Chris
San Jose
I remember my wife finding soulmates in the people of Zürich because it ran so smoothly while I felt more at home pick up croissants for breakfast from the local bakery in Nice, France. Where do you feel most at home, when you were so far from home?
My favorite city in the world is London. I felt at home from the minute I arrived there for a few days' trip in 2011, and again when I moved there in 2012.
While traveling in Europe, there were other cities I could picture myself living in--Edinburgh, Copenhagen, and Barcelona, as well as Brighton (England)--but London will always have my heart.
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Helsinki. The bike culture there is amazing. Public transit is spot-on perfect. It just plain looks cool. The food is pretty good. The national parks nearby ... great hiking, easy to access, well marked, hut systems. They must be great in winter, too - cross-country skiing!
The minute I first laid eyes on San Miguel de Allende Mexico, I knew I was HOME. I was not even off the bus from Mexico City, but the sight of the town out the bus window, glowing in the winter sunshine, drew me in and whispered "stay." I couldn't stay then. But I came back. And again. And again. Now I live here. It will always be home.
My home away from home is Manila. It may seem like an odd choice because the city is not what you would call smooth. There is a lot of traffic, the pollution is pretty bad, poverty is everywhere, and it's very noisy. But what makes me feel at home is the people I have met and the friends I have made.
Any night of the week I can easily gather up a group of friends to go out for some fun. People here love to enjoy themselves and it's not strange to be out till 2am on a weeknight. Also, since most people in Manila grew up in Manila, the social networks within the city are very tight, and you'll usually end up seeing the same people out week after week.
Also everything in Manila is relatively cheap compared to U.S. Which means when you're out, you rarely have to think about how much you're spending. Just a couple of weeks ago my friends and I went to a upscale restaurant, had 3 1-liter beers, a cocktail, and an order of fries for less than $10.
Yup, Manila is my home away from home.
After living in Puçol, both the village and nearby Valencia became home because not only did I meet friends, I made family and even shop owners knew me so I felt like it truly was my town. Geilenkirchen was the same as was Sittard just because I lived there.
As far as a quick trip sort of place, Budapest felt oddly at home. The faces of the people were familiar like family, the language though so very foreign, sounded soothing, and it just somehow felt like it belonged to me in some way. There's a connection there.
As touristy as it is, I felt that way in Venice as well because I got lost often, wandered the non-tourist streets, talked with locals, and stopped in out of the way coffee shops and restaurants for food. It was easy and comfortable and the people are so inviting.
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For me, Galway City. The people were very friendly and easy-going and the city is smallish and welcoming. City centre and Quay Street were full of great shops, restaurants and pubs. I stayed at Salt Hill west of the city and close to the beach. It was beautiful and quiet in that unique way you find in the western parts of the country. I'd go back in a heartbeat.
I wish it was an exotic location but I love Dublin ! I've seen a lot of posts about it being the worst city, but it's home to a guy that has lived in the USA for a while and misses his family and aunt Kira, not to mention a nice Guinness.
Having lived as a nomad for over 20 years I have a few cities around the world that i call home and where I just settle and relax without worring one bit about seeing sights.
I am purely there cause I love the vibe of the place and it's inhabitants.
Cities like Tirana Istanbul Mexico City Recife Kuala Lumpur Penang Rio de Janeiro and Lisbon are places where I feel like coming back home whenever I arrive.
Been to all the cities at least half a dozen times.
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I always felt at home when i go to Berlin. Im not sure why. Maybe because of multicultural life of the city or turkish immigrants.
And of course as a guy who come from Istanbul, i feel at home in each greek city, like Thessaloniki, Athens, etc.
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Singapore my home is in Jakarta Capital Region it's like an upgrade version of Jakarta :p but still can't beat the food back home :)
Perhaps not my favourite of all time, but I was most surprised by Lisbon. Not impressed by my visits to Spain, I had expected more of 'the same' in Portugal. I was WRONG. For a big city, it has a lot of 'small town charm'. I spent several months there and never got tired of getting lost on purpose, to explore the little side streets and alleys that the tourists miss. Many gems hidden in that city.
Seattle is easy to navigate, family near by in Tacoma, great place to be, just felt like an extension of home. Paris also easy to navigate, people are easy to talk to, great feel, love it more every time we visit. When a French family visiting Paris from elsewhere in France ask me for directions, that was a great moment -- obviously I looked like I knew were I was going and blended in, right? I won't believe anything different.
Definitely New York City and Madrid. Every city has its own beauty; however, in terms of feeling comfortable while walking the city, or enjoying the gastronomy of the variety of restaurants, these two cities are my first choice.
Saludos!
I loved Prague - I've never felt so safe anywhere else I visited. I didn't worry too much about which street I walked down, or if I made a wrong turn. It's likely got a lot to do with how clean the streets are there, and that there's no graffiti, etc. Generally speaking, I have very fond memories of my time there!
For me it's London.
I don't know why but ever since the first time I went there (and I was about 11) I felt very comfortable there. The second time I was there it was only my sister and me at age 15 and we had such a great time and I ever since that visit I can definitely say that I feel at home there.
Victoria amazing place, amazing people, amazing University of Victoria
Mykonos Greece.
I was there with a friend visiting her family and from the moment I arrived, I was welcomed with open arms. They took me in as one of their own, opened their home to me and treated me with so much love and comfort. Because of them, this island will forever have a spot in my heart.
I would have to say the Philippines. It's my ethnicity and whenever I go visit I am greeted with the warmest hearts known to man kind. Filipinos are extremely hospitable and down to earth. If any of you want to feel at home that's where to go!
Aside from Philippines where i was born/raised and USA where i now reside, i always feel at home in London. I love shopping in the city,train accessibility and great restaurants around.
Paris. My love of this place is unreasonable. Amazingly, I hated it when I first arrived but that was probably because I had no place to stay the first time I went (long story). I really struggled there for about three weeks but once I had more of a sense of where things were, got a grip on the language and just had a better idea of how things worked I just fell in love. Hard. The only downside is that very little compares to it. Even if I really, really enjoy a place I always think, "Yeah, but it's not Paris.". Stupid--I shouldn't do that but I do.
I was surprised how comfortable I immediately felt in Buenos Aires. Part of it was being in a Spanish-speaking country after weeks of trying to get by in terrible Portuñol in Brazil, but the layout of the city center and its architecture felt really familiar to me - it's influenced by Paris in a lot of the same ways my home city of Washington, DC is. Visiting the Casa Rosada made me curious about seeing The White House - despite living near DC for a good portion of my life, I've never been. After seeing how Argentina does it, I'm curious to see how my own country presents our president's house to visitors. Hopefully I'll get around to seeing it in 2015!
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I guess it is Berlin because I have a lot of friends living there. But I don't want to live there, too many people everywhere. Maybe it is better when you stay in a certain district, but usually when I am there, I move around in the city a lot.
Barcelona! The people, the food, the beaches, the weather, the art, and the little pockets of personality in each corner of the city. Not to mention the greatest futbol team around.
It took a little while to acclimate, but I really and truly felt at home in Taipei City. Between the friendly locals, a decent expat community, amazing public transportation, great sights both in the city and around the island, and little things, like movies being subtitled vs. dubbed...it made it easy to live there.