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The Internet opens up the opportunity to be located almost anywhere. While I have no current plans to relocate - way too many community ties - it's nice to fantasize.
With WebmasterWorld's diverse global membership, I'm curious as to where the ideal spot to live might be. My criteria would include:
- a mild to hot climate
- stable politics
- no ongoing revolutions or civil wars
- no excessive crime rate or unusual animosity toward American expatriates
- no confiscatory taxes
- some availability of entertainment, restaurants, etc.
- good Internet connections (speed, reliability, & price)
A western hemisphere location, perhaps the Caribbean, would allow fairly quick trips back to the States for business or personal reasons.
Have I overspecified the conditions, or does such a webmaster paradise exist?
I would be happy to welcome you to Victoria with a beer or two.
We shall conspire to make this place unbearable, er, unbeatable.
T
(same same good quality low cost restaurants, boutique hotels, internet hosts, etc etc.)
Made the mistake of telling everbody on one of our sites about the great boutique hotel i stayed at a lot. Only a dozen rooms but nice and quiet and very gentle refined atmosphere. Result? 100% occupancy, noise, steep room rate increases, and now even I cant get a room most times without booking a month before.
Its not the island paradise of a decade or two back, development has been badly planned.
There are still very strict height restrictions on buildings by the beach, a ring road is being built in Chaweng to alleviate traffic etc.
So really some would say it has vastly improved especially if you are looking to live there.
Land though is increasing in price drastically, a friend bought land in Samui and it has already doubled in price in six months.
Plus Samui Airport is International.
Australia can hardly be classed as an island paradise though surely? It is enormous.
One person's continent is another person's big island, I guess. :)
Am I all alone down here?
Maybe not forever, Liane, I like your BVI suggestion. :) We get down to the Caribbean every year or two, usually on one of those big white ships. We enjoy the area a lot, though we haven't spent much time poking around the countryside. The Caymans seem nice, too, but it's hard to tell from a very short visit.
The San Diego thought is interesting, though part of my fantasy objective is to have the feeling that I'm on vacation as soon as I snap the computer shut. Whether I could achieve that mental state in a US urban environment, I'm not sure. (I know it's hard as heck to convince myself of that when I'm shoveling snow. ;))
I suppose the IRS still claims jusisdiction in San Diego, too. :( How do San Diego real estate prices compare with LA & SF?
Koh Samui is not the paradise it was a few decades ago that is sureLast time I was there very few of the roads were paved. It sounds like they're going gung-ho on the development. That's a shame...a lot of the island's charm was it's backwater feel and natural beauty.
How's the Internet access?
I can't speak for San diego or LA, but the other day they had a TV news segment on a lottery for new affordable, low income housing in Marin County (North of SF). In order to qualify your family income had to be under $130,000 a year. It sounds odd that $130,000 would be considered low income, until they mentioned that the average home price there is around $700,000.
