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Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: MCI
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Assuming all other things are equal...I had permanent residency and the right to own property...I think Spain would be #1 for me. I'd live in or near Barcelona.
Reasons:
- Barcelona is one of my favorite cities in the world. I could never get bored there, whether I wanted to be in the city or easily get away from it to beaches, mountains, countryside, etc. It has everything you could want in a big city.
- Lots of transit options both in the city and regionally. Not owning a car would be a viable option, I could just rent one occasionally as needed.
- Love the Spanish food/wine/culture.
- Reasonably good weather most of the year
- Super fast access to the rest of Europe and easy nonstop access back to the USA
- Good long-haul options to get to the rest of the world, at most one-stop through Dubai or similar
I love to vacation in remote island spots once every few years, but don't think I would enjoy living in Hawaii or Tahiti full-time. I'd feel too isolated after a while.
Finland would be a great summertime visit from Spain, but I'm not really a winter guy. Or...I should say I'm not really a *live there all winter* guy, I am sure Helsinki has good wintertime events and activities and such.
I also know enough basic Spanish that I could probably become conversational in Spanish or Catalan more quickly than I could get to even basic vocabulary in Finnish.
Florida is a nonstarter. That will never happen.