Choosing a new promised land (part 2)

(part 2)

Food

Few can resist the smell of spices or fresh fruit in the morning market. And with that in mind be sure to consider cuisine in your search for a new country to call home. Whether you like to shop in the local market and small neighbourhood shops, or get everything from one big supermarket, it certainly isn’t a bad idea to have a basic overview of the local eating habits. Consider the availability of your favourite foods – your palette will thank you.

Culture & Interests

Such a historical trip could also be a trip in time. Maybe you are attracted by medieval castles with moats, a web of ancient streets and passages or, on the contrary, modern buildings and their surgical glass panoramas cutting through the sunset. You don’t have to move into a castle or skyscraper, but it would be nice if you could look at it from your new home.

Which leisure activities do you prefer? Skiing in Switzerland, walking through the Austrian mountains, lakes in Sweden, folk art and puppet shows typical of Indonesia, surfing in Australia, cycling in the Czech countryside?

Today brings a wealth of pastimes of which to choose, and when you think creatively, you’ll find surfing in Europe, skiing on artificial snow, and that cyclists who don’t t like the hills have long been helped by electric bikes.

Carefully choose a place that will sit in line with your cultural and leisure-time interests, as well as fulfilling your moral values and convictions.

Other factors or questions to think about

Sunday church bells wake you up, while you’d rather hear a Muezzin’s voice?

Are you a dedicated proponent of recycling and natural conservation, but the contents of the new land end up in the sea?

Do you see multiculturalism in a positive or negative light?

Brew your favourite cup of coffee and write down your travel dreams, enjoyable holidays, references to favoured nations and customs that you know from travel books, newspapers, or your own experiences.

Then set your mind on the facts. List your priorities and clarify what you are looking for. Don’t miss anything out. You may find you drink several cups of coffee before your favoured country becomes apparent. Scour the Internet, study professional literature in your free time, ask people who live abroad, read travel blogs, and search for nomadic experiences.

Only a few countries left on your list? Dive under the surface.

Contact people living in the given countries or cities. How are they doing? Do they suit them and match their values?

Finally, choose that one country in those remaining. It shouldn’t just be coordinates on a map, but a place where you see you self personally. Imagine your day in this country. How your children live here, how your family goes shopping, how you go to work.

And then you know you have done all you can do. But this will merely scratch the surface of the experience and the life that awaits you in that new promised land …
_________________________
Author: Míša Benešovská

I’m a freelance journalist and copywriter, mainly covering IT industry. I’ve been fascinated by it for nearly a quarter of a century (or since I dismantled my first computer). I worked for Seznam.cz, Unicorn Systems or Mafra publisher. In my spare time, I love game consoles and keep perfecting a recipe for the best pumpkin risotto in the world.