Christmas in Alaska
Seasonal Life
But for some, the end of one summer just signals the beginning of another.
Jamie Reed, a 31-year-old server at Annabelle’s Chowder House and Andrew Meehan, a 34-year-old charter fisherman at Knudson Cove Marina, will leave Ketchikan at the end of the season and travel to Rincón, Puerto Rico, where they’ll spend the winter working on the island’s seasonal schedule.
The pair have been working seasonally in Puerto Rico for around a decade, but only relatively recently added Ketchikan to their rotation.
Meehan’s uncle fishes near Homer, and had told Meehan for years he needed to experience Alaska. Eventually, the timing worked out and he accepted a job offer at Knudson Cove.
Reed said she had a friend who came to Alaska in the ‘90s and talked it up.
“She said it was the greatest time she ever had, the most money she ever made,” Reed said. “When I started dating Andrew, (seeing Alaska) was something I had always wanted to do.”
So the pair landed in Ketchikan. With packed summer schedules, they haven’t been able to explore outside of the First City.
But, the two said they’ve grown to love this corner of Southeast Alaska.
“We love the mountains, the terrain, the rainforest and the fishing,” Meehan said.
Reed agreed, saying she always enjoys fishing as well as hiking with their dog, Mofi.
“My favorite day in Ketchikan was walking up to the (Ketchikan Public) Library,” Reed said, “and then do the Rainbird Trail and walk down and get a coffee and watch the floatplanes in the Safeway parking lot.”
Though Ketchikan’s extracurriculars are nice, there’s also an economic factor for the two to enjoy their time here. Alaska’s summer season lasts months — much, much longer than the paltry six-week summer working seasons found elsewhere in the United States. A longer season equals more money.
“Here, there’s so much more work available,” Reed said. “…I thought about staying in Puerto Rico year-round for about five minutes. It’s very quiet and there’s no waves (in the winter).”
“If you can’t work and you can’t do your hobbies, what’s the point?” she added.
Meehan said that work in Alaska is “fast and furious.” Work started early for them this year, as the two came up in March to finish rebuilding Meehan’s charter boat — a 1969 Uniflite that they finished in late April.
“We had to breathe a lot of life back into it,” he said.
The two get questions from their customers about their lifestyle. It’s part of the job, but getting the same questions over and over again from clients does grow tiresome, they said.
“I love the tourists when I’m at work and I love not seeing them when I’m not at work,” Reed said.
But, once things begin to get slow in Ketchikan, the couple heads off to Puerto Rico. Though globetrotting might seem like a constant whirlwind of change, Reed said it’s actually a fairly stable way to live.
“I’m gonna live in the same place, work in the same place,” she said. “It’s not as adventurous as people make it seem on Instagram … None of us would say our life is very ‘free.’”
Meehan added that he liked always having something to look forward to.
“As soon as it starts to get dull, you’re moving on,” he said.
While many aspects of the seasonal lifestyle are appealing, there are some challenges. Reed said she’s lost or forgotten items in Puerto Rico that she needed in Alaska — like her favorite fishing sweater. Leaving one town or the other the moment they get comfortable also can be jarring, she said.
Meehan echoed that sentiment and added that finding appropriate housing that allows them to vacate the property for months but still store their stuff was difficult.
“Housing is something you don’t want to take for granted if you find something good,” he said.
Crossing the country twice a year can be exhausting, but the pair find comfort and rejuvenation in the few weeks they spend visiting Reed’s family in Maryland, where she is from.
“I drop everything off, get myself reset,” Reed said. “That’s my home. Summer or winter (jobs) can always change … (Hampstead, Maryland) is my home base.”
Meehan also has family in the area and uses that time to visit them, though he doesn’t visit his home state of Florida.
“My mom passed away four years ago this fall,” he explained. “So I don’t go back there anymore. Puerto Rico feels more like home than anywhere else over the past decade. I’ve spent significantly more time there.”
After family and hometown friends are visited, hugged, and parted with, it’s time to pack and head out to work again.
“That may be the hardest thing about the lifestyle,” Reed said. “It’s everything all at once, and then it’s nothing.”
“I have a hard time coming down from working like that,” she added.