If you could live anywhere...

I would (and I'm trying to) second Australia. Everything except the wildlife and gun laws seem great.

Failing Oz, I would go back to Spain. It's literally the only country I've visited that I would happily return to for the culture, food, gente (that's Mexican for people), sangria and general atmosphere of the place. God, how many days have I prayed for a siesta at 2 p.m.

Since those are places I have or will have actually lived in, I would say Sweden for the social utopia and women, Ecuador for a quiet, beautiful place to retire and France, because well...shit, it's France: food, art, women, booze, etc. I also wouldn't mind Portugal for many of the same reasons, minus the whole French thing.

Over the course of the next two years, I'll (hopefully) spend at least 3 months in South Korea, Thailand and Australia for a variety of reasons, most of which have to do with the current condition of the US and a lot of shrugs, followed by a hearty "Why not?"

 

I generally love where I live, would like to have the cash to winter in Tuscany or the south of France every year though.

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl=http://www.hobarteguide.com/images/hobart2.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.hobarteguide.com/&usg=__Jo44rXVBBY70csImHJzX3X_vAOc=&h=250&w=580&sz=60&hl=en&start=2&zoom=1&tbnid=kNdhY6xHClRWpM:&tbnh=58&tbnw=134&ei=dPDsT5nqEa-aiAf_4631DA&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dhobar%2Bat%2Bits%2Bbest%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dstrict%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-au%26complete%3D0%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl= ... m=1&itbs=1</a>

And its food geek heaven:

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/australias-booming-culinary-scene-in-tasmania" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.travelandleisure.com/article ... n-tasmania</a>

 

Canada. "the United States is entirely too socialist."

 

I think about this often, because the idea of living basically all of my life in one state and most of it in one city makes me really antsy. I can think of plenty of places I'd want second homes in (they were listed in the lottery thread but they're Paris, Montreal, and Costa Rica) but I haven't come up with any place that would be better or equally as good as living in New York. It has everything I need or want to suit any of my interests or moods or whims. I still haven't explored every neighborhood or even every borough, and they're unique enough that I can feel like I'm visiting entirely different cities or places when I just took the subway there. And if I need a break from the city, I can take an hour and a half bus ride to my country home/dad's house.

I'm going to need to be in a city for a while. Sometimes it can be an exhausting and abusive relationship, but I get sick of relaxing after, like, two weeks. To me, there isn't any other city in the country that has as much diversity that would keep me as excited about living there, and that I wouldn't feel I would exhaust all of its charms after less than a year. As far as moving to a city abroad, I think about that all the time, and I think there would be a lot of cities where I would potentially be very happy, but I don't like the feeling of being so far away and isolated from my friends and family. And on a practical note, which has no place in conversations like this I know, I don't know what I'd do for work if I'm not fluent in the language, and I don't have much of a knack for learning other languages to the point of being fluent in them.

So, I'm sticking with New York.

But, if I'm ignoring all of that, then Barcelona. I haven't even been there, but I vote Barcelona.

 

Barring PeeWee's Playhouse, I have not traveled extensively enough to make a resounding decision. I still have Spain, France, Italy, Belgium to discover and many places in the UK to hit again. Then there's all of Asia. Christ what a question to ask, if even a fantasy.

As far as the US is concerned, New Orleans. I can see myself there for a long time. Good grub, good bars, decent people, loads of history and real culture. I've never been to the 9th Ward or the grittier places in town, but then I've lived in South Florida next to some dubious places where I never felt the urge to run around at night. Savannah is like New Orleans light. I could see myself comfortable in both those places.

Retirement is a no-brainer. If England doesn't look like V For Vendetta in 30 years, The Cotswolds is scenic, quiet country in the interior. I've never felt that kind of peace anywhere. The area is numbered by idyllic towns and little villages, rolling hills, more green than I've ever seen on the Eastern seaboard of America, and real pubs. Sheep in every pasture, birds chirping, only the hum of distant motorcars (even that is soothing). It's like a fricken Buddhist temple. Did I mention pubs? People are f'n sweet too. Like old neighbor with a tin of candies in her living room sweet. You're also not far from London and the whole country is one giant historical site: manors, castles, monolithic monuments, battle sites.

I could live in peace in places like this:

 

My dream is to move across the country to California with my best friend after I graduate. He wants to work in film, so we'd end up rooming together close to LA. I've never been, but I've been told by countless people that I belong in California and there's only one way to figure it out.

I have $1k stashed away in order to get me out there. After that I'm hoping that I'll either have a job lined up or be able to find something to pay the rent until I can land a decent gig. Plus the girls are supposed to all be smoking hot (and the roads paved with gold, from what I hear).

 

Permanent, like the rest of your life, no takesy backsies ever? You run a tight ship. If that's the case I'd probably pick just outside of Burlington, VT. It's an awesome combination of a cool city and being near some awesome hiking, biking, skiing, climbing etc. But most importantly I've lived there for a few years and know I can do just fine. I'll take that certainty over picking something cool like Barcelona and finding out that once you've been exposed to them for a long period of time the Spaniards are douche bags.

 

The Basque region of Spain. Or Algarve Portugal. Simpler life.

 

If money was no object? London. But there'd need to be a LOT of money involved. But enough money to live in London would include enough money to do a shitload of traveling.

Where I currently live is pretty awesome all things considered, I hate the current state level politics - but in general I really like Brisbane. I periodically consider moving to Melbourne, but I like the weather here way better. I'd move other places for a few years for enough money. I'd consider a permanent move to San Fran pretty seriously, and I'd think about Seattle/New York/Vancouver/Toronto and I'd go check out Osaka - my friends who live there do a hell of a job of selling the place, but I'm not great with languages and a lot of stuff about Japan would bug me after the novelty wore off.

 

Without you all collectively rolling your eyes, Amsterdam. I only spent a few days there, but I just felt like I was made for that city despite the lousy weather. It's absolutely gorgeous, and absolutely electric. There's an energy level to this city that I have not experienced anywhere else I have travelled. Not to mention the absolute arsenal of interesting and incomparible (not to mention tolerable) people that are housed in this tiny city. I met so many ex-pats from various places around the world while socializing there. The majority of them basically took a vacation there, fell in love with it and moved there immedietly.

 

ObamaCare? Shit, I thought an exodus to Canada was in order because everyone there gets free pot and a complimentary pet elk upon purchase of their first igloo.

Focus: Over the last year or so, I've given serious thought towards moving out of the US, but out of desire to live in a place with different culture and values. Since the only foreign country I've lived in is Japan, I have no idea what I'm talking about when I ponder what countries I'd like to move to, beyond what I've read or what people who've been there have told me. Mediterranean France, Amsterdam, and Stockholm sit atop my fantasy list, but it always comes back to learning new languages that I'd most likely have great difficulty with. If it weren't for my terrible struggles with language learning, I'd probably be walking on a beach in Marseille right now.

I'd gladly go to Denver in an instant. I'm tentatively planning on moving there next year anyway. Big city next to the mountains, brisk weather, hippies to make fun of, and a very relaxed atmosphere. That's my kind of city. As a bonus, I read in their newsletter that they have a football team.

 

Fitzroy Street, Kirribilli, North Sydney, Australia.

Not to be specific or anything.

I've said it dozens of times...my experience of Australia was that it exists as the perfect combination of America and Europe: innovative, first world nation with the laid back work to live attitude of Europe. My ex fiancé is an Aussie and I honestly believe that I took the loss of automatically moving there harder than our breakup.

A close second is my Dad's hometown in Greece. Although I was born in the US and didn't see the motherland until my 20s, I felt a connection to that city that was unreal. It's chill, beautiful, on the water, and the nightlife is a combo of chill bullshitting dives and a step below Ibiza. I actually get homesick for that place. Hmmmmmm...better start polishing up on my Greek!

 

It's a toss up for me; its either somewhere in western North Carolina or northeast Nevada. Not exactly thrilling, but I really don't have much desire to permanently move out of the United States.

North Carolina because I love the state; I get along pretty good in the bigger cities and I can get into the flow of things out in the middle of nowhere. It wouldn't actually be that far of a move... I could walk outside, drop my boxers, and piss down the mountainside into NC. It's the people, the towns/cities, it's a place I love very dearly.

Nevada is a close second, I've never had the pleasure of visiting but I feel very drawn to it. Not so much Vegas as the Elko area. Cheap land, sparsely populated, legal prostitution and gambling, whats not to love?

 

What could go wrong? (seriously though, are you for real with this?)

 

a) SF would probably be the same as London...most folks need a LOT of money to live the way they'd want to live in the Bay area, b) I'm curious, as an Aussie, what your reaction is to so many posters naming Oz as where they'd want to live...do Americans have an unrealistic perspective on what they're in for down under? Or is it the promised land that folks seem to think it is?

For me, US of A, love it or leave it. Specifically, California. With the money to live without needing to work, the Eastern Sierras. Bam.

 

According to google for cost of living by city, Brisbane is actually more expensive than London or San Fran. Absolutely wasn't the case 5 years ago - maybe things have changed.

Like everywhere, it depends what you're looking for. IE if you're looking for great culture and theater, lots of great museums and art and that kind of high brow shit? Well good luck. It's not awful - but it's nothing like London or New York. Melbourne is about the best for that shit.

For generally chilled lifestyle, weather, beaches, and relaxed life while still having the services and cosmopolitan nature of a city? Australia is pretty close to as good as everyone says it is. Homelessness and violent crime exists, but nothing like in North America or even Europe. The weather is as good as anywhere in the world, assuming you're not a big fan of snow. the health care system is widely considered to be one of the best in the world. If your kids see a knife once or twice over the course of their education, and maybe get offered weed or light drugs by other kids in high school - it means they're at one of the roughest high schools in the country. Youth gangs are all but unheard of. It's generally a pretty good place to live. Religious extremism is realistically pretty moderate and general cultural extremism is pretty rare in general.

There are downsides. Racism, homophobia, university grads aren't nearly as broadly educated as american grads, there is a random tax on everything called 'Australians will pay more for the same shit for reasons that no-one understands' and the customer service industry is terrible. Our best efforts at doing art and culture are half arsed and in 99% of cases, just replicating American or European art. We're basically 'the south' with better beaches, fewer guns and fewer mouthy negroes and queers so less resulting conflict.

 

Wyoming

Amazing skiing that isn't packed with tourists, but close enough to Colorado for a drive down to the populated areas. Grand Teton and Yellowstone are both awesome. Tons of good hunting and fishing, not to mention lax gun laws. Nice warm summers, and cold snowy winters. I also like that there just aren't many people in Wyoming, I like my space and while I would miss living by a city in some respects, but as long as there is a town nearby where I could get whatever I need that is perfect for me.

 

Denver. The weather's awesome, the people are great, and the mountains are about 5 minutes away. It's so, so pretty. Every time I go to Colorado I want to stay.

Or Austin. I love everything about that city (except for the hipsters). Lots of live music, awesome food, and it's full of Willie Nelson-style Texas Hippies. I love the Hill Country in general, so I'd probably be ok with any town down there, but Austin is where it's at.