Delusions of grandeur... or maybe just delusional.

I have a HUGE fascination with shows about Alaska. Don't ask me how it came about but anything with Alaska in the title gets my full, undivided attention. You might think that I grew up in a cold climate and went hunting with my grandfather, so watching these shows brings me back to my childhood. While that would be a very creative and unique story, that's not me. I grew up in south Florida where the temperature never drops below 50 degrees in the "winter" for about a day or two.

I guess the reason why I love these shows is because it's on the complete opposite end of my experience spectrum. My family started to become seriously concerned when more and more shows were being added to my watch list. What they were thinking was Uh we are NOT moving to Alaska and you need to stop watching these shows. I can't help it!

This show started it all for me. I was hooked after one episode. The show centers around the Kilcher family (the singer Jewel's family) and their homesteading ways. The men are hunting, the women are fishing and gardening and all of this is in a hurried rush to be ready for winter. I will admit that once you've watched one season there's no reason to watch another because the premise is the same. Hunt, hunt, hunt so that the freezer gets stocked before winter. That's all. But it's fun to watch the family dynamics.

Now THIS is my show. It follows four to five people and their families through day to day life in or near the arctic circle. Between hunting, fishing, keeping warm and simply living each day of their lives feels like complete exhaustion to me. I couldn't survive one day. Simple survival techniques that are second nature to them make me say, "Wow! So that's what I would have to do in that situation." Granted I would never be in any of these situations because I wouldn't be living in Alaska. Sue Aikens is by far my favorite person.

 



These shows are one in the same, House Hunters but exclusively in Alaska. Families have three choices of homes and they pick one. Not all that intricate of a plot but it's interesting to see what you can buy in the 49th state. I have this romantic idea of moving to Alaska and buying a home on a couple of acres, having a farm and living off the grid. Of course I have never lived in a cold climate, on a farm or off the grid so there are some serious holes in my plan.

Take the Amazing Race, keep it in Alaska and replace the boring contestants with bad asses and you have this show. This show only has two seasons but you can tell that it has grown in popularity. Each team is dropped off at a starting point and has to make it to the pick-up spot in a certain amount of days. If a team doesn't get there in time then that team is eliminated. Pretty simple. But what isn't simple is how they get from point A to point B. Anytime I have some slight idea that I could survive not only in Alaska but the wilderness, this show softly pats me on the head and whispers no you can't.