Alaskan Wild

Hi, it's me. Remember how I started this whole blog thing because I was moving to Ecuador? Well, there've been a few changes. You may have noticed the new banner at the top of the page, the new buttons down the side. Ecuatoria has undergone a facelift.

Ecuatoria has moved to Alaska.

You may be thinking, "wait, wasn't I just reading about the Amazon Rainforest?" or "did she seriously just move from the equator to the arctic?" or "I like turtles." Whatever you're actually thinking, it's true that you, me, we all are about to undergo some considerable cultural and climatic changes. Here are the facts:

1) I'm living in Alaska until the end of September.

2) I'm working at a resort lodge nestled deeeep in the wilderness.

3) Seriously, we barely get any wifi out here.

Living in Alaska has been an ambition of mine ever since my family moved to Florida over a decade ago. Now, I love Florida, but it has no mountains (unless you count golf courses), and it has weird seasons (hurricane season, lovebug season, summer, and this weird sunshiny-autumn-spring thing that occurs in the winter months). This inspired in me a fascination of all things Alaska. I checked out all the books on Alaska from our library (this was before the invention of the internet), collected pictures and postcards, talked to anyone who had lived there. And I determined I would someday traverse those wild, rugged slopes that dominated the Land of the Midnight Sun.

Or something like that.

So here I am. It's cold in Alaska. And rainy. Fruit is pricy. We're told never to walk alone because we might get mauled by a bear. There's no wifi. Also…there's no wifi.

However, the wildlife is incredible, the mountain ranges are spectacular (they're much bigger than golf courses), the people are super friendly and tight-knit, and I love it here! I love my coworkers and my job. I love that someone cooks my meals for me. I love that I can step out my front door and find myself surrounded by soaring, snow-capped peaks, or listen to the crystalline river, or watch a bald eagle navigate the cloud-swept sky. Everything here is huge, wild and rustic. The air smells of pine. The sun never seems to set. Welcome to summer in Alaska.