Feeling "at home" after six weeks is why I've always liked 2 month holidays even if they're less frequent. I get a full segment of time living in a different culture.
The first time I went to Europe at age 28 I went for seven months, with a lot of "Germany time" even East Germany. Everywhere but Spain and Portugal.
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This is effectively my personal rant based on my whims. I wish I could still live in Australia each Winter and come back to California for the Summer. For my taste, Australia is better than America. New Zealand nice to visit but even Auckland or Wellington is like living in the countryside - or like living on Tasmania. It's a nice 3-day weekend away like Daylesford in the bush north of Melbourne
I don't know if I could be happy adapting to live in Italy or Greece because things simply "don't work right" there. I can visit, but it's periodically annoying, and knowing I can expect further annoyances diminishes the rest of my time. The pieces of former Yugoslavia can be the same - and of course I'd put Mexico and Latin America in that category. After a month at most I'm eager to leave.
The idea of living inside a "rich island" like the wealthy do in Polonco or Lomas in Mexico City or Sao Paolo is not that appealing to me, but I haven't been in Brazil recently - so maybe it surprises. Monaco is a prison - why does a hell like that exist? It was an interesting diversion 35 years ago. Now it's just shit.
Spain and Portugal are terrific, especially Barcelona and Lisbon. Provence is very affected by English and American culture, so very "normal" to me.
I understand how to play the French culture game, and it can be amusing, but Paris all the time would be too much - probably French speaking Switzerland as well, even though I have family there. They have stupid French culture rules about how things should be done and which German and Italian speaking Swiss fortunately don't know anything about.
The Italian Swiss are very normal, but the wealthy Italians who live in southern Switzerland are absolutely toxic.
I could live in the Netherlands or northern Germany easily and even Budapest, but it's cold compared to what I like. Belgium is survivable but odd.
What has always felt like home is Palma de Mallorca which feels like Southern California on a Medditeranean Island. Malta is as well warm but too foreign like Gibraltar.
To me, England has always been a very foreign country. After years of practice I can speak with an "Estuary" London accent and superficially pass as English, but it doesn't feel like home like Germany or Barcelona.
To me Canada feels like living in the Eastern part of Germany. It's pretty, it's cold in the winter and too humid in the summer, but like former East Germany you know you're living in a secondary part of "the country".
Vancouver is better than Seattle, but if I had to be cold I'd prefer to be cold in Berlin.
I've been to many US places on business and vacation, but none where I'd rather live. |
