Scott Ranger fell in love with Alaska after a rainy trip to visit his daughter in Juneau in the summer of 2008. “My wife said I could spend more time here,” he says. “But I needed a job to pay for it.” A decade and a half later, working as a guide for Gastineau Guiding has proven to be the best “retirement gig” Scott can imagine. His family in Georgia family have followed him to Juneau, and he has welcomed two grandchildren there. “Becoming ‘friends’ with both whales and bears is life-changing,” says Scott, who enjoys his condominium view of Auke Bay and its eagles, seals and whales every day with his wife Annette. “What a way to live!”