"So, are there jobs in Alaska?"...... Well, that depends.... it depends on what you want to do in Alaska and where you want to do it. Tourism, oil, and fishing are all major industries in Alaska. And of course, we need healthcare workers, teachers, and every other job that a state in the Lower 48 would need.... and obviously, jobs are easier to find in bigger cities than in remote areas.

If you have been thinking of moving to Alaska and have been looking at monster.com or some other job board, you might be missing a lot of information. Try visiting Alaska's Job Bank, and don't forget to peruse the online classifieds in the major papers for Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau or the Kenai Peninsula.

And if you still don't see something you like, do a little online research and contact a company directly. For instance, if you know you want to live in Fairbanks and want to work in the healthcare field, use online yellowpages to find clinics, hospitals, etc and look at the job postings on their website or contact them and let them know you are looking for a position. Who knows? Something might be open that is not advertised.

"Isn't it dark all the time in Alaska?" is another question I get. And the answer is "no". Yes, there are some towns in the very northern regions of Alaska that experience a lot of darkness, but I live on the Kenai Peninsula and the worst of the darkness is in December, where it will get light out at 9:30 am and it is dark by 4:30. But, on December 21 we start gaining sunlight, a few minutes at a time each day, but it adds up fast. By the end of February it will get light out at 8am and it won't get dark till about 7:30 or 8pm. And by the end of April, well, it is light out at 5am and it doesn't get dark till after 11pm and then it is light for most of the summer... and some people are going to ask "don't you get sick of that?". The answer is "NO - I love it!". You always have energy and there is nothing like seeing a bright, blazing sun at midnight! Use this tool to track the sunrise and sunset times for various places in Alaska.

One of the main questions I get is "is it cold in Alaska?".... well, sometimes, yes, it is. Sometimes it is cold everywhere. But remember, that Alaska is B-I-G. And what the weather forecast holds for my town will be totally different for another part of Alaska. Use this tool to find out what the weather is, no matter what part of Alaska you are curious about!

The Alaska Zoo, located in Anchorage, is, to many people's surprise, open year round. If you can't make it up here any time soon, ou can take a virtual tour here. Don't forget to stop by the Live Polar Bear Cam. You may be surprised to find out the zoo houses exotic animals such as tigers, elephants, leopards and camels as well as native species such as moose, reindeer, musk oxen, dall sheep, harbor seals, bear, artic fox and more. You can buy calendars, watches, and other unique Alaskan gifts at the online gift shop.