If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you go ?

Some quiet place far from civilization but developed enough to provide me an easy access to some basic commodities.
 
Maybe Iceland, somewhere in rural England (perhaps the Welsh marches or somewhere in East Anglia or the south-west), or just somewhere rural in the British Isles in general. Failing all of those i might give Canada a go.
 
There is something attractive to me about England, plus I have 2nd cousins in London so I wouldn't be alone. :)
 
Barcelona
1-Mediterranean city
2-Perfect architecture
3-Great foods
4-FC Barcelona
5-Cultural events
 
Brazil, in the Amazon Rain forest.
 
I've answered the question 25 yrs ago and moved. Montreal, Canada.
 
I live in San Diego, California, which is pretty fine, so you'd need an atom bomb to pry me out of here. If, however, I had to pick a spot outside the U.S., it would be Switzerland. A beautiful country and one which is not on the front line of politics, which these days bores/scares me.

What's interesting to me is that I have neighbors who are Germans. They've lived in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, all places in which the dad worked for a major multi-national. Their move here was job-related, but when he got assigned back to Europe, the rest of the family stayed here where the children went to school/university and eventually married. So they made their decision, though I don't know why. It can't just be the cold winters, can it?
 
I live in San Diego, California, which is pretty fine, so you'd need an atom bomb to pry me out of here. If, however, I had to pick a spot outside the U.S., it would be Switzerland. A beautiful country and one which is not on the front line of politics, which these days bores/scares me.

What's interesting to me is that I have neighbors who are Germans. They've lived in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, all places in which the dad worked for a major multi-national. Their move here was job-related, but when he got assigned back to Europe, the rest of the family stayed here where the children went to school/university and eventually married. So they made their decision, though I don't know why. It can't just be the cold winters, can it?

If the children spent their formative years here and had most of their education here I can understand it. Otherwise, not really.
 
1. San Diego-La Jolla area
2. Barcelona
3. Santa Clara, California
4. Austin, TX
 
1. San Diego-La Jolla area
2. Barcelona
3. Santa Clara, California
4. Austin, TX

Good choices all, imo, except for Austin. I would literally die if I had to live through a Texas summer; heck it's more like six months a year. I swear, I think it's worse than Florida, which in other ways is a great place to live if you pick the right spot.
 
Spent a few days in San Antonio, near Austin. Loved the river walk, but like Angela says, the summer is a killer and I lived most of my youth in Phoenix so I know heat (or course I wouldn't go back to live there either).
 
The question of the OP needs refinements. The first question is: what is your culture of origin? What is your age and working status?

A second point is that climate matters a lot. Climate does not change (much). Instead, job prospects ... it depends. Of course, mutatis mutandis it is better to be in a rich city. But maybe you can be also well off in another, less wealthy place.

I live in Barcelona and I like it a lot.

California would also be a great place to live for me, I am sure.

I have lived in colder places, and I felt miserable about it. Instead, hot can be uncomfortable sometimes, but I prefer it a lot more than cold. But others are the opposite.
 
I've been recently looking for "remote" places and I think knowing you're there would definitely make some effect on my and I find them quite interesting, even though at first you may think there's not much to do. I still think they're curious. I'd say Puerto Williams (Chile) and Kliuchí/Ключи ​(Russia, Kamchatka Peninsula).
 
There would be at least two places, one where it rained a lot or at least two or three days in a row, I imagine a more bucolic location and a large capital with a lot of movement, people and offers. Therefore a place where it rained near a large city or capital.


In x time my interests would have changed and I would look for another combination although always with a big city nearby
 
Spent a few days in San Antonio, near Austin. Loved the river walk, but like Angela says, the summer is a killer and I lived most of my youth in Phoenix so I know heat (or course I wouldn't go back to live there either).

San Antonio and Austin have a different climate. I know they're only 78 miles apart but it just felt different. I spend 2.5 years in Austin and although it gets hot, it is tolerable. San Antonio on the other hand...a lot more humid. Orlando...yikes. One thing about Florida it rains in the afternoon in the summer and it cools down.
 
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San Antonio and Austin have a different climate. I know they're only 78 miles apart but it just felt different. I spend 2.5 years in Austin and although it gets hot, it is tolerable. San Antonio on the other hand...a lot more humid. Orlando...yikes. One thing about Florida it rains in the afternoon in the summer and it cools down.

What were you doing in Austin? If you can tell?


Sent from my iPhone using Eupedia Forum
 
What were you doing in Austin? If you can tell?


Sent from my iPhone using Eupedia Forum

I am a consultant to electric utilities and I was helping ERCOT, the Texas regional ISO specify, document and test their new market management system and help integrated it to the rest of their systems. BTW, I have lived in the US since 73, if it's not clear.
 
Not sure, either in my homeland or same country as now
 
I have spent a lot of time analysing and comparing all possible indicators between countries. Based on the quality of life, well being, freedom, housing, healthcare, crime rate, pollution, education, and so on, countries that typically come on top are: Switzerland, Austria, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Australia and Canada.

Considering that over 90% of Scandinavian people are fluent in English, language would not be an issue. I would have no problem in Switzerland either.

Taking the climate into account, I would reject Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Canada. Australia is generally too hot, although Melbourne and Tasmania would be tolerable.

The main drawback with Australia and New Zealand is that they are so far away from everywhere else. That's not convenient for someone like me who likes to travel. The distance would be felt for consumer products too. I would also miss the wide range of European food products that are available in supermarkets here. Imported products may be available in a few select shops in big cities (as I found they were in Tokyo), but would be several times more expensive and would require to go to these luxury food shops. I have lived in Australia and really didn't appreciate the presence of giant spiders everywhere.

This leaves Denmark, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland and New Zealand. I have been to these countries except NZ, and I did not find life to be very different from Belgium. Belgium and the Netherlands are very similar. Belgium ranks lower in some indicators because some industrial cities with higher unemployment and poverty (Charleroi, Mons, Liège) bring the average down. Even so, Belgians enjoy the largest houses in Europe along with the Swiss and Norwegians, but with a higher ratio of house-to-apartments and higher home ownership than Switzerland. The weather and the food are better than in Scandinavia. Belgium has a more beautiful scenery than Denmark or the Netherlands, which are completely flat and boring. When all factors are taken into account, I feel that only Switzerland and Austria can rival with the better parts of Belgium.

I don't think I would ever choose to live in the USA for a number of reasons. Top on the list are the high crime rate (especially homicides), guns, too many religious fanatics, religion pervading most aspects of society and politics, the highly confrontational culture, the blatant gap between the have's and have not's... If I really had to live in the US, I guess I would choose somewhere in New York/New England (although it gets as cold as in Scandinavia in winter) or a good area around San Francisco (e.g. Berkeley, Santa Clara) or southern California (I hear Orange County is nice). Despite the great climate, California has shortcomings of its own too, like wildfires and earthquakes.
 
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I have spent a lot of time analysing and comparing all possible indicators between countries. Based on the quality of life, well being, freedom, housing, healthcare, crime rate, pollution, education, and so on, countries that typically come on top are: Switzerland, Austria, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Australia and Canada.

Considering that over 90% of Scandinavian people are fluent in English, language would not be an issue. I would have no problem in Switzerland either.

Taking the climate into account, I would reject Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Canada. Australia is generally too hot, although Melbourne and Tasmania would be tolerable.

The main drawback with Australia and New Zealand is that they are so far away from everywhere else. That's not convenient for someone like me who likes to travel. The distance would be felt for consumer products too. I would also miss the wide range of European food products that are available in supermarkets here. Imported products may be available in a few select shops in big cities (as I found they were in Tokyo), but would be several times more expensive and would require to go to these luxury food shops. I have lived in Australia and really didn't appreciate the presence of giant spiders everywhere.

This leaves Denmark, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland and New Zealand. I have been to these countries except NZ, and I did not find life to be very different from Belgium. Belgium and the Netherlands are very similar. Belgium ranks lower in some indicators because some industrial cities with higher unemployment and poverty (Charleroi, Mons, Liège) bring the average down. Even so, Belgians enjoy the largest houses in Europe along with the Swiss and Norwegians, but with a higher ratio of house-to-apartments and higher home ownership than Switzerland. The weather and the food are better than in Scandinavia. Belgium has a more beautiful scenery than Denmark or the Netherlands, which are completely flat and boring. When all factors are taken into account, I feel that only Switzerland and Austria can rival with the better parts of Belgium.

I don't think I would ever choose to live in the USA for a number of reasons. Top on the list are the high crime rate (especially homicides), guns, too many religious fanatics, religion pervading most aspects of society and politics, the highly confrontational culture, the blatant gap between the have's and have not's... If I really had to live in the US, I guess I would choose somewhere in New England (although it gets as cold as in Scandinavia in winter) or a good area around San Francisco (e.g. Berkeley, Santa Clara) or southern California (I hear Orange County is nice). Despite the great climate, California has shortcomings of its own too, like wildfires and earthquakes.

Very concise and interesting point of view Maciamo.
I would say I agree with 99% of what you said (but you already know that :) ). The 1% probably being nuance.

I am surprised you did not mention Japan.
Japan was on my mind. And despite adoring their values and culture, I personally did not mention it in my desired destinations, because I doubt I would fit in/ enjoy fitting in within the culture. (Very traditional/ hierarchical/ strict on some aspects of life)
So I wonder what was your reasons for not including such a country? I mean I am aware that in the international indexes for various measurements they do not really rank at the top (top 10), but are there any other reasons? You having lived there, I would love to hear your opinion.

For me Japan and Singapore share similar reasons, why despite me ranking them high in where I would live, I would still opt for other options.
 

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