It's very common. Not everyone lives that way. But many people do. Lots of people haul their own water, and use outhouses. My son's dad pays $800/m for a dry cabin. Which is the cheapest place around. Minimum for a studio/1bm with water is 1100/m
Because they are in an area where a lot of people don’t have running water so it makes A LOT of sense when you think about it! The laundromat has lots of hot water heaters AND you have all that time to kill in between loads anyway. I think it’s freakin PERFECT!
Makes me think of some of the more basic campgrounds, especially up towards the mountains. Lots of people with 1-2 room hunting cabins or using tents/small trailers that don't have many luxuries so there will be showers and washers together.
That's why building standards are different in Alaska than most of the lower 48. We run heat tape with our water lines to keep the water lines clear, but we also bury our lines to a depth that once the snow falls the cold doesn't penetrate the ground that deep. Insulation goes a looong way to protect water and septic.
That's why building standards are different in Alaska than most of the lower 48. We run heat tape with our water lines to keep the water lines clear, but we also bury our lines to a depth that once the snow falls the cold doesn't penetrate the ground that deep. Insulation goes a looong way to protect water and septic.
What you say is true, but I'm in Fairbanks, my system went down a couple weeks ago and I know from talking to the plumbers that after out cold spell many systems went down. I've got heat tape and everything else, but mother nature finds a way to win eventually. Just the super cold water coming from my underground tank puts a strain on things. @@GaiusGear
As a note for the non-Alaskans, dry cabins are pretty common in large parts of Alaska, but in South Central (Anchorage area) and I believe South East (Juneau and the panhandle), there are running water systems. Many of them wells and septic tanks, I grew up in a neighborhood in Palmer (near Anchorage) which was entirely fed by a shared well and we each had our own septic tanks
I lived in a dry cabin back in 1989 for about a month. It was not the worst, but my bride of 3 days was not happy about getting off the plane to it. I had a friend with a shower and there were times when we would trade dinner for a shower.
Like why was she not happy about this, did you guys not talk about the factor that the place didnt have a shower? If my new husband took me to a place with no shower for our honeymoon without asking me first, I'd honestly be so disappointed in him
Maybe it's having a period (and associated diarrhea) that makes it hit different when you're a woman. But It sounds like she was really in love. I'd never consider living in a home with no indoor plumbing
@@vickimerchlewitz Yes! It is a small world! I also ended up with a cat named Kahlua that he had. She was white with black spots like a Holstein cow. The cat loved to sit on my lap and listen to Pink Floyd’s dark side of the moon!
@@bananabrain364 The reason we did not talk about it was I was unaware it did not have running water. Long story short, We were staying with my brother and he said the cabin was rustic. I thought, oh, It was a single dude’s place and may be it needed a few pictures on the wall, the reloaded taken off the table, a TV! At the time I experienced a little culture shock, but I am better for it!
I have always considered hot showers a total luxury and l appreciate them soooo much since in my childhood we would warm up water on the stove. I’m thankful every day for them, and for every comfort I enjoy these days. 🙏 ❤
Our water heater didn’t work growing up (I’m just under 40, so not that long ago) and showers were a miserable 3-5 minute affair. Experiencing unlimited hot water in college was so amazing. Even now I’ll have moments of amazement on how luxurious and sometimes even overindulging access to running hot water is.
Same lol That's why I'd never willingly put myself in a place like that. The USA is the best country in the world and I can find a better place than Alaska lol
My family never had a shower growing up, baths only. A lot of times warmed up with water from stove. Once I moved out, I've been showers only. I haven't taken a bath in 15 years. Once I bought a house, I had the tub removed for a walk-in shower.
I have a rechargeable camp shower. Warm bucket of water toss it in. It pumps water to a spray nozzle. You would just need somewhere with a drain. I'm lazy and antisocial so I would do anything not to have to go somewhere to shower.
It would drive me crazy to not be able to take a hot bath or shower at the end of a long shift. Weve had plumbing issues and things over the years that left us showering at work or other houses, we had an ice storm several years ago and had no electric for 2 weeks, and it got old really fast.
@@TrixieKaren I could handle that. I've heated up bath water on a wood stove when pipes have been frozen or whatever. I used to love to cook on my wood stove too. It's the whole having to go elsewhere and maybe dealing with people when I just need a 10 minute shower that bothers me.
@user-oy3yo7qe6o if you're calling me rich, you're sadly mistaken. I'm at poverty level while working a full time job and taking all the overtime I can get. Being annoyed I had to heat up water or leave my house to shower is not the biggest problem in the world, I know. Still, it would drive me crazy to live in a dry house.
That was the best day of the week, driving an hour south into Fairbanks to get the water tank filled, do laundry, and take a shower! We’d hit Fred Meyer for groceries and a fancy fast food lunch then wander back home.
I live in Fairbanks too and yes, running water is a very very nice thing to have up here. When I lived in a dry cabin, I would shower at my families houses, the laundry mat or the gym. It really gives you a whole new appreciation for water.
Thank you for explaining what a dry cabin is in this video! I’ve seen a few of your videos, but I kept assuming it had something to do with sober living because I’d never heard the term elsewhere.
I did the dry cabin life in Fairbanks from 1989-1994. Loved it! I recognized Goldstream Valley, B n C laundromat. We showered at Mary Siah center. Plus west ridge had showers in Most buildings. And Wood Center. Lived in fbx for 31 years. Had a 26-year music teaching career. Lost my job to Covid. came back To the Midwest With my two boys. I miss Alaska so much. Thanks for sharing.
Boondocking in and RV I had daily sponge baths with a fresh washcloth (each time) soaked in alcohol. It’s no substitute for the feel of running water but it left me feeling really clean when I was done.
This is the first time I’ve come across your channel and I didn’t know where you lived, but I knew that road was in Fairbanks right away 🤣 I lived in Fairbanks for 19 years, moved to upstate NY almost 5 years ago. My family is still there so I visit almost every year. It looks like you have made a beautiful life there, happy to see a content creator spreading some love about my home town ❤️
When I go to my dry cabin in Minnesota in the winter I fill a 3 gallon garden sprayer with warm water and use that while sitting in a 50 gallon plastic tote. The closest public shower is at a gym about 45 minutes away. It isn't ideal but actually feels pretty good.
My pipes busted this winter and in order to bathe,I also use a garden pump sprayer. Heat water and add to.Its amazing that I can be clean from top to bottom in less than 2 gallons.
A 50 gallon tub is similar to a Japanese soaking tub. I live in an apartment and have a 35 gallon tote in the bathtub. I fill that up for baths instead of the tub. I just had a bath/soak in it. I love it 'cause it's cozy 😊. It's the next best thing to a Japanese soaking tub 👍
@@Eliz2011abcomg thank you for this I’ve been trying to convince my apartment to let me pay to have one of those elderly bathtubs with the door on the side installed over my tub because I want to be able to soak. This is a much cheaper and easier solution
In my cottage in Canada, I heat water on the stove then funnel it into a solar shower bag. I hang the bag up on a hook and stand in a plastic tub, which collects all the water. Then I just empty the dirty water out the door and I'm done, and clean!
When I went to Alaska, our tour guide to Denali talked about her dry cabin life, and she pointed out that the little store we stopped at had showers for people like her. Glad they have those for you!
Another option, is big buckets to stand in, and use ladles , sponges, cups to pour water over you. Have another bucket or three to rinse with clean water for feet.
An idea to your landlord to think about. Build a Finnish outdoor sauna on the proberty. There are saunastoves that have a water tank attached to it so while you are warming the sauna, it warms water too. You’d need to haul a little more water in the summer on a saunaday but in the winter you can melt snow to wash yourself. And of course you’ll need some firewood to heat up the stove. These types of saunas are very common in Finland at their summer cottages and many times they are even considered as ”dry cabins”. Ideal would be if there was a stream or lake nearby to get the water you need for washing.
I didnt know it had a name, but i live in a dry cabin. We live very remote, no grocery store kind of remote. Our neighbors garage has a shower that we use but i also have a chargeable shower head and large wash bucket if needed. I do have a kitchen sink worh running water.
I found out that my daughter follows you as well! Started a whole conversation; as we've done primitive and glamping and trying to find a comfortable middle ground. I like the shower in the laundromat; it seems practical; as they have a large hot water supply. I recall a several week long medieval event we attended on primitive lands; and the truckstop outside where we went for a hot shower and meal occasionally. Vikings, Romans and picts are a "seasonal" thing there. They know it's the end of summer when "we" show up.
The negative comments just come from folks who don’t understand, wouldn’t enjoy the dry cabin life, or don’t have the same goals as I do- so they don’t phase me! When I first heard of dry cabins I also didn’t think I’d be comfortable living in one but now I plan on purchasing or building my own. They make sense out here!
@@explaurmoreI hope mine didn't come off mean. I just really hate the cold and ran from it when I could. I also love hot showers so you lost me there lol For each their own I just wouldn't wanna do it unless no other choice. Best of luck
Until you have dealt with home ownership in our Alaskan winters, modern is not always easy. Currently our house has not had running water for 2 weeks. I've lived without running water for several years and it was a lot easier when it was the life you chose than when your water system goes out and the life is forced on you. If I'd not had kids I might have chosen to keep the dry cabin lifestyle for a bit longer as it is just one thing in the winter not to worry about.
I’m in an Alaskan dry cabin. I heat water in 4 gallon pot on wood stove. Use a wash cloth and skim off oils skin cells etc. use no soap except hair occasionally on tub on floor
I love there's a name for this. "Dry cabin" seems like a legit thing! I have lived in a dry cabin for almost a year now. Shower outside in the summer and at the local pool in winter (£1.20 which I think is amazingly cheap) I want to build an on site shower house but don't know where to build it, what to do about "heating" the water, where to drain it off to, but I'll get there! Love this channel same sort of living conditions but -2°C is about as cold as usually gets(but have seen -10! Lol)
The camping/survivalist/Temu websites have solar heated shower bags. Just leave it hanging where it’ll get sunlight & you can have hot water. Get some pallets as flooring or concert stepping stones and drainage pebbles and let the water filter back into your land.
Do you follow Simple Living Alaska? If not, maybe you should. They are great. They build a shower at their previous place that they moved from last year. Their old cabin already had an outhouse and they build a shower just outside their cabin. They filmed the whole process and there is also a video on how they heated it and all that.
Our well went dry and we were dry at the house for almost a year. We used a large stock pot to heat up water, let it cool down and then use a cup to get wet, soap up and rinse off. It worked, but it was cold standing in the shower just rinsing like that. 😂 But you make do. We had to drive to town once a week to fill out a 250 gallon tank in the back of our pickup.
That’s what I did in winter when I lived on a boat! My husband would fill 3 20 gallon plastic feed buckets from tractor supply and wheel 2 loads of water down the dock every few days and then use a motorized water pump to fill our 100-gallon on board tanks so that we had normal water all winter long, BUT when he got covid, I couldn’t manage that by myself. (I didn’t get sick since I was smart enough to get the vaccine, in case anyone is wondering, lol) Anyway, I would fill up 6 3-gallon spring water containers that I poked a hole in the top of. Wheel them to the boat and then heat my “bath water” on the stove. Then, get into my shower with about 3 pots of hot water and a cup! It worked and it actually felt pretty nice too. I have really thick, long hair too and I could even wash my hair like this. Although sometimes, I admit, I just said F it and drive to the truck stop to shower! 😂
I grew up the same way, out on a homestead with all kinds of animals and a big garden, and we had no running water for two and a half years after our well broke. Hauling water in the back of the suburban twice a week with some seriously back break and work for us kids. But, like you said, we made do and those boiled water, wash tub baths in a chily tile floor bathroom, we're all you needed to wake your butt up in the morning for school, lol.
So interesting and I thank you for sharing. Upside: you will never know water damage. 😀. Sounds kinda quaint and simple. And you look ahhhhmazingly zen. 😀
Nice to know!! I think other places should do that, especially when well water runs dry, and that happens in New England Area. Till the rain comes and fills them back up.
I lived on Sunny Slope Rd, off of Goldstream. It's a bit nostalgic watching your videos. Sometimes I miss that life, but I'm very grateful for indoor plumbing with my 3 kids!
OMG- I live in Fairbanks from March until October/November and live in a dry cabin as well off Goldstream road near Ivory Jacks area. I am a member of Planet Fitness and I take a shower there after a workout and I also shower at work as well.
You can use a bucket heater iand a Home Depot bucket. Buy a battery operated pump for camping shower. At least would have hot water. There’s also solar water bags.
Oh my goodness in my 26 years of life the thought of having to pay for a shower has never crossed my mind 😅😅 the way I would calmly boil my water and fill up a bucket maybe get a little creative and make a makeshift shower 😂
Anywhere outside city limits in Fairbanks is not on piped water. You either live in a dry cabin, have a well, or have water delivered to your house, or truck it yourself. To dig a well can cost 10-20 k. To get it delivered is anywhere from 8-10 cents per gallon, and to haul it yourself from locations around town that sell water in the same style as a gas station will run you 3 cents per gallon. At our house we had it delivered. at 10 cents per gallon you really think about what you are doing when you wash clothes, take a shower, flush a toilet, and cook.
What my Mom cared for her aging father..there was no bathroom plumbing. So for a year or two, I washed using a basin. Washed hair that way..everything. Closer to a bath than a shower..except not actually in the water. lol
I was living in a school bus in Fairbanks in 1976, I’m old. No running water, living near gold stream and talk about cold water. Had to truck gallons containers from gold stream to the bus allowing it to warmup to air temperature so I could wash my hair daily. I was 19. The mosquitoes I swear were bigger than birds, they really hurt when you got bit!
@@meredithgrubb4497Summers in Northern regions of the world are nightmarish from this point of view. Swarms of bugs and mosquitos circling around you like black clouds can kill a man if he is left unprotected outdoors.
2 five gallon buckets,a boats bilge pump,and a rv shower head and hose with the shutoff button to stop water flow,wire in a lightswitch to the pump,hook to a 12v battery,attach pickup hose to pump drop into bucket(heat water first) and you have a reliable shower if you have a shower stall or tub..
What about a tub. I'd get a nice antique, fill it with snow and light a small fire underneath. Just wait a while before you jump in. An old guy in Japan did this where I stayed. It was indoors too 😊
So fun fact. I used to go to the gym every morning (I work out outside since the pandy in 2020, so I gym less now) and I’d always just shower at the gym. My water bill dribbled down by well over half.
This immediately reminded me of living on a sailboat for a few Years (though, warm, not freezing lol). We had a little shower on the boat, but best option was when we would dock or get gas, those places would have showers and laundry rooms as well. There was like twice where we crossed paths with bigger boats that had more sophisticated ways, but we also helped smaller boats get their bodies washed as well, when we could. The first time my husband and I were at a rest stop and they had showers, I was so excited, and said I'd be right back! I took a quick shower and felt so relieved, while he was just completely dumbfounded that something like that would exist 😂 He gets it now, and is jealous of me 😂
Wow! The truck stop showers are $15 a pop!!! BUT, they also give them out free with each fuel fill-up and a lot of truckers don’t shower every time they fill up so I would just ask around and usually someone would give me their ticket. (I lived on a boat for 3 years in Maryland so in winter, I had to physically carry all of the water I used onto my boat so while showering was possible, it was way easier to just drive to the truck stop!) Yeah, the struggle is real, but just like boat-life, I’m sure living in a cabin in Alaska is well worth the trouble!
My elementary school teacher, husband and kids lived with a tribe somewhere very cold for at least 5 years. Water was brought to them in a barrel every few weeks, and they used it for cooking, bathing, washing dishes, and drinking.
Yes the water in Fairbanks can be awful, but just down the road outside of North Pole we had great well water. Oh, and those candy cane light poles in North Pole were my idea. ☺️
My friends are often single or without kids, so their single family home facilities aren’t getting family-level use. I don’t think that’s a concern amongst my folks!
Probably a dumb question, but, could someone get a water pump installed if they lived out there? Is there any water to be able to pump? If I had a cabin like that, I'd want to at the very least have a pump I could go to to get what water I needed for the house and I'm curious how that would work, of it would be possible, if it's too expensive etc.
That’s what you mean by dry cabin. I’ve seen many of your videos and this is the first one I’ve seen that fully explains what that means. At first I thought you meant alcohol free like the dry counties we have here
I live in a dry cabin in the woods of Louisiana. I usually get a shower at work and sometimes, I’ll use a bottle of water or catch rain water to wash my hair. I want to set up a rainfall tank to have water on always on hand. Dry living hasn’t really posed a problem. I’ve been doing it going on 3 yrs now.
You really should just make an inexpensive rain barrel. You can use a plastic trash can, flip the lid after drilling holes in it (you will need to attach a screen over the holes) but you would know that because, well, Louisiana 🤷♀️. Add a spigot with a hose bib. Voila. You can have a shower or bath. Just use the abundance of rain to your favor. I know people that use this kind of system to shower, water plants and provide water for pets. I have running water in my 100 year old house. It’s a municipal system. But I only have one hose spigot and it’s a pain to drag around a super long hose. So this works great.
So why do you, specifically you, live in Alaska? Looks like a cold, bleak, dark, not very clean life? I understand some people want to live off grid and away from society, but you don’t seem like that.
Hi, thanks for sharing your video giving us information about your life in Alaska. I was just wondering… Where do you get water for cooking or washing your hands? Just curious. Thank you for sharing your interesting videos with us.
I’ve spent many a hours in the laundry mat and shower room in Kenai. Our dry cabin is in the area between Coopers landing and Kenai. We have a shower here at our company’s complex but it’s scary and I’d rather use the laundry mat. I still love my dry cabin life though.
I work in land surveying! I had uploaded a video about but since this question got asked a number of times recently I uploaded it again today if you want to see some more specifics on it 😊
I work in land surveying! I came out here indefinitely. I plan to continue renting this cabin until I’ve saved up enough to buy a home/cabin of my own or until some other opportunity arises that I want to follow!
I never realized that not having running water was common in Alaska. Learn something new every day.
It’s not. Don’t learn things from influencers 🤦♂️
@@darrenhcook Ope! Thanks for the reminder! 😁
It's very common. Not everyone lives that way. But many people do. Lots of people haul their own water, and use outhouses.
My son's dad pays $800/m for a dry cabin. Which is the cheapest place around. Minimum for a studio/1bm with water is 1100/m
@@JaymiUkulele I wouldn’t call it very common. 22%. 78% who do would be very common.
@@darrenhcook It's a matter of perspective. For those of us who live where *everyone* has running water, 22% is pretty darn common comparatively.
It’s so nice the laundry mat has showers!!! Never heard of that.
Because they are in an area where a lot of people don’t have running water so it makes A LOT of sense when you think about it! The laundromat has lots of hot water heaters AND you have all that time to kill in between loads anyway. I think it’s freakin PERFECT!
Makes me think of some of the more basic campgrounds, especially up towards the mountains. Lots of people with 1-2 room hunting cabins or using tents/small trailers that don't have many luxuries so there will be showers and washers together.
@@christinafidance340😊I agree, that makes a lot of sense
it makes sense wash your clothes and ass at the same time
It’s common at truck stops. They are all over the USA
The dry cabin sounds logical to me in those temps. Plumbing can be a nightmare in sub-freezing temps.
That's why building standards are different in Alaska than most of the lower 48. We run heat tape with our water lines to keep the water lines clear, but we also bury our lines to a depth that once the snow falls the cold doesn't penetrate the ground that deep. Insulation goes a looong way to protect water and septic.
That's why building standards are different in Alaska than most of the lower 48. We run heat tape with our water lines to keep the water lines clear, but we also bury our lines to a depth that once the snow falls the cold doesn't penetrate the ground that deep. Insulation goes a looong way to protect water and septic.
What you say is true, but I'm in Fairbanks, my system went down a couple weeks ago and I know from talking to the plumbers that after out cold spell many systems went down. I've got heat tape and everything else, but mother nature finds a way to win eventually. Just the super cold water coming from my underground tank puts a strain on things.
@@GaiusGear
Doesn't it get colder in ND?
@@ST-rx4ylare you asking if it gets colder in North Dakota than Alaska? Alaska is way farther north so I’d have to go with no
As a note for the non-Alaskans, dry cabins are pretty common in large parts of Alaska, but in South Central (Anchorage area) and I believe South East (Juneau and the panhandle), there are running water systems. Many of them wells and septic tanks, I grew up in a neighborhood in Palmer (near Anchorage) which was entirely fed by a shared well and we each had our own septic tanks
Septic tanks don't work in the permafrost. As well as natural gas lines.
@@cjackfly ah, I never knew that! Makes sense for Fairbanks then
@@cjackflythere are plenty of ppl in Fairbanks/North pole with septic systems and/or natural gas tho.
@@cjackflybro i’ve lived here eleven years, my childhood home has a septic tank and the apartment i live in now is a natural gas stove.
Wait!!! I grew up in Palmer too!!!!
I lived in a dry cabin back in 1989 for about a month. It was not the worst, but my bride of 3 days was not happy about getting off the plane to it. I had a friend with a shower and there were times when we would trade dinner for a shower.
R u Leonard’s brother?
Like why was she not happy about this, did you guys not talk about the factor that the place didnt have a shower? If my new husband took me to a place with no shower for our honeymoon without asking me first, I'd honestly be so disappointed in him
Maybe it's having a period (and associated diarrhea) that makes it hit different when you're a woman. But It sounds like she was really in love. I'd never consider living in a home with no indoor plumbing
@@vickimerchlewitz Yes! It is a small world! I also ended up with a cat named Kahlua that he had. She was white with black spots like a Holstein cow. The cat loved to sit on my lap and listen to Pink Floyd’s dark side of the moon!
@@bananabrain364 The reason we did not talk about it was I was unaware it did not have running water. Long story short, We were staying with my brother and he said the cabin was rustic. I thought, oh, It was a single dude’s place and may be it needed a few pictures on the wall, the reloaded taken off the table, a TV! At the time I experienced a little culture shock, but I am better for it!
I have always considered hot showers a total luxury and l appreciate them soooo much since in my childhood we would warm up water on the stove. I’m thankful every day for them, and for every comfort I enjoy these days. 🙏 ❤
Our water heater didn’t work growing up (I’m just under 40, so not that long ago) and showers were a miserable 3-5 minute affair. Experiencing unlimited hot water in college was so amazing. Even now I’ll have moments of amazement on how luxurious and sometimes even overindulging access to running hot water is.
Same lol
That's why I'd never willingly put myself in a place like that. The USA is the best country in the world and I can find a better place than Alaska lol
My family never had a shower growing up, baths only. A lot of times warmed up with water from stove. Once I moved out, I've been showers only. I haven't taken a bath in 15 years. Once I bought a house, I had the tub removed for a walk-in shower.
I have a rechargeable camp shower. Warm bucket of water toss it in. It pumps water to a spray nozzle. You would just need somewhere with a drain. I'm lazy and antisocial so I would do anything not to have to go somewhere to shower.
I know as soon as I would get my hair lathered, I’d run out of water. My hair is extremely thick but I love it.
I understand, I'm an introvert but the Laundromat shower sounds pretty convenient without having to socialize.
@@dinarusso3320 But it is pricey.
Being able to shower at work is a great perk!
Have been grateful to be able to shower at work, during extensive power outages. Work had backup generators.
My bro lived in his van while saving enough to go into business. He showered at the university gym.
It would drive me crazy to not be able to take a hot bath or shower at the end of a long shift. Weve had plumbing issues and things over the years that left us showering at work or other houses, we had an ice storm several years ago and had no electric for 2 weeks, and it got old really fast.
In Colorado i had a folding canvas tub and a canvas bucket with a handle and shower head melted snow on the wood stove, 😊
@user-oy3yo7qe6oI'd have had enough to and I'm not rich. You have to be rich to use launderettes and pay $5.25 per shower too.
@@TrixieKaren I could handle that. I've heated up bath water on a wood stove when pipes have been frozen or whatever. I used to love to cook on my wood stove too. It's the whole having to go elsewhere and maybe dealing with people when I just need a 10 minute shower that bothers me.
@user-oy3yo7qe6o if you're calling me rich, you're sadly mistaken. I'm at poverty level while working a full time job and taking all the overtime I can get. Being annoyed I had to heat up water or leave my house to shower is not the biggest problem in the world, I know. Still, it would drive me crazy to live in a dry house.
@@user-oy3yo7qe6o By rich people, you must mean people with bare minimum hygiene standards?
Thank you for sharing your life. I have never heard of a dry cabin. I find this fascinating. Best wishes.
That was the best day of the week, driving an hour south into Fairbanks to get the water tank filled, do laundry, and take a shower! We’d hit Fred Meyer for groceries and a fancy fast food lunch then wander back home.
I live in Fairbanks too and yes, running water is a very very nice thing to have up here. When I lived in a dry cabin, I would shower at my families houses, the laundry mat or the gym. It really gives you a whole new appreciation for water.
I lived in North Pole for 12 ish years, Luckily I never had trouble with running water, but I knew plenty of people who did !!
Thank you for explaining what a dry cabin is in this video! I’ve seen a few of your videos, but I kept assuming it had something to do with sober living because I’d never heard the term elsewhere.
I did the dry cabin life in Fairbanks from 1989-1994. Loved it! I recognized Goldstream Valley, B n C laundromat. We showered at Mary Siah center. Plus west ridge had showers in
Most buildings. And Wood Center. Lived in fbx for 31 years. Had a 26-year music teaching career. Lost my job to
Covid. came back
To the
Midwest
With my two boys. I miss Alaska so much. Thanks for sharing.
If you were at Lathrop, you'd have been there at the same time my older sister and I were students there. :) I also recognize some of her scenery!
My husband, Eric Rayburn, graduated from Lathrop in 1976
If I didn’t have to do into town to work - I would take a bath in a bucket once a week & just to a wash cloth touch ups the other days
Boondocking in and RV I had daily sponge baths with a fresh washcloth (each time) soaked in alcohol. It’s no substitute for the feel of running water but it left me feeling really clean when I was done.
Need my daily wash
This is the first time I’ve come across your channel and I didn’t know where you lived, but I knew that road was in Fairbanks right away 🤣 I lived in Fairbanks for 19 years, moved to upstate NY almost 5 years ago. My family is still there so I visit almost every year. It looks like you have made a beautiful life there, happy to see a content creator spreading some love about my home town ❤️
I’ve always claimed I can do anything I absolutely must do, but not having my own warm shower available would be physically and emotionally draining.
it was the no toilet that did it for me....
@@elizabethforsyth3054
Yes, I can certainly see how that would be an unhappy situation.🙂
When I go to my dry cabin in Minnesota in the winter I fill a 3 gallon garden sprayer with warm water and use that while sitting in a 50 gallon plastic tote. The closest public shower is at a gym about 45 minutes away. It isn't ideal but actually feels pretty good.
My pipes busted this winter and in order to bathe,I also use a garden pump sprayer. Heat water and add to.Its amazing that I can be clean from top to bottom in less than 2 gallons.
A 50 gallon tub is similar to a Japanese soaking tub. I live in an apartment and have a 35 gallon tote in the bathtub. I fill that up for baths instead of the tub. I just had a bath/soak in it. I love it 'cause it's cozy 😊. It's the next best thing to a Japanese soaking tub 👍
@@Eliz2011abcomg thank you for this I’ve been trying to convince my apartment to let me pay to have one of those elderly bathtubs with the door on the side installed over my tub because I want to be able to soak. This is a much cheaper and easier solution
I built on of those with a handheld shower end. It worked wonders when the power was out here. Heat a bit of water and temp down with cold.
In my cottage in Canada, I heat water on the stove then funnel it into a solar shower bag. I hang the bag up on a hook and stand in a plastic tub, which collects all the water. Then I just empty the dirty water out the door and I'm done, and clean!
Thank you Lauren, I had no idea what a dry cabin was. Your cabin looks very warm and beautiful. ♥️
Ok I'll admit it!!! I thought you're gonna go outside, collect some snow, boil it, strain it and shower 😭😭😭😭😭
Me Too 😊😊😊😊
I did that once or twice, but the snow up there is pretty dry so it's pretty labor intensive as you have to collect a LOT of snow.
When I went to Alaska, our tour guide to Denali talked about her dry cabin life, and she pointed out that the little store we stopped at had showers for people like her. Glad they have those for you!
Lived in a dry house in West Virginia. Can relate.
I used an old wash basin and pitcher.
And the YWCA. Thank god for the Y.
Go for the gym!
Another option, is big buckets to stand in, and use ladles , sponges, cups to pour water over you. Have another bucket or three to rinse with clean water for feet.
An idea to your landlord to think about. Build a Finnish outdoor sauna on the proberty. There are saunastoves that have a water tank attached to it so while you are warming the sauna, it warms water too. You’d need to haul a little more water in the summer on a saunaday but in the winter you can melt snow to wash yourself. And of course you’ll need some firewood to heat up the stove. These types of saunas are very common in Finland at their summer cottages and many times they are even considered as ”dry cabins”. Ideal would be if there was a stream or lake nearby to get the water you need for washing.
I didnt know it had a name, but i live in a dry cabin. We live very remote, no grocery store kind of remote. Our neighbors garage has a shower that we use but i also have a chargeable shower head and large wash bucket if needed. I do have a kitchen sink worh running water.
I found out that my daughter follows you as well! Started a whole conversation; as we've done primitive and glamping and trying to find a comfortable middle ground. I like the shower in the laundromat; it seems practical; as they have a large hot water supply. I recall a several week long medieval event we attended on primitive lands; and the truckstop outside where we went for a hot shower and meal occasionally. Vikings,
Romans and picts are a "seasonal" thing there. They know it's the end of summer when "we" show up.
Negative comments dont matter. Some of us understand where you're coming from. Great way to save up for your own home!
The negative comments just come from folks who don’t understand, wouldn’t enjoy the dry cabin life, or don’t have the same goals as I do- so they don’t phase me!
When I first heard of dry cabins I also didn’t think I’d be comfortable living in one but now I plan on purchasing or building my own. They make sense out here!
@@explaurmoreI hope mine didn't come off mean. I just really hate the cold and ran from it when I could. I also love hot showers so you lost me there lol
For each their own I just wouldn't wanna do it unless no other choice. Best of luck
I love your videos! So interesting and educational. Looking forward to seeing more.
Wow wow wow!!! Ty for sharing this is so educational and mind blowing and cool!!!
Great adventure for you! I’m jealous! I have to subscribe so I can be part of your Alaska adventure! ❤️❤️
I grew up with out running water and plumbing. We called it: not modern. 😊
Until you have dealt with home ownership in our Alaskan winters, modern is not always easy. Currently our house has not had running water for 2 weeks. I've lived without running water for several years and it was a lot easier when it was the life you chose than when your water system goes out and the life is forced on you. If I'd not had kids I might have chosen to keep the dry cabin lifestyle for a bit longer as it is just one thing in the winter not to worry about.
I’m in an Alaskan dry cabin. I heat water in 4 gallon pot on wood stove. Use a wash cloth and skim off oils skin cells etc. use no soap except hair occasionally on tub on floor
I love there's a name for this. "Dry cabin" seems like a legit thing!
I have lived in a dry cabin for almost a year now. Shower outside in the summer and at the local pool in winter (£1.20 which I think is amazingly cheap) I want to build an on site shower house but don't know where to build it, what to do about "heating" the water, where to drain it off to, but I'll get there! Love this channel same sort of living conditions but -2°C is about as cold as usually gets(but have seen -10! Lol)
The camping/survivalist/Temu websites have solar heated shower bags. Just leave it hanging where it’ll get sunlight & you can have hot water. Get some pallets as flooring or concert stepping stones and drainage pebbles and let the water filter back into your land.
@@chimoshishifu407no sum part of year alaska
Do you follow Simple Living Alaska? If not, maybe you should. They are great. They build a shower at their previous place that they moved from last year. Their old cabin already had an outhouse and they build a shower just outside their cabin. They filmed the whole process and there is also a video on how they heated it and all that.
Our well went dry and we were dry at the house for almost a year. We used a large stock pot to heat up water, let it cool down and then use a cup to get wet, soap up and rinse off. It worked, but it was cold standing in the shower just rinsing like that. 😂 But you make do. We had to drive to town once a week to fill out a 250 gallon tank in the back of our pickup.
That’s what I did in winter when I lived on a boat! My husband would fill 3 20 gallon plastic feed buckets from tractor supply and wheel 2 loads of water down the dock every few days and then use a motorized water pump to fill our 100-gallon on board tanks so that we had normal water all winter long, BUT when he got covid, I couldn’t manage that by myself. (I didn’t get sick since I was smart enough to get the vaccine, in case anyone is wondering, lol) Anyway, I would fill up 6 3-gallon spring water containers that I poked a hole in the top of. Wheel them to the boat and then heat my “bath water” on the stove. Then, get into my shower with about 3 pots of hot water and a cup! It worked and it actually felt pretty nice too. I have really thick, long hair too and I could even wash my hair like this. Although sometimes, I admit, I just said F it and drive to the truck stop to shower! 😂
I grew up the same way, out on a homestead with all kinds of animals and a big garden, and we had no running water for two and a half years after our well broke. Hauling water in the back of the suburban twice a week with some seriously back break and work for us kids. But, like you said, we made do and those boiled water, wash tub baths in a chily tile floor bathroom, we're all you needed to wake your butt up in the morning for school, lol.
looks absolutely stunning there, I think while your young thats great.
I miss living outside of Fairbanks!
So interesting and I thank you for sharing. Upside: you will never know water damage. 😀. Sounds kinda quaint and simple. And you look ahhhhmazingly zen. 😀
Nice to know!!
I think other places should do that, especially when well water runs dry, and that happens in New England Area. Till the rain comes and fills them back up.
I lived on Sunny Slope Rd, off of Goldstream. It's a bit nostalgic watching your videos. Sometimes I miss that life, but I'm very grateful for indoor plumbing with my 3 kids!
OMG- I live in Fairbanks from March until October/November and live in a dry cabin as well off Goldstream road near Ivory Jacks area. I am a member of Planet Fitness and I take a shower there after a workout and I also shower at work as well.
I am from Alaska and lived like u for several years❤
You can use a bucket heater iand a Home Depot bucket. Buy a battery operated pump for camping shower. At least would have hot water. There’s also solar water bags.
Oh my goodness in my 26 years of life the thought of having to pay for a shower has never crossed my mind 😅😅 the way I would calmly boil my water and fill up a bucket maybe get a little creative and make a makeshift shower 😂
Anywhere outside city limits in Fairbanks is not on piped water. You either live in a dry cabin, have a well, or have water delivered to your house, or truck it yourself. To dig a well can cost 10-20 k. To get it delivered is anywhere from 8-10 cents per gallon, and to haul it yourself from locations around town that sell water in the same style as a gas station will run you 3 cents per gallon. At our house we had it delivered. at 10 cents per gallon you really think about what you are doing when you wash clothes, take a shower, flush a toilet, and cook.
@@brianlotze5830 wow you really just put it into perspective thank you
Oh I couldn't live like this. I don't shower every day (I WFH) but I like knowing I can hop into the shower or run a bath whenever.
What my Mom cared for her aging father..there was no bathroom plumbing. So for a year or two, I washed using a basin. Washed hair that way..everything. Closer to a bath than a shower..except not actually in the water. lol
I've worked in that exact cabin before 😂 it was so trippy seeing it after 5 years
Wow! That's cool
Worked? 😯
@@explaurmore yep!
@@explaurmore I helped my friend put a bed in there
These are great insights. Thank you for sharing. People can be amazing.
I remember when we finally got a shower outside our cabin. Before that we heated water on the stove and sponge bathed.
I was living in a school bus in Fairbanks in 1976, I’m old. No running water, living near gold stream and talk about cold water. Had to truck gallons containers from gold stream to the bus allowing it to warmup to air temperature so I could wash my hair daily. I was 19. The mosquitoes I swear were bigger than birds, they really hurt when you got bit!
Fascinating!!!
I have neverrrrrr imagined a mosquito in Alaska 😮😮😂
I had never thought about mosquitos in Alaska.
@@meredithgrubb4497Summers in Northern regions of the world are nightmarish from this point of view. Swarms of bugs and mosquitos circling around you like black clouds can kill a man if he is left unprotected outdoors.
Oh yea the skitters are big up there ...my daughter lives up there ...my son got bite by one of the big ones and he had a huge welt on him...
I would love to see what a "solar shower" looks like! 😁
This is really beautiful
I would come up with a way to bath at the cabin but showering at your work is the best option
Wow. There is truly something for everyone.
2 five gallon buckets,a boats bilge pump,and a rv shower head and hose with the shutoff button to stop water flow,wire in a lightswitch to the pump,hook to a 12v battery,attach pickup hose to pump drop into bucket(heat water first) and you have a reliable shower if you have a shower stall or tub..
Showering at work seems sensible 😊
So cool to live out there.
I suppose the next question is: given that you have to go out to shower - how often do you end up showering?
I shower 4-5 times a week, I’d say.
Lived in Fairbanks years ago. Gym memberships are common solely for showers purposes. Some homes still have well water.
I have a 7 gallon pot, I warm the water and use a rechargeable pump n shower head from ebay, get a jet sled and hang a curtain lol it works
I might figure something out for an outdoor shower now that it’s above freezing- thanks for the encouragement!
What about a tub. I'd get a nice antique, fill it with snow and light a small fire underneath. Just wait a while before you jump in. An old guy in Japan did this where I stayed. It was indoors too 😊
But you would just be sitting in your own filth without rinsing it off.
The sweatshirt, Western Washington University Vikings of Bellingham. WA……….:)
Cheers from Lynden!
I would love this but I chose the pickup fence lol
Ok, so this video answered my question 😂
So fun fact. I used to go to the gym every morning (I work out outside since the pandy in 2020, so I gym less now) and I’d always just shower at the gym. My water bill dribbled down by well over half.
What about drinking, cooking, + not-body washing water?
Interested in how you cook and wash dishes. Thanks!
Dang the showers at the truck stop near me at $14!
I would use the shower after work and just wear my jammies home.
I'm to old for that. Give me a home with plumbing.
I grew up in Fairbanks!!! (Technically North Pole)
This immediately reminded me of living on a sailboat for a few Years (though, warm, not freezing lol). We had a little shower on the boat, but best option was when we would dock or get gas, those places would have showers and laundry rooms as well.
There was like twice where we crossed paths with bigger boats that had more sophisticated ways, but we also helped smaller boats get their bodies washed as well, when we could.
The first time my husband and I were at a rest stop and they had showers, I was so excited, and said I'd be right back! I took a quick shower and felt so relieved, while he was just completely dumbfounded that something like that would exist 😂
He gets it now, and is jealous of me 😂
Wow! The truck stop showers are $15 a pop!!! BUT, they also give them out free with each fuel fill-up and a lot of truckers don’t shower every time they fill up so I would just ask around and usually someone would give me their ticket. (I lived on a boat for 3 years in Maryland so in winter, I had to physically carry all of the water I used onto my boat so while showering was possible, it was way easier to just drive to the truck stop!) Yeah, the struggle is real, but just like boat-life, I’m sure living in a cabin in Alaska is well worth the trouble!
My elementary school teacher, husband and kids lived with a tribe somewhere very cold for at least 5 years. Water was brought to them in a barrel every few weeks, and they used it for cooking, bathing, washing dishes, and drinking.
I’ve always wanted to visit Alaska. Loving your videos...❤
What is the toilet situation?
Outhouse!
Yes the water in Fairbanks can be awful, but just down the road outside of North Pole we had great well water. Oh, and those candy cane light poles in North Pole were my idea. ☺️
Whaaaat no way!
Friends and neighbors have septic tanks that malfunction with too much use. So they discourage lending their shower and laundry facilities.
My friends are often single or without kids, so their single family home facilities aren’t getting family-level use. I don’t think that’s a concern amongst my folks!
Probably a dumb question, but, could someone get a water pump installed if they lived out there? Is there any water to be able to pump? If I had a cabin like that, I'd want to at the very least have a pump I could go to to get what water I needed for the house and I'm curious how that would work, of it would be possible, if it's too expensive etc.
I live in a dry cabin in NB Canada.
Ain't bad, gym membership just for the shower and I wash in the river all year round as well
Fairbanks... I thought you might be somewhere warmer!
I would get a travel trailer sink with the water jugs underneath feeding into the faucet with a water heater. and a composting toilet.
At least u are making it happen too, what a blessing for that shower area at work too..🤗🌹
I also love in Fairbanks AK but in the city with city water.
I’m from Fairbanks. Lived over by the old polar roller. Now it’s an ice skating rink :)
@@briannconn ohh yeah I love the ice rink :)
That’s what you mean by dry cabin. I’ve seen many of your videos and this is the first one I’ve seen that fully explains what that means. At first I thought you meant alcohol free like the dry counties we have here
That's convenient that your place of employment has showers. Most places I've worked at don't have showers!
I wouldn't do it, but hey, if it works for you , there's nothing but love here!❤❤❤❤😊😊
I live in a dry cabin in the woods of Louisiana. I usually get a shower at work and sometimes, I’ll use a bottle of water or catch rain water to wash my hair. I want to set up a rainfall tank to have water on always on hand. Dry living hasn’t really posed a problem. I’ve been doing it going on 3 yrs now.
Stand in rain in Louisiana
Alaska seems decent for a dry lifestyle, but it gets so hot, humid, muggy in the states around the gulf, I don’t see how you could do it.
Louisiana has lots of water🤣
You really should just make an inexpensive rain barrel. You can use a plastic trash can, flip the lid after drilling holes in it (you will need to attach a screen over the holes) but you would know that because, well, Louisiana 🤷♀️. Add a spigot with a hose bib. Voila. You can have a shower or bath.
Just use the abundance of rain to your favor. I know people that use this kind of system to shower, water plants and provide water for pets.
I have running water in my 100 year old house. It’s a municipal system. But I only have one hose spigot and it’s a pain to drag around a super long hose. So this works great.
@butterbeanqueen8148 rain collection is regulated by the state of LA. Look into the legal requirements before building a set up there.
Dry cabin life 🤙
When that token shower runs out of hot water!🥶🐢🤪
$5.00 expensive? Here in California in the USA $20.00 per person, per shower at a truck stop when you have a slumlord as a landlord
Come on over for coffee and a shower!
Ceiling above work shower was a tile that shows water damage MOLD☠️☠️☠️
✨️ Amenities sometimes are good in a home.
✨️ Perhaps you could fill this niche?
✨️ Kudos. 😘
Yes! I use everyones shower lol. I have a sun shower but a real shower is the ine thing i miss.
Oof yes. I never personally lived in a dry cabin, though I had plenty of friends who did. I definitely do NOT miss the Fairbanks water. 🤢
So why do you, specifically you, live in Alaska? Looks like a cold, bleak, dark, not very clean life? I understand some people want to live off grid and away from society, but you don’t seem like that.
Hi, thanks for sharing your video giving us information about your life in Alaska. I was just wondering… Where do you get water for cooking or washing your hands? Just curious. Thank you for sharing your interesting videos with us.
I’ve spent many a hours in the laundry mat and shower room in Kenai. Our dry cabin is in the area between Coopers landing and Kenai. We have a shower here at our company’s complex but it’s scary and I’d rather use the laundry mat. I still love my dry cabin life though.
You've probably already covered this (if so, I suggest mentioning in bio)
What kind of job do you have? Research? Service? Assistant of some kind?
I work in land surveying! I had uploaded a video about but since this question got asked a number of times recently I uploaded it again today if you want to see some more specifics on it 😊
@@explaurmore i saw the new upload. Thank you for that and the reply!
Wow. Such a different lifestyle. Kind of like camping but better 😊. May I ask what you do for a living? Also, is this a permanent home for you?
I work in land surveying! I came out here indefinitely. I plan to continue renting this cabin until I’ve saved up enough to buy a home/cabin of my own or until some other opportunity arises that I want to follow!
That's pretty neat.