Best Location for a Home?

[joej627]

Where would you guys live if you could choose the best place for optimal diet/lifestyle?  Factors would include:

-long growing season
-access to clean air/water
-clean wild fish/game
-mass of farmers markets
-good atmosphere in general

On a side note: what do we think about eating wild game raw?  As in like deer, wild boar, rabbit, squirrel, fish, waterfowl, etc.

[cherimoya_kid]

Some wild game does contain parasites, especially freshwater fish.

Personally, I'd say somewhere tropical, with a low cost of living, and stable political climate would be the ideal place, like the Phillippines, Costa Rica, or other such places.

[eveheart]

I spent a few years trying to settle in rural northern California. All the factors you listed were there. The one missing factor for me was employment opportunity in the field of my choice. I moved to an urban area about 4 hours to the south, but it's not a "dense" urban area. I can't think of one thing that is lacking here, even though it doesn't look like a primeval paradise. Life has interesting trade-offs - for instance, I gave up dirt roads with no traffic signals and fresh spring water, but I gained good yoga classes and daily farmers markets year 'round.

[Dorothy]

Eve - how do you incorporate earthquakes into your thoughts about where you live?

[eveheart]

Eve - how do you incorporate earthquakes into your thoughts about where you live?

Earthquakes happen all the time where I live. I don't incorporate them into my thoughts about anything. Also, earthquakes don't fit into the topic of this thread, which is my location for my optimal lifestyle and diet.

[Alive]

Today I walked through the centre of my city for the first time since it was closed by a big earthquake 16 months ago. They have been flat out demolishing around 1000 commercial buildings, but there are still more to go so maybe the CBD demolition will be finished within 2 years of the quake, and then they can get on to rebuilding. Many CBD streets are still closed with army checkpoints to protect the public and stop looting. Here is one of the buildings being demolished in the middle of this photo, one to the left being repaired, and behind the containers are the remains of the gorgeous stone cathedral which is due for demolition:


Best location for a home is Northland New Zealand - good climate warm enough to grow bananas with plenty of rain, massive amounts of seafood, not too many people. Also the east of Australia might be good, but could be too hot.

Costa Rica sounds very nice.

[Dorothy]

Earthquakes happen all the time where I live. I don't incorporate them into my thoughts about anything. Also, earthquakes don't fit into the topic of this thread, which is my location for my optimal lifestyle and diet.

For me hurricanes were a big part of my lifestyle in Florida and pretty much the only reason I left - so I figured that earthquakes would be similar in California and the reason I didn't move there.

[Dorothy]

Best location for a home is Northland New Zealand - good climate warm enough to grow bananas with plenty of rain, massive amounts of seafood, not too many people. Also the east of Australia might be good, but could be too hot.

Costa Rica sounds very nice.

New Zealand is supposed to be a beautiful country. That and Hawaii and Australia weren't choices for us because of the stock market hours or we probably would have ended up there. I'd probably pick New Zealand over Australia because of the reputation for being lush where so much of Australia is desert. Costa Rica is also supposed to be wonderful but I've lived in enough hispanic cultures and spoken enough Spanish to know that I wouldn't want to do more of it. It was close though, because so many people suggested it to us.

When I would have to be up to trade and the language I would have to speak are part of the lifestyle choices for me.

Austin was a mistake. It's just so darn HOT in the summer. We underestimated it even though I like the heat. It makes growing food difficult especially since it's been getting hotter each year and the drought has been extreme. I realized that I might have to deal with drought, but then didn't take into account the forest fires that come with drought. I also can't grow tropical plants because every year there are at least a few days under freezing. I have beautiful banana trees I brought from Florida but they never produce. I'm thinking that a greenhouse for the tropicals and shade cloth in the summer might be all I really need to make it work though - as long as we don't run out of water from the city. Some towns had to have water shipped in last year.