Dream City To Live In - Page 5

 

 

I've traveled extensively around the world, and you guys chose my favorite areas!
#1 Interlaken, Switzerland  --  proximity to the most beautiful alps and it has decently priced food for Switzerland (the resort towns nearby are expensive)
#2 Como, Italy -- small, but located on my favorite lake in the world and has great food/transportation nearby via Milan and Bergamo
#3 Budapest, Hungary -- It's not as scenic as the above 2, but I <3 its famous baths, ice skating near the castle, food, beautiful women, low prices, etc.

Falling back in love with the freedom that Seoul affords, the low-hassle life, the 24 hour conveniences, and the laid back, fairly honest people. I don't know if it will be like this forever but it's good now and was the same back a decade ago for ,e. Wish I had an 8-figure bank account to really kind of live atop the bustle and then come down when I feel like it.

I wouldnt describe seoul as hassle free as a foreigner and locals arent always laid back(compared to North Americans or Aussies)  but I understand the attractive chaos that seoul offers.  I also wish I lived in the high rises of hannam or apkujeong sometimes.  There is a huge difference between being middle class and upper class due to the outrageous prices on luxury items.  TOJ is the best value around!!!

As a resident of Edmonton, I condone the level of snark in this comment.

Lately I've been trying to grapple with this. I'm young, no commitments, and in a mobile profession - so sometimes I think I should just randomly go to another place for a few years. I used to think London was the place, but after many visits with family living there, the commute is too much of a f'in pain - and the houses there frankly suck compared to what we have in Canada. I love visiting every few months - but I'm not sure I could handle living there.

Any suggestions of places that:
1) Have abundant jobs for CPA's and good wages
2) A reasonable commute time (40 minutes or less - or I go apeshit in traffic)
3) Nice weather - preferably no snow, and not crazy humid.

Every 'dream city' topic does indeed need to specify 'for whom;' seems like even Monocle (the magazine that fanatically addresses the topic almost every month) fails to recognize this point. For us, I'd say the typical SF-er is 22-35, educated, single (slightly nerdy), and with an appreciation for history. A dream city for those guys is entirely different from a 30+ married/LTR dude, or a -22 undergrad student. Global cities with an interesting historical setting, desirable and plentiful females, communal/mingling areas (plazas, squares, walking streets), and proximity to other such cities should appeal much more to the SFer, and I'd put Paris and other Continental cities at the top of that list. I hesitate to put NYC or London there since they're too familiar and honestly they can be quite bleak if you're single and don't have connections. Tokyo or other Asian cities, though great, really only work if you speak the language.

If however you've secured a mate already, that suddenly opens up other cities where the social life may not be that great but there are other attractions like outdoors, weather, scenery, or an exotic local culture- Sydney, Seattle, Seoul, Rio, Singapore, Zurich, etc, and a host of smaller cities and towns.

Also, there seemed to be so many more young people in Fukuoka than in Tokyo. The latter seems like a Japanese version of Children of Men.

Interestingly, despite what you mentioned, Australians are some of the most well travelled people.

Drew - what brought you to Sydney initially and what were you doing here? Were you just a student? I think Sydney is a much more interesting place than you give it credit for, if you've never been here as an Adult but I can understand where you are coming when you say all you do here is Eat, Drink, F, etc. Out of curiosity, what do you do outside of these things in cities like Tokyo or Seoul?

I've noticed this in my travels - why is this?

1. Lake Como, Italy: Just too beautiful and I could eat pasta nonstop in Italy for cheaper prices 

 

2. Nagoya: Cheaper than Tokyo and a family friend lives there.

 

3. Hong Kong: I love the place and great food!

Australians probably don't value material possessions as much and prefer the experiential benefits of travel etc.

waterlocked and isolated

true enough, and i believe the answer is that Australians make the time. taking holidays is a cultural norm, an expectation, and to some extent a right. one of my sister sites at work is in Sydney (right on the harbor - lucky fucks) and we know that we need to plan around our colleagues' availability and the long holidays that they take. my counterpart actually took a month off last year - i think they're allowed to roll over vacation days from year to year and take them all at once (i think this is Aussie labor law, but i could be wrong)

yeah that's what i do. i have like 7 weeks of annual paid leave accrued. its awesome! i love australia. best cuntry ever!

my job gives time of in lieu for business travel (of which ive done a lot) so i also have accrued about 8 weeks annual leave. In 18 months i will be eligible for 3 months long service leave - my wife is pushing for a summer in France