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I graduate Wheaton College in May and then I’m off to an undetermined location to work with a tech startup. I hope this posts finds everyone well. I can be reached via e-mail (teddy[at]colle.ge) or Twitter (@teddy). Feel free to contact me anytime!

In other news, I have been racking up the frequent flier miles.  I’ve done two trans-atlantic flights from LHR-EWR in the past couple of weeks and a trip to Istanbul in between.  Istanbul is an unbelievable city.  It was a shocking experience being amongst 13 million people, yet everyone I met was incredibly friendly and welcoming.  I had the experience of crossing from Europe into Asia, all whilst staying in the same country.  Checked off another continent!  I stayed in my friend’s apartment, which is right off of İstiklal Avenue, the bustling center of the Beyoğlu district, and in very close proximity to Taksim Square.  It is truly a city that never sleeps.  Vendors selling rice, kebabs, and delicious Islak Burgers, can be found at all hours.  The cultural dynamic is quite phenomenal as vestiges of the Ottoman Empire still are quite prominent.  I’m back in the states at the moment, visiting New York, Boston, and Maine.  Back to London next week to start preparing for exams! Wish me luck.

Stay tuned!

I snapped this shot on a solo hike up past Atigun Pass. Despite hitchhiking 7 miles in the cold morning rain/snow before snagging a ride ~100 miles South back to Coldfoot, it was a wonderful hike. That area is so beautiful and it really made an impact on me.

I am still deciding what to do this summer. Exciting things are happening with LiberalArtsColleges.com and EngineeringColleges.com so I might flock to San Francisco and Silicon Valley or maybe even Silicon Alley (New York City). We shall see.

Check there for an update.

Due to the response I had last year from Sukakpak applicants seeking more information, I have added a Formspring.me widget to the sidebar. This will allow you to ask me or others in a public forum questions about working at Coldfoot or even in Alaska in general. Hey, it can be completely unrelated if you want. You can visit the question and answer forum at http://www.formspring.me/ted0

I hope this helps! Feedback is more than welcome.

These two photos are HDR (high dynamic range) captures that I took to attempt to portray the vibrant autumn colors in the Arctic.

The temperature was dropping and snow fell soon after my departure.  My next stop was Southeast Alaska.  I stayed in Juneau for 4 nights in a wonderful home overlooking snowcapped mountains and the bay.

I spent a lot of time just relaxing in the little cruise ship town of Juneau.  On one of my final days, I kayaked around in Mendenhall Lake and hiked out to the glacier.

I flew out of Juneau and spent my final day in Alaska in another little cruise ship town, Ketchikan.  A local Couchsurfer was nice enough to pick me up on the side of the road (literally) and show me around.  It’s a very cool little town that is VERY busy in the summer and early fall.  I saw salmon going upstream to spawn, several incredible totem polls, and met some great locals.

Like Juneau, you can only access Ketchikan by plane and boat.  You even need to take a ferry from the airport to the mainland.  The fairy ride lasts all of about 45 seconds.

From Ketchikan, I flew to Seattle and then straight home to Boston.

By the way, I am actually writing this post in London.  It’s been almost a month since I have been out of Alaska but it’s been very busy.  I am all settled in at the LSE, after adjusting (for the most part) to an incredibly different environment that is the bustling city of London.

All in all, in conclusion, it was a very different summer from 2009. I did a lot more exploring, covered thousands of air miles, and had a much more intensive job.  I dabbled in capturing Alaska with my DSLR, which really enriched my experience, being able to not only document my travels but to experiment with an art form.  I met a lot of great people who I will likely stay in touch with for an unforeseen amount of time thanks to Facebook and other social media tools.

As to the future of my blog,  who knows, maybe I will keep you updated on my travels in Europe.  Regardless, I hope that WhileInAlaska.com serves as a resource to educate seasonal workers on the culture in the Arctic.    On a final note, thank you Chad (Coldfoot Camp Coordinator), Brett Carlson, and all of the Sukakpak family for another excellent summer!

Pilot John Sharkey and I went to Pepe’s North of the Border for a ridiculously overpriced Mexican meal in Barrow. It’s amazing that there is a REAL Mexican restaurant in the the northernmost city in North America with Mexican employees! There is also at least one Japanese restaurant with Japanese employees!

Sharkey and I opted not to pay the 100-some-odd dollars for the tour and instead gave ourselves our tour through Barrow. We took the essential picture under the whale bones by the Arctic Ocean.

Sharkey took it a step further and decided to dive into the water.

Here is a video of his crazy antics:

[click to play]

Barrow as a whole is very much a shanty town with an odd social structure. A majority of the native population in Barrow doesn’t work and receives large subsidies from the government, while most of the workers are either from different countries or researchers. The houses are dilapidated and people pay exorbitant amounts to import vehicles into Barrow to drive around on the ~2 miles of road.