ELIZABETH WONDERS/WANDERS

I was talking with friends the other day, and the subject of “vacationing there” vs. “living there” came up.

One of my friends will vacation almost anywhere a cruise boat goes. It’s the cruise, not the destination that matters. This friend could live anywhere she wants; she chooses to live in a city. Loves the street “theater,” the horns, the screech and lunge of traffic, the hammer and clang of construction; the museums, the opera, the restaurants, the shopping.


Another friend vacations in Mexico, at one of the many beaches—Ensenada, Acapulco, Mazatlan. Other beaches in other countries, including the U.S., don’t appeal. She loves the flavor of a foreign place that isn’t too foreign. She lives in a suburb within forty to eighty minutes of a city, depending on traffic. She would rather live in a less crowded, yet not rural place. But as long as her house isn’t in tornado country, she’s happy.

Another friend hikes and backpacks for her vacation. Any wild country, anywhere in the world that people don’t carry Uzis, is on her good list. She lives in an apartment, but would prefer to live in a rural area. All she has to do is find a good job. (She’s been looking for years.)

Another friend goes to Europe and floats the canals of Holland and France. She doesn't speak Dutch or French. She loves using sign language at all the local markets and cheese shops. She lives in an area of the western U. S. that isn’t rural, but isn’t at all crowded.

Then there’s moi. I will vacation anywhere that isn’t a city and people don’t carry Uzis. After a few days in any city, all I want is OUT OUT OUT. The noise and press of people wears me down and/or drives me nucking futz.

I have discovered I can live in almost any place west of the Rockies that isn’t a city.

Desert? Bring it on. Love sunshine.

Mountains? Absolutely. No mountains, no peace of mind. I discovered this the hard way, by living in Chicago. Did not work. I was one unhappy puppy until I saw mountains on my horizon again.

Beach? As long as it isn’t too crowded at the waterfront, I’m good. (Southern California is WAY too crowded along the water. That’s why I left.) When I go to Hawaii, I go to the Big Island, which is much less crowded—and has an active volcano! (Yes, I get excited about things like that.)


What my friends and I all agree on is that the best way to ruin a vacation place is to live there.


What about you?

Do you live where you love and love where you live?

What are your favorite places?