Some time ago, when a question of the day on the "Kitchen Table" was, "In how many places have you lived?" ... I counted 22, in these nearly 80 years.

I grew up on a farm near here in southern Ontario, Dad had deteriorating health - lung problems: bronchitis and incipient asthma, so moved to a farm in Saskatchewan and had 40 years of good health there.

In recent years I'd rented a 2-br. townhouse for about 15 years, at the terminus of two transit bus lines in London, Ontario, CanAda, a few miles from where I grew up.

Then my old step-uncle died and the purchaser of the formerly beef farm, a sod farmer, invited me to live in the 2-br. bungalow ... at a substantially lower rental rate ... but I must bring in the water that I use for cooking and drinking.

I live about 8 miles from the nearest village and 15 from London. I had thought that I can live here as long as I qualify for a driver's licence, and had recent opportunity to test that theory, for I had a restricted licence, requiring a licenced driver to ride with me for about six weeks, until I passed a driving test.

I have a fairly large garden, a garage for my car and can store things in a shed and the barn, plus store some of my offspring's goods, mainly appliances, from their mother's house, following her death about 4 years ago.

I feel that I need to cut down on my possessions, reducing the work that my offspring will be required to do, following my becoming disabled ... or passing from this realm of existence.

They had quite a large such responsibility, clearing their mother's estate, a few years ago.

Good wishes for making good choices as to where - and how - you live.

ole joyful

great answer oj - just the kinds of things i'm looking for

do you find yourself going to london often-or does the inclination to go to "town" disapate?

if my urge to go to town disipates any more i'll be having food, books and roses dropped in from a helicopter!

I live in a small city (45k) in Southern California. I say "small" because the cities surrounding me are much larger, with a few about the same size. Anyway, this is my hometown, in every sense of the word. My children went to the same schools I did and I live only 4 blocks from where I was raised.

I plan on staying in my hometown, but my goal to is to live in other parts of the country for what I like to call "seasons". I would love to sublet a cottage on Cape Cod for the summer, live in Maine for the fall, and yes even experience a winter where it snows. I want to explore this beautiful nation and be able to "hunker" down for a few months (or longer) here or there. I want to get a sense of the people, the weather, the culture...and yes even the food of the region. No I am not independently weathly; in fact I don't want my time spent away to feel like a "vacation"...I want to blend in with the townspeople, cook my own meals, walk to places or use public transportation, and in the case it's snowing outside have a couple of crochet projects to work on, or do some watercolor and sketching.

I don't know if my dream will come true but that's what I'm planning in my head. I will always want to have my homebase in my hometown...but there's a great big country to see and feel and that's what I hope to do.

~Susan

Susan your "stacation" sounds terrific. I've always told my husband i don't want to visit places, i want to live there for a while! He's a home body, he'd be miserable living like that!!

thanks
rm

We live in a small town north of Memphis, moving here many years ago for DH's work. After the downsizing of the 80's, we rented for 4 or 5 yrs before building. At that time, building costs were actually better than buying the available housing which were built in 60's and 70's. We built with the idea of retiring in our home, no high ceilings, etc to keep both building costs and future heat/cool bills down.

Later, following my mother's stroke, we added on a room and bath that were more accessible. When she passed, that room became my art studio.

We have explored America, but not all, and Montreal/Quebec areas; however I enjoy sitting on my deck with a cuppa coffee or iced tea, reading, or just enjoying the view - when I am not painting!

DH has a few years before retirement age, I don't know if he will retire then. His mother is the only parent either of us have surviving; she is 84 and about 4-5 hrs away.

I quit working full time when we moved here, and worked PT. Then a year or so before my mom's stroke, I quit working at all. God's Plan I guess - I was rested and able to take care of mom. Thankfully we had built with a mortgage ably handled by DH's income only. (BTW - a 15 yr mortgage has just been paid off - HOORAH!)

OK probably a lot more info than you wanted! LOL

So our current plan is to stay here. DH wants me to pursue my art and with the internet, FedX, etc I can communicate, ship, or whatever to galleries, or consumers without leaving my home - unless I want to, of course!

Rhonda

so Rhonda, do you sell your art? how do you market it?

Locally, I do commissioned work. I am in contact with some galleries. I also have joined fineartamerica.com to sell prints.

Until recently I hadn't tried to market; I teach and have become known locally through that - that's where the commissions have come.

Thanks for asking.
Rhonda

In the same town I have lived in since 1950, nicer home, but same town. The price for housing is reasonable here. I moved 2 1/2 years ago and wish I had moved out of state, but I could not make that decision against my husband's wishes. Our economy is good here, housing is booming, but don't know about jobs as we have been retired for a long time. I do see signs wanting workers.

I want to live in almost every area I visit. Especially the Pacific North West, I wouldn't mind the rain at all. But the cost of living is much higher than the mid west.

My name is Doug I was born in Toronto Ontario CA. and moved to St. Thomas Ontario when I was about 5 years old. Lived and worked in the area all my life until I retired. I retired from the Ford plant near St.Thomas at the age of 53. I had bought a sailboat before I retired and sailed out of Port Stanley at age 53 to sail the Caribbean. After seeing the east coast of US, Bahamas, Cuba, Jamaica, Turks & Cacaos and finally the Dominican Republic. In time the cost of traveling was getting higher and higher with being on a fixed income [pension]. Ending up in the Dominican Republic I found that my pension was enough to live very comfortably. Being able to build a four-bedroom house swimming pool all on a small pension. There is a culture shock having to learn a new way of thinking and a new langue but I have never been so relaxed and happy.

wow, we're not getting many answers but the answers we're getting are terrific

Doug, how are you going about learning a new language?

and stargazzer i have the very same problem, i want to live everywhere i visit too!!

OKOKOK It's not hard to learn a new language just move to a location where they don't speak your language. You will learn very rapidly that is if you like to communicate. I move into the countryside where no one spoke English. Now I thing and speak in Spanish.

I'm originally from Poughkeepsie, NY and my wife is originally from Misquamiquett, RI. We met in college as most couples do. That was 34 years ago.

Three plus years ago we sold our home of 24 years in Danbury, CT., were we had raised our three boys, and moved to our present location in Sandy Hook, CT. Which is right now our retirement home, at least for half of us - namely me!

I retired this past June after 33 years in public education. My wife is also in public education and is not ready to retire yet.

When we bought our present home, it was/ is our "dream home" so to speak. And our friends thought we were absolutely nuts because we didn't down size, we up sized. We have what we always wanted - a four bedroom colonial in the middle of the woods! I get to maintain 2 acres out of the eight we own. Our house is set back off the road and we have a peaceful and quiet spot. We can see for almost 15 miles out the back of the house and off the deck. The views are spectacular. Each day I would come home from work I was literally coming home to a vacation spot. And it is a blast to watch a storm dump snow over the hills. I'm crazy enough to love New England winters!!!!!!!!! I wouldn't change that for anything - inlcuding Florida.

I have always been a DYI-er. This house needed plenty of work and now that I'm retired I get to work on all those projects that I really like to do. Plus I've turned into a pretty good cook to boot. So when the wife comes home I'm working on dinner.

We plan on staying here as long as our health allows us to. Besides, our first grandchild is due in two and a half weeks and we have plenty of room for the little guy to run around!!

I live in the same town my husband and I were raised. We are in the process of selling our house that we've lived in for 28 years and moving to a retirement community less than a mile away.

We are in our early 70's and think it's time to do this while we're in good health and can enjoy the new home. It's about 1500 sq feet, so we have to really get rid of stuff. There's so much to do, and we're trying to figure out how to close on this house so we have the money to buy the other one. Can't do both in one day and we have to be out of here once we close...What do other people do in this situation? They want to take possession as soon as we settle, so we can't rent back.

I was trying to find a sr citizen's forum to talk about this subject but couldn't fine one. (They're mostly dating sites! LOL!) So I posted on here.

Usually an attorney, etc will work with you and you can have one closing right after the first on the same day. It used to take 30 days for a closing once the house was sold (got a contract on); I don't know what the time table is now. Am I right in assuming you don't plan to have a mortgage? Technology has improved greatly and bank transfers can be made quickly. So while you maynot have the "cash" in hand, all can be settled on paper.

I don't know how near you are to a closing but since you plan to downsize, I would go ahead and get everything out you don't plan to keep.

How are you planning to move your furniture? A local mover will usually work with you to move it the day you need. Some sellers will allow you to move your furnishings in early- presettlement closing. Talk to the seller of the home you are buying.

Are you using a realtor for both the buy and sell properties? Realtors are pretty good at negotiating to allow move ins.

Happy new home!
Rhonda

Things are working out. We will be able to move out of this house and into the retirement one the same day. We are closing on this house the next day which gives me time to clean the house - "broom clean" is the expression used. Just running the cleaner and scouring the bathroom and kitchen.

We are being moved by a moving company and have already spoken to the guy about the details. You are correct, there will be no mortgage. We are buying in a retirement community and they are very accommodating as far as helping us with any details. The villa is being redecorated for us, new carpets, appliances, etc.

we're just recovering from effects of hurricane ike, we live about 70 miles from galveston and we've been without power (til sunday afternoon) for two weeks and two days

then the internet connection wasn't working-seems it got fried in a thunderstorm after the hurricane
now everything's working

i can tell you we won't be living here when we retire, maybe northwest arkansas??

We are nearing retirement. Have 20 more months to go. We both would retire today if we could. We weren't smart enough to save or invest any money. But we bought a little house in a very small town in Saskatchewan for literally next to nothing (seriously) and we will be moving out there. Bought it sight unseen. We finally saw it this past May and it's better than the pictures that they sent us. Hurrah!!!!! Everyone thought we were crazy buying it that way, but we sure can't afford to retire in Ontario, which is where we are living now. Can't wait to do all the things that I keep putting off now!

Interesting thread! We currently live in the "boonies" in western Canada and moved here because of my DH's work. Both of us are originally from the west coast of Canada but he was mil_itary for many years so we've lived all over, including Europe. Have lived here for almost 20 years, built a house, and became pretty "entrenched". We'd like to move nearer a larger center for better medical care. Right now other than the very small local hospital it's over an hour to a larger one and over 2 hours to a full-service hospital. Fortunately we're both still pretty healthy but are thinking ahead to when better medical care might be important.

I'd be interested, emilyette, in how you like living in small-town Saskatchewan. It's one of the places we've thot of moving to as the prices were very reasonable. I think Sask. is going higher now because of the oil and demand by retirees from other provinces but I've seen amazing prices on MLS.

Our kids are scattered all over western Canada so it's difficult to decide on a place. And of course a lot of areas have become very expensive. We are also accustomed to living in a rural area and not sure we'd like city living again.

So for now we're staying put and travelling as we whim for a few weeks at a time. Don't feel we can leave our house on a large acreage for too long so it's becoming a problem if we want to winter down south. I think we'll try to sell next year altho who knows where the real estate market will be then. Then buy another place "somewhere" on a small acreage. I'm not ready to downsize much if at all but would love a house with a rental suite so someone is living in the house while we are away.

We both enjoy retirement immensely, every day is a weekend and we keep busy enough to be happy. There are still a lot of decisions to be made tho and my crystal ball doesn't work any better than it ever did! So one has to do one's best and hope most decisions work out as planned.

Hi again it'smesuzq,

If you'd like to travel, and spend a while ...

... in a distant place - getting to know the people ...

... and wouldn't mind living for a period where there's snow ...

... I have a spare bedroom that you can use for a while, if you choose.

There's even a space in the shed for your car (when my son moves his van out).

My landlord is quite prompt at clearing the yard and lane of snow in winter ... and cuts the grass in summer (on his tractor-mower).

I have to haul the water that I use for cooking and drinking (but sometimes use the water from the well that doesn't pass the e Coli test when it's going to be boiled for a while - but would cut that out for the duration if it didn't suit you).

Dial-up internet connection's sort of slow, though.

I have a freezer full of food ... and some tomatoes that are in the process of being harvested. Plus beets and turnips still in the ground and some squash lying on the grass at the edge of the garden getting a touch of frost to sweeten them up a bit, and broccoli that's still producing - shows no signs of having been burned by the frost when the tomatoes have been, about three times.

Planted asparagus last spring, and there've been some fronds waving this summer ... but it'll be a couple of years before they produce much.

Now, I'll just have to stick around long enough to be able to enjoy their produce. Since I'm enjoying good health, so far ...

... that just might happen!

Good wishes for the winter.

Daughter says that I have to travel to AZ in Jan. to celebrate my 80th birthday in her recently-purchased home.

ole joyful

P.S. References available as to my congeniality ... and integrity.

Heck - a recent arrival at our investment group told me the other day that she wished that I were her Dad.

Made my day, that did!

o j

We live in a very small town in Northern Ontario, and will probably stay here. Summers are beautiful, warm and we have unbelievable sunsets, mosquitoes and black flies are so huge and plentiful they should be considered the provincial bird. Winters are brutally cold, north winds rip the skin right off of you and we get enough snow to make anyone want run screaming southward.But, taxes are very low, we have great doctors for such a small town, people are very friendly and everyone is always chatting(usually about the weather). It is very safe and in the 25 years I have been here no one has been assaulted, had their house broken into or had there vehicle stolen. I dream of winters spent in Florida but I am pretty sure we will be staying put. Anyone interested houses are plentiful and very cheap you just have to love long, chilly, snowy winters LOL.

Hi Luckygal,
We lived in Saskatchewan for 9 years and have been back in Ontario for almost 5 now. We can't wait to go back, we'd leave this minute if we could.
We found the people friendly, and helpful. It was as though we'd gone back 30 years in time.
The little house we bought is in a town with a population of 76 people. We will be near the Alberta border. We've been there once to see our house and what has to be done to it. While there we met a member of the town council who was very nice and helpful. He told us more about our house than we had known and we're looking forward to getting to know the people in the town.
The nearest hospital is 30 min. away in the next town. We were in the bakery there and the owner is willing to attempt my favourite tarts. How's that for friendly?
We bought our little house from an ad on Kijiji. There are still some good prices if you look. I also got the names of some small towns and phoned the town offices to see if there were any for sale for back taxes or some that weren't on any real estate sites.
We lucked out really well and there were a few to choose from.
Best of luck in your search and if we can help in any way just ask.

We have a lovely big backyard at our new (old) house and our dogs will love it. If I could squeeze in a couple of horses I would do that too. We've rented farms a few times and had up to 8 horses at a time. We've also raised chickens and turkeys, calves and pigs. We intend to raise some chickens and turkeys for the freezer and hopefully have a small garden for veggies. Have to see if a nearby farmer has a side of beef for our freezer.
It's only 17 months till retirement now!!! Can't wait!

Ran across this old thread and thought perhaps it would be nice to resurrect it and see if any new folks might add to it too. And my bad, somehow I never added my own posting to it either.

I've been retired since 2006 and my DH just retired Dec 30, 2009. We're in our late 50's and fortunate to be able to retire so early. We live in the San Francisco Bay Area, close to some of my family. My brother lives in LA, a niece in Boston. My mother's family lives in Seattle, while my DH's mother's family are mostly in Vancouver, and a few in Calgary. So our home is centrally located to most of them, which is great.

We love where we live - vibrant (even a little crazy, LOL!), diverse, ever-changing, beautiful, with every amenity and service needed...as long as you can afford to pay for it, which we fortunately can. The San Francisco Bay Area is a fabulous place to garden my roses have already started blooming. Even long-time natives never run out of sights to see and things to do around here.

We have started to do some traveling. Nothing lavish or exotic, just a few places that have always intrigued us, or places we haven't visited in far too long that deserve a longer visit.

There will be some more small trips but only one last big trip to plan this year  an Alaskan cruise. Not big in itself, but we invited some friends to meet us in Seattle, a city I know fairly well but they have never been to before. I think weÂll have a great time showing them the sights of one of my favorite cities  even if they donÂt drink coffee (which in Seattle is almost embarrassing, being the birthplace of Starbucks with coffeebars on almost every corner).

Being foodies, this is one of the great regions to live in. The astounding variety of cuisines at every price level, with some of the greatest chefs in the world, can be found within a 25-100 mile radius of us. We recently had a wonderful stay in Monterey and Carmel, and have a week-long stay in the Wine Country coming up. I've already got every lunch and dinner reserved, an unfortunate necessity when the world is descending upon the area as it does every summer.

We own a modest 2bd cottage on a large urban lot, which we've spent several years landscaping. Mostly I hang out at the Cottage Gardening forum. I still play 'plant dominoes' but it's finished and mature, save for one last section. Our garden is an urban refuge, a long sloping lot with two separate back patios, both very private and always full of flowers to look at. We love to Âcocoon at home, for weÂre voracious readers (amazon.com knows us all too well).

My DH is finally looking rested and relaxed, although he likes to complain we are more active now than ever! He likes to hike, I prefer to stroll city streets; so half the time we split up and go our separate ways, and the rest of the time we pair up to explore the city's nooks and crannies. It's a wonderful (and cheap) indulgence to be able to stop for a pineapple soda or a cappuccino before driving home (without being in rush hour traffic, what a blessing!).

WeÂve always had multiple hobbies so in this early stage of retirement, itÂs no problem to fill up the time. In fact, the days whizz by, and itÂs been great fun so far.

I live in the beach town of Sosua, Dominican Republic. I first came on vacation and fell in love with the place, nice beaches and great living. I bought a small vacation villa and had it rented while I was at home in Florida, made some income and had it managed. I decided to retire here because taxes are friendlier and there is a lot of nice people, many retirees from all over the world. Dominican Republic offers a lot of good things, I want this to be the last place I am on Earth when I end my journey in life.

Love to read everyones messages, very interesting.

I have been retired for 6 years and my husband has been for 11 years. We bought a 5th wheel when I retired and was going to travel around the US and see everything. Didn't happen, as we did not settle in one place long enough and pulling the 5th wheel was to much trouble. Funny how you wait your whole life to do something that really didn't work out after all.

We had bought a lot in AZ where my parents and aunts and uncles stayed during the winter months. So we settled for 6 months in a remote town in AZ and 6 months in MT, which is a remote town, too. Our family is mostly in MT and we have great friends and several cousins in AZ during the winter months.

Life is good, as long as your health is good. Live it while you can and appreciate it all.

Dh is a native of CO. We're very active with all our hobbies. We like running, hiking, photography, just hanging out on one of the decks bird watching. :0) It's a great place to live for outdoor activities! Low cost of living, low property taxes. Everything is close by, within 2 miles you can rent a movie, buy groceries or go to a Dr's appt.

Golly, so many of our forum friends seem to live in Canada... It is such a beautiful place to visit, but I could not stand the cold temps in the winter...nor think of shoveling all of that snow!

I have been blessed being able to travel to all of the USA states, parts of Canada, Mexico, and a couple of cruises...nice to visit, but home always looks good. DH is 79 and I am 68.

We are here in mid-west, Kansas, don't really like it, but the grandkids are near and life would be so empty without being able to watch them grow up and do their activities. If I had my "rathers", I'd go south for the winters, but right now finances just will not permit it and I don't see things turning around here in the USA very soon. I have severe arthritis and I think the warmer weather would feel so good on the old joints....but I keep hoping someday~~~

We are going to down-size from our 4000+ SF house, it is just too big and seriously thinking of either building a much smaller one or buy one of the new builds in a Sr. comlex about 70 miles from here, near one of our daughters and where most of my doctors are. But with this economy, who knows how long selling might take!

so many interesting answers!
i've been in vermont just shy of 30 years and have a lovely home on the water. plenty of land to subdivide for the kids when they are ready, and at least one daughter wants to move back here within five years.
so i think i'll keep my home, stay here for a few months out of the year, and take my girlfriend up on her suggestion that we buy a large horse trailer with living quarters and live on her son's peoperty in southern california during the winter months.
we're both avid riders and each own two horses, we may leave one pair here while we travel, and being in the horse world we have tons fo friends all over the us and canada.
i hope our health holds out and we are traveling and riding for many more years.
and while we're not wealthy by any stretch, we'll be able to rent out apts in our homes to help fund our travels.

phoggie, I also live in central Kansas and I don't like it either. The mountains and large bodies of water call to me, especially the Ozarks. I think I am a hillbilly at heart, an updated hillbilly.

I retired from California to Texas. Because of the difference in cost of living, the move instantly increased my net worth by 40 percent. Not only did that allow me to retire early but with a substantial nest egg. Sounds too good to be true but it is.

If I didn't like my home and location so well I would move to Oklahoma. I get the same square footage home for $20,000. less and taxes would be half of what I pay here. The new homes I looked at had the specials included in the purchase price.

My present home is located on the edge of a city of 360,000 people. I am 1/12 mile from everything I need. When I look out my back yard I see an old farmer's hedgerow. There is a fox den in the trees and all kinds of birds. Most of the birds come to the feeders and BB which is just outside my big window. I can sit there and see my little bit of nature from my recliner.