There's No Place Like Home, There's No Place Like. . . .

I was born and raised in Anchorage, have lived in the same place for 30 of my 40 years, and while it's a nice place to raise a family and rather exotic in location (if you haven't grown up here) Andrew and I have been playing the "Where would you live if you had to live somewhere else?" game lately.

I haven't done any lists for a while but I'm giving ten places I think I'd move if I had to live somewhere else. Any thoughts? If you've got a great little place I'm all ears and, who knows? Maybe you'll find me camped out on your doorstep if you make it sound appealing enough.

Because that wouldn't freak you out or anything.

1. Bremerton, WA
I have a friend from college who moved to Bremerton and every year when I got her Christmas cards I inwardly groaned at the great things about her town. I don't like living in big cities but I do like having big cities nearby and Bremerton is a ferry ride from Seattle.

She described having horses and chickens and then going into town for a Mariners game. I like horses and I like chickens and, when they're playing well, I even like the Mariners so it sounds like a match made in heaven to me. I've always thought it would be fun to have my very own chickens. . . .

According to her letters the town had all the benefits of a rural community but close enough to Seattle to be able to enjoy the benefits there too. Maybe "Bremerton" means "paradise" in German? The only thing is having to live in Washington state--it does tend to be rather expensive there. It used to be (don't know if it still is the case) that when you moved in that they'd even charge you sales tax on the vehicles you brought with you and had already paid for. Nice. I'm not big on taxes.

Maybe I should talk to her and find out why they eventually left Bremerton for Texas. I mean, really now--is there something horribly wrong with the place that I should know before we move there?

2. Vermont
I don't care where in Vermont, anywhere in Vermont sounds great to me--and if you don't like the town you're in it's small enough that you can put your shoes on and hike it to the next town.

Why Vermont? Well I've always wanted to live in New England (but not in the cities--see previous entry on list) and I've heard nice things about Vermont, that it's rather laid-back and friendly (true or not? Someone enlighten me).

I've lived on the east coast and while it's very exciting I found (how can I say this nicely?) um . . . the people to be difficult. Status and prestige were very important, with new acquaintances introducing themselves along with their alma mater so as to truly wow you with their greatness and grandeur. Besides, customer service was horrific. No, make that non-existent, but I've heard that Vermont isn't like that.

Tell me, oh blogosphere, is this true?? Is Vermont really a land of milk and honey without the bureaucrats and government hierarchy yet with east coast (albeit wimpy) skiing? Because I picture my life there kind of like an episode of the Newhart show--inns and fall colors and quirky, delightful neighbors ready to share a hardy laugh over a cup of cocoa.

3. Bozeman, MT
I don't know if I feel as strongly about Bozeman as Steinbeck did (he was completely in love with it) but it's up there on the list for sure. Unlike Vermont, this is a place I have actually been to and it's truly a beautiful place. No, really beautiful. Even more than you're thinking. When I drove through it I remember spending the whole time with my face smooshed up against the glass, my mouth open in wonder at the beauties I was seeing but then Andrew tells me that if I'm trying to escape the cold of Alaska that Montana would not be the place for me.

I remember our North Dakota years and it was cold. REALLY cold. As in snow-flying-sideways-90-degrees-below-zero cold. But maybe if the summers were warmer than they are here I'd thaw out enough during the warm periods to make it through winter and winters can't be as long as they are here can they? Can they??

4. Homer, AK
For years I said that Anchorage is the only place in Alaska I could stand to live but that's really changed. Probably because I've grown up a bit and then the communities have too. You still have Anchorage, Juneau and Fairbanks as the only cities (and Anchorage dwarfs the other two with its nearly 300,000 people) but now places like Seward, Sitka, Ketchikan and Kodiak are making strong showings.

I've told Andrew that I think I could handle living in Homer very nicely. It's about five or six hours south of here and, while a tiny little village by many standards, it has a fun art-community feel. The ocean is accessible, the beaches are fun to comb and it's close enough to Anchorage that you could road trip-it back to the city should the need arise. Still . . . it is cold and windy. How much do I want warmth? I'm not quite sure.

5. Norwich, UK
For many, many years I've had this longing to live in an English village and while Norwich isn't exactly a village (it has about 130,000) it's a start. It would satisfy my love of history with its castle and cathedral and 30 medieval churches within the city walls but it is also near the east coast where you can go sailing and enjoy time on the ocean. Andrew St. Thorpe and other little villages are nearby for the visions of complete cuteness and, of course, London isn't that far for a really amazing weekend of theater and excitement.

I don't know--it sounds mighty fine to me. I'd even consider Scotland but then it seems a bit colder and wilder up there, though with considerably cooler accents.

6. Johnson City, Tennessee
Johnson City is the eighth-smallest city in Tennessee (in case you're ever assaulted by someone demanding to know that important piece of information) and was listed as fifth on the list of "Least Expensive Cities to Live" by some publication or another. Inexpensive is good.

The average cost of a home in Anchorage climbs and climbs and climbs and I can't help but think that it doesn't matter that we don't have sales tax and state income tax and get our yearly dividends if a basic house costs you $400,000, you're not exactly saving any money by living there. Especially when considering how much that extra $100,000-$200,000 works out to be over the course of a 20 or 30-year mortgage.

Of course I guess I always could be glad it's not California, right? No whining allowed after seeing their home prices. Oh, and Johnson City was also rated #8 "Best Place for African-Americans to Retire" which kind of cinches it for me.

7. Prince Edward Island
I put this on the list kind of hoping that it's not what I suspect--a total tourist place--and in my mind it's still as it is in the famous Anne of Green Gables books. But I have this sneaky suspicion that if I went there I'd find Anne on license plates, post cards and bill boards. Sigh. Is nothing sacred?

I've also heard that Anne is very popular among the Japanese, with loyal fans from Nippon traveling great distances to make the holy pilgrimage to Avonlea (or rather the town pretending to be Avonlea).

Oh well, I bet the island has been bought by Disney anyway.

8. Picton, New Zealand
Here's an island Disney hasn't got to yet--Picton is at the northern tip of the south island around the Marlborough Sounds and is part of the connecting link to the north island (if I have my info right). It's kind of quiet in the winter (i.e. summer here--isn't that just wild?) but gets cute and bustling once the summer hits.

Supposedly the area is beautiful with rivers and fjords and is one of the nicest places to visit. Andrew and I have said for years that if we couldn't live in the U.S. we'd go to New Zealand because it is just that cool. Everything that is super cool comes from New Zealand you'll notice. Including, but not limited to, Lord of the Rings, volcanoes, Russell Crowe, Maoris and Sir Edmund Hilary

9. Deer Isle, Maine
Deer Isle is a tiny community of 2000 on the southern shore of Maine nestled in one of those little inlets and coves. Linked to the mainland by a bridge, it's a place I've read about in books, a place where they still have New England accents and go lobster fishing and don't like newcomers--but they'd like me because I'd be extra nice to them and would win their trust and affections until I had become like one of the original founding fathers to them.

I'd probably do this with a lot of homemade jam and my recipe for upside apple pie but it would win them over in the end and we'd all live happily ever after. With my pet lobsters and my chickens named Harold and Stacy.

10. La Pine, Oregon
Notice there aren't too many places on the west coast here? Nothing against the west coast, except that most of it is California and I do have something against living in California. Too big, too crowded, too hedonistic, too half-naked. I really, really love the ocean and ideally would live near it but I've heard enough good things about La Pine to overlook this shortcoming.

La Pine is in the interior of Oregon but it's kind of an outdoorsy paradise, with places to fish and hike and bike and see--actually, it doesn't sound all that different from Alaska except that it's got to be warmer. The only things I really regret about Alaska are that I can't grow fruit trees and can't take road trips. Well, actually I could take a road trip but it would take five days to get to another state.

I think I could get fruit trees and road trips if we lived in Oregon. In fact, I think it's there in the fine print on their Chamber of Commerce page: "Guaranteed for all new move-ins: fruit trees and roads leading to other states."

Photo credits: Who knows? I got them from Google images and their stolen from all over the web. But at least I'm honest in my theft.