Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Bored, Part 2

Within the next 12-18 months, a great deal of change may well be happening within this household.   Accordingly, a few things have caught my interest. 

A little bit of geography, valleys are lovely to look at, but not sure about living in one.  Or at the base of a hill, for that matter.  Pretty beaches , though.  Lovely to look at, $$ to live there.

Interesting how housing makes all of the difference in cost of living analysis.

I am seeing California fruit advertised in sale flyers, & wonder if they're any cheaper *in* California.  Also, given the general climate, wouldn't they be grown year round?

Not sure which giant sea turtle my daughter saw from the plane, as she landed. However, she said that it was huge & kept up with the plane as it came in for a landing. If I can get her to load a video, you can see the size for yourself! 

Some trees are boring  Some are not.

6 comments:

  1. Well, you have certainly been doing a lot of armchair traveling! It's exciting that it looks like it may turn into actual traveling. If it does, have fun and be safe! You are definitely right...living in a valley can be harrowing. I grew up at the foot of a mountain in between two ponds, and our property flooded very often. I live in the Bahamas now, but I've just finished duct taping plastic sheeting over the door in preparation for the torrential rain we were just warned about by NEMA. I agree about the California fruit; it should be cheaper and available year round. I hope it is! I am amazed by the idea of a sea turtle the kept up with the plane! I know they can move fast when they want to. Those mothers can get really big too! Hubby and I saw one that we thought was a coral head. We were spearfishing at the time, and we dove down to search for dinner. Imagine our surprise when the "coral head" swam away before we could get down to it. LOL. Love those giants redwood trees! Some day I'll see them in person. I hope you get to see them in person. Cheerio!

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  2. I have also been thinking about thinking about places to move to. I live in Portland, OR and we have a great view of Mt. St. Helens and I was here when it errupted. Most of the tral destruction happened in the wilderness and we had a thick coating of ash on everything. It damaged a lot of car engines, but even that would depend on which way the wind was blowing at the time. Other than the main erruption, it just burps every decade or so - no problem really. I would not let that deter me from moving to the pacific NW. We have rain instead of snow, but it does not hold you captive like snow does. We don't have tornados, hurricanes or much in the way of natural disasters. You don't have the cost of heating the way you do in Conn. either. Housing can be expensive out here which so you would not save a lot there. We have many farmers markets half the year and many community gardens to grow your own produce.
    If you are really wanting to get a good look at different locations, I have recently found a great tool for walking through the streets of most any town in the World. I use Google Maps which is at the top of your browser if you have Google as your search engine. You just type in the name of a city/town & country. Once you zoom in on the location, you will see a person icon that you can drag onto the map and virtually stroll through the streets of anywhere your want to tour.
    I also use Google maps to look at houses where I lived as a child and places my ancestors have lived. It's really an interesting way to go places you can't get to in person.
    I saw a segment on the national news last month about a man who travels all over the World wearing a special camera on his glasses so you can see exactly what he sees when he travels. It has opened up a whole new World, especially for people who cannot travel for various reasons.
    Now that most of my family is gone, I sometimes think of how it would be great to move somewhere totally different and have a fresh start. I just turned 56 and it is very appealing to me to think about finding a community where people are more friendly and smaller than the metro area I am living in now.
    Most countries do not allow you to move there. I even looked at Ireland where my paternal great-grandparents emmigrated from. I was one generation too late to become a resident that way. If I had been third generation Irish-American I would automatically have been eligible, but I missed the boat on that one. Now you have to prove you have the income to fully support yourself & medical needs. Your pets have to be quarentined for up to 6 months. The cost of living was actually worse than where I am now.
    I have read a lot of blogs written by ex-patriots now living in any Country you can think of. They tell you all the pros & cons and the adjustments you will need to be preoared to make when moving there.
    So far, the number one place for American retired people to move to is Costa Rica. It's still reasonably priced for real estate. They speak English and lots of new Condos are being built as well as mostly nice weather. They do experience hurricanes periodically and the monkey population is very pushy. I thought that was funny until I saw a video of 6 monkeys banging on doors and windows demanding to be feed. Only proving every place has its cons.
    Even if you type in "What's living in ... Like" you can get your questions answered.
    Hope this gives you some ideas for ways to find out about specific places you want to see or think of moving to. The Google Maps is really a lot of fin once you figure out how to use it. You may as well have fun while your bored.

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    1. Friends vacation in Costa Rica & loved it there. Monkeys are very determined & smart creatures!

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  3. California is expensive... but I love the heat. I did love the fruit trucks on the side of the road (not so expensive), and the fact that the soil and temperature allow for a lot growth... of many kinds ;-)

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    1. It's the housing that pushes the cost of living up so much in Cal. Other than that, costs are just about the same as here. Except for southern Cal., a/c needs really push up the utilities!

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