Our dream (living on a small hobby farm or simply having enough land so that we can shrug off the pressure cooker that is Nachbarrecht) is probably not attainable in Switzerland. Or at least not attainable if one is not a gazillionaire with a good supply of Vitamin B. Or the scion of a farming family.

I don't think I'll ever be able to get away from the feeling of living in a fish bowl here - it's more about societal attitudes than space. To continue doing the things that are most important to me I need the freedom to feel that my home really is my castle.

Secondly, I am currently dealing with the challenges of eldercare with both sets of parents back home, which has made me think very carefully about what it would mean to be elderly, vulnerable and alone - as outsiders - here in Switzerland. The prospect terrifies me. I simply don't have the kind of network here that I may end up needing in my declining years.

Looking at both the productive post retirement years, as well as the years farther ahead, I think I'd find what I need more easily elsewhere.