Working on East Coast in Alaska Time Zone

So, with the close of the summer session today, I successfully made it through my first summer of living in a different time zone than my job.  I knew it could work - a couple years ago, I traveled to Germany and my students didn't even catch on that I was out of the country for nearly 2 weeks.  And last summer, I was able to travel around Scotland/Ireland during the summer session and maintain my virtual classroom just fine.  However, once we made the move to Alaska in May, I realized I would have to be aware of the time change everyday.

My office hours were posted this summer as 5-7pm, but I was online and available from 1-3pm Alaska time.  I have to keep in mind that when we have a midnight deadline for grade reports and such, that means I have to get them in by 8pm.  This week I missed participating in a symposium "live" because the meetings were really early in MY morning, but I was able to listen to the archives and even complete all the "action items" just fine. I did have to remind one of my adult students (I facilitate professional development courses for LearnNC as well) that is she calls me before noon her time that I might still be in bed, but she apologized and called later the next time :)

So, now that I know I can really work from anywhere - what does that mean for me?  Well, this fall, I will continue to work for the state of NC, but I will also start to look into other opportunities - I'd love to develop courses for other online schools.  I am also interested in talking to educators in Alaska - how are they reaching out to students in the bush?  What can I do to help?  Who knows what fun stuff I will come across this year...then who knows...where in the world will we go next?