Wildguzzi.com
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: Cheese on February 02, 2015, 08:59:45 AM
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You can retire to Arizona where...
1. You are willing to park 3 blocks away from your house because you found shade.
2. You've experienced condensation on your butt from the hot water in the toilet bowl.
3. You can drive for 4 hours in one direction and never leave town.
4. You have over 100 recipes for Mexican food.
5. You know that "dry heat" is comparable to what hits you in the face when you open your oven door.
6. The 4 seasons are: tolerable, hot, really hot, and ARE YOU KIDDING ME??
OR
You can retire to California where...
1. You make over $450,000 and you still can't afford to buy a house.
2. The fastest part of your commute is going down your driveway.
3. You know how to eat an artichoke.
4. You drive your rented Mercedes to your neighborhood block party.
5. When someone asks you how far something is, you tell them how long it will take to get there rather than how many miles away it is.
6. The 4 seasons are: Fire, Flood, Mud, and Drought.
OR
You can retire to New York City where...
1. You say "the city" and expect everyone to know you mean Manhattan ....
2. You can get into a four-hour argument about how to get from Columbus Circle to Battery Park, but can't find Wisconsin on a map.
3. You think Central Park is "nature."
4. You believe that being able to swear at people in their own language makes you multi-lingual.
5. You've worn out a car horn. (IF you have a car).
6. You think eye contact is an act of aggression.
OR
You can retire to Minnesota where...
1. You only have three spices: salt, pepper, and ketchup ..
2. Halloween costumes have to fit over parkas.
3. You have seventeen recipes for casserole.
4. Sexy lingerie is anything flannel with less than eight buttons.
5. The four seasons are: almost winter, winter, still winter, and road repair.
6. The highest level of criticism is "He is different, she is different or It was different!
OR
You can retire in North Carolina where...
1. You can rent a movie and buy bait in the same store.
2. "Y'all" is singular and "all y'all" is plural.
3. "He needed killin" is a valid defense.
4. Everyone has 2 first names: Billy Bob, Jimmy Bob, Joe Bob, Betty Jean, Mary Beth, etc.
5. Everywhere is either: "in yonder," "over yonder" or "out yonder".
OR
You can retire to Colorado where...
1. You carry your $3,000 mountain bike atop your $500 car.
2. You tell your husband to pick up Granola on his way home, so he stops at the day care center.
3. A pass does not involve a football or dating.
4. The top of your head is bald, but you still have a pony tail.
OR
You can retire to the Nebraska where...
1. You've never met any celebrities, but the mayor knows your name.
2. Your idea of a traffic jam is three cars waiting to pass a tractor.
3. You have had to switch from "heat" to "A/C" on the same day.
4. You end sentences with a preposition: "Where's my coat at.
OR
FINALLY You can retire to Florida where...
1. You eat dinner at 3:15 in the afternoon.
2. All purchases include a coupon of some kind -- even houses and cars.
3. Everyone can recommend an excellent cardiologist, dermatologist, proctologist, podiatrist, or orthopedist.
4. Road construction never ends anywhere in the state.
5. Cars in front of you often appear to be driven by headless people.
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Or you can retire to Kansas where:
You become a self-reliant Guzzi wrench because we no longer have a Guzzi dealer or for that matter a BMW dealer.
You will have good driving record if you stay alert because in most parts of the state you can see the patrol car three miles ahead and they are short of state troopers.
If you break down on your bike in a rural area almost everyone will help or try to help.
There are many roads you can ride where you might meet another vehicle every 15-30 minutes.
There are a number of good to great places to ride to for a piece of pie.
You can use the windy days riding crosswinds to put wear on the side of the tread instead of just the middle.
You get exited about interstate ramps so you can ride a curve.
If you pick the right day you can ride in snow, sleet, rain or 70 degree sunshine on the same day.
While riding through the Flint Hills you can pick your future leather jacket that is currently eating grass.
You can ride lengthwise through the state on I-70 and think that riding through Kansas sucks or instead you can take highways 36, 24 or 4 and go "WOW" never new there were these kind of roads and interesting place in Kansas.
Kansas is just east of the Rockies and just NW of the Ozarks. ;D
GliderJohn
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correction: Casserole is called Hot Dish don'tchaknow.
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Funny stuff "granola" cracked me up. They say a true Missourian can tell what month it is by the road kill. Feb is skunks
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I know this thread started as a joke, but... if Mexico wasn't quite so dangerous right now, I'd consider retiring there--cheap, great weather, decent food, same time zone as my family in the USA. Though I don't speak a word of Spanish. Belize is another option, because they speak English.
PS I thought "hot dish" was a term only used by us Lutherans?
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What? No Arkansas joke? Somebody is slacking.
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+1 on gliderjohn ;-T
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Quote from rocker59:
What? No Arkansas joke? Somebody is slacking.
I could think of a few. ;D But I don't want to get banned from a great riding state in case I have to go to someones family reunion, Oh! I mean wedding. :BEER:
GliderJohn
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They did have to change the drivers ed classes in high schools to two days a week in Arkansas. They needed the car for sex education
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Don't forget South Louisiana:
We pass a good time down here.
The food is great.
The winter weather is great.
The cost of living is great.
Property taxes are cheap.
WE PASS A GOOD TIME DOWN HERE!
Opps, I forgot the summer.
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I know this thread started as a joke, but... if Mexico wasn't quite so dangerous right now, I'd consider retiring there--cheap, great weather, decent food, same time zone as my family in the USA. Though I don't speak a word of Spanish. Belize is another option, because they speak English.
PS I thought "hot dish" was a term only used by us Lutherans?
San Miguel de Allende Mexico
In central Mexico, many many Norte Americano's/a's, English is almost the first language, good access to Meds. Safe as the states.?!
Beautiful little town that is almost like living in SoCal/So Tx. at a small fraction of the cost.
IMO. :-)
BTW no place is completely safe.
EDIT:
I posted this for someone that expressed a desire??? to retire in Mexico. Its not for everybody that's for sure. Moto riding in Mexico is better than good and is very moto friendly. Wx is great and people are friendly.
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We are going to S. Carolina :) That's where daughter is ;)
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I just want to retire above the grass! :BEER:
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San Miguel de Allende Mexico
In central Mexico, many many Norte Americano's/a's, English is almost the first language, good access to Meds. Safe as the states.?!
Hey isn't that the place the dude from shawshank redemption ended up?
Beautiful little town that is almost like living in SoCal/So Tx. at a small fraction of the cost.
IMO. :-)
BTW no place is completely safe.
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San Miguel de Allende Mexico
In central Mexico, many many Norte Americano's/a's, English is almost the first language, good access to Meds. Safe as the states.?!
Beautiful little town that is almost like living in SoCal/So Tx. at a small fraction of the cost.
IMO. :-)
BTW no place is completely safe.
:+1 Been well over 20 years and the North Americanos were just starting to arrive. May be to many now.
We are going to S. Carolina :) That's where daughter is ;)
Mexico is safer. Stay away. Got to many people as it is. ;D :BEER:
Matt
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Poop. This is something we have to consider once my wife retires. AZ is too damn hot and frankly I happen to like 4 seasons. Some of the places I'd go to in a heart beat she'll nix because they don't have a good hospital near by (perhaps I've nicked myself one too many times woodworking, or crashed the bike more often than she likes).
The other nice places seem to suffer from too many folks with money having discovered them already (e.g. Bend OR). sigh....
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Poop. This is something we have to consider once my wife retires. AZ is too damn hot and frankly I happen to like 4 seasons. Some of the places I'd go to in a heart beat she'll nix because they don't have a good hospital near by (perhaps I've nicked myself one too many times woodworking, or crashed the bike more often than she likes).
The other nice places seem to suffer from too many folks with money having discovered them already (e.g. Bend OR). sigh....
Hard to tell what a "good" hospital might be, so we've never used it as a criteria, never mind that neither one of us has been sick (that could change but we're not using it as a retirement criteria).
We've considered LOTS of different places, but settled on one within easy driving range of our grandchildren. When two little girls are running to you with their arms out shouting "Grandpa! Grandpa!", you don't care what the weather is.
Lannis
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Don't forget South Louisiana:
Only place I know of where 90f and 90% humidity is a mild day... and you need a coat to go inside...
But ya gotta go there for the people, food and to understand zydeco...
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No kids, so I'm pretty sure there will be no grandchildren; but life can be full of surprises!
She is the worry wart in the family; but since I married a youngin', what was fun at first is starting to bight me in the backside now. sigh. My over all health is excellent, so I don't give a damn about the usual reasons one uses hospitals when one becomes a senior senior. However; as I stated above, live can be full of surprises and the body can find wonderful ways to mess with you. And your future plans.
But if I intend on keeping on sleeping with her I need to take her concerns under advisement. To a certain degree anyway. ;D
That said, I'd like cross country ski an canoe again. Keeping the motorcycles would be nice too. Somewhere where I can meet with and give a hard time to other riders over coffee would be great!
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Or you can retire here.
BTW , Don't ride to Toadsuck Arkansas just for the pie.
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I know this thread started as a joke, but... if Mexico wasn't quite so dangerous right now, I'd consider retiring there--cheap, great weather, decent food, same time zone as my family in the USA. Though I don't speak a word of Spanish. Belize is another option, because they speak English.
PS I thought "hot dish" was a term only used by us Lutherans?
Also if you seek dual citizenship... Mexican retires pay no taxes. Have to live there half time for at least a few years to get there tho
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Don't retire in Nc.. We are all full up
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This is something we have to consider once my wife retires. Some of the places I'd go to in a heart beat she'll nix because they don't have a good hospital near by (perhaps I've nicked myself one too many times woodworking, or crashed the bike more often than she likes).
I don't give a damn about the usual reasons one uses hospitals when one becomes a senior senior. However; as I stated above, live can be full of surprises and the body can find wonderful ways to mess with you. And your future plans.
But if I intend on keeping on sleeping with her I need to take her concerns under advisement. To a certain degree anyway. ;D
So, how does she define "good hospital", and what is the max distance of "nearby"?
I know people who want to live 10-minutes drive from a regional hospital. That's just nuts!
The only time I've been in a hospital is to visit other people. If there is a clinic or small hospital nearby that can stabilize, transporting to a larger more capable facility is actually very common.
I don't know what the answer is for me. Good health, and never really think about it. I don't think hospital choice is even in the top 20 on my list of considerations.
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As far as Arizona being too hot, most folks think of the Phoenix area, but there are areas of AZ , that due to the altitude have great weather. The south eastern corner of AZ is one of those areas. Bisbee, Sierra Vista area, which is almost a mile high( Bisbee 5200 ft) claims to have the best year round weather of anywhere in the world. Mild temps in the winter, and the summers are gorgeous, with cool temps at night, and some monsoon showers in the afternoons.
As a matter of fact, there is a mural painted on the side of a building, in downtown "Old Bisbee" that states" Bisbee, best year round weather in the world'.
Next time I ride my Guzzi up there....Maybe this afternoon, I will take a picture of it, to show you guys!
Rick.
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I'll be watching this thread as I will retire on 3/31/15 and I have to get out of the Socialist Republic of Konnecticut
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OR
You can retire in New Jersey
Taxes are 50th from the bottom in the US
We're next to New York City
A family of four can go to the beach for only $80 a season
Everything is near the Parkway or Turnpike
There are plenty of hospitals and lawyers :BEER: :BEER: :BEER:
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:+=copcar Stay away from South Carolina. ::( Folks from afar showing how they do it up North have all ready screwed up the grits and it getting worst. ::( Stay away. ::( :BEER:
Matt
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Salt and butter? Who puts that on 'Cream of Wheat?'
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Southeast Iowa... Back when I drove for Hostess the drivers with high seniority out of the Davenport and St.Louis bakeries would pick the run between those two cities. SE Iowa is the state's banana belt, with moderate winter temps and if it does snow, it melts quick. Not as hot as St.Louis and points south in the summer, lots of great scenery along the river, and property in both the river towns and country is quite reasonably priced. And if you want to get back to the big city, just get to the Amtrak station and Chicago is just a few hours away!
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Salt and butter? Who puts that on 'Cream of Wheat?'
Salt and butter is for grits. Cream of Wheat is for when you are sick and under the age of 10 and your mother forces it on you .....
Lannis
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I hope to go to the North Shore of Lake Superior.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y7/fotoguzzi/IMG_1209.jpg)
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I have no idea what a "good" hospital is, I must assume it takes all the insurance plans, does not employ witch doctors and doesn't smell like urine. For starters. ::)
Typically; the older you get the better off you are in more socialist places. Don't have to beg on the street corner, get heat in the winter, A/C in the summer and electro shock treatment if the ticker needs a booster.
I'm a Western lad, no frilly eastern states for me. Too many people, too many trees, too many bugs, too much traffic and you frown up relationships with sheep. :pop
Bisbee is too close to Mexico, I'd prefer to be close to Canada. Food is not quite as good, but my Canadian is much better than my Spanish. This is important when asking folks to get off your lawn. :wife:
North Shore of Lake Superior has some attractiveness; but wacko relatives in Duluth, Army Worms and deer give me pause. It's not written off though.
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Southeast Iowa...Now that is where you'll need to go. Just think, you can ride he Cho-Cho Train to Chicago. ;-T :BEER:
Matt
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Re":Bisbee is too close to Mexico, I'd prefer to be close to Canada. Food is not quite as good, but my Canadian is much better than my Spanish. This is important when asking folks to get off your lawn. "
No Worries on that account, R Boe, we dont have any lawns out here in the High Sonoran Desert...just rock gardens and cactus...if you do things right.....I hate yard work, Id rather be wrenching and riding, than pulling weeds and fertilizing.
I dont own a lawn mower...just a weedeater, and roundup....if anything green rears its ugly head around these parts, it gets the spray!
As far as being too close to Mexico, yes it is, but the mexican border town "Naco" is a sleepy little pueblo, with just one main street that is paved. Nothing like El Paso/Juarez, or San Diego/ Tijuana.
Rick.
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Except for the lingering drought Reno has a lot going for it. Low taxes, more than a dozen fine ski areas within 45-90 minutes, relatively mild winters (compared to Indiana where I grew up,) great moto roads all around without much traffic, etc. Oh, and you get treated like an adult here. Why shouldn't a grown man be able to bet $100 on a football game if he feels like it? I never go to the cat houses, but I like knowing they are there. The Sierra foothills and wine country aren't too far either. I should be in the chamber of commerce.
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I do prefer a bit of green. Like a big mountain valley (Paradise Valley south of Livingston Montana would be nice - except the natives say the wind blows a lot - I don't sail so wind can be annoying).
AZ is going to have a very serious water supply problem; I'm betting within my lifetime, and I'd like to be far away when it hits.
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correction: Casserole is called Hot Dish don'tchaknow.
Ohh Yaaaa... Dig it!
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Flagstaff has 4 seasons, similar to NY. I like it there. Yeah, yeah, Asheville is nice too. You natives can retire to Florida if it gets too crowded.
If you like the 4 seasons the Finger Lakes area of NY is beautiful, rural, and close to great hospitals.
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That said, I'd like cross country ski an canoe again. Keeping the motorcycles would be nice too. Somewhere where I can meet with and give a hard time to other riders over coffee would be great!
Sounds like you've pretty much narrowed it down to Colorado to me.
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I plan to "retire" to Pocahontas County, WV. Won't need much to live on since it's only me (and will most likely stay that way). Just a little one room cabin and two-car detached garage will suffice. Maybe volunteer at one of the local scenic railroads to stay active (along with riding my Ambos, of course).
Pros of that area for me:
- 80% federally owned and protected
- cellphone "dead zone" due to the NRAO in Greenbank
- peaceful with beautiful scenery
- fantastic roads (paved and dirt)
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Interesting/good advice on Mexico above, thanks.
My 80 year old dad, who got his PE license in Chemical Engineering at age 65 (!) and is still working as a consultant, is going to retire to the Philippines. He built a big house there, which we kids call "Saddam's Palace." I wonder if he'll ever move in?
But in terms of hospitals and healthcare... After all, most health care workers in the USA start out in the Philippines anyway! and a doctor visit in Aklan is a mere $10, and a dentist visit is $5. He figures if he needs major, western-style medical care, he'll just sit on the veranda with a gin & tonic and die peacefully.
I'll stop rambling now.
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great post. lmaof to orig poster. as a 46 year old from alberta canada i often day dream about where to live when im done workin. i have spent time in all the western states,. ridden and raced off road. lots of street ridin. my favourite area is the inland empire in so cal. temecula is there. great town. too hot in july and august. eastern arizona is a close second. a bit chilly in jan and feb. so im gonna split my time btween the 2.
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I like the North Shore idea, or at least Duluth. Winter would kill me early...
As for Iowa, the truckers tell me what that stands for;
I
Oughta
Went
Around
No offence but its funny. I'll likely just retire here a little at a time...
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I am glad we have a consensus......... ??? ???
;D
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Southeast Iowa... Back when I drove for Hostess the drivers with high seniority out of the Davenport and St.Louis bakeries would pick the run between those two cities. SE Iowa is the state's banana belt, with moderate winter temps and if it does snow, it melts quick. Not as hot as St.Louis and points south in the summer, lots of great scenery along the river, and property in both the river towns and country is quite reasonably priced. And if you want to get back to the big city, just get to the Amtrak station and Chicago is just a few hours away!
I've always liked that area...especially the Ft. Madison area....I think that would be a good summertime place to be...
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Northeastern Kentucky, West Virginia, SE Ohio. Northern Appalachia. Hills, twisty roads, black forests, and a hard freeze in the short winter. Spectacular 3 seasons of the year. Often lovely in winter too.
(http://m6.i.pbase.com/o2/78/887778/1/118162876.ZnNZlbcv.TheBeautifulHillsofWestVirginia.jpg)
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Bought a remote tract of land last year in Montana. Plan to retire there and for about three months during the winter explore warmer areas in the Travel Trailer. Not a bad place to sip bourbon and look for wildlife.
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-O723emNTlls/U8SPSX5x5AI/AAAAAAAABwY/LYqxvCOQwKA/s720/BVR938-2moose%2526calf.jpg)
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I grew up in eastern Montana, tempting. Especially the western half.
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I plan to "retire" to Pocahontas County, WV. Won't need much to live on since it's only me (and will most likely stay that way). Just a little one room cabin and two-car detached garage will suffice. Maybe volunteer at one of the local scenic railroads to stay active (along with riding my Ambos, of course).
Pros of that area for me:
- 80% federally owned and protected
- cellphone "dead zone" due to the NRAO in Greenbank
- peaceful with beautiful scenery
- fantastic roads (paved and dirt)
Can't blame you. I love WV.
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Upstate NY for us. We like snow.(https://scontent-b-lax.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/v/l/t1.0-9/18251_10203596606812548_9021641860937774982_n.jpg?oh=67faa3ab7e88bdecda08233fd0bde537&oe=55580F2B)
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As far as Arizona being too hot, most folks think of the Phoenix area, but there are areas of AZ , that due to the altitude have great weather. The south eastern corner of AZ is one of those areas. Bisbee, Sierra Vista area, which is almost a mile high( Bisbee 5200 ft) claims to have the best year round weather of anywhere in the world. Mild temps in the winter, and the summers are gorgeous, with cool temps at night, and some monsoon showers in the afternoons.
As a matter of fact, there is a mural painted on the side of a building, in downtown "Old Bisbee" that states" Bisbee, best year round weather in the world'.
Next time I ride my Guzzi up there....Maybe this afternoon, I will take a picture of it, to show you guys!
Rick.
Best weather anywhere in the world? I disagree. There are 5 months of the year that have in the past recorded temps above 100 degrees F.
There are about 5 or six other months where it often goes below freezing and a few where it gets sub zero.
That sounds about average for most of the continental USA.
My temps almost never go above 100 and for most of the year not above 90, and never below 50. Oh and the trade winds make even the hot days very tolerable.
This makes for year round riding
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Ya, but you are stuck on a rock an 8 hour ride to any where. :P
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That said, I'd like cross country ski an canoe again. Keeping the motorcycles would be nice too. Somewhere where I can meet with and give a hard time to other riders over coffee would be great!
Sounds like you've pretty much narrowed it down to Colorado to me.
.... uh? Yukon; eh? 100km groomed cross country trails inside Whitehorse city limits. (They should actually classify themselves as a town but you get uppity when the population hits 25k). A world heritage river 35 km north of Whitehorse. 5 pristine watersheds emptying into the Arctic ocean (google: Pelly, Snake or Wind river). A 1000 mile dogsled race due to start next Sunday. A 550 mile canoe race through wilderness. The Boone and Crockett world record moose antlers. Mountain Bike trails that are being recognized as among the best in the world. If you base in Whitehorse; Alaska is 180km off in the distance. And all this with under 30 stoplights in nearly a half million square kilometres of mostly uninhabited landscape. On top of that: the Canadian 'dollar' is worth six bits.
:) .... and it is 38 below on my porch. There's a reason we are so few in the North.
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Connie , F or C ?
Dusty
As we say up here, first one, then the other. **C
I'm sure Connie will agree.
Oh -- you forgot that the premiere NA ADV rally happens every summer solstice, about 200 clicks up the Klondike from Whitehorse, and the Cassiar is just a few hours the other direction. It also has the only border crossing I can remember ("Boundary" on the Top of the World Highway) where the portapotty is bigger than the station house, and the guard leans her head out the window and hollers "You're all nuts!" as we go by.
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Connie , F or C ?
Dusty
:) ... at that temperature it really doesn't matter. In F your spit freeze two inches closer to the ground.
(Celsius)
Wind chill tomorrow is expected to be -52.
But, as we like to say, its' a dry cold.
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;-T :BEER:
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I don't know what the answer is for me. Good health, and never really think about it. I don't think hospital choice is even in the top 20 on my list of considerations.
[/quote]
As I recall your are 40 something.......... ..when I was your age I used to say the same things.......but now I'm in my 70s and I live 15 miles from a decent hospital because my bulletproof body ain't that any more. ;) :D
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Ya, but you are stuck on a rock an 8 hour ride to any where. :P
Oh but it's a very nice rock and I don't fly anymore, ( my arms get tired flapping ), so I am happy here drooling over scantily clad young ladies year round,
Watching young fools on surf boards teasing tiger sharks, and occasional trips to the Kava bar.
BTW my rock is more than twice as large as all the rest of the Hawaiian islands combined, yet is not heavily populated.
I probably breathe cleaner air the anyone in the continental US thanks to the trade winds and lack of industry.
Note, vog doesn't come to my end of the island.
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I actually like winter...but me and the wife have been discussing a possible move to Tennessee or rural North Carolina. Rural western NY is ok but the taxes are brutal and will only get worse. Only requirement is a reasonable drive to a medical center just in case something needs to be fixed...
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We also did not think about medical support for many years.
Then family members bought a place in the AZ White Mountains. Nice little community. Perfect place to live 'in the country'. After going up there for a few years their neighbors started having medical issues (they were in their 70's). 3-4hr drive back to Phoenix. Pretty soon they decided that living in the mountains is for youngsters.
Our daughter and her husband live in Columbia, SC and son lives in Seattle area. We thought about WA but taxes and cost of living killed that. And, son is thinking of moving. Columbia is not what I would call ideal, but, it is near the kids and cost of living is very low. We looked at NC too. Better climate (and roads :) ).
If I had my choice, not constrained by family, I don't know where I would end up. Too many good choices. Cost of living and climate would be at the top of my list but access to medical care would be as well.
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Oh but it's a very nice rock and I don't fly anymore, ( my arms get tired flapping ), so I am happy here drooling over scantily clad young ladies year round,
Watching young fools on surf boards teasing tiger sharks, and occasional trips to the Kava bar.
BTW my rock is more than twice as large as all the rest of the Hawaiian islands combined, yet is not heavily populated.
I probably breathe cleaner air the anyone in the continental US thanks to the trade winds and lack of industry.
Note, vog doesn't come to my end of the island.
Been there, all you say is true, can't fault it much, but I'm more of a Western Mountains kinda guy, not an island guy. Not fond of airlines anymore, necessary evil today. And even though you put all the other islands inside the Big Island with room to spare, it is only a hair over 4000 sq miles, Arizona is about 114,000 square miles (the county I live in, Maricopa, is 9224 square miles!) it's small. I'd get island fever way too fast.
I have a cousin that works in Kona now (used to work in Hilo) and we're over due for a visit; maybe we should do an extended visit instead of just living there...... it was a hoot shooting pics of the sea turtles.
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I have a cousin that works in Kona now (used to work in Hilo) and we're over due for a visit
It really is pretty big. We have always gone to some other island for the occasional island vacation, because the big island is too big - who wants to spend all day driving. But to live there, might be my choice if there really are parts that don't get vog - which would make it the cleanest air in the islands, since the rest are down wind.
But to me it sounds like you could look at eastern Oregon. Kind of a long ways from nowhere, if that's a problem.
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It really is pretty big. We have always gone to some other island for the occasional island vacation, because the big island is too big - who wants to spend all day driving. But to live there, might be my choice if there really are parts that don't get vog - which would make it the cleanest air in the islands, since the rest are down wind.
But to me it sounds like you could look at eastern Oregon. Kind of a long ways from nowhere, if that's a problem.
It's pretty close to Idaho.. <shrug> ;D Nice riding and canoeing in Idaho.. the south kind of reminds me of SoCal, the north, Canukistan..
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Claytor Lake, Pulaski County Virginia
We just built a new house on our property at the lake, had to tear down the old Summer cabin first though. To the right is the state park we're on the opposite shore.
(http://static.panoramio.com/photos/large/2686278.jpg)
Dean
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We're going to Lewiston, ID in June, that little neck of the woods (south eastern Washington) looks very interesting.
It is a bit close to those wacko's in Idaho though..... ~;
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"Yes please, I'll have some bud!" means two very different things in Washington and Oregon, vs. Idaho.
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Dean, will you adopt me?
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Dean, will you adopt me?
Yeah, just load up that garage/hanger you have with all of the tools and machines and come on down.
Dean
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I really like Spokane in Far Eastern Washington, for about 8 months of the year. Great riding here, up the road in Canada, and down south in eastern Oregon.
However, November - March mean very little if any riding due to snow.
I need to find a cheap warm place for winter that my wife would like also. I am so close to becoming a snowbird.
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Bought a remote tract of land last year in Montana. Plan to retire there and for about three months during the winter explore warmer areas in the Travel Trailer. Not a bad place to sip bourbon and look for wildlife.
I grew up in eastern Montana, tempting. Especially the western half.
Anytime use guys are in town [Montana] Gimme a ring...
Spuddy
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Idaho and Montana are nice places, I lived in panhandle Idaho for 5 years along the Priest River, but in winter they are ccccooold.
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Idaho and Montana are nice places, I lived in panhandle Idaho for 5 years along the Priest River, but in winter they are ccccooold.
There is a gal we visit (outside of town on the lake on the north west side) from time to time. Probably will be up again next year unless I can bike trip up this year. Will give you a shout out if we able to do so.
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We're going to Lewiston, ID in June, that little neck of the woods (south eastern Washington) looks very interesting.
It is a bit close to those wacko's in Idaho though..... ~;
Lewiston is beautiful. Taking the bike? If so, make sure you do all 99 miles of Lolo pass.
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San Miguel de Allende Mexico
In central Mexico, many many Norte Americano's/a's, English is almost the first language, good access to Meds. Safe as the states.?!
Beautiful little town that is almost like living in SoCal/So Tx. at a small fraction of the cost.
IMO. :-)
BTW no place is completely safe.
EDIT:
I posted this for someone that expressed a desire??? to retire in Mexico. Its not for everybody that's for sure. Moto riding in Mexico is better than good and is very moto friendly. Wx is great and people are friendly.
Thanks for this . My wife and I are seriously considering Mexico for 6 months of the year and this area is one we didn't know about . I sure like the good riding part . We are on Vancouver Island and if this pineapple express doesn't slow down soon I'm going to have webbed feet . Cheers .
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I plan to "retire" to Pocahontas County, WV. Won't need much to live on since it's only me (and will most likely stay that way). Just a little one room cabin and two-car detached garage will suffice. Maybe volunteer at one of the local scenic railroads to stay active (along with riding my Ambos, of course).
Pros of that area for me:
- 80% federally owned and protected
- cellphone "dead zone" due to the NRAO in Greenbank
- peaceful with beautiful scenery
- fantastic roads (paved and dirt)
Im curious Charlie, why is it a positive to be in a cellular dead zone?
Thanks Rick.
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Only place I know of where 90f and 90% humidity is a mild day... and you need a coat to go inside...
But ya gotta go there for the people, food and to understand zydeco...
Being from 'over yonder', I spent a few days in southern Louisiana the year before.
Plenty of Zydeco and the feeling of a warm wet blanket over your shoulders as you leave the over(air)cooled rooms.
Beats me how you guys ride motorcycles in the summer with full gear.
But what a lovely state, great scenery and friendly people. I'll always remember the zydeco breakfast dances at Breaux Bridge, the French Quarter in New Orleans, the Atchafalaya area and many other things.
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Lewiston is beautiful. Taking the bike? If so, make sure you do all 99 miles of Lolo pass.
:+1 That was one of the most pleasant rides I've done.. just mile after mile following the rivers of the Lewis & Clark expedition.
(http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c294/elwood59/PNW%20trip%20200_zpskff4dqqx.jpg) (http://s29.photobucket.com/user/elwood59/media/PNW%20trip%20200_zpskff4dqqx.jpg.html)
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Lewiston is beautiful. Taking the bike? If so, make sure you do all 99 miles of Lolo pass.
Taking the F150, wife and one dog. Family reunion. Looking at the map, there appears to be some very nice/fun roads (although many appear to be more suited to my XR650L than the Griso. ::)
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I notice that no one is singing the praises of the liberal east coast
certainly not me
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I notice that no one is singing the praises of the liberal east coast
certainly not me
As a Liberal living on the liberal east coast, allow me to sing the praises. That said, I'd rather be living in the liberal northwest.
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Taking the F150, wife and one dog. Family reunion. Looking at the map, there appears to be some very nice/fun roads (although many appear to be more suited to my XR650L than the Griso. ::)
Throw that Grease O in the back of the truck. You'll be right at the spiral highway.. Idaho has some absolutely great riding.
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Some place with a Mediterranean climate and Room Service! :BEER:
(http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/ag77/Penderic/ac_zps4cp4xxg8.jpg)
And where lots of nice interesting people come to visit and to have a pleasant time.
(http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/ag77/Penderic/02_MotoGuzzi-1_zps8kcov8lx.jpg)
Oh look. Here comes the neighborhood! :D
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As a Liberal living on the liberal east coast, allow me to sing the praises. That said, I'd rather be living in the liberal northwest.
So YOU'RE the one! :D
Lannis (living in the conservative Piedmont of Virginia)
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If I have a choice (my wife disagrees) it is the high deserts of Oregon for me, specifically Lakeview. High enough in elev to be cool in the summer. 325+ days of sunshine, a short ride into the Sacramento Valley where it is usually warm in the winter.
Gail and I are only 7 short years from pulling the plug. Looking at a lot of different options.
Bill Lovelady IS
Eskimo Spy
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If I have a choice (my wife disagrees) it is the high deserts of Oregon for me, specifically Lakeview. High enough in elev to be cool in the winter. 325+ days of sunshine, a short ride into the Sacramento Valley where it is usually warm in the winter.
Gail and I are only 7 short years from pulling the plug. Looking at a lot of different options.
Bill Lovelady IS
Eskimo Spy
As I said at first, I’ll be where the grandchildren are.
But if that were not a criteria, here’s where I’d retire to. A motorcycling paradise.
These kinds of roads are everywhere …
(http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i130/LannisSelz/SAM_0078_zps3ac588c1.jpg) (http://s71.photobucket.com/user/LannisSelz/media/SAM_0078_zps3ac588c1.jpg.html)
Leading to these kinds of places – nobody there but you.
(http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i130/LannisSelz/SAM_0090_zpsa8e75642.jpg) (http://s71.photobucket.com/user/LannisSelz/media/SAM_0090_zpsa8e75642.jpg.html)
(http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i130/LannisSelz/SAM_0174_zpsf086872b.jpg) (http://s71.photobucket.com/user/LannisSelz/media/SAM_0174_zpsf086872b.jpg.html)
This 300-year-old house would be about 250,000 pounds, so I’d have to sell out here to buy it, but living is reasonable once you’re there.
(http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i130/LannisSelz/SAM_0002_zps7fc29be0.jpg) (http://s71.photobucket.com/user/LannisSelz/media/SAM_0002_zps7fc29be0.jpg.html)
See the little white stone patio at the left side of the house? You can set up your chairs and grill and cooler RIGHT there and watch the racers coming by on the TT Mountain Course 10 feet away from you ….
(http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i130/LannisSelz/SAM_0200_zps61e140ce.jpg) (http://s71.photobucket.com/user/LannisSelz/media/SAM_0200_zps61e140ce.jpg.html)
Can’t imagine a better place to enjoy that kind of life!
Lannis
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This 300-year-old house would be about 250,000 pounds, so I’d have to sell out here to buy it, but living is reasonable once you’re there.
I would have guessed the house to weigh more than that........ ;D
I dunno, those dam noisy motorbike riders whizzing by......
kjf
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This 300-year-old house would be about 250,000 pounds, so I’d have to sell out here to buy it, but living is reasonable once you’re there.
I would have guessed the house to weigh more than that........ ;D
I dunno, those dam noisy motorbike riders whizzing by......
kjf
My crippled, illiterate old version of Word has no "GBP" symbol, I can't select "Alt-411" on the NUM pad on this MAC keyboard, and the noisy motorbikes only come whizzing by 4 weeks out of the year ..... so it's really a pretty good deal!
Lannis
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Where I want to retire is in a little by California standards 950 sf house with a 2,400 sf garage - shop - man cave. I have lots of "hobbies" and each needs it's proper space
Right now in Folsom, Ca., what you need for city life is close (Hospital care, supermarkets, hardware, factory stores) it's just so dammed expensive and being a construction worker I'm more of a Country Boy. What good is it if you're just going to sit around and watch TV?
I'm not sure being near Hospital care is such a good idea. After watching my father suffer for more than a year I'll take a long walk in the snow with a good bottle of scotch.
My fly fishing mentor - buddy moved to Medford Oregon to be near the Steelheads. I've float/fished the Deschutes Hex hatch and love the Eastern Oregon area. Good hunting, fishing and fewer people.
All my kids are within a couple of hours of me but I might see them more if I lived in a more desirable destination.
My brother-in-law from the Santa Rosa wine area has fallen in love with Montana and wants me to join him there. Maybe I could build a small barn-shop living arrangement there.
To many options ....
I wonder how Stone County Arkansas is .... Family left in the 30's due to a little problem with the Reveneuers being after Granddad and Greatgranddad
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Some place with a Mediterranean climate and Room Service! :BEER:
(http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/ag77/Penderic/ac_zps4cp4xxg8.jpg)
And where lots of nice interesting people come to visit and to have a pleasant time.
(http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/ag77/Penderic/02_MotoGuzzi-1_zps8kcov8lx.jpg)
Oh look. Here comes the neighborhood! :D
Awesome !!!
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Oh if I had more money than brains (Cindy says that's true now) I could live in Italy. Although learning a second language now might be a bit much.
Dean
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And having all that delicious Italian food and drink available will make a very nice lifestyle
challenge improvement! ....
;-T
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I notice that no one is singing the praises of the liberal east coast
certainly not me
Ridiculous comment
My prediction you will be unhappy no matter where you go with such an accusatory narrow 'us against them' mentality.
In truth it's about 50/50 split between conservatives & progressives anywhere you go.. Even hard right or extreme liberal regions/cities are 60/40 or 65/35 *at most* split
Oregon, Washington, Sedona, Mexico...
Sounds like almost everyone in this thread wants to move to an area that's more liberal than they would be leaving behind.. And even that is coincidence in this case.
You will have to interact with differently minded people no matter where you go.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Mayor of BBQ,
How is Asheville as a retirement locale? It has been on my radar for a while now.
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If one doesn't mind some humidity Southeastern Oklahoma has a lot to recommend it . Anywhere between Broken Bow and Talihena , nice scenery , relatively low real estate costs , good MC roads , and enough tourism to create a culture of decent restaurants and services . Politics , well , pretty much all over the map , dunno .
Dusty
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Mayor of BBQ,
How is Asheville as a retirement locale? It has been on my radar for a while now.
Well it's booming
Our very liberal enclave has been on every best of & top 10 list in the publishing world
The whole place is overrun with retires
We have a tremendous housing shortage now, largely due to massive influx of retired, and also rich out of staters buying vacation homes... And the current scourge are out of towners buying up any house that comes on the market and turning them into 365/24/7 AirBnB rentals.
Place is lousy with Floridians and New Yorkers.. And even worse the dreaded 'half-back' hybrid
That's when ppl retire from NY to FL, then realize FL sucks and move 'halfway back' to NY, landing in NC
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Mayor of BBQ,
How is Asheville as a retirement locale? It has been on my radar for a while now.
I'm not the mayor, but it's extremely popular.. he'll probably tell you to go away. ;D We have friends near Mooresville, ya know.. where they do all that stock car ricein? It's growing so fast that they can't keep up with infrastructure.
I see that the mayor has posted while I was typing this.
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Lucky for us is that our place is on a private road and it is only about 15-20 minutes to Radford/Blacksford area, lots of shopping due to both of the universities (Radford and VPI).
It's an old lake hydro type built in the 30s. Lots of rock walls, not many pastures so no runoff. We've been wanting to build here for some time, just around to it now.
Dean
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If I have a choice (my wife disagrees) it is the high deserts of Oregon for me, specifically Lakeview. High enough in elev to be cool in the winter. 325+ days of sunshine, a short ride into the Sacramento Valley where it is usually warm in the winter.
Gail and I are only 7 short years from pulling the plug. Looking at a lot of different options.
Bill Lovelady IS
Eskimo Spy
Bill -- What's up with Lakeview that they're having cluster earthquakes all the time (except oddly, standard holidays)? Is it an mining/oil/fracking area? The only other part of the lower 48 I see with near that much seismic activity is north-central OK.
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Washington and Oregon are not liberal, except in the major metropolitan areas. Our state is run by politicians who thing it is a good idea to create laws fining individuals for food thrown away in their garbage. Really, you can look it up.
The vast majority of the state are much more conservative with a live and let live attitude.
It's only kind of kidding when we talk about seceding and creating the state of Columbia which would encompass Eastern Washington, Eastern Oregon and the Idaho panhandle.
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Maybe by land area the majority of those states are conservative.. But by population, it's still around 50/50
This is the case nationwide. If it was a vast majority of conservatives.. Then how did politicians who enforce composting get in office?
As to how you can be anti recycling and/or composting.. That is a doozy. If there is collection.. Then what the problem segregating compost, recycling, and trash??
I don't know if collection is provided on your area but if it is you just seem hardheaded and lazy?
Governments pay a lot of money to dispose of trash.. And there is ALWAYS a problem with where to put it. If you can divert some of the stream in a way that it doesn't require long term bulk storage with the trash... And can even be used to produce a viable product (fertilizer) it seems silly to whine about it.
E.Wash & OR are supposed to have a strong & proud farming heritage and like it or not compost is a big part of that. I'm sorry the yoke of the nasty government forced you to *gasp* buy an additional trash can and waste 45seconds a day segregating your waste. Oh the horror!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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No argument there. Probably more like 65/35 population wise. Area wise, only King county and maybe Pierce county vote liberal, but as you note, they are the population base so they control what happens.
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In truth it's about 50/50 split between conservatives & progressives anywhere you go.. Even hard right or extreme liberal regions/cities are 60/40 or 65/35 *at most* split
"progressives"??? is liberal a dirty word now?
i want to go where I can spend my own money, not have it taken by a politician to be redistributed
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In truth it's about 50/50 split between conservatives & progressives anywhere you go.. Even hard right or extreme liberal regions/cities are 60/40 or 65/35 *at most* split
"progressives"??? is liberal a dirty word now?
i want to go where I can spend my own money, not have it taken by a politician to be redistributed
I'm guessing that "liberal" has turned into a perjorative these days, as in being "liberal" with other people's money. So they use "progressive" instead, sounds like the opposite of "backward" and plays better.
I think your ratios are probably close to correct within any 100-mile circle ....
Lannis
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In that case; I want to retire where folks spend buko bucks on education. I should not have to teach kids how to give out change at the register. Companies will flock to my area because they don't have to spend tons of money on training. That people realize, like valve adjustments and oil changes, you have to rebuild roads, bridges and buildings or watch them drop you into the river at some point.
You know, a time comes where those dirt bikes are too tall to get on even though if the roads are bad that is the only bike you should be on. My Griso (and back) like smooth roads.
And once I get on Social Security; I want a vibrant young smart educated work force supporting me. ;D
There there is the whole - issue; jeeze, our generation and my folks generation paid dearly for good vaccines; why do we need to explain things all over again?
A good life is not cheap, same with good roads, doctors and midget porn. ::)
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Ron , you may have to retire in Scandinavia ;D
Dusty
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Ha! I've considered it! Still have family there; but try finding good Mexican food. AZ has spoiled me food wise.
I'm not that good of a speller and Norwegian would be a bitch to pick up. Dad tried with limited success. Seems to me it would be very hard to yell "Get off my snowdrift!" in Norwegian. To be safe I'd probably have to learn Swedish too. :P
Uf-dah is all I know. :BEER:
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How did a nice, informative thread like this get diverted into one of worthless political commentary?
Back to the original thread.....
We plan to relocate from Kentucky to New Mexico in a few years; probably to the SW part of the state, maybe near Silver City. Wonderful MC roads and great scenery, best Mexican food in the USA, inexpensive housing, not too hot in summer (effect of altitude), short winters. I lived in the big QQ for 15 years, but moved east in 1985; sure miss that part of the country.
Jon
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Ron , doesn't most of Scandinavia speak English as a second language ? Yeah , living W/O good Mexican food would be intolerable , not very fond of Lutefisk ;D
Dusty
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You are probably right; but if I lived there I'd feel that I'd have to pick up some of the language. Not too cool to declare a place your home and not learn the lingo.
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Heck , there are at least 3 liberals right here in Oklahoma , we have meetings ;D Seriously , Lannis is on to something with the IOM . Winters are a bit wet and windy , but it might be worth the sacrifice , and they speak English ;D
Dusty
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Somewhat seriously, if anyone knows a "liberal" part of the country that a person could retire to -- i.e., not super high property values -- I'd be interested. (And pleasant weather and minimal biting insects.) Unfortunately what you all seem to mean, or how it works out anyway, is urban areas with highly educated workforce - high tech, medicine etc. - and real estate is sky high there.
A couple of my neighbors talk about Costa Rica, but like Mexico ... many nice places, but not everyone is ready to trade cultures and languages fairly late in life.
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Lannis is on to something with the IOM . Winters are a bit wet and windy ,
Dusty
I'm sure I'll be wet and windy myself by that time, so it'll be a good match .....
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How did a nice, informative thread like this get diverted into one of worthless political commentary?
It's not worthless. The original question was asked because there's a tradeoff between high-tax places and low-tax places for people living on fixed incomes .... Retired people on a pension can't afford to have their little bit of income redistributed with high sales and property taxes.
On the other hand, some folks don't feel comfortable unless they're in the shadow of a high-rise medical center with a bus going straight to it, which costs money .....
All part of the equation.
Lannis
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. . .except that there was no question posed in the OP, and taxes were not mentioned. ::)
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I do not participate in any political websites
It's precisely for this reason! I always take the bait and I can never let it go.
This makes it doubly ridiculous for me to comment on political issues in a nonpolitical forum
So apologies for the hijack and the drift
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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So in the spirit of the thread,
Four seasons
Mild winter
Good infrastructure
Close to family (or at least convenient)
And either have my house paid off or it's affordable enough to move there, buy, and have no mortgage
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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My prediction you will be unhappy no matter where you go with such an accusatory narrow 'us against them' mentality.
In truth it's about 50/50 split between conservatives & progressives anywhere you go.. Even hard right or extreme liberal regions/cities are 60/40 or 65/35 *at most* split
Sounds like almost everyone in this thread wants to move to an area that's more liberal than they would be leaving behind.. And even that is coincidence in this case.
Born and raised in California so now it's been 6 decades.
California was far different back in the 60's & 70's. Fishing was great, hunting was good, no Mega Cities and LA wasn't that bad to get around with the freeways. I wasn't that afraid of making a loop through SF on my Honda 400F Cafe clip-ons, rearsets, 1/2 fairing, tuned - a poor man's Le-Mans.
California back in the 70's was actually much more like Texas or Oklahoma are now. :beat_horse
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California back in the 70's was actually much more like Texas or Oklahoma are now. :beat_horse
Uh ... NO . Sorry , have you been in either state recently ? Maybe like Austin , or parts of Tulsa , but Oklahoma is , well , REALLY nothing like California in the glory days .
Dusty
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Lannis,
Thanks for setting me straight, again.......and again.....and again........
Jon
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Lannis,
Thanks for setting me straight, again.......and again.....and again........
Jon
You're going to get work-hardened if that keeps up, and snap under the strain. Better stay bent! ;)
Lannis
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It's not worthless. The original question was asked because there's a tradeoff between high-tax places and low-tax places for people living on fixed incomes .... Retired people on a pension can't afford to have their little bit of income redistributed with high sales and property taxes.
Not only was that not the question that was asked - as rodekyll already pointed out, there wasn't even really a question - but the following discussion hasn't talked about tax structure either. As you imply, retired people with small fixed incomes would be better off in a state that funds most of its obligations with a progressive income tax, and worse off in a state like mine that uses sales tax, property tax and a various random typically regressive taxes. But no one seems to care, from what I can tell, and the one guy who's been most actively treating it as a serious question came out for supporting civil infrastructure - education, etc. (which also rules out Washington state, as I believe our legislature is officially in contempt of court for failing to support education to the extent mandated by state law.)
Worthless political commentary - exactly right.
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if you have the resources, i would think that you should live or continue to live where the people you care about live. you do so because they are important to you and as an added reason, you live longer and better and how do your debate that? lower taxes, cost of living issues etc those are crucial to some folks, but not all folks. what is important is to maximize your access to those important folks in your lives. you really need to be right there or as close as you can given your resources......fish ing, hunting, riding, etc. may or may not be important to you but people you care about.....that is at the top of the list. on the other hand, if there is only one person who is really important to you and that is your partner, if it were me, i would pick a place that had a great neighborhood bar, with terrific food, clientele, and owners who saw themselves as the luckiest people in the world....yep, i would go there with my honey.......
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Bill -- What's up with Lakeview that they're having cluster earthquakes all the time (except oddly, standard holidays)? Is it an mining/oil/fracking area? The only other part of the lower 48 I see with near that much seismic activity is north-central OK.
Not any fracking going on to my knowledge. Not much activity of that sort going pn. It might have to do with the Abert rift which I think is the largest upheaval in the US. Maybe moving again.
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he reminds me of Lannis
(http://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium-large/dale-carnegie-1888-1955-granger.jpg)
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Holy shit. Can we stop with the politics please and get back to posting photos of beautiful places to retire.
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I picked my place and moved there before retirement. Now, it's just a matter of staying here.
(http://absoluteclimatecontrol.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/dahlonega.jpg)
(http://www.menupix.com/town_img/DahlonegaGAHP.jpg)
(http://www.motorcycleclassics.com/~/media/Images/MCC/Editorial/Articles/Magazine%20Articles/2012/11-01/Destinations%20Dahlonega%20Ga/Dahlonega-Ga.jpg)
Great weather, motorcycling, kayaking, trout fishing, hiking, and a Moto Guzzi dealer.
(http://www.bestplaces.net/images/city/Dahlonega_GA.gif)
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I read in paper of all things (this was over twenty years ago so it was still relevant) that, at least with Minnesotan's - because I was living in Duluth at the time, that moved to Florida (or Arizona) to retire, moved back just before they died - to be with family. AKA their support group.
We have family all over the damn place but my siblings stayed in Duluth. At times, that is a good reason to avoid the place. :BEER: But other than family, an area that supports your hobbies and interests, for those of us with a social bent, things to do with other wackos around our age and interests is also very important. Socially active folks tend to live longer.
Some folks like to escape the cold, I'd like to escape the heat. Otherwise, weather is not all that important to me unless it prevents me from doing something outdoors that I like to do. Such as skiing (need snow), canoeing (need rain fall somewhere in the watershed), motorcycling (can't be raining or snowing all the time!), taking pictures (should not be too hot or too cold or I stay inside - I ain't crazy).
Taxes and politics? Meh, we make enough to cover our share and as long as things aren't too far left or right and in general a good mix of both (don't like Yes people and still get the urge to tell someone they are an idgit ::) ) to keep each side honest suits me just fine. Good ideas are pretty neutral.
I do tend to prefer a college town; the youngster tend to add a nice vibe to an area and I'm still young at heart; who wants to be stuck with a bunch of old people? They can't hear, fart too much, opinionated, and have too much time on their hands. :wife:
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Great weather, motorcycling, kayaking, trout fishing, hiking, and a Moto Guzzi dealer.
(http://www.bestplaces.net/images/city/Dahlonega_GA.gif)
And now Shenanigans has reopened. :BEER:
I wish I was a good bit closer to there when I retire.
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And now Shenanigans has reopened. :BEER:
I wish I has a good bit closer to there when I retire.
(http://starrpel.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/2253_48682869957_2952_n.jpg?w=300&h=224)
Yes, it has!
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I hope to go to the North Shore of Lake Superior.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y7/fotoguzzi/IMG_1209.jpg)
Knew a guy from Texas who said his home was God's country. I'd say he was off by a good 1000 plus miles. There's something about the Great Lakes that just draws me in. I'd love to move to the U.P. of Michigan when I retire, but Barb wont have any of that.
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jetmechmarty,
I posted earlier that we have planned to retire in New Mexico, but alternatively we are also considering Dahlonega. My wife and I have spent a few weekends there and loved the area. I do have a few questions for you:
Are the winters very mild? Are you able to ride throughout most of the winter?
What is the housing market like?
Thanks,
Jon
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After seeing that picture of Dahlonega, I too am intrigued about northern GA.
I'm currently in Florida and now planning a MC road trip up there in March. Only 600 miles away! :bike
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Last November my wife and I were driving to Athens, GA to visit the kids for Thanksgiving and I talked her into taking the scenic route with the intention of stopping at the dealership in Dahlonega. Unfortunately they were closed all week but we were nevertheless impressed with the town and the local area. I am interested in hearing what the housing situation is like as well.
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if you have the resources, i would think that you should live or continue to live where the people you care about live.
Yep. That's why the "grandchildren" factor ... !
Lannis
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I am fortunate to more or less be in the spot I want for half the year, that's eastern Plumas County Ca./Reno for summers. My question is what to do Nov.-April. If I got motivated enough to spend 6 months getting my voice going again I would have a decent chance of being hired as an opera chorister in Phoenix/Tucson. That's the high road. The low road is living on the cheap a few winter months in Puerto Vallarta indulging in too much cervezq and tequila.
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Last November my wife and I were driving to Athens, GA to visit the kids for Thanksgiving and I talked her into taking the scenic route with the intention of stopping at the dealership in Dahlonega. Unfortunately they were closed all week but we were nevertheless impressed with the town and the local area. I am interested in hearing what the housing situation is like as well.
http://www.zillow.com/dahlonega-ga/
Dean
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he reminds me of Lannis
Whoever he is, I wonder if he often thought (as I do) that the recreational whining about supposed "political content" on the list is often more intrusive and distracting from the subject than the actual content itself?
I'll bet there's less of it on the Isle of Man. I'm off, I'm emigrating ....
Lannis
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jetmechmarty,
I posted earlier that we have planned to retire in New Mexico, but alternatively we are also considering Dahlonega. My wife and I have spent a few weekends there and loved the area. I do have a few questions for you:
Are the winters very mild? Are you able to ride throughout most of the winter?
What is the housing market like?
Thanks,
Jon
Hi Jon,
If winter isn't mild, it's short. We get a few warm days and several to enjoy sitting beside the fireplace. I ride my motorcycle all winter. There may be a few days when it is parked due to ice and/or snow, but that isn't often. I own no snowshovel. Compared to the Atlanta area market, I find housing a bit on the high side here, but it appears to remain a bit depressed from the last slump where Atlanta has bounced back. Finding a house can be a bit of a challenge due to the size of the market. Dahlonega has 5,000 residents. The University of North Georgia campus has 7,000 students. There are about 30,000 in the county and that population is mostly in the south part of the county. If you use MARTA, you can make ATL in two hours. (1 hr drive + 1 hr train) Due to Atlanta's proximity, we get visitors. Visitors mean business. For a small town, there are plenty of dining out options, not so much grocery store options. Gainesville, and it's regional medical center and population of 25,000 is less than 45 minutes drive.
Oh, I turned on the AC in late August to dry out the house. Otherwise, we enjoyed open windows all summer. The occasional snow day isn't too bad.
(http://scontent-b-dfw.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xap1/v/t1.0-9/18063_1228007416574_4699654_n.jpg?oh=13f7d763855c6da940319c9ddda3e617&oe=554887D4)
We haven't had any yet this winter. The area motorcycle resorts open 1 March!
Contact me by PM and I'll give you all the help I can. I love it here!
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http://www.wunderground.com/weather-forecast/US/GA/Dahlonega.html
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Dean,
Love the link. I have been looking up each of the noted cities in Zillow as this discussion progresses.
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had the pleasure of meeting and talking with a very nice looking, well dressed woman at a recent Dylan concert in Pittsburgh. through her ex-husband's work she was friends with Les Paul, knows Willie Nelson, and has connections in the music world. After their divorce her ex blew himself up along with his house and a collection of over 100 guitars. :o Anyhow after retiring from a career of teaching on Rikers Island (!) she said she decided to retire in Pittsburgh. When I expressed surprise at her decision she said I must be a Pittsburgh native because that's what she hears from everyone from here. She said based on the research she did (cost of living, quality of life, medical care, cultural attractions, etc.) and her fondness for four seasons weather she moved from a condo overlooking the Hudson to one overlooking the Allegheny. For now she'll depend on public transportation and her fold-up bicycle for getting around. I didn't think of offering my services for rides, car or bike, outside the city. That's me . . . Mr. Smooth. ::)
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Gary , I read nice things about Pittsburgh . Interesting places to eat , museums , good live music .
Dusty
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Gary , I read nice things about Pittsburgh . Interesting places to eat , museums , good live music .
Dusty
I've had some great rides just west of there on both sides of the Ohio River. A bit of fracking/lots of trucks in Ohio last fall but they'll be gone after wells are finished.
Peter
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I've had some great rides just west of there on both sides of the Ohio River. A bit of fracking/lots of trucks in Ohio last fall but they'll be gone after wells are finished.
Peter
The first oil well was in Northwestern Pennsylvania, and they're still pumping! It doesn't appear that it will be finished any time soon.
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did someone ask for more pics?
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y7/fotoguzzi/grand%20marias/IMG_0563_zpsoftrjo7i.jpg)
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y7/fotoguzzi/grand%20marias/IMG_0893_zpstlz8kkja.jpg)
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y7/fotoguzzi/grand%20marias/IMAG0650_zpst3jobtns.jpg)
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The first oil well was in Northwestern Pennsylvania, and they're still pumping! It doesn't appear that it will be finished any time soon.
We have observed that most of the heavy truck traffic carrying sand and water during well development in Pa and WV disappears shortly after gas production occurs. Then the local roads go back to pre-frack traffic which is typically light. This may not happen in Ohio but I hope so!
Peter
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We plan to relocate from Kentucky to New Mexico in a few years; probably to the SW part of the state, maybe near Silver City. Wonderful MC roads and great scenery, best Mexican food in the USA, inexpensive housing, not too hot in summer (effect of altitude), short winters. I lived in the big QQ for 15 years, but moved east in 1985; sure miss that part of the country.
Jon
Just saw this--50 best small town downtowns (Silver City = #4): http://www.bestchoicereviews.org/50-best-small-town-downtowns-in-america/
Rich A
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I've had some great rides just west of there on both sides of the Ohio River. A bit of fracking/lots of trucks in Ohio last fall but they'll be gone after wells are finished.
My wife and I are from the southeastern Ohio area. We were there in early December, and I drove around and got lost in the country roads. Fracking equipment was everywhere. Signs telling them what bridges they can and can't use. What roads they can use. I sure hope they don't damage the water table, because most of those people rely on well water.
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I posted earlier that we have planned to retire in New Mexico, but alternatively we are also considering Dahlonega. My wife and I have spent a few weekends there and loved the area. I do have a few questions for you:
Are the winters very mild? Are you able to ride throughout most of the winter?
I ride year round, and I am about an hour away from Dahlonega.
You DO get all four seasons here. And last year everything was closed down for a few days because of snow and ice (no salt or snow removal equipment). Having lived in Ohio over half of my life, no salt on the roads is a GOOD thing. The bad part is that the really hot part of the summer lasts a LONG time. About two months, compared to Ohio's two weeks.
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Our summers last longer here too but it's only really HOT for maybe a couple of weeks to a month. But then we have some snow and cold weather for a few months. It's worth it for the roads we have to ride on here.
http://www.usa.com/24141-va-weather.htm#HistoricalSnow
Dean
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"Really hot" means different things to different people. Very obvious here in Seattle, a good place people who hate hot weather. 80°F will be a big problem for these people. For me, that's some nice weather ... unless we're talking about riding a motorcycle in full armor, in which case I'm kind of sorry to see it get over 60°.
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I agree it's all subjective. My favorite 4 seasons are spring, early summer, mid summer and late summer.
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I handle heat better than humidity; another reason to avoid Minnesota in the summer. Not as bad as some parts of the States but when you grow up in an arid area, humidity, wait for it, puts a real dampner on things.
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The bad part is that the really hot part of the summer lasts a LONG time. About two months, compared to Ohio's two weeks.
From Dahlonega, it's only takes a few minutes to ride to over 3000 feet or get your feet into a very cold trout stream. 90 degree days seem to be few, but I'm heat tolerant. I've had to work outside in the winter and summer all over the world and I'd rather be too hot, than too cold. Kuwait hot is better than Greenland cold. (Just don't ask me that while I'm enjoying either one.)
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Knew a guy from Texas who said his home was God's country. I'd say he was off by a good 1000 plus miles. There's something about the Great Lakes that just draws me in. I'd love to move to the U.P. of Michigan when I retire, but Barb wont have any of that.
I took this photo in Grand Marias. Quite a beautiful place to visit in the Summer.
(http://g1.img-dpreview.com/67594CEE39EC48FEBDE855639FF677C0.jpg)
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Whoever he is, I wonder if he often thought (as I do) that the recreational whining about supposed "political content" on the list is often more intrusive and distracting from the subject than the actual content itself?
I'll bet there's less of it on the Isle of Man. I'm off, I'm emigrating ....
Lannis
Dale Carnegie: "How to Win Friends and Influence People"
:winer
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Gary , I read nice things about Pittsburgh . Interesting places to eat , museums , good live music .
Dusty
I know people who have moved to California or Florida then moved back here. From January to the end of March they can have it!
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Dale Carnegie: "How to Win Friends and Influence People"
:winer
Never took his class, I'm afraid. I rely strictly on natural charm and empathy .... ;)
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(http://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/1934926_1053316689415_3011326_n.jpg?oh=82296abad11426172b9479e38ae69506&oe=555EA3FD&__gda__=1431608310_e47eab622ec30fcbe81573ac8004b56d)
I took this photo from my dinner table in March of 2009. This is Chania, Crete. I was there many times, courtesy of my former employer. I believe I could get used to this place on a permanent basis as long as I wasn't dependent upon the local economy for income. It's magnificent. It's also more motorcycle friendly than anywhere in the US. People here use motorcycles as basic transportation.
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(http://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/1934926_1053316689415_3011326_n.jpg?oh=82296abad11426172b9479e38ae69506&oe=555EA3FD&__gda__=1431608310_e47eab622ec30fcbe81573ac8004b56d)
I took this photo from my dinner table in March of 2009. This is Chania, Crete. I was there many times, courtesy of my former employer. I believe I could get used to this place on a permanent basis as long as I wasn't dependent upon the local economy for income. It's magnificent. It's also more motorcycle friendly than anywhere in the US. People here use motorcycles as basic transportation.
Bringing your own money is pretty much central to the retirement plan for me. Hope not to need to work again..
Peter
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(http://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/1934926_1053316689415_3011326_n.jpg?oh=82296abad11426172b9479e38ae69506&oe=555EA3FD&__gda__=1431608310_e47eab622ec30fcbe81573ac8004b56d)
I took this photo from my dinner table in March of 2009. This is Chania, Crete. I was there many times, courtesy of my former employer. I believe I could get used to this place on a permanent basis as long as I wasn't dependent upon the local economy for income. It's magnificent. It's also more motorcycle friendly than anywhere in the US. People here use motorcycles as basic transportation.
Looks nice.
https://www.google.com/search?q=chania+crete&hl=en&biw=1280&bih=685&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=CbbTVIquJYyngwT_igM&sqi=2&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ
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I know people who have moved to California or Florida then moved back here. From January to the end of March they can have it!
For me it was November through April. That half of the year was just too gloomy for me.
But then, everything is gloom and doom for me. ~;
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Looks nice.
https://www.google.com/search?q=chania+crete&hl=en&biw=1280&bih=685&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=CbbTVIquJYyngwT_igM&sqi=2&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ
Darn right! This is my favorite restaurant on the entire planet. (so far)
(http://www.apostolisrestaurants.gr/photos2/8.jpg)
Also on the water, but not the same one as my previous picture.
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"Really hot" means different things to different people. Very obvious here in Seattle, a good place people who hate hot weather. 80°F will be a big problem for these people. For me, that's some nice weather ... unless we're talking about riding a motorcycle in full armor, in which case I'm kind of sorry to see it get over 60°.
You're the first candidate for retiring to Sitka. Mean temp is 43f. A good summer day is In the 60s. In 25 years I can remember three days over 80f -- not in the same year. Winter lows hover in the low/mid +30s with rain rather than snow most of the time. This (Feb) is our really cold period, and we're headed there now, with mid +teens for the next couple of nights, a foot+ of the white stuff promised, and this:
...Significant winter weather to impact Southeast Alaska through this weekend...
Cold temperatures and strong winds will create near blizzard conditions along The Klondike Highway with blowing snow and dangerous wind chills. Very gusty outflow winds will reach as high as 90 mph in downtown Juneau and Douglas. Latest model guidance is also indicating the potential for significant snowfall across portions of the central Panhandle and Hyder Thursday night into Friday and then over the northern Panhandle into the weekend. However...if latest model trends continue the significant snowfall on Friday could expand northward to Juneau and Hoonah.
But none of it compares to what those poor folks in nor'easter country have been getting, and it almost never does.
The downsides to life on the rock is that it's life on a rock. No roads out of town. You ferry or fly anywhere. This makes a trip to Costco a planned event, involving an 8-hour ferry ride and maybe several days in Juneau waiting for the ferry to take you home.
Gas has just dropped below $4/gal. The fuel folks are gougers. Real estate is unreal. My hovel is worth about $200k, and it has no foundation. That's because we're penned between the Tongass National Forest and the deep blue sea. There's no more room to build. The upside is that the town can't get much bigger than it is.
I just looked at ground beef the other day $6.35/lb. Milk is also $6.35/gal. Sometimes I think they leave the little sticker gun on the same price and just randomly run up and down the shelves pasting $6.35 on everything. This time of year groceries freeze en-route to town and can taste funny when it thaws. The milk aisle is occasionally empty.
And there's the rain. We are in a rain forest. We get well over 100"/yr. The Japan current effect is responsible for the precip, and also responsible for defining our two seasons: the season of cold rain and that of colder rain. It's a constant, much like the sun is in SoCal or the wind in KS. No, I mean really.
But if you can reconcile all that to your retirement goals, there is world-class x-country skiing, snowshoeing, and hunting in the winter, world class hiking, kayaking and sail/powerboating in the summer, world-class fishing of world-class fish, 1:AM Tee times (Down the line in Fairbanks), and photo ops wherever you look. The lifestyle choices include subsistence, which is where you are allowed to eat anything slower than you are. It is said that if we lost our supply link, the town could live nicely on the harvest between the tides, until the booze runs out.
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Are there mosquitos? Any mosquitos and I'm out.
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Are there mosquitos? Any mosquitos and I'm out.
No ginormous clouds of 'skeeters like you're thinking of. We have two varieties, both of which are big enough to slow down enough with a shotgun that you can run away from them. There's not a lot of them. They like it warmer than we are and between the fish and ducks eating the larvae and the birds, fish, and other insects catching the flyers they stay pretty well under control. We do have biting gnats. They are grounded at light windspeeds, so above about 8knts of wind you don't have bugs.
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my nephew in the Coast Guard was recently transferred from Seattle to Ketchikan, AK. So I did a little internet search for info about his new station and was surprised to learn the record low temp for Ketchikan is -1 deg. F. Hell, the record low for Pittsburgh is -22 deg. F.!!!
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I was in Ketchikan on Monday. It had snow to within a couple hundred feet of sea level, but the town itself was bare and dry. Temps in the mid 30s, about the same as Sitka. KTN is a town of about 15k people, and is in both economic and social decline.
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I'm thinking about Friday Harbor, WA We stay in the marina quite often :
(http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk103/jhrodd/168D6D06-56A4-40A5-8C82-7C1CF9CF6A2C-883-0000011B5A0E9460.jpg)
Easy access to my favorite food - Pacific Spot Prawns
(http://bcprawns.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/trophy-spot-prawns2.jpg)
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3 more votes for Grand Marias,
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y7/fotoguzzi/grand%20marias/GOPR0079_zpsajmezkdz.jpg)
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y7/fotoguzzi/grand%20marias/IMG_0500_zpsve0vzzq0.jpg)
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y7/fotoguzzi/grand%20marias/IMG_0699_zpswz2rsend.jpg)
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Fotoguzzi. What year and model Guzzi is that in the picture.
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'99 Bassa .
Dusty
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Grand Marais Minnisota or Michigan in the Winter?! No thanks! 😳😀
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3 more votes for Grand Marias,
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y7/fotoguzzi/grand%20marias/GOPR0079_zpsajmezkdz.jpg)
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y7/fotoguzzi/grand%20marias/IMG_0500_zpsve0vzzq0.jpg)
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y7/fotoguzzi/grand%20marias/IMG_0699_zpswz2rsend.jpg)
Sven and Oli's Pizza too.....
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I know people who have moved to California or Florida then moved back here. From January to the end of March they can have it!
Yes, I really don't like Florida and yes the property taxes are low but whatever I save in taxes I give to the insurance companies for high auto,wind and liability policy's which are almost always climbing. Yes, the property taxes don't go up because the system is rigged to screw the new people as they almost never reassess everyone's property so once in your taxes are set until death,etc. or until you sell then the next sucker takes the hit.
It would be worth it if there was someplace to ride.
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ok, if this is the way we are going:
maybe you can retire at Bruges, where I live ;)
https://bezoekers.brugge.be/en
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ok, if this is the way we are going:
maybe you can retire at Bruges, where I live ;)
https://bezoekers.brugge.be/en
https://www.google.com/maps/@51.1709896,4.2981185,7z?hl=en
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Sven and Oli's Pizza too.....
Meh, scandaMex is mor to my liking..
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y7/fotoguzzi/Buell/IMG_1993_zpsc6784d3a.jpg)
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Fotoguzzi. What year and model Guzzi is that in the picture.
Yep Dusty got it, 99 Bassa.. a real sweet machine..
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y7/fotoguzzi/IMG_0116-1.jpg)
here it is on the road, be sure to bump resolution to 720p
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMQ9LdqzUzI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrAgGqJdYdM
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more Grand Marais
(http://www.northernwilds.com/pages/bm~pix/img_4082~s600x600.jpg)
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ok, if this is the way we are going:
maybe you can retire at Bruges, where I live ;)
https://bezoekers.brugge.be/en
It's tempting, but how possible is it?
Once we Americans have done all the things we like that only Americans can do (hunt and fish for free at our back doors, shoot targets with our FN FALs, ride thousands of miles in a straight line and not have to speak a different language, and like that), and would like to start to ease back a little bit and do European things (sit at a cafe on a thousand-year-old street by a canal sipping on an excellent beer talking with people from all over the world, immerse ourselves in history, drive really great cars that we can't get here, ride clean trains everywhere on the continent, get health care that someone else paid for, and all the other things that frans does that I can't do in Virginia) .....
.... we generally find out that we can't afford to do it! I've mapped out the possibility of retiring to a Kentish village in a thatched cottage, and a retirement income that covers my expenses, taxes, etc on a 200 acre Virginia farm for the rest of my life won't come close in a typical European city.
Or so I think. I'm perfectly willing to be set straight! Why don't more Americans reverse the direction their ancestors came from and go back to "the old country" to retire?
Lannis
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It's tempting, but how possible is it?
Once we Americans have done all the things we like that only Americans can do (hunt and fish for free at our back doors, shoot targets with our FN FALs, ride thousands of miles in a straight line and not have to speak a different language, and like that), and would like to start to ease back a little bit and do European things (sit at a cafe on a thousand-year-old street by a canal sipping on an excellent beer talking with people from all over the world, immerse ourselves in history, drive really great cars that we can't get here, ride clean trains everywhere on the continent, get health care that someone else paid for, and all the other things that frans does that I can't do in Virginia) .....
.... we generally find out that we can't afford to do it! I've mapped out the possibility of retiring to a Kentish village in a thatched cottage, and a retirement income that covers my expenses, taxes, etc on a 200 acre Virginia farm for the rest of my life won't come close in a typical European city.
Or so I think. I'm perfectly willing to be set straight! Why don't more Americans reverse the direction their ancestors came from and go back to "the old country" to retire?
Lannis
Many people I know have retired to the olde country. Typically, Poland, Greece and Italy. Yankee dollar very strong right now..
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All,
Good discussion, thanks to all for insights and thoughts comparative to my own.
If it was just me: retirement would likely be Rio Rancho, NM (burb of Albuquerque, NM). Why? Great climate, close to a big enough city for medical and services and restaurants, reasonable housing. There are four seasons, but not a brutal winter. Just about a four hour drive north is home town of Durango, CO and our cabin in San Juan County. NM has incredible culture, scenery, camping and chilis. I could explore on a motorcycle to my heart's content. Blue skies and clean air and dry climate with lots of desert and mountains. Add in the Indian tribal culture as a big plus and Santa Fe opera and art scene.
Unfortunately my wife is from TEXAS. She hates NM as a cultural bias. So she will "win" and eventually we will compromise somewhere in the Hill country of TEXAS. Some town near either Austin or San Antonio, but not in the middle of those zones. I want a bit of space and a 3 car garage and room for our stuff and a house suitable for empty nesters. A bit of running water would be nice too, and oaks.
With a nine year age difference though she has told me even if I do retire soon (and it will be either later in 2015, or by mid-2016) she wants to stay here in Sugar Land, TX near Houston. She has her work, friends, etc and is happy and not ready. I get that and marriage is a compromise. How long? Maybe 3 years more? Hard to say.
An option is to sell this big house great for a big family and find one that is for empty nesters. But only AFTER I retire as the commute is a huge issue. Location would remain Ft. Bend county though. Don't know if I want to go thru the sell/buy/move process though. Is it worth it for a few years? Dunno.
Then there are the daughters and where they live. One in NYC now, other about to graduate from college and goes ??? My view is close is nice, but that is dicey as likely both will move a lot. That is why airplanes were invented.
Other places that come to mind: man I love the southeast Coast of NC, SC. Have seen pix of NC mountains: wow. Could be a great solution particularly if daughters end up in NYC long term. Wife though with huge family in TEXAS--bias to stay in this state.
So, there it is. Have today off and its going to warm up so poodles will get walk and bicycle a run. No sun yet. Saturday it is supposed to be 74F and sun so it will be a long ride on the Guzzi, repeat Sunday. One of these days every day will be like a weekend and no more work, Mr. Boss, Mr. Donut the do nothing geologist, no more increasingly difficult and stressful Houston commutes, and no more oil bidness and futility
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It's tempting, but how possible is it?
Once we Americans have done all the things we like that only Americans can do (hunt and fish for free at our back doors, shoot targets with our FN FALs, ride thousands of miles in a straight line and not have to speak a different language, and like that), and would like to start to ease back a little bit and do European things (sit at a cafe on a thousand-year-old street by a canal sipping on an excellent beer talking with people from all over the world, immerse ourselves in history, drive really great cars that we can't get here, ride clean trains everywhere on the continent, get health care that someone else paid for, and all the other things that frans does that I can't do in Virginia) .....
.... we generally find out that we can't afford to do it! I've mapped out the possibility of retiring to a Kentish village in a thatched cottage, and a retirement income that covers my expenses, taxes, etc on a 200 acre Virginia farm for the rest of my life won't come close in a typical European city.
Or so I think. I'm perfectly willing to be set straight! Why don't more Americans reverse the direction their ancestors came from and go back to "the old country" to retire?
Lannis
The following is in no way trying to promote living ex pat. I will continue to go back and forth and eventually stick some where, having said that there is no place like home and we all tend to head that direction sooner or later.
I guess there is no one answer why folks don't "go back to the old country". (for lack of a better way to describe it)
The life style in Europe for an example differs significantly form the States and has to sorta grow on you. It takes time to get used to not being able to pop down to the local Walmart or super grocery store in your family vehicle and pick up what you need. Its more relaxed in many ways. In the states everybody expects to get what they need quick, like fast food, if you have wait more than 5 min. then that is unacceptable. We are used to getting it NOW. People don't even like having to get out of their car and use the drive thru?? This is a mystery to most Europeans where taking an hour for lunch or 2/3 hours for dinner is the norm( at least where I am in Paris.)
As for cost...well fuel on the continent is around 1.80 euro a liter. You learn to use the metro in the city. If you go to the fresh markets in Paris you can buy wonderful food at reasonable cost, but when I go down to the Bastille market its a 30 min metro ride and about 20 min walk ONE way and on the return I have quite a load to deal with but that is normal here. The alternatives would be a local (to my apartment) mom and pop store ( which is similar to say a non chain store in the States)
Housing. I bought my apartment 15 years ago. Its 1500 sq ft one bedroom and bath with a balcony and great kitchen with a garage and a cave (storage in the basement) third floor. It located in the 5 distritct (left bank) and I am about 30 walk from the river. (Notre Dame etc.) To rent such a place would be around 3,000 euros/month + utilities, so about like in SF or NY.
Now out in the country side much,much cheaper the further you go out from the city. Right now in Spain you can make fantastic deals on country places if you have the cash. It would be comparable to Mexico for living expenses but would be Spartan to the State side amities.
I am rambling so I will quit, but living "over there" is not for somebody that thinks they will instantly like it and what I have posted is over simplified for sure. A complicated situation and people tend to go with what they know. The ex pats I have met in Europe either have large family ties or have worked for a company that took them someplace long enough for it to be home.
I like the life style.
One of the great things about the USA..we have a bill of rights .
FWIW
mike :-)
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The following is in no way trying to promote living ex pat. I will continue to go back and forth and eventually stick some where, having said that there is no place like home and we all tend to head that direction sooner or later.
I guess there is no one answer why folks don't "go back to the old country". (for lack of a better way to describe it)
The life style in Europe for an example differs significantly form the States and has to sorta grow on you.
I like the life style.
One of the great things about the USA..we have a bill of rights .
FWIW
mike :-)
I probably would like the life style too, based on the things you've mentioned.
I hate WalMarts and fast food places and I don't go in them. I'm getting to be more of a "locavore" and try to buy fresh and locally all I can (which isn't much but you can get your beef and eggs and such that way). I don't use "drive-thru" anythings. My "fleet" MPG averages over 40 (bikes and Festiva) so $10/gallon gas wouldn't be a deal-stopper. I don't like the uncontrolled growth of strip malls and cookie-cutter neighborhoods full of SUVs and soccer moms, which means, I suppose, that I sort of like the kind of "government intrusion" that keeps developers from trashing up the countryside for money.
I'm not sure how I'd like living without a Bill of Rights, but I'd have to evaluate that and see if I could stand it if I ever considered an ex-pat retirement.
Who knows ... like the Ferrari owner in "Gumball Rally" .... "AAAY, you make a good Italian!" :D :D :D
Lannis
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I don't know of course, but my guess would be that you would really take to it..like I did.
All my family have visited and they usually said..its different!?( didn't want to insult my choices).
'nuff said.
mike :-)
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I don't know of course, but my guess would be that you would really take to it..like I did.
All my family have visited and they usually said..its different!?( didn't want to insult my choices).
'nuff said.
mike :-)
Is good Mexican food available in Paris ? ;D
Dusty
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Is good Mexican food available in Paris ? ;D
Dusty
Well, you would think it would be ... they're supposed to be very cosmopolitan and worldly-wise and diverse and all like that ....
"Jean-Luc Gonzales' House of Quiche Lorraine and Tamale Blaster", you'd guess it might be very popular.
Lannis
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Is good Mexican food available in Paris ? ;D
Dusty
"ANYTHING" is available in Paris!!
:-)
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"ANYTHING" is available in Paris!!
:-)
Catfish and hushpuppies ? :D Hmm , is there a market ? ::)
Dusty
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Catfish and hushpuppies ? :D Hmm , is there a market ? ::)
Dusty
Don't forget the FROG legs (no pun)!!!
:-)
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South Florida is nice to visit in the winter, but the rest of the year? Temps AND humidity in the 90s, too much traffic, no trespassing signs on what look like public roads, and 80 year olds with 20/80 vision in the good eye driving 80 plus on the interstate!
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South Florida is nice to visit in the winter, but the rest of the year? Temps AND humidity in the 90s, too much traffic, no trespassing signs on what look like public roads, and 80 year olds with 20/80 vision in the good eye driving 80 plus on the interstate!
I resemble dat
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I don't know of course, but my guess would be that you would really take to it..like I did.
Tehachapi, CA? (Looks like your profile has gotten out of date.)
Do you speak French well enough to hang with your neighbors?
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fotoguzzi your youtube videos are masterful. You are truly skilled in video media. Sitting here looking out the window at snow piles I got my MC fix vicariously. I have been to Grand Marais a few times, fished Pigeon River Flowage. Wouldn't mind spending more time in the land of 10,000 lakes.
Mike Ehrhardt
Lisle IL