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Dear David and Lara,

I am looking into a job opportunity in Fairbanks and therefore have been looking into housing options in the area. I am very intrigued by this idea of a cabin, however, I have what might be a silly question. Clearly a decent number of people live in these dry cabins, but I'm having problems understanding the lifestyle. I mean, if you bathe, how do you do so? Are there outhouses as bathrooms? Do you purchase gallons of water to, say, boil water to cook pasta? I'm sure these are annoying questions, but I'm am very curious about how this all works. And if it sounds feasible for me, I may consider living in a cabin.

Thanks.

 

Thanks for your inquiry.  Your questions are not annoying at all, you're not the first to wonder.  Our lifestyle is a bit different from most people's, although dry cabins are quite common here.  I found your "if you bathe" to be amusing, as it isn't too far off for some cabin dwellers.  Really, though, most of us do bathe regularly, and we do so at a number of places.  I prefer to shower at the university, where there are a number of places to go.  Nearly every laundromat also has showers available, and there is one of those about 2 miles away.  Some people are fortunate to have showers available where they work.  Yes, most dry cabins have an outhouse--ours are even lighted!  :). Our cabins new downtown Fairbanks have a community bathhouse with private showers, toilets and a common sink.

 

The cabins we built each have a dry sink, which drains through the wall to the outdoors. The rentals we purchased have been remodeled to include sinks with drain buckets, although those have a community bathhouse.

 

You haul your water from somewhere, using 5 gallon water jugs sold for camping.  Some people use new gas cans, but personally I don't prefer drinking water from something labelled "gasoline", even if it has never been used for that.  Water can be obtained from a number of sources.  Most people patronize a local business called the Water Wagon, where you pull your vehicle up to a pump, plug in some coins, and fill your jugs with a nozzle like gas stations have.  This is cheap (less than $0.03 per gallon).  We get our water from a public well called Fox Spring.  The water is excellent, and free, but it is a longer drive.  Other people fill their jugs at laundromats or at work.

 

Once you are used to it, the lifestyle is not particularly difficult.  Living without running water does save about $300-$400 per month in rent, and that is why it is as common as it is.

 

Let me know if I can answer any other questions.

 

David

Yes, this is a real letter, in case you were wondering.