Meerkat Prompts: Living Anywhere

This isn’t an easy question. There’s a few serious contenders for the winner here, with some being relatively close to home, and some being far-flung.

Whilst I’m not convinced my wife or daughter would particularly fancy the Highlands of Scotland, the peaceful and beautiful town of Aviemore is a little slice of rural heaven, at least in this meerkat’s opinion. I’ve been there for a wedding, and both Aviemore and the surrounding region appear to have a pace of life which I find appealing. It’s not noisy, it’s not busy, the town itself has a lot of beauty, and the Highlands themselves are clean and unspoilt. There is also a steam railway! The biggest drawback is the Scottish cold.

I’m hard-pressed to think of a more rustic, charming setting as a place to live, though there are some places near to Aviemore that can offer up a run for its money. As these places (such as Boat of Garten and Nethybridge) are in the same general vicinity, I could easily switch between them on a whim.

If I wanted to live somewhere further afield, there are two locations that spring to mind, and I have previously been to one of them. All the way back in 2004 I was fortunate enough to spend a month in Australia. The flights were gruelling, but once you get past that, and the little detail that you ideally have to be prepared to do a lot of internal flights to get anywhere, Australia is a magnificent, gorgeous place. The landscape itself is stunning, the pace of life is more laidback, and let’s just also say that Australia has tremendous local produce when it comes to good food.

Now, I will grant that my time Down Under was some 21 years ago, and a lot can change in that time. That being said, I think Australia would be a fantastic place to live. The greatest drawback to Australia would be the rather dizzying number of deadly creatures, though in reality these are far less bothersome than most people realise. Still, my daughter would be hesitant to live somewhere that features some of the most dangerous spiders on the planet, and my mum would not care for the snakes.

The final prospective place to live would be the Land of the Rising Sun. Japan is a country I have longed to visit, but my present circumstances make it impossible to afford. If those circumstances change enough for me to at least see Japan for even a couple of weeks, I would jump at the chance. Japan is a fascinating blend of ultra-modern civilisation, with some unique and beautiful ancient cultural elements woven through it. It’s a nation of some intense work ethics, combined with a tranquillity that defies the hustle and bustle of the working world.

Japan is also a venue of some incredible natural landscapes. Mount Fuji is an epic vision, some 62 miles from Tokyo, and visible from Japan’s capital on clear days. Carefully cultivated countryside provides locals and visitors alike with locations to soothe the soul.

There’s another element to Japan – another two actually – that makes me really want to at least visit. Firstly, Japan is home to the legendary Shinkansen train lines. These high-speed rail services feature some of the fastest, most gorgeous trains in the world, with a level of comfort and refinement unmatched elsewhere. Secondly, there’s the gadgets. Japan is noted for having some amazing conveniences, with a lot of effort put into making sure technology enhances quality of life.

I need to add a third element: the food. I am not as familiar with Japanese cuisine as I’d like to be, but from what I have sampled, and read of, Japanese food is incredible, and it lacks the heavily-processed nature of foods found elsewhere. It’s definitely on my shortlist of places to see, and if the situation were right, I’d love to experience living there.

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