Tell Me Something Tuesday was hosted by Rainy Day Ramblings, but she has (temporarily?) stopped blogging. So a group of us that had been doing posts (Linda from Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell, Karen from For What It’s Worth, Roberta from Offbeat YA, Jen from That’s What I’m Talking About and me) decided to get together, come up with some more topics and keep the meme going.Michelle made us a logo and we’re off and running. For more details, check out this post where I reintroduced the meme.
I can be sporadic, but when I do join in I will always share next week’s topic at the end of the post. So, today is about…
If you could live anywhere in the real world, where would you move?
If we’re talking in my dreams and money were no concern – so basically if I were a ridiculously wealthy millionaire lol – I’d live on a private island, equipped with all my creature comforts (so AC, heat, running water, regular deliveries, and of course, fantastic internet). The people I care about most would also live on the island. And we’d be a speedboat trip away from civilization – we could work, shop, etc very easily. So you know, very realistic lol.
Now, if we’re talking about remotely possible… New Zealand checks all my boxes. Here’s my top 10 why – in order of importance to me (some are hard to rank exactly):
- They have a fantastic school system for Dante
- They are considered one of the best countries in the world for racial equity.
- World leader in LGTBQ+ rights: same sex “activity” has been legal since 1986, 13th county in the world to legalize same-sex marriage in 2013 with overwhelming public support, same-sex couples can adopt, and there are extensive protections, worlds first transgender Mayor and MP – kind of like a senator in the US)
- They have free healthcare.
- The crime rate is significantly lower, particularly in key areas like murder and rape (with a much smaller police force per capita).
- They have strict gun laws.
- 66% of the population is secular/atheist/doesn’t think religion is important.
- They have a lower unemployment rate and a thriving economy (although cost of living is slightly higher there than where I currently live).
- The subjective well-being score (based on studies of the percentage of people reporting anxiety and/or depression) is 3% better in New Zealand.
- Overall the temperatures are mild all year round (that’s a generalization – there is great variance depending on region like all places – but their temperatures tend to range from the low 50s in the winter to the high 70s in the summer according to my research).
- Close to the ocean.
So it ticks all my boxes and yeah, part of me is actually seriously wondering if we could make moving there work…. but what an undertaking to move across the globe. And to go somewhere we don’t know anyone would be hard. And everyone I did know would be on the opposite time schedule as me.
It sounds like a great place. I have a knitting friend who lives there who lived in MN for a few years. I did choose in the US when I came to NC. I’m also fond of Vancouver, BC
Wow! You’ve done your research. I like all of those requirements, too. I just don’t know if I could handle reverse seasons and all the creepy bugs!
After reading a few books set there, I had a thought that it would be a nice place to live. Just think, you could get to live Nalini Singh book signings. 😉
I saw the title of this post and my answer was….New Zealand! Same, girl, same! My BFF and I have talked many times over the years on how to make this work, but neither of us can afford it!
New Zealand really does sound amazing! I would love to go visit someday.
Wow, you did your research, and now I want to move there too…
New Zealand is really lovely, my parents lived there for about five years and I went to visit them twice.