Traveling

[O Really]

Apparently the land is too expensive to make money with rv parks and there aren't a lot. And the ones there are are either (a) expensive or (b) trailer parks that have a few rv spots. The one we're in ranges from about $80 to a little over a hundred. It is a nice park, though. When we were traveling 5ish years ago, you could find decent spots in the 40's. Now if you get a good place under $60 you're lucky. A lot of people have cut way down on their travel because of the cost of parks and gas.

You may have answered this before, but can you buy a spot for your semi permanent homesite (rent it while you're away) and travel seasonally?

There are some places. https://www.sunlandrvresorts.com/florid ... motorcoach and some are set up with a little casita on the site. More common in Texas and Arizona than most other places. Some snow-bird parks have a sort of "yours until you leave without a reservation" type agreement, i.e., you can keep your spot each year as long as you reserve it a year in advance.

[Vrede too]

There are some places. https://www.sunlandrvresorts.com/florid ... motorcoach and some are set up with a little casita on the site. More common in Texas and Arizona than most other places. Some snow-bird parks have a sort of "yours until you leave without a reservation" type agreement, i.e., you can keep your spot each year as long as you reserve it a year in advance.

Is that what you do?

Most Expensive Places to Live in the U.S. in 2023-2024

#1 - San Diego - Ouch
#2 - Los Angeles
#3 - Honolulu
#4 - Miami
#5 - Santa Barbara, Calif.
#6 - San Francisco - Counterculture, what counterculture?
#7 - Salinas, Calif.
#8 - Santa Rosa, Calif.
#9 - San Juan, Puerto Rico - Surprises me
#10 - Vallejo and Fairfield, Calif.
#11 - New York City
#12 - Boston
#13 - Seattle
#14 - San Jose, Calif.
#15 - Sacramento, Calif.
#16 - Denver
#17 - Stockton, Calif.
#18 - Washington, D.C.
#19 - Modesto, Calif
#20 - Fresno, Calif.
#21 - Portland
#22 - New Haven, Conn.
#23 - Boulder, Colo.
#24 - Trenton, N.J.
#25 - Eugene, Ore. - The anti-capitalists lost?

Associated "Overall Score", whatever that means, "Quality of Life" and "Value" at the link.
12 out of 25, no wonder CA has so many homeless.
Almost all are liberal - chicken, egg?

[O Really]

Yeah but people really like living in most of those places. Well, maybe not Stockton or Trenton, but mostly. Wonder what the list of "least expensive" would be. Little Rock, Oklahoma City, Pierre, Dothan?

[billy.pilgrim]

Yeah but people really like living in most of those places. Well, maybe not Stockton or Trenton, but mostly. Wonder what the list of "least expensive" would be. Little Rock, Oklahoma City, Pierre, Dothan?

https://realestate.usnews.com/places/ra ... es-to-live

And checking in at #1 is the lovely metropolis of Hickory, N.C.

[Vrede too]

Yeah but people really like living in most of those places. Well, maybe not Stockton or Trenton, but mostly. Wonder what the list of "least expensive" would be. Little Rock, Oklahoma City, Pierre, Dothan?

https://realestate.usnews.com/places/ra ... es-to-live

And checking in at #1 is the lovely metropolis of Hickory, N.C.

Most Affordable Places to Live in the U.S. in 2023-2024

Hickory, NC
Youngstown, OH
Huntington, WV & Ashland, KY-OH
Huntsville, AL
Fort Wayne, IN
Beaumont, TX
Peoria, IL

#10 Knoxville, TN
#11 Spartanburg, SC
#12 Greenville, SC

#16 Winston-Salem, NC
#17 Chattanooga, TN

#23 Little Rock, AR
#24 Pittsburgh, PA
#25 Montgomery, AL

The CA cities are better, mostly.

[O Really]

There are some places. https://www.sunlandrvresorts.com/florid ... motorcoach and some are set up with a little casita on the site. More common in Texas and Arizona than most other places. Some snow-bird parks have a sort of "yours until you leave without a reservation" type agreement, i.e., you can keep your spot each year as long as you reserve it a year in advance.

Is that what you do?

Similar. We pay a smallish "lock-in" fee and have a perpetual deposit that keeps our space until we cancel. Or if we don't cancel within the required time, they get to keep the deposit. Works well for us. And otherwise, we do make reservations elsewhere up to a year ahead. Sometimes have to change them, but it's better to make them early. And I've got a good trip planner that keeps track of reservations, distances, gas stops, yada. So making changes is easy. Click on the one you want to cancel, it gives you contact, click on the one you want to add and it puts it in place of the canceled one and adjusts everything around it. It also exports to my Outlook.

[O Really]

Yeah but people really like living in most of those places. Well, maybe not Stockton or Trenton, but mostly. Wonder what the list of "least expensive" would be. Little Rock, Oklahoma City, Pierre, Dothan?

https://realestate.usnews.com/places/ra ... es-to-live

And checking in at #1 is the lovely metropolis of Hickory, N.C.

Hickory used to be a really nice area. So is Greenville, except both of those are in states rapidly going downhill.

[Vrede too]

Similar. We pay a smallish "lock-in" fee and have a perpetual deposit that keeps our space until we cancel. Or if we don't cancel within the required time, they get to keep the deposit. Works well for us. And otherwise, we do make reservations elsewhere up to a year ahead. Sometimes have to change them, but it's better to make them early. And I've got a good trip planner that keeps track of reservations, distances, gas stops, yada. So making changes is easy. Click on the one you want to cancel, it gives you contact, click on the one you want to add and it puts it in place of the canceled one and adjusts everything around it. It also exports to my Outlook.

Cool. Why did you go so far inland in Canada this year?

[O Really]

Cool. Why did you go so far inland in Canada this year?

Sorta practicing living in Canada. If we had first choice, we'd take Victoria. It's a beautiful city, with weather slightly better than Vancouver, and there are lots of beaches and stuff to do. But you can only get there by boat (ferry). The only ferry currently running from there to the US goes to Port Angeles WA, which is about 20K population. Why does that matter? Because you can't get on to Canadian Medicare for at least two years, and US Medicare won't cover outside the country. You can get a private plan for Canada, and you can go to a clinic for small stuff and just pay for it, but if you need any serious treatment you're screwed. But where we were this summer is close enough to go to Bellingham for specialty care, surgery, yada, if needed. We're seriously tired of US politics and culture wars and may find a time we just stay in Canada.

[Vrede too]

Sorta practicing living in Canada. If we had first choice, we'd take Victoria. It's a beautiful city, with weather slightly better than Vancouver, and there are lots of beaches and stuff to do. But you can only get there by boat (ferry). The only ferry currently running from there to the US goes to Port Angeles WA, which is about 20K population. Why does that matter? Because you can't get on to Canadian Medicare for at least two years, and US Medicare won't cover outside the country. You can get a private plan for Canada, and you can go to a clinic for small stuff and just pay for it, but if you need any serious treatment you're screwed. But where we were this summer is close enough to go to Bellingham for specialty care, surgery, yada, if needed. We're seriously tired of US politics and culture wars and may find a time we just stay in Canada.

There aren't private traveler plans that cover serious treatment? If so, that sucks.

[O Really]

There aren't private traveler plans that cover serious treatment? If so, that sucks.

There are, and also some ex pat plans, but they're all pretty expensive for not so wonderful coverage and deductibles and co-payments. If we moved to Mexico, we could get on their plan easier, but it's still Mexico and Mexican medicine.

[Vrede too]

There are, and also some ex pat plans, but they're all pretty expensive for not so wonderful coverage and deductibles and co-payments. If we moved to Mexico, we could get on their plan easier, but it's still Mexico and Mexican medicine.

Mexican healthcare in ex-pat areas like Baja is excellent. It's a selling point, so they make sure of it.

[O Really]

Yeah we looked into Ensenada, but it's not quite the same it used to be.

[Vrede too]

Yeah we looked into Ensenada, but it's not quite the same it used to be.

The border region sucks, but southern Baja rocks.

[O Really]

Yeah we looked into Ensenada, but it's not quite the same it used to be.

The border sucks, but southern Baja rocks.

Back when we lived in WNC we took winter trips a couple of years to Cabo San Lucas. Beautiful spot, great food, lots to do, relatively cheapish, but to me it was sorta like living in Disneyland. Everything in the tourist areas is great, but a few blocks (literally) away from the beach/marina it's pretty bleak. Haven't been lately, though, so maybe the "safe" zone is bigger.

[Vrede too]

=The border sucks, but southern Baja rocks.

Back when we lived in WNC we took winter trips a couple of years to Cabo San Lucas. Beautiful spot, great food, lots to do, relatively cheapish, but to me it was sorta like living in Disneyland. Everything in the tourist areas is great, but a few blocks (literally) away from the beach/marina it's pretty bleak. Haven't been lately, though, so maybe the "safe" zone is bigger.

Agreed. Los Cabos has its charms, but I fell in love with Todos Santos. La Paz is a larger, less touristy city. Both are relatively easy excursions to Los Cabos for recreation. I've heard good things about some mid-Baja towns and areas, but don't know firsthand. I think the ex-pat areas are practically their own towns.

[Vrede too]

More about living rather than traveling, but probably not worth its own thread -

The 50 Best Places to Live in the U.S. in 2022-2023 according to Money are:

1. Atlanta, Georgia - I disagree.

4. Raleigh, North Carolina
5. Rogers Park (Chicago), Illinois

12. Chapel Hill, North Carolina - O Really slept there.

16. Naperville, Illinois - suburb of Chicago

18. Fremont, California - Would have been #1, but Useless lives there.

20. Rockville, Maryland - My childhood home!

22. San Diego, California - Not as good as Rockville

32. Camas, Washington - Extreme SW. O Really has posted from near there.

46. Greenville, South Carolina - It's ranked because Whack9 is there.
47. Juneau, Alaska - I really like Juneau.

[O Really]

"In our annual ranking of the top places to live, we look at the things that matter most to people: economic opportunities, quality of life, diversity, and where the best futures lie."

Some of those factors are more important than others, depending on the person. Also, I consider the greater surrounding area as well, and not just a particular really nice place. Good list though.

[Vrede too]

"In our annual ranking of the top places to live, we look at the things that matter most to people: economic opportunities, quality of life, diversity, and where the best futures lie."

Some of those factors are more important than others, depending on the person. Also, I consider the greater surrounding area as well, and not just a particular really nice place. Good list though.

Agreed. Money is going to have certain biases that I don't share. For example, it doesn't list cost of living as a prime factor that matters most to people, but irl it's a dealbreaker or maker for many families. So, grain of salt, but interesting since BRD has connections to so many of the cities and towns.

[GoCubsGo]

Agreed. Money is going to have certain biases that I don't share. For example, it doesn't list cost of living as a prime factor that matters most to people, but irl it's a dealbreaker or maker for many families. So, grain of salt, but interesting since BRD has connections to so many of the cities and towns.

Seriously?
#5

Few places are as welcoming to different religions, creeds or ethnicities as Rogers Park, an underdog neighborhood located in the northeast corner of Chicago. Rogers Park is known as the most diverse neighborhood in Chicago, which itself is one of the most diverse cities in the country, and the result is truly something special. Residents often rave about the neighborhood’s multiculturalism and cite that as the foundation of what makes Rogers Park such a unique place. (Its walkability and easy access to public transit don't hurt, either.) Devon Avenue, for example, contains the entire world on just a few city blocks. Don’t believe us? Start at the intersection of Devon and Rockwell, an area sometimes referred to as “Little India.” Geometric patterns in yellow and pink pop off the walls of the adjacent South Asian clothing boutique. Head East toward Lake Michigan and you’ll waltz by Indian, Nepalese, Pakistani, Israeli, Cuban and Chinese restaurants serving up a variety of vegetarian, vegan, kosher and halal dishes. Along the way, you’ll spot a mosque, a temple, a synagogue and a church — one of many signs of the myriad cultures that call Rogers Park home. Continue farther East and you’ll wind up on the campus of Loyola University, a private Jesuit research institution located on the shores of Lake Michigan. Residents of the tight-knit neighborhood are typically younger and more likely to have a college degree compared to Chicago overall (thanks in part to its proximity to Loyola). Median home prices in Rogers Park, a hair over $200,000, are also notably lower than Chicago — and well below most cities on our list. — Adam Hardy

My first apartment was in Rogers Park (my niece lives there now in a condo). The virtue for myself and two buddies was that we found a cool walk up apartment across from a park on the lake. We had great parties.

7508 N Eastlake Terrace
https://maps.app.goo.gl/VYuBsvy4Ni82aNwM7

The rest of the stuff isn't that atypical from other areas of Chicago.

I did get held up at gunpoint in front of Biddy Mulligan's at a Koko Taylor show and saved by Chicago cops a couple of blocks from home.

Biddy Mulligan's
What it was: Biddy Mulligan's was a seedy rock club on the northern reaches of Sheridan Road, just south of the cemetery that keeps leafy Evanston at bay. The club opened and closed a comical number of times, at one point re-opening for a whopping four months before shuttering again. Much like the oft-promised renaissance of Howard Street, a new, revitalized Biddy's was always just around the corner. But Biddy's did have an admirable history in the'70s/'80s—Koko Taylor played there many times, and Smashing Pumpkins rocked it in 1989.
What's taken its place: The Simpsons' Moe's Tavern, if Molly Hatchet were on the bill.
https://www.timeout.com/chicago/bars/go ... -and-clubs