Step into my shoes and tell me where to go.

November 15, 2019 6:41 PM

You're a single middle-aged gal with a couple of (non-negotiable-gotta-live-with-them) cats and have a stable, salaried job you love and do remotely and no particularly strong ties to anyone/anything beyond the day-to-day. Where in the world would you choose to live for a few months to just try something new, preferably on the cheap—or at least cheaper than Chicago?

Assume no driver's license, and although you're a huge fan of the sun, you're not actually too wild about hot weather.

You've given up entirely on saving for the future since it doesn't work anyway (you've lost your savings and your 401k twice due to medical bills and recession, so whatever, you don't believe in that anymore). You also don't believe in the future in that old-fashioned, American-dream kind of way, where you somehow have enough money saved in the bank to live on after you retire. Pffft! It'll never happen for you, and you don't think you care about that anymore; you're living in the present these days and have never been happier.

But damn, you love to travel, and you're healthy and motivated and don't want to just while away the hours/years until death! You want to experience shit! See things! See more art, meet new people, discover more about yourself and life and this lovely planet.

Monolingual, you prefer the convenience of a city and enjoy the hustle-bustle and having people around you but really dig a relatively solitary lifestyle with your cats and your computers and your media drive. Practically, your job is kind of perfect for this; all you need is a solid wifi situation, and you're good to go. Time zones aren't a concern.

You have no safety net, and your budget is around US$2500/month.

Where do you go?

posted by heyho to Travel & Transportation (22 answers total)

You're really just doing it for a couple months? Given that timeline I'd be inclined to try out relatively unique things that don't have to be sustainable for the long term, like ... Alaskan fishing village! Also, what months are these? Because if you don't like heat but you'll only be there from January through April, that opens up a lot of the US Southwest that I otherwise wouldn't recommend to someone who doesn't like heat.
posted by salvia at 6:57 PM on November 15, 2019 [1 favorite]

The mountain and highland areas of Panama are popular with expats (though most are older, Panama is very retiree-friendly), and while not rock-bottom cheap it would keep you in a roughly similar time zone (assuming that's a little important for work) and has sufficient tech amenities to comfortably work remotely. It gets more complicated to stay more than 60 days, do your research before you decide.
posted by Lyn Never at 7:24 PM on November 15, 2019 [1 favorite]

some North American suggestions:

winter: Tucson, Phoenix. Santa Fe or Albuquerque
summer: Portland OR, Seattle WA, Vancouver BC
summer or fall: Burlington VT, Portland ME, Ithaca NY
posted by Redstart at 7:26 PM on November 15, 2019 [1 favorite]

Consider a conversion van. It's a van that's had the ceiling raised, and a kitchen-y bit added, and a bed. Put your stuff in storage, get a great data plan, and go to National Parks (the visitor's centers have solid wifi), and visit the many fantastic places in the US. The Southwest is full of public land, and gorgeous spaces. A few years ago, I bought a minivan and took a Road Trip with my dog. It was excellent. The yearly pass to US National Parks is worth every penny.

Or. I spent some time in Colorado, and it's a fantastic climate. The Rocky Mountains are spectacular (Rocky Mtn NP, so beautiful). Boulder is a great town, also Denver. I was in Colo. Springs(with family), which is a bit peculiar, with the Air Force Academy, several military bases and military-industrial corporations, lots of Christian Righties, but still interesting. Davis, CA, is interesting, Madison, WI, Austin, TX, NoLa (living near ColdChef is probably a good idea, he is the Minister of Fun), the Republic of Vermont is pretty much all worth spending time in. Columbus, OH is relatively affordable, and a terrific, accessible town - it's flat, but there are a couple rivers, and you get to watch thunderstorms roll in and put on a show. I lived in Portland, ME for years, now live nearby, it's a swell town, in flux, will likely continue to be pretty great.

I know people who live in vans with cats and do just fine. if you want more info about living in a vehicle for a while, MeFiMail me.
posted by theora55 at 7:39 PM on November 15, 2019 [6 favorites]

I'd go to Mexico. In the winter, maybe around Sayulita or something on the Baja peninsula. In the summer probably the mountain areas in Oaxaca.
posted by ananci at 7:49 PM on November 15, 2019 [3 favorites]

Based on you starting in Chicago, I would do Greyhound bus down the Mississippi and spend a couple weeks in every city down the route to New Orleans. Easy for the cats. Get a weekly rental situation each place along the way, you will bump into all kinds of interesting culture(s) on the way.
posted by Meatbomb at 7:52 PM on November 15, 2019 [1 favorite]

In terms of US places where you won’t need to quarantine your cats:

New Orleans?
Santa Fe?
Western Mass?
San Antonio?
posted by vunder at 7:55 PM on November 15, 2019 [1 favorite]

I think it's a great idea! The one difficulty I see is the kittycats.

Let's say you want to spend a few months in Tuscon. You go to Trulia or Zillow and get a 3-month lease for a furnished pet-friendly Tuscon apartment with fast internet near a bike share station, yay!

If you had a license, you could drive to Tuscon with a couple of confused cats and their litter box in the back seat. But now you have to fly to Tuscon with scared and miserable cats in the cargo hold (unless they fit in the same carrier under the seat.) And then do it all over again in a few months. And if you don't have experience traveling with these particular kittehs, you don't know how it's going to go.

Amtrak is an option, but you are limited to seven-hour legs, so you'll have to meander wherever you're going. Greyhound doesn't allow non-service animals. Private ground transport may be an option. Or maybe a long-distance bike ride with a pet trailer?

Also -- why are you planning to return to Chicago?
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 7:57 PM on November 15, 2019 [1 favorite]

Montreal in the spring is great. Cost of living is very cheap, it feels kinda like Europe, and everyone speaks excellent English.
posted by pseudostrabismus at 7:58 PM on November 15, 2019 [4 favorites]

Trusted Housesitters would be perfect for you if you were willing to hang out with someone else's cats temporarily (and let someone else take care of yours). It's a way to housesit for free, and there are frequently long listings. Houses in California, apartments in NYC, castles in Italy, houseboats in Amsterdam, etc.
posted by pinochiette at 8:05 PM on November 15, 2019 [6 favorites]

Cats make international travel more difficult but not impossible, so I suggest focusing on the US cities mentioned above (rather than, say, a conversion van, or international travel, etc. etc.)
posted by aramaic at 8:23 PM on November 15, 2019 [1 favorite]

Although the conversion van is a good idea (and is actually my personal plan!) OP has said assume no drivers license folks! I actually don’t have any brilliant ideas that don’t involve passenger vehicles — the cats do make it significantly harder to travel and i have no idea how I’d do it with my feline crew other than leaving them at home or via driving. But while you’re figuring things out for you, consider leash and harness training the kitties so you have a little more control over them in airport security or basically any time they are not in a carrier in unfamiliar territory. Also make sure they are chipped just in case they do escape!!

And when considering where to live, there’s an entire youtube channel called “The world according to Briggs” where he (Briggs) does lists of the good and bad cities and states on a bunch of different criteria. Might spark some ideas!
posted by cgg at 8:43 PM on November 15, 2019 [7 favorites]

Arcosanti
posted by rebent at 4:30 AM on November 16, 2019 [2 favorites]

Someone I knew in a similar situation moved to Istanbul. Getting the kitties in was work, but ultimately boiled down to following a government checklist. They too only knew English, were coming from a big city and wanted more of that, didn't drive, and had a WiFi-dependent remote job that didn't care about time zones, and really loved it there.
posted by teremala at 4:44 AM on November 16, 2019 [4 favorites]

Response by poster: To clarify, I don't have a license right now, but I know how to drive. I just live in a big city is all, and I let it lapse; it's common. It's not necessarily a permanent situation.

And I'm open to suggestions that don't fit my question perfectly—it's why I'm asking strangers on the internet... to get out of my own head on this. I'm looking for an adventure. Something I haven't thought of.

Like, I hadn't even considered staying in the U.S. when I asked this, strangely. And I hadn't realized that flying with cats would be hard and maybe not the kindest thing to do to them, I guess. Dunno what I was thinking there, so I appreciate hearing that angle. Don't people travel by boat anymore to get to Europe? (God, not a cruise ship).

The coolest place I've ever been was Iceland. I loved everything I saw there, but I can't afford to move there! I suppose we have geysers and glaciers here that I've never seen. But mostly what I liked was the outstanding public art, the general vibe and lack of palpable sexism, the total absence of gun-loving morons and bully cops and billboards and plastic bottles everywhere; does that exist anywhere in the U.S.? Mexico? Canada?

When am I going? Whenever. And why am I returning to Chicago? Good question. Inertia? I do adore my apartment, and when I first asked this, I was thinking about going to Prague (jessamyn talked about it being so awesome a long time ago) or some island or something, assuming I'd need a base to come back to for visa reasons or whatever. I don't know; maybe coming back isn't necessary at all. Huh. Thanks for making me think about this differently.
posted by heyho at 7:12 AM on November 16, 2019 [2 favorites]

I apologize; I missed the no license part.
posted by theora55 at 7:15 AM on November 16, 2019

Ok - if you're willing to drive, definitely look at the conversion van angle. #vanlife is annoyingly hot right now, but there are quite a few people that I know of (just hanging out in the RV / Class B / Campervan community) that are in your exact situation and drive around the US with their pets, chasing the 70 degree sun with a cell phone booster on the roof so they can work anywhere. It's harder to find places to park/sleep in the cities if you're not interested in RV parks (most of these folks are craving solitude and/or outdoors) but still pretty doable.
posted by cgg at 7:45 AM on November 16, 2019 [1 favorite]

As a fellow Chicagoan, my first choice would be Mexico City. It’s glorious, big, full of art and good food, and it kinda reminds me of my own neighborhood without the snow drifts.
posted by velebita at 9:12 AM on November 16, 2019 [5 favorites]

Speaking as someone who has traveled around the U.S. for the last 10 years with a single cat (in a SUV and then a van) may I suggest a staged approach:

1. Get your driver's license, rent a car, figure out if your cats are cool with the idea. Determine if you can safely drive while wrangling two cats, or if they will tolerate being kenneled in the car for long hours without howling the entire time.

2. Assuming the cats are cool with traveling, get out of town and do a few days at a cat-friendly hotel or vacation rental with them. You can find some good deals during the week. (I know, Michigan in the winter is a difficulty.) See if they'll disappear inside of the bed right before checkout time like ours does.

3. Congrats, you're now a cat-chauffer. The continental U.S. is open to you and the fuzzy ones. You could even go to Canada or Mexico if you get them vaccinated and chipped. Now you can determine if you want to put all your stuff in storage and travel around. Note: Cat-friendly short-term rentals are sometimes hard to come by.

4. After you get some travel experience with the kitties, only *then* consider where you might want to fly with them longer-term. Maybe go by yourself for a fact-finding mission first. Use Ask Mefi to answer all your cat-travel related questions.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 12:10 PM on November 16, 2019 [4 favorites]

Taipei!! Friendly, warm, great food, excellent public transportation, cool art scene, you can use English almost anywhere.

I'm biased because I lived there for 2 years and loved it, but Taipei rules. I had friends who brought their cats over but it definitely depends on the cat.
posted by storytam at 6:50 AM on November 17, 2019 [2 favorites]

Cats make international travel really, really difficult. I've been down that road a few times now, and it's seriously not fun.

That said, you should think about a few months in Portland, Maine (as Redstart mentioned, except s/he suggested it for summer).

With a Chicago winter behind you, Maine will pose no sort of challenge. Better still, people here embrace the winter, and there's lots to do year-round.

You can find a nice place on the peninsula (in the area that connects to all the amenities in the city center) for less than $2,000 a month, much less if you want just a single bedroom or a studio.

Moving here from NYC is one of the best things I ever did.
posted by yellowcandy at 8:31 PM on November 17, 2019 [2 favorites]

The big issue for international travel is the cats. Could you possibly find someone to watch them for a few months?

Because I think time out of the country is exactly what you need. Exactly where would depend on the time of year.

I'd recommend Seville (not in summer!), Berlin (check your budget options, but amazing), Budapest, Mexico City, and Taipei.

If you can stand the Southeast Asian heat, I adore Penang, Malaysia, and both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. Malaysians in particular are super-friendly and generally speak English.

No driving needed for any of the above options.

You might consider joining a housesitting organization like TrustedHousesitters. I've been in some amazing places through them. You look after someone's pets in exchange for free lodging.
posted by mkuhnell at 8:41 AM on November 18, 2019