Wanderlust

So I love to travel...anywhere. My parents are big travelers as well and I spent my childhood driving across the country to visit Grandparents, or sometimes flying across the world to visit our new home! I am an Army Brat. This means I have lived a lot of different places. Sometimes in America, sometimes not. It is my favorite thing about my childhood. It was not my favorite thing while I was growing up of course, then I hated it. I thought my life was ending every time I had to leave my friends and home behind. I am so grateful for every single time that happened now! I feel such sorrow for people who never travel outside of their hometown or state. There is so much world to see and experience!

Having said all of that, my topic for today is:
If you could live anywhere, where would it be and why?

Well the obvious answer to this question is...Nashville. It is where I live and where I chose to buy a home. I chose it mainly because my family is here. My nephew, in particular, lives in TN so I do as well! :) And despite it being a bit to southern for me the majority of the time, I do love it. I love the music of this city and the things to do. I love that it is a big city but not very big. It has fun things to do but is not crazy full of tourists all the time. I left Nashville after college, but was very happy to come back a mere 6 months later. Having said that, however,  there are other places I have seriously considered living. I am sure there are more I would/will consider after I have been there but this is my top 3 as of now:

Manchester UK - I stayed here twice when working on my PhD (no, I did not complete that degree). I LOVED it!! I mean I just immediately fell in love with the town, the atmosphere, the weather (it rains a lot...I love it!), everything! They have tea everyday and they walk around in the rain and they get together to talk at a pub...it is amazing. I truly have never felt such an instant connection to a PLACE as I did there. It is a "big city" but not very big (probably similar to Nashville actually). It is busy and thriving and modern...and at the same time full of old churches (one of my favorites pictured here) and statues and people stopping to enjoy life. For me it was a perfect union of those things. I love that city!!

 

Pasadena CA - I considered attending grad school in Pasadena and fell in love with this city as well. It is, first of all, in California. I love California. When I got out of the car at the school, I could see the mountains, smell the flowers, and I knew the beach was less than an hour away. It is far enough away from LA to be quiet and pretty...and close enough to LA to be fun and exciting. I wasn't there long. I might not love CA if I lived there (so says everyone I know who has lived there) but Pasadena has always been one of my dream residences.

Chicago IL - If I was ever rich enough to live in one place during one season and another during another...Chicago would be my warm weather location. It is my favorite place in the entire US. And I have been in a lot of the US...I adore that city. It makes me feel alive and creative. It makes me want to live just a little more than I do when I am anywhere else. I cannot, cannot, CANNOT take the winters there though. That is seriously the only reason I did not move there several years ago. I visited in January once and...Oh my word. It was not okay. I hate being cold like that. But any other time of the year, sign me up!

 

And if there is any doubt of my love of these places, both of these pictures came out of my desktop...I keep them where I can see them easily anytime! :)