Italy! I like that they have kept their culture and their mentality which is so rich, diverse, profound and just overall positive. Italians are also so open and friendly!
I’d start thinking about which country to move to if racism wasn’t also an issue.
Likely stay in my own country (Latvia)
I haven’t been to many countries/cities, but from where I was, I think London. I was truly enamored by it, it’s a beautiful, walkable city with so much greenery, good public transport, and isn’t too high up north.
Not worrying about money or visa?
… Like. Tierra del Fuego. Or one of those remote areas of Canada/Alaska
Basically a cold, cold place that rarely sees heat. I detest heat.
If money was no object, I’d stay here in Sweden, and I would probably buy a farm mannor in need of renovation.
I’d have the main building carefully renovated to preserve the herritage but modernize it, I imagine the property having a stable or other large old storage barn, I’d gut as much of the interior as possible, keeping the exterior look and build a “man barn”, basically make it an entire man cave, I mean a combined area for hobbies, a small LAN party corner, air rifle sooting range, full racing sim, full flight sim, electronics workbench, a separate room for dirtier hobbies like wood/metal working with separate ventilation, but with a glass wall between the areas, top floor of the barn would jave several guest rooms with a separate external access, I would also dig an underground tunnel between the mannor house and the barn, with a deep cellar for extra storage
Scandinavia sounds really nice
In a different part of this same city. I have children who have lives that I cannot break by moving away from here just now.
My current house. The problem is moreso about distance to friends and family than money and visa.
Ireland, hands down. I’ve been twice, and both times I’ve been absolutely enamored with the country. I’m from the Midwest, so a lot of it is probabky just the differences and the fact I’m on vacation. But the castles and walkabke cities, and rolling hills, and so much green instead of brown or yellow! I’m also a fantasy nerd, so I’m a sucker for anything that can have a medieval spin.
I’m a big fan of how deeply anticolonial they are.
If I am being realistic, probably Berlin, Brussels, or Paris (maybe also Frankfurt). Specifically these cities, not anywhere else in the associated countries
I’m using the following metrics (and possibly some personal bias):
- A highly developed region that is internationally well-connected and has a strong passport… which leaves us with parts of Europe and some Asian countries. I’m personally excluding UK because of Brexit
- OP didn’t mention that “culture weren’t an issue”, so sadly most of Asia/Scandinavia/Central Europe are out due to difficulty for outsiders to integrate… and among the rest, choices are limited to large, diverse cities that are easy to integrate
- A place that is resilient to climate change, so the entirety of the Netherlands is out (or maybe I just hate NL)
The conclusion is that I should really get aggressive at learning French and German now just in case
That’s interesting because in my limited experience, Berlin and Frankfurt are verrry different cities within the context of Germany. Personally, as a foreigner looking to integrate, I would pick Berlin 100%, but maybe that’s just me.
My own country (the UK).
That’s a weird response to the question, given that I do currently reside here. However, I don’t feel like I’m doing much living. There’s so much more that I could be doing if I wasn’t constantly struggling for money
I’d choose uk but cos I like it and I’m old and don’t like change
Ireland is looking nice, or Scotland if they ever decide to free themselves from the Empire.
Spain is also near the top.
Somewhere in Scandinavia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_ray_visual_phenomena
Cosmic ray visual phenomena, or light flashes (LF), also known as Astronaut’s Eye, are spontaneous flashes of light visually perceived by some astronauts outside the magnetosphere of the Earth, such as during the Apollo program. While LF may be the result of actual photons of visible light being sensed by the retina,[1] the LF discussed here could also pertain to phosphenes, which are sensations of light produced by the activation of neurons along the visual pathway.[2]
Researchers believe that the LF perceived specifically by astronauts in space are due to cosmic rays (high-energy charged particles from beyond the Earth’s atmosphere[3]), though the exact mechanism is unknown. Hypotheses include Cherenkov radiation created as the cosmic ray particles pass through the vitreous humour of the astronauts’ eyes,[4][5] direct interaction with the optic nerve,[4] direct interaction with visual centres in the brain,[6] retinal receptor stimulation,[7] and a more general interaction of the retina with radiation.[8]
The main shapes seen are “spots” (or “dots”), “stars” (or “supernovas”), “streaks” (or “stripes”), “blobs” (or “clouds”) and “comets”. These shapes were seen at varying frequencies across astronauts. On the Moon flights, astronauts reported seeing the “spots” and “stars” 66% of the time, “streaks” 25% of the time, and “clouds” 8% of the time.[10] Astronauts who went on other missions reported mainly “elongated shapes”.[9] About 40% of those surveyed reported a “stripe” or “stripes” and about 20% reported a “comet” or “comets”. 17% of the reports mentioned a “single dot” and only a handful mentioned “several dots”, “blobs” and a “supernova”.
A reporting of motion of the LF was common among astronauts who experienced the flashes.[9] For example, Jerry Linenger reported that during a solar storm, they were directional and that they interfered with sleep since closing his eyes would not help. Linenger tried shielding himself behind the station’s lead-filled batteries, but this was only partly effective.[11]
There are a lot of not-immediately-obvious benefits to being on Earth.
Drug-free hallucinations for no additional charge? Hell yeah! 😃
Not being able to stop the hallucinations from happening would be my bigger concern for you.
Eh, I’m sure I’d get used to it.
chuckles
