If you could live anywhere, where would you? (2 Viewers)

[jja412]

Seward, Alaska.

 

[legend672]

Down by the river, Down by the banks of the river Charles

 

[12thMan]

Lets start a poker commune on the beach in Costa Rica. I am only 10% joking.

Great coffee, great weather, chill people, year round growing season of tropical fruit. Man what else do you want?!

Powder. And steep slopes. An hour or so away by subaru at most.

But yeah, Costa Rica. I've got a buddy that spends half a year there or so. It sounds incredible. And the people there make it that much better.

In for a beach game!!!

 

[12thMan]

Down by the river, Down by the banks of the river Charles

In a van down by the river?

 

[pltrgyst]

Everyone loves Costa Rica, but there are potential problems, depending on where you live. Two of our elderly friends here lived in Tamarindo for many years, very happily, until they were the victims of a home invasion and robbery, during which they were both pistol-whipped. All their security, including a reinforced six-foot iron fence, didn't help.

No place is perfect, and you'll be very reliant on the personal relationships you develop in your new location, particularly if there's a language impediment.

 

[Coyote]

The south of France has the mild Mediterranean climate of both Greece and SoCal, without the earthquakes.
There is some heavy organised crime there, but the biggest peril is the cheese.

 

[Jeevansluck]

Why not move east of the city? Lots of options and it's tolerable as long as you don't go too far east (go too far and you'll end up with neighbours like @Jeevansluck). For $2.5M-$3M you could buy a pretty nice piece of property in the east part of Langley and onwards.

Mehhhhhh,

"Gone too far" is a matter of perspective and what one wants out of their living space and neighborhood etc.

I dislike the city, and so I have to completely disagree. I'd say I'm not too far gone at all. Love the valley. Wanting to move even further out, if I get the chance.

Anyways, I don't find living out here in any way intolerable

 

[toothpic]

What an amazing opportunity! I hope you take advantage of it as it sounds like a great time for you to do that.

Back in 2016 I was given an opportunity to work from London for a year with my firm to build out a new service offering in that region. I told them I would consider it if they would move me and the entire family, to which they said that could be arranged. Talked it over with my wife and we ended up not taking the offer because she was pregnant at the time and we wanted to have access to the doctors we were already familiar with for the past pregnancies. I still think back to that opportunity and wonder how my life would have been different if I had chosen differently.

We have a lot of family in Austin which is the main reason we are tied to this area so much, but we have talked about living in other areas like Denver, somewhere along the coast or even abroad. We jokingly talk about retiring in a town in the Rocky Mountains later on in life.

 

[Chawks45]

I share the opinion that a couple of years in Europe -- France, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain -- would be hugely beneficial for your kids, as well as giving you and your wife a lot more input as to what really matters to you when the kids head off to school. The broad experience shapes and enriches your life, as a few years in Italy and Germany did for my wife, as the youngest of six kids.

It turns out the my wife and I lived a block apart in Heidelberg in 1967, but of course we never met. Her dad was an army general, and I a lowly lieutenant. But those unshared experiences have been meaningful nonetheless.

In Latin America, both Panama and Costa Rica have a lot to offer -- we have close friends who've returned late in life to the States from both.

You're very fortunate to be in this situation -- I hope you take advantage of it!

Are you my twin brother? You mentioned both spots I adore, including one I'm looking into the future for my retirement destination as an expat.

I was stationed in Panama back in the day and absolutely fell in love with the country. Lots to do in there and there are a lot of Americans, so it will be an ideal mix.

Was also stationed in Europe and love, love die Deutschland. That was back in the day when the U.S. dollar had a lot of buying power to the now-defunct Deutsche Mark. I lived in Sachsen and was the only Amerikaner in the neighborhood. All my neighbors were super kind, helped me out with learning German, taught me numerous customs and always brought over food. It was great. More than 25-plus years later, I still stay in touch with one of my former neighbors. I remember before I came down on orders to return stateside, she told me: "Once you have a friend in Germany, you have a friend for life."

 

[surfik]

Majorka is cool... But if you want peace, sun and quiet there is no better place than Cadiz in Spain...

 

[warma]

Majorka is cool... But if you want peace, sun and quiet there is no better place than Cadiz in Spain...

Cadiz is lovely, with a wonderful mix of old and modern.

 

[ekricket]

Everyone loves Costa Rica, but there are potential problems, depending on where you live. Two of our elderly friends here lived in Tamarindo for many years, very happily, until they were the victims of a home invasion and robbery, during which they were both pistol-whipped. All their security, including a reinforced six-foot iron fence, didn't help.

No place is perfect, and you'll be very reliant on the personal relationships you develop in your new location, particularly if there's a language impediment.

I think everyone loves Costa Rica - like it was 10 years ago. But it’s not the same today.

 

[JScott]

Haha. My wife won’t stop talking about Majorca.

This period of our life would be a lot more fun if not for covid.

so far what I’ve done:
-invested the money in liquid/semi safe vehicles
-set up my businesses for more remote work (hired more people to handle my field time)
-ordered an airstream for when the border opens up fully
-got my realtor on high alert for a home that we can rent out if we want to get away.

The one thing we really do need to consider is our kids and their need for some stability in a home. And we’ve got a rental for the next eight months here in Whistler at a good price.

so we have time.

 

[warma]

Yeah, adding kids to the equation changes things.

 

[LotsOfChips]

The one thing we really do need to consider is our kids and their need for some stability in a home.

You might be surprised. During my travels I met a ton of families (almost all from Europe, most of them from Sweden) who were travelling long term with kids, some in their teens, some in the single digits, and some as young as 6 months. They told me the key was to maintain a daily structure, with time devoted to home schooling, time devoted to play and exploring, and time devoted to family activities. Some times a certain activity would combine all of those elements (family trip to a local historical park, for example).

Europeans, especially Scandinavians, seem to have a much more chill approach to families and travel, and it seems to work for them.

 

[Jeevansluck]

You might be surprised. During my travels I met a ton of families (almost all from Europe, most of them from Sweden) who were travelling long term with kids, some in their teens, some in the single digits, and some as young as 6 months. They told me the key was to maintain a daily structure, with time devoted to home schooling, time devoted to play and exploring, and time devoted to family activities. Some times a certain activity would combine all of those elements (family trip to a local historical park, for example).

Europeans, especially Scandinavians, seem to have a much more chill approach to families and travel, and it seems to work for them.

All I can think of is....

Totally joking Bart, and agree with all you say. this is what came to my mind as I read your post...

 

[JScott]

You might be surprised. During my travels I met a ton of families (almost all from Europe, most of them from Sweden) who were travelling long term with kids, some in their teens, some in the single digits, and some as young as 6 months. They told me the key was to maintain a daily structure, with time devoted to home schooling, time devoted to play and exploring, and time devoted to family activities. Some times a certain activity would combine all of those elements (family trip to a local historical park, for example).

Europeans, especially Scandinavians, seem to have a much more chill approach to families and travel, and it seems to work for them.

I agree to a point. We've travelled a lot with our kids within Canada, which is like the Scandinavians going all across Europe. It's the overseas travel that's a bit more work. If the USA was open we'd be all over there right now. Unfortunately the kids still have to quarantine when they come back (or not go to school, something like that).

Not trying to make excuses, we know we need to do something.

 

[JStew]

My kids were 6 & 8 when we moved to a new state for my job. Kids were fine. Wife and I loved it. We moved back “home” 4 years later and it was very traumatic for this kids. They had developed some strong friendships, liked their school, had their own world. Moving sucked. “ Sorry kids - your whole world is going to change”. Did they adapt? Sure. Did it take a while. Yep. I think waiting another year or two would have made it worse as they would have been starting high school. Not sure I would have moved them at that time. Good luck.

 

[Steamtrain]

Where ever the fish are biting.