The Realities of Picking a New Home

If I end up wanting to leave the country, I need a place to go. Since ease of life is high on my list of necessities, I think starting with English speaking countries makes sense. After all, it is my native language. I considered Canada, the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

I started with Canada first, since it's so close. The culture is similar enough to mine that fitting in wouldn't be a problem. I speak French, so I could move to either coast. I've been to both Vancouver and Quebec. I loved them both. The architecture, language, people, food, all of it. It was delightful, and would make really good sense, if I didn't have an issue with cold weather. For many people this would not be a problem, but my lungs do not appreciate temperatures under the mid 60's Fahrenheit. Oops. I couldn't handle the winters in Canada, not even on the coast where it's mildest. Pity. Canada is lovely.

This narrowed my list down by one. Next, I did a little research on the UK, looking for places I might enjoy. I've had Cornwall on my Bucket List for years. After watching several seasons of Escape to the Country on BritBox, the Cotswolds was added to my list of must see locations. The culture is another step away from that of the U.S. There would be lots to learn, but I have visited twice, and met dozens of Brits while cruising Europe. Out of the many I met, only one disliked me even before I had uttered a word. He stated all Americans were loud, pushy and rude. Of course the Brits we were dining with disagreed, we had made friends in the preceding days. They explained he was a grumpy sort, and I shouldn't take it personally. I didn't. The man didn't smile once the whole evening.

But doing research on Cornwall led me to believe it was overrun by tourists much of the year, despite the rain it receives. The same is true of the Cotswolds. The reason so much of the UK is drop dead gorgeous, is the rain, which is a constant much of the year. I read recently that some places haven't had a dry day this whole summer. That would be disappointing. My allegies would go nuts, and I would be miserable. So, although I may visit both places in the future, living in either would be a no go, too cold, too wet. Yet another disappointment.

The third location I selected to check out was Ireland. Some of my ancestors were from there, early settlers in what is now the U.S. They came searching for religious freedom, ironic considering what's proposed by some extremists. A few of my ancestors were even in Jamestown when it was first settled. So Ireland would be a natural for me. 

I ran into the same issue here, however, weather. I had a friend who was from Ireland. He explained it's always raining there. While this is an exaggeration, it's not far enough from the truth to let me ignore his warning. I checked online, it rains between a third and half the time. No, thanks. Lovely, super fun loving, kind people, but nope. 

All this talk of rain and cold weather makes me want to be prepared for it, no matter where I end up living. I already own one of these. Very helpful, CLICK HERE, #ad. This week I'll look into Australia and perhaps New Zealand. 

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