Living vs travelling / traveling

Finishing up RTW #2 at the moment ...

Anyway...I often meet travellers raving (Or just positive comments) about a place they went to....and sometimes it contrasts with my experience. I think one of the main reasons is because I often look at places from the perspective "Would I want to live there?" / How hard is it to live there for others, etc....a "bigger picture" perspective (Includes face reading, and looking at souls of people via their eyes, but I digress).

So...curious to hear people's thoughts on this and perhaps a naming a place or two or even country that falls into this category. For me --

-- I enjoyed travelling in CAPE TOWN, South Africa for a week - incredible!! scenery, ease of getting around, etc..., but I wouldn't live there because of the feelings of fear pervading the area (Not my fear - Capetonians) whether "white or black" (For example - ADT Security signs with "Armed Response), and SA culture/people who are preoccupied with "Reserving the right of admission" and/or other legalese (On signs) stating that entering a particular area / store is at your own risk, no liability assumed, etc....The latter point applying to pretty much all of South Africa (I was in SA for 5 weeks - with a criss cross on the Baz Bus via Swaziland). The signs are everywhere....
...also at Univ of Pretoria while walking around - 95%+ of groups were "single race/color" whether Asian, Indian, African, or Caucasian. This was a bit surprising since most all of those students should have lived their entire lives AFTER Apartheid - formally ended. There are other reasons (Sprawl, car dependency), but this is enough. I enjoyed a some other (small) towns, but for the above reasons I would not live in SOUTH AFRICA.

BTW - the word "Country" comes from "Contra" as in we're against each other....

The only article I found about this with a "very limited" search is:
http://www.vagablogging.net/living-in-a ... eling.html

Well, there is definitely a huge difference between living in a country and traveling within the same country. And there is no reason one can't pick and choose as one sees fit.

Japan, for instance, definitely one of my favourite places to travel but also one of the least favourite places I've lived. On the other hand, London is one of my least favourite places to travel, but one of my favourite places to live.

I agree that there's a huge difference in living somewhere. There's even a difference between being "on vacation" somewhere and staying there for long term traveling.

When I went to Italy on a quick "sightseeing" vacation it was amazing - historical sites and photo opps all day long, great meals at fancy restaurants in the evening. When we back on our RTW trip, it was quite different. We rented apartments twice, and having to get groceries and do laundry in another country can be interesting, but not always fun. I decided I probably wouldn't want to live there. I still love Italy and will go back again, but the inconsistent office/shop hours, "relative" meeting times, and negotiating drove me crazy after a while.

hheh, what the heck? The US has those same kinds of signs you're describing, and US universities have plenty of 95% homogenous racial groups on campus (greek frats, korean christian groups, etc) but I wouldnt feel that at all implies racism. Are you scared to live in your own country?

Now compare the dangers you describe with cambodia where if you got into trouble in a business, not only would you expect an "armed response", but camobodia also takes the position that a khmer is never at fault between him and a foreigner because a foreigner "chose to visit cambodia". hhehe and there are definitely no signs warning anybody about those rules

To be fair, I completely understand what you mean about South Africa. I feel like I'm a rather perplexing situation whereby it's one of my favorite countries on the planet but I'd never want to live there.

djmc wrote:hheh, what the heck? The US has those same kinds of signs you're describing, and US universities have plenty of 95% homogenous racial groups on campus (greek frats, korean christian groups, etc) but I wouldnt feel that at all implies racism. Are you scared to live in your own country?

Now compare the dangers you describe with cambodia where if you got into trouble in a business, not only would you expect an "armed response", but camobodia also takes the position that a khmer is never at fault between him and a foreigner because a foreigner "chose to visit cambodia". hhehe and there are definitely no signs warning anybody about those rules

Good point...maybe that is one reason too I don't live in the USA either! hehehehehh...so yea..."I'm scared" to live in the USA! Really...it is dangerous....not criminally dangerous (Not counting all the financial shenanigans or getting run over by a car in some places)...dangerous to the soul. But that is another answer too...

speaking of armed response...I do live in Colombia now...guys with guns everywhere....security at parking lots, banks, malls,etc... military at metro stations, etc...big guns sometimes...but it floats my boat now...trade offs...

..was just in Cambodia for about a week, another country that was great to travel in (Cheap, etc...amazing Angkor Wat and PP was interesting - for a day or 2)...but I would never choose to live there. I heard the same thing you mentioned.

This whole "living" thing bothers me....but that is another story...

Perhaps your problem, if you want to look at that way, is you are choosing a "lense" with which to view a country or society. your "lense" is "how would it be too live here?"

I have some of my own lenses I'm sure, and one that I keep trying to shed is "how do these people survive on so little?" i worry about it and so it colors my view and lessens my enjoyment unless i shew away the lense.

we all have our own lenses and biases - there is NO WAY to avoid this.

I laugh when I read people/organizations say we have "No bias"

it's not a PRO-BLAME. Just a question I posed...

Just as I say there is NO such thing as an ABSOLUTE TRUTH or GOOD or EVIL (Yet others are imposing their standards on others - ALL THE TIME via laws, etc...), it all depends on one's individual experiences and interpretations. As long as we are the "TRUTH to OURSELVES" though...

ok...I digress....and will shut up now, because I type/write too much, ...but the better question is there a "better" way than others for "anything"....we'll find out soon enough.....but this would take the discussion into a very different realm...not for BnA.

I frequently find myself somewhere where I think "I love this place, but I wouldn't like to bring my kids up here". Luckily, I don't have any kids so it's not a problem, but, the places where I have these thoughts are usually the places I get the most thrill from. The ridiculous places. The places where you can't believe the country/city/town/village can actually survive operating as it does. The places that are so ridiculous your friends back home can't comprehend what you're telling them. Places where I would like to stay for a long time, but wouldn't like to live there. The thing is, I don't really think such a place exists where I would actually want to live forever...

halfnine wrote:Japan, for instance, definitely one of my favourite places to travel but also one of the least favourite places I've lived.

I am really curious on what you didn't like about living there. I loved the country when I visited there for only a week, and would love to live there temporarily (less than a year). What about living there that you did not like? I realize that traveling there as a tourist and living there as a resident are two very different perspectives.

Whenever I visit someplace (be it West Virginia or East Timor or, you know, anywhere else), I always think about living there. Always! I thought I could live in Edinburgh and Rome, but decided Venice & Florence & Seoul were better for visits.

heymikey wrote:

halfnine wrote:Japan, for instance, definitely one of my favourite places to travel but also one of the least favourite places I've lived.

I am really curious on what you didn't like about living there. I loved the country when I visited there for only a week, and would love to live there temporarily (less than a year). What about living there that you did not like? I realize that traveling there as a tourist and living there as a resident are two very different perspectives.

I like countries where I can integrate into the society. This is nearly impossible for a non-Japanese person overall. There are definitely exceptions but relative to the society as a whole, you are going to be on the outside looking in. Now, you'll find the Japanese incredibly interested in you, friendly, and accommodating when you are there as a visitor, but this is largely cultural and only superficial in nature. This is something you quickly come to understand when you move in next door to them.