Fairbanks and North Pole! I’d go back in a heartbeat.

Grew up in Maine, left shortly after college, spent two years in Alaska.

People in Alaska asked me about Maine and I said in some ways, Alaska was like Maine on steroids. Bigger mountains (and mountains EVERYWHERE), more wilderness, bigger, fewer people, moose are more prevalent, and 1,000,000 times more mosquitoes.

I’d take an Alaskan winter over a Maine winter any day. As a teacher, we went to recess to 20 below. You could NOT do that in Maine! The interior of AK is dry and there’s minimal wind, so even 50 or 60 below is bearable for transitions in the right gear… which is wild. Plus… the northern lights!

Lakes? Maine wins. Alaska has swimmer’s itch which I hadn’t heard of before (maybe Maine does too). Snowmobiling? Maine wins for me; Alaskans call it snow machining, and the snow is mostly powder and mountain trails. Which some may prefer but I missed trail riding on a less sporty sled.

That being said, they both have their special things and differences. I love both, and think they’d get along pretty well tbh. That’s my take at least from living in the interior. Ask someone from a village or from anchorage and you may get a different response.