What’s Your Favourite Country?

Where do you have an abiding passion for? It could be your own country maybe, or somewhere you visited long ago and still feel a great affinity with. Maybe, like me, you would uproot and relocate there if life and immigration laws allowed?
Please add where you are from, to provide the background!

I’m British and I would sacrifice lots I hold dear to live in Australia.

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Definitely New Zealand, no question. Our favourite country by a country mile!

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I see you like many places and long to visit others, but where does your heart long to be?

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@Saltrams Born in :uk: made in :canada: fortunate to be a citizen of both… :heart: lives in :canada:

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we’d love to see you here again… :smile: maybe one day in the not too distant future…

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Hey Carolyn, there’s nowhere we would rather be. Hopefully we’ll be able to get back somei. Hope you and Chris are keeping well.

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I’ve done a lot of travelling around the world and there are so many wonderful countries and cultures but I would NEVER emigrate from the UK. We have so much here and it’s been great to have the opportunity to appreciate what we have during the pandemic

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We have yet to venture to New Zealand. All the pictures show a beautiful land but very much an ‘outdoorsy” culture ideal for hiking and nature & stuff. I’m rather more museum, culture and a glass of wine myself so the attraction isn’t so great :wink:
But, the question was where you loved, so thanks for playing :hugs:

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Wow, that’s good that there is one patriot left!

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New Zealand is certainly a beautiful country and the people really friendly. There are lots of museums but what is lacking of course is ‘history’ in the form of castles etc. I was constantly feeling guilty for what we did to the Maori people, and still they fight for the rights as do the Aboriginal peoples in Oz. I was told that it wasn’t my fault but I felt I carried our forefathers’ guilt…
The other thing that New Zealand lacks is our network of footpaths. In fact I met an ex pat who’d lived there for 20+ years and he said that was the main thing he missed about the UK. Yes, there’s some wonderful walking to be had but a lot of it seems artificial. However, the people are so much friendlier and welcoming that the Brits!

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Please don’t do that to yourself! It’s rather a soapbox for me but we cannot be responsible for the actions of others - for anything. If you discovered your 4 x great grandfather murdered his wife you wouldn’t feel guilty (shocked, sad etc. but not guilty). Would it be right to condemn a young woman, previously blameless, if she were suddenly revealed as Hitler’s great granddaughter? How far back does this assumed shame last? The African slave trade? Hot topic. Romans enslaving Britons and Germans? Nobody cares.
As long as you know what is right & what is wrong and you wouldn’t behave in such a way then you cannot be guilty of actions done in the past.
I bet I haven’t sufficient characters left to cover the discussion about NZL history now :roll_eyes:

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Well said @Saltrams and you’re completely right. I also go about apologising to other Europeans for Brexit, being a remainer! :flushed:

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We’re from the UK, and whilst there are some places I want to go that Suze doesn’t and vice-versa, we both think that one day we would love to move to Sweden. The dream is for a little cabin in the woods! We also have a dream of living in Iceland, maybe not permanently but we would love to spend a considerable amount of time there. We’ve done a few trips, but want to immerse ourselves in the culture more!

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Fabulous country, only been briefly but would love to spend more time exploring Sweden. Maybe a long road trip is the way to go?

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Ooo, that’s a left-field answer for me but none the less valid of course. Whilst I like to see pictures of snowy woodland wilderness I feel the cold so badly I couldn’t survive in such a place.
Good luck with your dream! How many log cabin wilderness sits come up I wonder?

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We haven’t seen too many sits up north in Sweden - but that is the dream! We’ve seen a few volunteering work exchanges looking after Huskies etc, so that may be our way to try it! We thought about getting a campervan as well and following the sun in the winter!

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:heart_eyes:

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I always felt like I couldn’t define a favorite country as each has been so unique with such different highlights, challenges and memories. There are a few I’m not so keen on but from a tourist angle not necessary for living or slow travel / house sits. But… there are a few places I love returning to over and over… France being one of those (the place of many childhood vacations).

I always thought it would be either France or Australia we’d settle in (Ian is an Aussie citizen so I was going to one day apply for partner status) if we ever did. I thought that was all some way off yet, but with things changing in the last year, we’ve just become French residents. More by accident and circumstances than considered decision. So France has become home for a while at least just a little earlier than expected!

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Canada is a favourite of ours. I holidayed there for 7 years in a row, including watching the Formula 1 Grand Prix. After of the motor racing, we explored different areas of Canada and occasionally ventured into the USA. Montreal is the place we spent most time overall, but we are country dwellers at heart, so I’d love to live in a village somewhere in Quebec. British Colombia is beautiful too though… I’m not sure how we’d cope with the Canadian winters though! Maybe I need to test drive a Canadian winter on a housesit?

I’d be very happy to live in France again.

Closer to home - Scotland. The children have asked if we can move there!

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So far, Cuba. We visited there when we sailed from Caribbean to US so it was live like the natives. We sailed for a month along the south coast and did some land travel across to the north. Living on lobsters and any fish we could catch. Loved it. They are so happy, even with the hardships they have to live with. But, if you visit make it soon before it opens up to the rest of the world.
Elsie

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