A List Of Places I’d Love To Live

A short post exploring the world outside my window… and by ‘outside my window’ I mean ‘I can’t see this because it’s outside my field of vision, let’s get a new window.’

Kanazawa

I fell in love with Kanazawa when I visited it in 2024. Apparently since then it has become famous as ‘unspoilt Kyoto’, and people have enjoyed the same things as me – its convenient access by train and impressive vista, its incredibly accessible history, its excellent seafood (I mean, it is Japan[1]), the continued tradition of craftsmanship… there’s a lot to love, and it wouldn’t be the silliest place to live because of those transport links and its status as a sufficiently international city that my complete and total lack of the Japanese language would not hurt as much as in other places. This is my sensible pick for a country I would like to spend more time in, and get to know on a quotidian level.

Hokkaido[2]

My less sensible pick for Japan would be Hokkaido. What can I say, the tourist board got me. I want to experience a full year there, and see not only the spectacular winters but also the summers full of luscious produce. I want to experience the people who take dairy seriously (I am a great fan of butter) and appreciate the local traditions and history and the ocean. OK, it’s hard to get to and challenging to live in… isn’t that part of the appeal? To see the everyday experience and how life comes to pass in different climates and environments to what I have always known?

Venice

All artists should live in Venice, and unfortunately I have never grown out of believing myself to be an artist. I want to see all of this city’s traditions, from Carnival to Redentore, and to commute through the views nobody could get sick of. I love the sea-air climate and, despite having been twice, still feel that there’s a lot of the city still to experience.

Switzerland

As a German speaker and lake-enjoyer, Switzerland is of course on this list. It is, of course, prohibitively expensive, but I am not averse to trying Austria instead (I already lived in Germany and whilst I would go back my husband did not like it).

Russia

Socio-political reasons are, of course, keeping me away from Russia, but I would love to experience its cosmopolitan cities and get the chance to appreciate its history in situ. Perhaps in my lifetime it will become accessible again…

Scotland

Socio-political reasons, in contrast, entice me to Scotland. I have spent a lot of time in various parts of this country, since almost all of my childhood holidays were to Scotland, and I find it friendlier, more liberal, and more chill than England, perhaps because of all the beautiful land that gives space between you and your neighbours and enables you to have a pet. Idk, as London is and always has been the centre of all politics, commerce, media and tourism in the UK, and maybe I just want a culture that resembles my own without the ratrace and outrageous grubbing for money and mess of politics, and the further north you go the less like London Britain gets.

Dublin

Ireland, whilst often being mistaken for the UK, is actually quite a distinct culture. I am interested in being there for the nature, but also for the outlook on art and relationship with Europe. I don’t know if my family is sufficiently Irish for me to get an Irish passport (my grandad grew up in an Irish community in England but I don’t know where he was born due to a convoluted family history, bits of which would still be considered scandalous and all of which was in the 40s), but I can absolutely be on board with everything from Fontaines DC to Sally Rooney to Oscar Wilde. Give me the citizenship quiz, if Louise O’Neill and Thin Lizzy are on it, and let me live in the country my ancestors wanted to leave now that the tables have turned economically. Just don’t make me pronounce Taoiseach.

Near The Sea / Near A Lake

I find water calming, even in its most turbulent moments. There’s a rejuvenating quality to watching it or being in it that brings me to myself. Every time I look at a home my first question asks ‘is it on a flood plane?’ because let’s be real, global warming is only going to make things worse… but would it be worth a biannual natural catastrophe to be calmer on a daily basis? Maybe I just need to make my ground floor a cut-through, like the Venetians, and live in waterlogged peace.

London, But Rich

This city has everything a person could want, if you can afford either the money or the time to live well. I want to enjoy what this city has to offer instead of serving rich people and rubbing shoulders with rich people and staying indoors because there are so many people in my way and hearing people at all times. I want to be able to go to shows without choice paralysis because I can only afford one, I want to dine at the nice restaurants and cafes I walk past without thinking about it for six months in advance, I want to slowly look at things instead of rushing past them on my way to work. I dreamed of London for years before I lived here, and it is still the same… it’s just my perspective that is no longer in awe of the everything that’s here and therefore must reconcile that it isn’t, really, mine to enjoy.

[1] also I went on my honeymoon and stayed in a hotel literally famous for food so I’m aware mileage may vary.

[2] please note that I am also aware of the settler colonialist aspect of Hokkaido – read about the Ainu people and their struggles to exist from a group much more knowledgeable than me and if you can find a way to help end their oppression from outside both cultures I’m all ears.

On This Topic:

• The Hokkaido Tourist Board video that got me, they really do be paying influencers and it’s working on me
• If you are interested in Venice, I have a lot of strange books that put me into this world… perhaps the most accessible in my collection is this one?
• An old youtube mashup song that needs to hit streaming so I can put it on my playlists, please, it is the exact flavour of malaise I have right now with this damned city.

To-Do:

• Book trains for Ipswich-ish trip
• Plan for summer fête
• Get back to working through my Listen Later playlists (there are 35 of them and I hope one day to have listened through them all)

Today’s Culture:

• Yes, this is about Jordan Peterson again and I have done thinking about him (thoughts I did have can be found here), but it is also about education and how we learn and I loved what that gave me. Also, where is the OU x Masterclass subscription service I can get in on, and is that not part of the BBC’s remit?
• This is writing analysis that becomes a philosophical outlook, which is exactly what I want from Content™
• Sea buckthorn is my pitch for the next big thing – I tried it first in an Uzbek restaurant’s tea, then in a tea from Søstrene Grene, and recently in some Lithuanian chocolates. Mark my words, sea buckthorn is a hot trend (also delicious, get yourself some sea buckthorn tea today)!