Where would you live if you could live anywhere?
May 22, 2009 10:16 PM Subscribe
I just finished undergrad. I don't have any particular attachment to this city and I don't think I can handle another winter here, so I want to buy a one-way ticket to somewhere interesting and find a new place to live.
I've done this before and I'm not really concerned about the logistics, I just need somewhere cool to start my life. I want to leave the US and I'm thinking South America, but all suggestions welcome!
If I had my druthers I'd pick a medium-sized city with great weather (leaning towards hot is better) and a lot of young people/creative types. Who wouldn't, I guess. All the obvious stuff, too - cheap, easy to get work visas, etc. I want to become a photographer, but I taught English for a year and I'm sure I can use that anywhere.
I also want to be outside of America. I know there are cool places in this country, but if I'm going to go to all the trouble to move I'd like it to be somewhere a little more off the wall than San Francisco. I've spent about a year and a half total between Japan and Southeast Asia, and while I love them both I'd like to see something new. Many people who know these kinds of things have told me South America is fantastic, so I'm leaning in that direction. I'm pretty sure I could figure Spanish out, and a plane ticket to Lima is only 300 bucks.
I've got enough savings to bum around for two or three months, but instead of backpacking like a jackass I want to go with the pointed intention of finding someplace I want to live. I once asked "What's your favorite place in the world?," but I feel like that's a different question.
So, Metafilter, if you could live anywhere, where would it be?
If I had my druthers I'd pick a medium-sized city with great weather (leaning towards hot is better) and a lot of young people/creative types. Who wouldn't, I guess. All the obvious stuff, too - cheap, easy to get work visas, etc. I want to become a photographer, but I taught English for a year and I'm sure I can use that anywhere.
I also want to be outside of America. I know there are cool places in this country, but if I'm going to go to all the trouble to move I'd like it to be somewhere a little more off the wall than San Francisco. I've spent about a year and a half total between Japan and Southeast Asia, and while I love them both I'd like to see something new. Many people who know these kinds of things have told me South America is fantastic, so I'm leaning in that direction. I'm pretty sure I could figure Spanish out, and a plane ticket to Lima is only 300 bucks.
I've got enough savings to bum around for two or three months, but instead of backpacking like a jackass I want to go with the pointed intention of finding someplace I want to live. I once asked "What's your favorite place in the world?," but I feel like that's a different question.
So, Metafilter, if you could live anywhere, where would it be?
I don't have any particular attachment to this city and I don't think I can handle another winter here
Your profile suggests you're in Washington, DC. Is that so?
And so you want milder winters and hotter summers than Washington, DC?
posted by gum at 11:42 PM on May 22, 2009
Your profile suggests you're in Washington, DC. Is that so?
And so you want milder winters and hotter summers than Washington, DC?
posted by gum at 11:42 PM on May 22, 2009
Have a look at Malta: "superbly sunny weather, expansive beaches, a thriving nightlife and 7,000 years of intriguing history."
posted by angiep at 12:11 AM on May 23, 2009
posted by angiep at 12:11 AM on May 23, 2009
my wife and i split our time between the philippines and central america; actually we have websites about each one: philippines and costa rica / central america. But friend you've got to either have a lot of money in the bank, or else be willing to eat rice and beans and sleep in close quarters if you're going anywhere as a recent grad now.
posted by peter_meta_kbd at 1:44 AM on May 23, 2009
posted by peter_meta_kbd at 1:44 AM on May 23, 2009
One of my good friends is from Malta-he's on facebook and he'll gladly friend you and talk your ear off about the place.
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 3:09 AM on May 23, 2009
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 3:09 AM on May 23, 2009
Not South America but how about Barcelona? Beautiful city. Decent climate. And a very creative atmosphere.
posted by Taken Outtacontext at 4:34 AM on May 23, 2009
posted by Taken Outtacontext at 4:34 AM on May 23, 2009
Fly to Buenos Aires, it's a great city, hotels and restos are cheap, weather is good. If you find it too big, take a cama bus to Mendoza, a nice little city filled with terasses and ice cream spots and surrounded by most of the best wineries in Argentina! (I'll see you there when I retire!)
posted by ddaavviidd at 6:23 AM on May 23, 2009
posted by ddaavviidd at 6:23 AM on May 23, 2009
Response by poster: I love the spring, fall and summer in DC, actually, I think it's just about perfect. Milder winters would be nice though, I can't take the clouds anymore.
posted by borkingchikapa at 7:19 AM on May 23, 2009
posted by borkingchikapa at 7:19 AM on May 23, 2009
While I was in Costa Rica, I met several college-age Americans who took a year to live/work there, and they all sounded like they were having a good time. My impression was that they took whatever work they could get (in touristy places, mostly), and were able to rent a cheap place just based on the wages they were taking in that job.
posted by pemberkins at 7:27 AM on May 23, 2009
posted by pemberkins at 7:27 AM on May 23, 2009
Buenos Aires is a great suggestion. Brazil could be a really cool place to go, too. It does get pretty hot in the summers in a lot of Brazil, hotter than D.C., but the winters are milder in most parts, as well. I've never been to anything but huge megacity places in Brazil, so I can't advise on a smaller town. You could live in a suburb of Sao Paulo or Rio de Janeiro. Rio is probably better if you don't speak Portuguese because the Sao Paulo folk aren't very patient with foreigners who don't speak the language.
posted by ishotjr at 10:07 AM on May 23, 2009
posted by ishotjr at 10:07 AM on May 23, 2009
Scratch that. I'm wondering if you think backpacking and jackassery have to go hand in hand?
posted by gman at 11:57 AM on May 23, 2009
posted by gman at 11:57 AM on May 23, 2009
This thread is closed to new comments.
The good thing about a smaller place is there is way less chance you will fall into an expat community and spend all your time speaking English.
Argentina is not all that cheap, though.
posted by Rumple at 10:50 PM on May 22, 2009