Your Ideal Quality of Life

[Lady L]

I'm wondering what is your ideal quality of life...?

In the woods..? On a farm..? In the city..?

What sounds perfectly comfortable to you.../

Have you already obtained it or will it be in your future..?

Share your plans, wants, etc...

:)

[Psychonaut]

Give me a 10+ acre plot with a creek on it that's about 30 min. from town and I'll be happy. We're definitely hoping to be able to live a life that is midway between rural and urban. We don't want to be in the middle of nowhere, but certainly don't want to be in the city. Land is essential. We want to be able to have a small orchard and vegetable garden as well as the privacy to conduct rites in private on our own land. Hopefully this will all be achieved once we leave this rock.

[Gooding]

I would be perfectly happy with a small house on about eight to ten acres of land on the side of a mountain, a few miles outside of a small town.Two cars and a gravel driveway would suit us quite well.
Actually, the community of Huntsville, TN, would suit us quite well.Small community, many of them are related to me and they tend to hold to older values.

[Loddfafner]

My ideal is to live in a virgin forest on a working farm within walking distance of downtown in a major historic city. It should be warm and sunny all year and have the full spectrum of seasons. There should be a lively, vibrant arts scene and everyone is down to earth. It should be high in the mountains near the coast.

[Jägerstaffel]

Isolated in nature.

Preferably a forest or sea-side.

[Creeping Death]

What sounds perfectly comfortable to you...
A spacious downtown apartment in any large city right in the midst of all the shops, bars and nightlife, I enjoy the buzz of inner city living. I could not live in the country I have resided in the country several times . I can assure you, that when you have to travel hours to buy everyday items or limited social activity you will think twice. Worst scenario is when you find your idyllic rural lifestyle one of your neighbours decides he hates your guts, a not unusual situation in these areas, then your Utopia becomes a nightmare.

[Absinthe]

A non-densely populated European city like Stockholm, where you can retreat in the quietness and beauty of nature in the suburbs, and you can enjoy the comforts of the city in less that 30 minutes train, bus or car ride.

Clean, orderly, with punctual and reliable transportation. Lots of life culture for all tastes 'downtown', majestic wilderness in a very short distance from the center.

An atmosphere very charged with the presence of the Viking past and the Norse Gods.

Lovely people, polite and civilized. If it wasn't for the amount of immigrants (especially in burquas), I would easily call it Heaven on Earth. :)

[Eldritch]

A three-room apartment anywhere in Helsinki that's accessible by tram. That's about it.

[Manifest Destiny]

Realistically: A small, rural, white town that is within reasonable driving of a decent sized city (for shopping, medical care, etc.). I would love a charming older house with a basement (which would become my pool room/arcade) and a big workshop to work on my cars and dirtbikes.

Unrealistically: A huge amount of land (hundreds of thousands or even millions of acres) that I would turn into an intentional community for white preservationists.

[YggsVinr]

Well, I've already lived on a farm that I'd call my ideal, though no longer really living there. I find it difficult to pinpoint my own personal idea. I really love farm life, particularly farming in a traditional fashion, not resorting to many modern methods (often dishonest, in my view). However, I'd also love to live in the woods and try living off the land that way, and yet on the other hand I find my mind most stimulated when I'm on the road not knowing where I'll be the next day, always something new to discover, not tied down to routines, or a particular place, or particular people. Having the freedom to go and visit the sites I've dreamt of seeing. I'd say those three are my ideals, and who knows which one I'll pick in the end, maybe all of them at different points in life.

[Freomæg]

Ever seen 'Legends of the Fall'? I think that'd be pretty nice ;)

I'd be happy with an acre set near to some pine woods. Enough to grow crops yet affordable-ish. Naturally, there'd be plenty of unspoilt lands around that I'd be able to traverse, despite not owning. 10 minutes drive or a long walk from a village would be useful.

Most of all though, I'd like to be able to wake up, step outside and see mountains. People who live among mountains never realise how fortunate they are. This is why I could never live in Holland (my mother's country of origin).

[Treffie]

I consider myself very lucky. I live in a smallish city which has all the amenities you'd ever need and is situated right on the Atlantic, as well as 3,000ft mountains only 25 miles away. In a perfect world however, I would choose to live in a place similar to this.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3181/2892729088_0172f7f557.jpg?v=0

[Beorn]

A nice quiet part of Somerset or Cornwall, with a warm, cosy two bedroom house with ample space to potter around the garden which will be full of lovely flowers and vegetable patches.

A pub close by would also be ideal.

[The Lawspeaker]

A nice quiet part of the country. Somewhere either hilly or woody (or both). I would prefer to live in a small community with a traditional farmhouse/inn with enough land to grow my own vegetables and flowers.

I would like to have some creeks (with plenty of fish) around and rolling hills and forests and plenty of space for any future kids.

In case I would move abroad I would like my surroundings to look a bit like this:

[anonymaus]

In a bustling city where other people live. The trenches of humanity is where the show really happens.

[The Lawspeaker]

In a bustling city where other people live. The trenches of humanity are where the show really happens.
Hmmm cities. I would like to have one some two hours away from me so I can easily get there, do my thing, and get out again.
Cities are good enough for buying things you can't get in your own community and as centers for higher learning. Personally I consider cities to be the cesspool of humanity.

[Grumpy Cat]

On a beach in Aruba.

[Cynodon]

Where I currently live, in a hyper-dense city. Absolutely no need for a car, plenty of public transportation, and anyway everything located within walking distance.

[Óttar]

I'd like to live in Ostia Italy in a villa on the Mediterranean (Mare ******* :D) with enough money to visit the cafe, trattoria, cinema, or playhouse everyday. Maybe catch a swim... I'd wear a white dress shirt, white slacks, a white beach fedora, and loafers.

I could also go for England, Ireland or Munich.

I just want a nice haut-bourgeois life with a smart and tender woman with a goodly round ass. Perhaps 2 kids and an English bulldog named Arthur. :tongue

http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/NYG/7924.jpg

[Cynodon]

I'd like to live in Ostia Italy in a villa on the Mediterranean (Mare ******* :D) with enough money to visit the cafe, trattoria, cinema, or playhouse everyday. Maybe catch a swim... I'd wear a white dress shirt, white slacks, a white beach fedora, and loafers.

Well, Ostia in itself is not extraordinary, but if you think it's now a maritime borough of Rome, things change quite a bit.

[Óttar]

Well, Ostia in itself is not extraordinary, but if you think it's now a maritime borough of Rome, things change quite a bit.

It's more than a modest sized town. It still has a beach and resorts. Ostia Antica on the other hand is now an archaeological site and ruin, yes.

Now that I think of it maybe a historically Greek settlement like Campania would be better. I like the women with dark curly hair, olive skin and just the right amount of plump.

On the other hand, if I lived in the north, I'd only be a hop away from Austria.

[Daos]

I would love to live in a traditional house with enough land to grow all the food I need, at the edge of a village and the edge of the forest. I think that would satisfy all my needs and provide an excellent environment to raise my children.

It's nice to dream...:)

[Tabiti]

Knowing all the dirt of the world exists, even living alone in nature won't make me fully happy.
Anyway, I would like to have a wooden house in the foot of the mountain, near the forest and fresh water - spring or river. I'd like to have enough sunny days and generous soil so I'd be able to produce various agriculture - grain, fruits, vegetables, legumes. I'd like to have beehives, chickens and animals for milk - goats, sheep or cow. Why not horses, donkeys, cats, dogs?
But...

[Svanhild]

A house directly at the German coast. Either at the North Sea or the Baltic sea, I don't care.

http://picture.yatego.com/images/4721f94382fb04.2/712226.jpg

[Pallantides]

http://media.aftenposten.no/archive/00639/_hovden_h_ybred_jpg_639326g.jpg

[The Lawspeaker]

In case I would stay here:

I would use the place as an inn and small shop (on the side of the street) and as my own private home. I would use the couple of acres of land surrounding it to grow my own vegetables and fruit etc. And when it comes to the inn I would prefer to sell local products rather then the kind of stuff you'd find all over the place.

[Lulletje Rozewater]

game park.

[Liffrea]

Generally I dislike cities, cancerous growths composed of faceless automatons, I would hate to live somewhere like London.

My ideal I’ve always fancied one of those old Scottish castles (nothing to big or fancy) overlooking a loch somewhere in the Highlands, mountainous and wooded terrain, clear waters, clean air, I can live without the heat so the rain, wind, snow and cold wouldn’t bother me much. I’m not much of a people person, I would welcome the solitude. The only downside is the soil is poor, not much scope for growing crops. Of course if I was rich enough to buy a Scottish castle I would probably be rich enough to buy a smallholding somewhere to grow my food.

I would spend my days exploring, climbing and hiking, my evenings in front of a roaring fire in my spacious library. Perhaps a business of some kind….

Some aspects of my ideal I already have, I have my books and my allotment for growing some of my food. However whilst I’ve never much cared for money, I appreciate the physical freedom that large sacks full of cash brings you. Some lucky bastard won 85 million Euros last week on the lottery, there’s a man who will answer to no one again as long as he lives.

[mustangeroo]

I'd love to live somewhere in a wide green valley near the coast surrounded by mountains. It would rarely get above 25°C and 70% humidity in the summers with nothing more than the occasional light breeze. The area would get a healthy amount of rain to sustain the scenery. Something like the afternoon thunderstorms in Florida that build and burn out in a matter of hours and nothing like the days of gloom we get in England. In the winter it wouldn't be much colder the 10°C but snow would fall in the nearby mountains.

I would want to live on some land that I owned surrounded by a community of relatives and family friends. We'd have a communal garden, orchard, and livestock. Communal because I don't think that I would enjoy being that self sufficient without some kind of help. I like going on vacations. We would have a little "private" village that had a church and pub. A nearby swimming hole would be great. Complete with rope swing and some kind of huge rock to jump off of. The village would not far from a city with a University, jobs, shopping, and some culture.

I'd have long, tree lined, driveway approaching an simple arts and crafts or rustic lodge style house with a walk around porch. I'd build it to last and customize it to my tastes. Definitely would have a massive flagstone fireplace, a kitchen built for a chef, a sauna, and lots of built in shelves all over the place. Secret passages are also a must have.

No government would also be nice but that may be asking for too much.

[Radojica]

On some sea shores with a house with big wall window like pointed toward the sea and that's it. I am fascinated by sea, i think that is the only thing which makes me fully relaxed..

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_JbaH8pvHv50/SppnyHNcSdI/AAAAAAAABJ8/zSu3klhlxqk/s400/twofold-house-in-black-stained-wood-with-natural-wood-between-the-window-partitions-2-554x332.jpg

Ohh, and having one big telescope to enjoy in night sky, of course, something like this

http://homeboyastronomy.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/telescope2.jpg

[Liffrea]

Originally Posted by Radojica
Ohh, and having one big telescope to enjoy in night sky, of course, something like this

Or an observatory, me and my brother planed to build a small one but the light pollution is reasonably bad where I live.

[Radojica]

Or an observatory, me and my brother planed to build a small one but the light pollution is reasonably bad where I live.

Maybe to go somewhere outside the place where you live?

For example, air and light pollution in my town is very high, but just a couple of kilometers from there on the island where I have weekend house i am even able to see Milky Way which is like I am on some mountain :P

[Austin]

Probably live out in the country somewhere, not very far from a city but far enough where one wouldn't hear cars at night and would see the stars easily, my family has a big ranch which has shown me the value of having such a place to escape to. Also have a beach condo to go to when I get restless which I'd otherwise rent out most the year. Texas has loads of nice beach communities where one can relax and piddle around fishing and whatnot to their hearts content.

[Foxy]

I love nature so I'd like to live in a natural contest, but I am not againt the progress, so I would choose an accomodation which is a compromise between nature and anthropism. For exemple the house projected by Wright

http://www.architetturaorganica.org/architetturaorganica/ARCHITETTURA/ITALIA/casa%20sulla%20cascata.jpg
http://www.toscanoblog.it/blog/uploads/fallingwater-int.jpg

with glamorouse insides and natural contest.
About the accomodation, if you ask me a place, i think that somewhere in the Alps would be the best or even Canada or Australia.

It's useless to deny that Europeans have a need to stay in contact with the nature. A winter apartment in a city like Paris, London or Milan would be fantastic, but to spend all the year in a big, touristic polluted city is highly dangerous for physical and mental health for me.