Where would you move?

The thread on whether folks would move to Vegas got me thinking about something we chattered about some years back ...

Lotsa folks are happy right where they are, but if you could relocate for work or fun or retirement or whatever, where would you go? And you could have two answers if you go with something practical/attainable and then something just out there.

 

we like it here, but we are looking at getting a second home somewhere in Europe. we've looked at Switzerland and Iceland as possibilities.

 

I wish I had those problems shifter.

 

Well, NC was where I decided to live - after having lived in IL, CT, DC & UT. And Belgium. I have now been here longer than I've lived anywhere else. For the past ~4 years we've been fantasizing about retiring in Asheville. If I could work overseas for a limited time (probably up to a year) I would do it in a heartbeat.

 

I've always wanted to pack up and get a houseboat on the printsengracht
In Amsterdam. Ahhh...can't wait to retire in 50 or so years.

 

If both kids moved away, my wife and I have talked about Sedona Arizona. In a Fantasy situation I would pick "The World" Residences at Sea.

 

Upon retirement (less than 20 years if all goes as planned), three or four summer months in northern Minnesota and the balance in a warmer climate. Wife and I really like the Phoenix area.

Though my wife and I are relatively young, 32 and 34 respecively, we've had these retirement living talks a lot lately. I want MN/PHX, she claims to not even think about our life after work. Fortunately though, she is in agreement with me that we need to save as much as we can now in order to have the freedom to be able to make choices about where to live.

 

We're 18 months removed from the lunacy of So Cal, so that was definitely a move in the right direction. We're still in job-positioning mode with Terri so not sure how long this will last. But we sure love the central coast.

If we ex-patted it would be New Zealand. That ain't gonna happen.

I can see us ending up in the Pacific Northwest, maybe Seattle or preferably Bend. We'll just have to see what happens in the interim as, again, Terri's still climbing. We're also fans of the desert.

 

Columbus, Ohio on every Saturday from late August through the end of November. I'm not married, no kids. If I had to work in 52 different cities Monday through Friday each week I'd be fine. If I was anywhere but Columbus on a football Saturday though, I'd go insane.

Columbus: Where if you don't like the weather, wait ten minutes. It'll change. In all seriousness though, I think it's an excellent city.

 

Still on track to retire in Lake Tahoe. I would love Amsterdam as well!

 

If it wasn't for the brutal winters I would say Montreal. Lived there for three years and loved it but those darn winters and the crappy casino were deal breakers. Thought about relocating to Macau or Singapore.

 

I started thinking about this last year when I finally bought a coop in Queens, NY. I was born here and actually buying a place made me think of the future. I like New England and could see myself spending part of the year there, including winters. But I also like the idea of moving to Vegas, spend my afternoons playing poker, and complain about the buffet.

 

Great topic Ken, we really find ourselves during our Wisconsin winters saying "why do we live here"? That is why I brought up the question of snow birding before. We just know we'd like to maybe do 7 months (Oct-April) warm and 5 here near the kids.
Since we have less than 5 yrs to retire we can really scout around a little. The Villages, FL is a hot retirement area and offers a lot of activities to keep busy. My wife has two aunts that live there and love it. I have often enjoyed the desert areas. Our daughter lives in Albuquerque and we liked it there but they may not stay. However, when my wife and I talk we keep bringing up tropical areas.
Two areas I think I could like... Sedona, AZ & Naple, FL since I've been to both.

 

Palm Springs in the summer, and Puerto Vallarta in the winter. I like warm weather.

 

My two spots I think of would be Mesquite, NV and Kanab, UT. Although, I'm with earth-3 that in a fantasy situation, I'd too go with the "World" residences at sea.

 

I lived in Singapore for a few years for work. Its an beautiful city with an arguably higher quality of life than anywhere in America. They have everything we have here but just much nicer. Extremely good service, world-class infrastructure, and technology that makes America look like something out of the past. The joke amongst all us American expats out there was that if you want to travel in a time machine just fly from Singapore or HK to the US and it feels like you're going back in time.

If you're into the city life just know that Singapore can be pretty mellow. Its beautiful but not a hard charged city. Hong Kong is better for that, but I used to travel to HK constantly and always preferred Singapore in terms of lifestyle even though HK was much more similar to NY. You'll find the best food out there, its always ranked one of the top foodie countries in the world. One thing is people are kind of vapid out there, at least younger people are. They've seen this huge sudden wealth effect over the last couple of decades and its made people obsessed with money and material things. They also will have no problem asking you questions like how much money you make....and I'm talking about random people like cab drivers. Also know that things are much more expensive than anywhere in the US. Especially cars which are much more expensive than here and everyone drives nice ones. Its normal for an average person to spend well into six-figures for a fairly standard luxury car.

Absolute best part about Singapore though is the ease of travel throughout the region. Its the hub of Asia and it was common to fly out to places like Thailand, Indonesia, Macau, etc. for a weekend. Regional flights there are cheap and even the small regional airlines are 10x nicer than the major US airlines which are barely better than Greyhound buses.

 

Interesting thread.

KickingChiken - lots I didn't know about Singapore & HK lifestyle. This is on my bucket list. Do they tend to live on credit cards?

Not sure where my two choices would be only that they wouldn't include snow or tornado/hurricaine areas. Will think about this some more.

 

Seems like you are stuck to the West Coast then..............

 

Would that be Earthquake or Tsunami sir with a little gridlock on the side?

 

Hey, I know what our problems are, lol. earthquakes only every 15-20 years or so, not a yearly occurrence. Traffic is our downfall. For me, I definitely would not want to be worrying about tornadoes or hurricanes every season.

If we want snow, we can go the the mountains 2 hours away. beach is 40 minutes away. Vegas 3.5 hours away. One of the best overall climates in the US. Winters similar to Arizona, but without the 115-120 degree summers. No humidty like Texas, Florida, Midwest, or east coast. Rose Bowl parade jan. 1st - nice 70 deg days.

I'll take all that anytime...............