What State or Country are you from?

[MKnight82]

2 minutes ago, JaguarCrazy2832 said:

My wife and I too!

What year?

[JaguarCrazy2832]

2 minutes ago, MKnight82 said:

What year?

2008, you?

[MKnight82]

11 minutes ago, JaguarCrazy2832 said:

2008, you?

2001

[Tetsujin]

On 4/15/2018 at 4:32 AM, Shady Slim said:

i live in the blue mountains about an hour and twenty-hour in a half by train from sydney, so i'm in australia then

Thanks for the info. I'm contemplating relocating internationally in the next few years, and Australia is high on my list. What do you think about Perth?

[D82]

11 hours ago, navysaintsfan said:

CRABCAKES AND FOOTBALL

Basically lol 

There's this little bar about 10-15 min from my house, they have an amazing crab burger and the beer selection is terrific. 

[PARROTHEAD]

On 4/15/2018 at 8:39 AM, JaguarCrazy2832 said:

I live in a smallish town outside Richmond, VA called Mechanicsville

1) How is the scenery? Scenery isn't all that bad depending on where you go. When i moved there as  kid it was alot more farm land than suburban areas but now that has shifted a lot. A couple good parks nearby and places to run trails.

2) How is the culture? I wouldnt say it is cultured lol

3) Affordability? I'd say it is very affordable. Despite the fact it has been built up alot it still isn't so chaotic like that of Richmond

4) Things to do? Nothing that most places dont have. Movie theater, restaurants, golf, parks etc. Wife and I are home bodies but we've lived here pretty much our whole life

5) Demographic: Mix of farming families and upper middle/high class people so I'd say its well-mixed. It's definitely that way at the school my wife teaches and you could say the same of our neighbors. 

Love Mechanicsville.

I agree its not cultured, which is part of its charm.

Ill be there Thursday to do my monthly stockpile shopping at BJs.

On the topic matter. What State or Country am I from? Outside Mayaro, Trinidad.

Where I call home? Kinsale, Virginia. Where theres a Marina and Restaurant, White building up from marina was a store, a granary and a post office the size of a Winnebago. Im a mile strait up the river.

[Shady Slim]

5 hours ago, freak_of_nature said:

Thanks for the info. I'm contemplating relocating internationally in the next few years, and Australia is high on my list. What do you think about Perth?

i am a biased nswelshman and prefer the weather here, it gets a bit hot and dry in the summers in all the country, but especially so in queensland, south aus and western aus, which is where perth is (though u would know that)

but if that's no concern to you i'd recommend it because the beaches are lovely and perth is a nice city that's not too like, big city, if you get what i mean

[Dome]

19 hours ago, Desperado82 said:

Basically lol 

There's this little bar about 10-15 min from my house, they have an amazing crab burger and the beer selection is terrific. 

I just ate lunch, but this made me so hungry

[mission27]

I live in the American Gardens Building on West 81st Street.

[Ragnarok]

On 4/12/2018 at 5:45 PM, BayRaider said:

This is the thread where we will discuss where you are from and describe what you like about the state/place.

These are some optional questions you could explore when replying here:

1) How is the scenery?

2) How is the culture?

3) Affordability?

4) Things to do?

5) Demographic

Another reason for this thread is I may be moving to South Carolina for a job opportunity. I was wondering if anyone is from the Carolinas and can contribute to this thread

I was born and raised in Nashville, TN.  Went to undergrad in Charleston, SC and worked there for a bit.  Lived in Kodiak, AK for a while.  Currently in Washington, DC.

1) Kodiak is easily the most beautiful in terms of natural beauty.  Charleston is the prettiest city.  Nashville in the most fun.  DC is soul sucking.

2) Charleston has the most culture with Nashville catching up.  But Kodiak is it's own world that is awesome if you enjoy the outdoors and ruggedness.  DC has no culture.

3) Kodiak is the most affordable, Charleston is next.  Nashville is getting expensive and DC, one again, sucks.

4) DC has the most to do but Nashville isn't as far behind as you would think.  Charleston has a lot to do if you like that culture.  Unless you love the outdoors, darts, or drinking, Kodiak is not for you.

5) DC has people from all over the world as you would guess.  Kodiak is actually very diverse with native and philippine populations.  Nashville is decently diverse, but Charleston is pretty set in being the Southern city to end all Southern cities.

if you have questions about SC, I have friends throughout the state and can answer a number of questions.  

[Malfatron]

This is the thread where we will discuss where you are from and describe what you like about the state/place.

 

Verona, WI.

Right outside of Madison.

 

These are some optional questions you could explore when replying here:

1) How is the scenery?

 

It's nice. some hiking trails. some restaurants,

2) How is the culture?

It's nice.

3) Affordability?

not very.

4) Things to do?

Madison is close by, so some big acts come there.

It can be even fun in my own place if I have alcohol!

5) Demographic

Suburbia

[Buckrock101]

I'm from New Zealand, but currently living in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, which I'll represent here.

1) How is the scenery?

Not a whole lot of scenery here. It's a crowded, cluttered city, so the most common scenery consists of motorbikes, narrow streets, and a bunch of shops and cafes jammed together. There's a couple of rivers going through the middle of the city, and it can be pretty cool along there (at night at least, when you can't notice the brown tinge in the water). But if you want to enjoy the scenery, there are beach towns like Vung Tau and Mui Ne close by, where a lot of people go for a day trip or a weekend.

2) How is the culture?

Pretty varied, depending on where you go in the city. Of course it's predominantly Asian, but every day there's more westernized places, and it's really become a very multicultural city. There are some areas that are distinctly Vietnamese, some expat-heavy areas (Thao Dien, Phu My Hung) with all the comforts of home for Americans/Aussies/English etc. A lot of food options from all kind of cultural backgrounds.

General culture of the city might be hard to get used to for some, it's super busy and the majority of people are pretty selfish. Tourist areas you will need to be careful of people trying to take advantage of naive foreigners. A lot of people trying to sell you useless/overpriced crap. It's fine as long as you know what you're doing, but even then it's a bit of an annoyance. Definitely better if you get out of the main tourist district, you get a lot less of this in the higher priced expat districts or the areas locals live.

3) Affordability?

Generally very affordable living, but it depends where you want to live. Really nice areas aren't that much cheaper than western cities, but they're safe, cleaner, more comfortable. Local areas are super cheap, but it can be a bit harder finding people who speak English. In the tourist areas you can find some cheap things, food, beer, coffee etc, but you're also more likely to get inflated prices. All things considered, standard of living is great for the price though.

4) Things to do?

Mostly just hanging out at cafes, bars, restaurants. But then again I'm a boring person, so maybe it's just me. Most people get out of the city to do interesting things. Travel around Vietnam is cheap, and a lot of smaller cities have cool things to see/do.

5) Demographic

Obviously mostly Vietnamese, but a growing number of foreigners every day. A lot of Australian expats here. Different areas of the city have different cultural densities... there's a Japanese area, some Chinese areas, and some areas that are heavily white.

[Buckrock101]

On 4/13/2018 at 7:06 PM, animaltested said:

Someone already did Washingtion, so Ill do my current "home"

Hanoi, Vietnam

Nice one. I'm hoping to spend some time in Hanoi sometime in the near future. I've been there before, but only on holiday. Would you say it's a good place for day to day life?

[animaltested]

22 hours ago, Buckrock101 said:

Nice one. I'm hoping to spend some time in Hanoi sometime in the near future. I've been there before, but only on holiday. Would you say it's a good place for day to day life?

Yeah pretty good. especially as an ex-pat. Hanoi is a super chill city. Lots of open air cafes to sit around in, great food (Viet and International) and enough quirkiness to keep things interesting. Two drawbacks are the traffic and weather. Driving a motorbike is cool, but dealing with the roads + traffic is intense and annoying. The weather has been miserable. If its not sufferingly hot (pollution makes is worse) is pouring rain and chilly. I can count the nice days on my fingers in the 16 months I have been living here. 

I definitely prefer Seoul and South Korea, but thats just me. Hanoi is a fantastic place to spend time. Especially if you have time to rent an apartment, motorbike and cruise around town.

[Dome]

On 4/20/2018 at 11:37 PM, animaltested said:

Hanoi is a fantastic place to spend time. Especially if you have time to rent an apartment, motorbike and cruise around town.

My FILs side of the family is Vietnamese. My wife is a quarter Vietnamese (her dad is Vietnamese/Native American). 

We’re planning a trip in the next 3-5 years w/ her grandmother (who goes every year to visit her old village) but we wanted to spend most of our time visiting some more “fun” and popular areas. What cities or areas would be best for that? Any other general trips for traveling in Vietnam?