I can live anywhere I want.

October 15, 2008 7:37 AM

I can live anywhere I want, where should I choose to live?

Next semester I will be studying using nothing but my computer to interact with my university. For a change my living and studying expenses are covered by a scholarship, therefore for the first time, I have the chance to go abroad. Where should I go?

posted by Archers of Loaf to travel & transportation (26 comments total)

How far abroad, and what field are you studying?

If I had an all-expenses paid semester, I'd go to Zurich. My dad lives there so maybe I'm a little biased, but it is a wonderful city.
posted by InsanePenguin at 7:44 AM on October 15, 2008

What kind of weather do you like? What kinds of things do you like to do in your free time?
For instance, if you're someone who likes warm weather and a party culture, go to Brazil. If you like temperate weather and museums, go to France.

I don't know enough about you to tell you where to go, but I will give the general advice of going somewhere you don't think you could get to easily later (so maybe not France since it is easy to get to), and go somewhere you will like based on surroundings and culture.
posted by rmless at 7:51 AM on October 15, 2008

Depends on what your into. It's hard to beat Ireland for either a fun place to hang out or a place to get away to the middle of nowhere. Dublin is pretty awesome. Donegal or Connemara are both amazing isolated places with insane natural beauty and interesting people.
posted by sully75 at 7:51 AM on October 15, 2008

Well, before you can be told where to go, you might want to fill in or consider:
-what you're learning, or want to learn (e.g. language? something that some particular place specializes in or where you can develop professional contacts)
-what you need to reach your university (broadband? good libraries nearby?)
-where you can easily get housing for that time frame
-where you would/would not need a visa to stay that long
-whether your scholarship is a flat amount of money (stay somewhere cheap, keep surplus?) or expandable (live in one of the more expensive cities if you want to)
etc.
-where you have any existing support network (especially for a short-ish stay, having a friend or two who can help set you up with more people to hang out with, or help get your daily life off the ground, is a real win)
-etc.
posted by whatzit at 7:52 AM on October 15, 2008

This question has come up a few times, usually in the guise of "I'm a telecommuter. I can work as long as I have an Internet connection. Where in the world should I work from?"

If there was one answer, everybody would be there. Ultimately, the answer depends on what you want to do when you're not working. Do you want Nature? an Urban environment? A place to live cheaply? A place to meet new people? Learn a new language? etc.
posted by vacapinta at 7:53 AM on October 15, 2008 [1 favorite]

What kind of weather do you like, and what kinds of environments and activities do you like? Life in a cold, rural area, for example, is very different from a fast-paced city life in a warm climate. Personally, I'd head straight for a place with a great beach, though I'm sure that would distract me from any schoolwork that had to be done.

Yeah, what vacapinta said.
posted by runningwithscissors at 7:54 AM on October 15, 2008

There's a subculture of people who can work and live anywhere, so they do just that: rent furnished, short-term apartments for 2-3 months, or until their visa runs out, then move on to the next city/country. I'm preparing to do this within the next 10 months, starting in New Zealand and ending in Ireland a few years later.
posted by nitsuj at 8:08 AM on October 15, 2008 [3 favorites]

The reason why I am asking this question is because I dont really know what I want, which is why I am looking for input from people who know more about the world than I do, and has lived outside China and America (the only two countries I have lived in).
posted by Archers of Loaf at 8:09 AM on October 15, 2008

Except Zurich is a wonderful EXPENSIVE city.

Consider: Do you want freedom from distractions, or do you want what you want when you want it, so you can quickly return to your studies? This is one way to view the difference between NYC and, say, Manhattan, Kansas. I think it depends on your personality, which would work better. Or, perhaps neither extreme is right for you.
posted by Goofyy at 8:23 AM on October 15, 2008

Go somewhere cheap with good weather, where your scholarship will allow you some comfort (I'm assuming it's a fixed sum). Ecuador, Morroco, Turkey, come to mind.
posted by signal at 8:25 AM on October 15, 2008

Is it important to be in a specific time zone, or will you be communicating asynchrously with your school?
I have a deep and abiding love for London. It's expensive, but there are ways to live relatively cheaply.
Have you looked at this list from BusinessWeek magazine of livable cities?
posted by pointystick at 8:30 AM on October 15, 2008

If the scholarship will cover it, and if it really doesn't matter where you are, travel in cheap, interesting places. A week here, a week there, maybe fifteen or twenty cities in a semester. Your language skills and budget will help you decide your route.
posted by pracowity at 8:43 AM on October 15, 2008

I would consider South America but I can understand Spanish. Buenos Aires seems to be an excellent destination. Amsterdam could be pretty awesome to live in as well.
posted by JJ86 at 8:46 AM on October 15, 2008

France. The most traveled people I know say the french countryside is a good place to live. From there I would take trips to Belgium, Paris, Spain... the list goes on.

Bangkok. I've been there, and it is fun, foreign, multicultural, but not as exhausting as some culture shock experiences.
posted by ewkpates at 9:44 AM on October 15, 2008

Paris.
posted by lukemeister at 9:45 AM on October 15, 2008

Paris.
posted by bonobothegreat at 10:04 AM on October 15, 2008 [1 favorite]

Greece or Portugal. Relatively affordable. Easy access to all of Europe, gorgeous weather, great food.
posted by theora55 at 10:35 AM on October 15, 2008

Nthing everyone who asks what you want to do. The weather when you'll be living elsewhere is a consequence of your choice; so is access to the internet.

I've descanted before about the area around Montpellier, France, which has Mediterran weather and delightful people. Neither as expensive as Paris nor as crowded, it still has a lot of cultural advantages befitting a university town. Near there you will find smaller towns in many sizes. Even in very small towns in France you will find fast internet service (mine's 24Mb/s down, 8 Mb/s up, and this in a town of 1800 souls). The smaller the village the more important it is that you speak French.
posted by jet_silver at 10:58 AM on October 15, 2008

Berlin.

Cheap (for a European City), constant opportunities for recreation (nightlife, clublife- or more sedate, beach (Wannsee or the Ostsee Coast), historical landmarks and museums), and very interesting diverse, young city. Great public transportation, and housing to fit just about any budget.
posted by Seeba at 11:20 AM on October 15, 2008

PARIS!!
posted by alice ayres at 11:42 AM on October 15, 2008

Since you'll be busy with your studies, I'd settle down somewhere rather than traveling. I'd pick a place where

- people speak a language I'm interested in learning
- the basic amenities are readily available, so I could study in comfort
- the cost of living isn't too high, so I could travel on the weekends and not worry too much about money
- tourism isn't unknown -- so I could wander out and meet compatriots if homesickness were to strike
- weather's pleasant and food is delicious

A place I visited recently that fits all the above requirements? Peru.

Lima looks like a lot of fun if you want a cosmopolitan scene, but Cusco is also gorgeous, and you'd be well positioned there to wander off on the weekends and visit various archaeological sites, or go trekking, if that's one of your interests. Plus, airfare between the two places is cheap ($60 one way, if you purchase it once in the country), so if you feel like you need a change of climate (and indeed, in many ways, a change of culture), you can always hop a plane and try out the other city for a few weeks.
posted by artemisia at 12:15 PM on October 15, 2008

London. Duh.

The people can be rude, the weather ain't great, the food is hardly ideal, it's expensive and it's dirty but by God it's my favorite place on the planet. I've been to quite a few cities in my time and lived in a few countries too, but London's the place for me.
posted by slimepuppy at 12:29 PM on October 15, 2008

If you're European or can manage to live there legally, Berlin. Berlin is amazing value and totally fun and full of students and expatriates and sexy and did I mention cheap? In all my visits there, I've never actually managed to get past "bitte..." before being replied to in English. The city also has lots of connections with central and eastern Europe, where you should spend a lot of your time as the whole freaking region is awesome (full discretion: I live there!). For pure bang-for-your-buck, I can't think of a better place to live in western Europe. You will live in a nicer apartment, ride a better bicycle, be able to afford better food and more vacations and more cocktails. Berlin!

If you're an American passport holder and visas for legally hanging out in the EU are an issue, then head to Mexico, which allows you to extend your tourist visa at local immigration offices as long as you can prove you have sufficient funds to do so. You'll also be in roughly the same time zone as the US, which is handy if you study there. The Instituto Nacional de Migración page here explains the requirements.

If you've got a Chinese passport, which is possible from the way you've written your question, a few countries that came up on the visa-free entry on arrival list on this page were Uganda (1 year for US$200!), Ethiopia (6 months), and Fiji (6 months), though everyday life would be a lot different and a lot harder than in Europe or America in those places.

Good luck!
posted by mdonley at 1:25 PM on October 15, 2008 [1 favorite]

When? (What month to what month? And, how much? (How much is your grant?)

This will make a huge difference.
posted by DarlingBri at 2:51 PM on October 15, 2008

2nding berlin, bangkok, and throwing in bali (and not just cause it starts with b - i live there and it's great) berlin is cheap for europe, and is a young, vibrant, artsy city. bangkok is the coolest city in southeast asia imho, and deserves more than it's one-dimentional reputation - theres a cool art scene, loads of students, fantastic food, and it's cheap. bali has great beaches, wonderful people, and a healthy expat culture.
posted by messiahwannabe at 10:27 PM on October 15, 2008

I've been in Melbourne for the last nine months and I love it.

I have no idea whether you would, too.
posted by robcorr at 12:35 AM on October 16, 2008