that the right thing will come along when we are ready.
New Goals for 2020
Our goals for 2020 include:
- Expanding our salmon business
- Keeping an eye out for a larger plot of land
- Inviting some family to move out with us
- Clearing and utilizing the land we have better
- Planting a bunch of trees.
- And just because I can, I’d like to finish and publish a few more books I’m working on next year!
 |
 |
 |
Last but not least, Realization #4
I hate traveling. I don’t like planes, crowds, or spending so much time away from home. The only thing I like about traveling is getting to see the family at the end of it. That said, 2020 is the year of “Everyone else can come to me.” Kyle can take the girls to visit family any time he wants, but I’ll be parking my butt at home. So see you all in Alaska!
High Tide Homestead participates in affiliate programs and may earn commissions from qualifying purchases on this post. See our Disclosure page for more information.
I read your whole blog this weekend. I am in the middle of negotiating for a job in Anchorage and stumbled across your story. <3 You are amazing. Are you in the Winter 2020 edition of the The New Pioneer or the Fall 2019?
Thank you! We are in the Winter 2020 edition 😊