Vacation homes?

[fenchurch]

This week on "House Hunters" over on HGTV, they've been doing a series on shopping for vacation homes. It's really been interesting to watch, because the lifestyles of the people involved are just so different from what I'm used to... There've been the predictable retired couples, who are well established in a primary residence and just want a place (generally something a little funky and different) in an area they visit often. There have also been a few who have been renting apartments and now want to buy a home, but can't afford one in the cities of their choice... so they're buying what anyone else would consider to be a primary residence, a few hours from where they work -- living in the same old apartment during the week, and driving out to their large, elaborate "vacation homes" on the weekends.

Not that it's likely to ever be an option, but it's gotten me thinking, just for fun... where would I want to have a vacation home? So far, there's nothing just leaping out at me as being incredibly obvious. The area where I've always wanted to live and I used to go visit every chance I got? I'm living there now.

Hmmm... maybe someplace like Blaine, Washington... right up on the border, so I could be closer to Canada without having to go through the hassle of buying property in another country. But that would just be for making grocery shopping in Canada more convenient.

I could see maybe getting something in Florida, simply because there's a lot to do there, it would be a good staging ground for exploring the eastern US, and it's pretty much as far away from where we live as we can get without leaving the continental US. But it would definitely not be the sort of place we'd go on weekends... more like for a few weeks here and there, assuming work didn't get in the way.

I suppose, if we're talking about retirement age when we could easily be away from home for months at a time, I could see going for someplace abroad... in which case, definitely Australia, and definitely some place in Victoria (though, to be fair, it's the only part of the country we've been in so far... but I absolutely fell in love with the area). Geelong was lovely... a nice small town near the ocean, right on the bay, and yet not too far from Melbourne.

Anyone else ever think of this sort of thing? Like I said, just for fun... figuring out where you'd go if you could.

Comments

[sp23.livejournal.com]

I've tinkered around with the thought that I'd like to have a cabin in the woods on a lake somewhere where I could go on weekends. My mythical dog and I could take long walks in the woods and along the shore of the lake. I got this idea after reading The Cat Who (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/102-6075123-2465740) books by Lillian Jackson Braun where her hero lives someplace Wisconsiny and has many trips to a woodsy lake. :)

[sp23.livejournal.com]

Sigh. I forgot to doublecheck my link. Let's try that again. The Cat Who (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0515115649/qid=1119024695/sr=8-6/ref=pd_csp_6/102-6075123-2465740?v=glance&s=books&n=507846).

[fenchurche.livejournal.com]

I was thinking about that sort of thing, too... but at this point in my life I just can't see enjoying long weekends in the woods. You know, unless there was broadband, and at that point I may as well just be at home. ;-)

[sp23.livejournal.com]

Ha! Exactly. I'd need a place with all the comforts of home, which I already have... at home. And if I want walks in the woods, well, hell I'msurrounded by woods! :)

[elsaf]

I sometimes think I'd like a cottage on a lake somewhere. But when it comes down to it, I suck at maintaining a single home. So I could really increase that factor by buying another.

My strategy is to cultivate friends with cottages. :-)

[fenchurche.livejournal.com]

Hee! That sounds like my sort of plan! Really, it comes down to not having found one place that I would like to go back to, over and over again, enough to want to buy something there.

I also find the idea of maintaining to houses to be a bit daunting.

[ww1614.livejournal.com]

I've always wanted a house on Cape Cod, but I think a house on a lake would be second choice. We had a great time at chlaal's cottage last weekend.

[fenchurche.livejournal.com]

One of the vacation homes featured this week on "House Hunters" was on Cape Cod (with the guy in question continuing to rent an apartment in Boston as his primary residence). It looks like an absolutely beautiful area... and I guess I can see wanting to have a place like that, especially if you live in a city. The two lifestyles seemed so completely different (high energy, cramped space on the one hand, laid back and open on the other).

[towatson.livejournal.com]

If I could have a vacation home in New Orleans I would be happy. If I could have one in NOLA AND one in Dublin, I would be ecstatic. Now, if I could have one in NOLA, one in Dublin AND one in Rome? I think I just wet myself thinking about it!

Have you thought about doing time shares? That might be a better option. Then you don't have to have a specific place. You could do one place one year and another the next.

[fenchurche.livejournal.com]

Well, I hadn't really been seriously thinking of getting a vacation home at all... just one of those moments of idly wondering...

But it's funny, because cynthdiane stayed at a time share when we were all down in Las Vegas to see Episode III last month and I was really impressed with the place... which is apparently a chain, with locations all over. I'd not thought about time shares at all before then, but it really was quite appealing. A fully furnished apartment at a really decent price, practically everywhere I'd want to visit. Hmmm... maybe I should see about getting the URL for that particular company from her sometime.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'd take one of those small, million dollar homes at Rosemary Beach (http://www.rosemarybeach.com/)

[fenchurche.livejournal.com]

Oh! Pretty!!

[fenwic.livejournal.com]

Oh, girl, I think about it all the time. In fact, I lived in Seattle for a year and often tell people that, were I rich, I would have a summer house there. Capitol Hill, or Fremont. Or maybe on the lake, since money is no object, heh. I'd also love a place in New Orleans, in the French Quarter. Or Paris, on Montmartre. Or London, near the West End. Those four towns are among my Top 5 cities actually, so I guess that makes sense. Of course, San Francisco tops the list. How convenient :)

[fenchurche.livejournal.com]

So you're sort of in the same position... there are a few other places you wouldn't mind having as a vacation spot, but you're pretty much living in the place you want to be.

I think I need to visit more places, really. We mostly go to the same areas, over and over again... though I think we've done a little better in the past few years (Australia, Northeastern US, Vancouver Island) but that's because we've made a conscious effort to try visiting places we've never been.

We're really hoping to make it to England either later this year or early next year, since neither of us have ever been and we've both always wanted to go. I want to go to Fenchurch Street Station, for obvious reasons, and I also need to have my picture taken while sitting on my own in a small cafe in Rickmansworth (for reasons that are equally obvious, if you read Douglas Adams).

[queenofattolia.livejournal.com]

Hawaii! Santa Barbara! Sonoma! Well, that's where I would want a vacation home.

[fenchurche.livejournal.com]

Hawaii is the other place I definitely would like to go. I haven't been there since I was 10 and I never really had a chance to do any of the touristy stuff (my mom had grown up there, mostly, and my parents had met and dated there, so they were more interested in visiting friends than seeing the sights).

[mirandaflynn.livejournal.com]

I'd love to have a house in Seward, Alaska. Something with very thoroughly screen porches because the mosquitos will eat you for lunch, but you can sit on the porch and watch the whales breach.

[krissyd13.livejournal.com]

OHHHHHHH!! I would love to have a vacation home in the hill country of Texas. Like New Braunsfels or Kerrville, definitely on the Guadalupe or Comal River. It is so beautiful down there, and only 3 hours away. Not too too far!

Kristen :-)