Growing up in Alaska was the main driver for moving here; then I stayed.
There are two types of people that move here, those that love it or those that hate it and move back w/ in a year or two. There is no gray area when it comes to that. Some people have a very hard time being cut off from the rest of the country and the rest of us find ways to cope.
From cold to warm. I guess you got use to the warm in South East Asia. I'm from Singapore and I enjoyed staying in Kansas City, MO for 2 years+ but I hate the extreme winter there.