If you could live anywhere in the world ...

[Ann.without.an.e]

Let’s pretend that you just won the jackpot and you could move and live anywhere (money isn’t an issue).  Where would you live?  Someone asked me this the other day and it got me to thinking that I have no idea!  

What about y’all?  Where would you live and why?

[PrincessMommy]

Gosh - so many choices!!

 

I'd love to live in Wales.

Pacific NW.

Smokie Mountains area.

[Slache]

Central California. It's home.

[SeaConquest]

Monte Carlo.

[Scarlett]

If money was no issue I would like to spend about 6 months in NYC.  So much to see and do there.  But I don't want to live there long term. Then some where on the gulf or coast...white sand, warm beautiful water....then probably back to the mountains near where I was raised in AR.  

[plansrme]

Wyoming.  My husband and I are seriously considering retiring there.  

[rdj2027]

All considered I have to say that I really love Hawaii and love living here.   I was also happy in Japan but I think living there long term comes with its own issues.  Tokyo is my favorite city though by far.

[Katy]

One of the $3 million dollar beachfront homes on Long Key or maybe on St. John.  Tropical, private, access to a city in less than a few hours when you need it, private ocean access.

[Junie]

San Diego

[lulalu]

Well I kinda get to live where I want..... I have lived in many amazing cities and countries.

But if money wasn't an issue at all I would move every 6 months to a year to a new country. Europe is nice for short visits like 6 months. Middle East is great to live in. I have always wanted to live in Australia or New Zealand. I wouldn't be able to pick one place stay. 

[SKL]

Near my family.

Anyplace reasonably close to any kind of nature.

Maybe I'd like it up in the mountains like in the book Heidi.

[gingersmom]

I would like multiple homes and at least one with an indoor pool

Las Vegas

Tropical island on the beach

England or maybe Australia

[Pawz4me]

Not a specific place, but I'd like to live in the mountains in an easy to maintain home with a fabulous view and a secluded setting but within a short drive of a town/smallish city with all the necessities and most of the conveniences. And with really good internet service.

[GinaPagnato]

Provence...beautiful!

 

 

[regentrude]

Santa Barbara, CA.

Sea and mountains and rock climbing, and a university where DH and I can do physics.

The two years I lived there were soooo wonderful.

[lmrich]

Assisi, Italy - or any hilltown in Italy. BUT I would also want to wander first. I love the idea of months in NYC. I would spend months in DC to spend days at the museums. 

 

[HomeAgain]

Right here.
Here's not all that special, but it has four seasons, close knit communities, a sense of town pride, and access to larger airports/cities/public transportation.  I love it here, and I've lived what feels like everywhere, but this feels like home.

[J-rap]

NYC.

[Liz CA]

For a time of the year the Northern CA coast, somewhere between Sea Ranch and Fort Bragg, and for a few months in Anacapri on the island of Capri. There is a common theme here, food and ocean. I am pretty close to one location, not so close to the other. 

[solascriptura]

Hawaii.  Hands down.  

[milovany]

In addition to money being no object, could we set tsunami danger aside, too?  If I could live anywhere, I would get a beach front home on the mid to northern Oregon coast, preferably in Neskowin. That's only five hours from where we live now and I wouldn't want to leave the Northwest because of (as mentioned with others) the roots/family we have in this area.  I've lived in the southwest, in Colorado, and briefly in South America and I/we always came back because of family. Plus, I just love it here. 

[Bootsie]

A village near Innsbruck, Austria

[Bluegoat]

Gosh, that is hard.  There are lots of places I'd like to go to for 6 months, but to stay?

Maybe I'd like to buy Beatrix Potters house.

[lovinmyboys]

I think Switzerland, if I spoke the local language.  But, in reality, I would like to move to be near my family in the Midwest. Maybe my family would come to Switzerland with me :)

[ScoutTN]

Right here!

I moved too many times growing up and I LOVE having roots and community.

I love where I live. It is beautiful, though not in a dramatic way like mountains or coast. Four seasons with a short winter. Big enough city to have excellent theater, symphony and all kinds of live music (this is Music City!), hospitals (important bc Dh has a serious medical condition), colleges and universities, interesting restaurants and great local farms/farmers markets, a decent airport,  pro football and hockey teams (Go Preds!) and a baseball farm team, loads of history sites, a fabulous library system, nice (though small) art museums, more homeschool resources and opportunities than any family could actually participate in, an increasingly diverse population, and a reasonable cost of living. 

If money were no issue, we would move to a slightly larger, updated home in our same part of town and take many, nice vacations to intersesting places. 

[Guest]

I just don’t think I could be somewhere else very far from where I live now, no matter how non-issue money were. The only other state I seriously would love to live in is Virginia, and if money is no object, it would be NoVa, like Louden county. So lovely there. 

But I sure would love to travel all over if money and being here for work were no issue. I would immediately go back to France and spend a month there given the chance. And I would love to travel all over Europe. And there are several islands where I could happily spend weeks at a time if money and working were no issue. 

But in the end, Maryland is my home. 

[Tap]

Clean, low crime. warm.  Does this place exist?

[madteaparty]

I kind of fell in love with Vietnam recently. My answer changes everyday. I know where I do NOT want to move though ;)

[Hannah]

My siblings live in the UK, Ireland and Taiwan at the moment.  In  the summer months I'd like to live in a comfortable house with a small garden in the north of London, England (close enough to forests and countryside, but with easy access to all the city has to offer).  We live very rural now and I would like more opportunities for theater and art- both to take classes and to attend.  In the European winter I'd move to be with friends for the summer near Melbourne, Australia.  The housing prices in both places are insane, so money would really have to be no object.   And since money is no object, I'd be spending my days in leisurely pursuits.

[rebcoola]

Indiana next door to my BFF!!!!

[DawnM]

I would move back to Southern California and not have to sacrifice the size of my current home.

I grew up overseas but most of my friends (even from those days) are stateside now, so I wouldn't want to go back to live.

But if money weren't an issue, I would have my large house in SoCal, maybe even on the beach in Malibu, and a lake house up in Arrowhead or Big Bear that I could spend weekends when I wanted to.

[Carrie12345]

:::checking to see if I hit the jackpot:::   Nope.

My fantasy plans are very detailed, and we'd stay local.  Not in this house that drives me insane, but the same area.  I'd also buy a property somewhere in the middle of our family that's spread across multiple states for more frequent get-togethers.  Though I do fantasize about beach front and Manhattan properties, it'd still make more sense to rent luxury accommodations when the schedule allows it and not have to worry about upkeep when not in use.

I love where I live, and I want to invest in where I live.  It'd be nice to be able to *visit* everywhere else.

[Rosie_0801]

The next town over, because the electoral boundaries are changing and my current town is switching to next door's! I'm very cross about this. I want to be able to vote for my brother!

[Amira]

Since this is a decision I have to make every few years (except I don’t have unlimited funds, just a husband with a very mobile job), I think about this all the time.  Even more than the money, this assumes that my kids would be happy in these places too.  Choosing where to live wouldn’t be so hard if I didn’t have to constantly worry about that. I wouldn’t want to live in any of these forever, but a year or three in any would be lovely.

Cairo, Jerusalem, Istanbul, Bukhara, Harare, Montevideo, Mexico City, Campeche, Quito, Chiangmai, Prague, Kashgar, Bucharest, Kunming, Toronto, Fes, Beirut, Seville, Zanzibar, Libreville, Tirana, Vientiane, Sapporo, Singapore, Lyon, Tallinn, Valletta, Tbilisi, Edinburgh, and St. Petersburg. 

[mom@shiloh]

I would stay right where I am.  I love the community that we're part of and want to continue to be in the lives of these people. I would buy my neighbor's house though and tear it down and add that to our property just to give us more privacy.  Traveling 3-4 times a year to interesting places appeals to me more than uprooting again. 

[Bluegoat]

1 hour ago, Amira said:

Since this is a decision I have to make every few years (except I don’t have unlimited funds, just a husband with a very mobile job), I think about this all the time.  Even more than the money, this assumes that my kids would be happy in these places too.  Choosing where to live wouldn’t be so hard if I didn’t have to constantly worry about that. I wouldn’t want to live in any of these forever, but a year or three in any would be lovely.

Cairo, Jerusalem, Istanbul, Bukhara, Harare, Montevideo, Mexico City, Campeche, Quito, Chiangmai, Prague, Kashgar, Bucharest, Kunming, Toronto, Fes, Beirut, Seville, Zanzibar, Libreville, Tirana, Vientiane, Sapporo, Singapore, Lyon, Tallinn, Valletta, Tbilisi, Edinburgh, and St. Petersburg. 

 

Gosh, Toronto...  I didn't think anyone really wanted to live in Toronto!

[Amira]

6 minutes ago, Bluegoat said:

 

Gosh, Toronto...  I didn't think anyone really wanted to live in Toronto!

I’ve wanted to live there forever.  I love big, diverse cities.  I could spend two years cooking something new every night from all over the world. And the weather is lovely.

[Hannah]

51 minutes ago, Bluegoat said:

 

Gosh, Toronto...  I didn't think anyone really wanted to live in Toronto!

 

I feel the same way about Amira's choice of Harare.  People come to South Africa from Zimbabwe because they can't make a living there.  

What appeals to you Amira?

[Amira]

18 minutes ago, Hannah said:

 

I feel the same way about Amira's choice of Harare.  People come to South Africa from Zimbabwe because they can't make a living there.  

What appeals to you Amira?

I have a few friends who have loved living there and I want to live in at least one city in every part of the world.  And money not being an issue would make it more doable.

[Nan in Mass]

2 hours ago, Amira said:

Since this is a decision I have to make every few years (except I don’t have unlimited funds, just a husband with a very mobile job), I think about this all the time.  Even more than the money, this assumes that my kids would be happy in these places too.  Choosing where to live wouldn’t be so hard if I didn’t have to constantly worry about that. I wouldn’t want to live in any of these forever, but a year or three in any would be lovely.

Cairo, Jerusalem, Istanbul, Bukhara, Harare, Montevideo, Mexico City, Campeche, Quito, Chiangmai, Prague, Kashgar, Bucharest, Kunming, Toronto, Fes, Beirut, Seville, Zanzibar, Libreville, Tirana, Vientiane, Sapporo, Singapore, Lyon, Tallinn, Valletta, Tbilisi, Edinburgh, and St. Petersburg. 

 

Amira - What languages do you speak?  Is this a big consideration for you?

Nan

[Lady Florida.]

Where the majority of my extended family lives, which currently is where I live. Although I wouldn't want to live in a cold climate, where I live is more about people than place.

[BlsdMama]

Can I just pick Iowa up and move it next to Oregon? Then I get family, ocean, and friends.  

 

[Amira]

30 minutes ago, Nan in Mass said:

 

Amira - What languages do you speak?  Is this a big consideration for you?

Nan

Yes, it is a consideration, but it’s not the most important thing.  English is the only language I can really claim, but I can get by with Arabic, Spanish, and Russian.  I’m best in Arabic.  Dh speaks Spanish well, plus Uzbek and Arabic.  

I think that speaking the language in the place you’re living makes a huge difference, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a wonderful experience without the language.  And you can often learn at least a little bit while you’re living there which is a great experience in itself.

[Greta]

London.  I've only been once but I completely fell in love with it, and I speak the language (more or less ) so that would make life easier!  My husband would say Norway.  He loves the landscape, he loves northern climates, and he's a big admirer of the culture.  

Can we have a winter home on some remote South Pacific island while we're at it?  I've never been, but I've dreamed of it since I was a kid.  And I'm not sure how well *I* would handle European winters (I've gotten spoiled to 360 days per year of sunshine here in New Mexico!).

[Bluegoat]

1 hour ago, Amira said:

I have a few friends who have loved living there and I want to live in at least one city in every part of the world.  And money not being an issue would make it more doable.

 

Hmm, yes, I can see that.  I'm surprised you chose Toronto over Montreal though, or even Vancouver.

[Amira]

6 minutes ago, Bluegoat said:

 

Hmm, yes, I can see that.  I'm surprised you chose Toronto over Montreal though, or even Vancouver.

Those would work too, if Toronto didn’t. :)

[Ann.without.an.e]

3 hours ago, Arctic Mama said:

Yes!  Oregon and Washington are my ideal climates, but they’re far from most of our family and my husband would probably get arrested for being himself.  I could go incognito much longer than he could.

 

 

Man, I so want to inquire about what this means, haha, but I am not sure you will want to say.  

[Pam in CT]

I'm another who would be delighted to live in about 30 very-different places around the world for 6 months to two or three years... but for the Rest Of Life, well, America is my home.  And I do like 4 seasons, though TBH I like spring and fall better than summer, and summer better than winter.

In a world without limits, I think I'd live in a Forever house with a big old garden somewhere around here for most of spring and fall, spend a hunk of every summer in one vibrant northern city like Copenhagen or Edinburgh or Portland ME, and a hunk of every winter traveling to different far-flung places in the Southern Hemisphere.

[madteaparty]

9 hours ago, Amira said:

Since this is a decision I have to make every few years (except I don’t have unlimited funds, just a husband with a very mobile job), I think about this all the time.  Even more than the money, this assumes that my kids would be happy in these places too.  Choosing where to live wouldn’t be so hard if I didn’t have to constantly worry about that. I wouldn’t want to live in any of these forever, but a year or three in any would be lovely.

Cairo, Jerusalem, Istanbul, Bukhara, Harare, Montevideo, Mexico City, Campeche, Quito, Chiangmai, Prague, Kashgar, Bucharest, Kunming, Toronto, Fes, Beirut, Seville, Zanzibar, Libreville, Tirana, Vientiane, Sapporo, Singapore, Lyon, Tallinn, Valletta, Tbilisi, Edinburgh, and St. Petersburg. 

Have you been to Chiang Mai? It’s hugely popular with expats but I was just there and wondered what the deal was. But then, I felt like that with most of Thailand. Like with curriculum, when everyone raves, I know I should go the other way :)

[Chris in VA]

Gosh, I don't really know. 

For me, it's the people that make the place--although there are certain climates I detest (Miami). 

Sure is fun to hear what you all think, though.