your choice :-)

but look here at the prices of property to give you an idea of what you can rent and at what price.

www.homegate.ch

Actually, you can live in a chalet if you are willing to commute 45 to 60 minutes every day.

I think you'd be much happier in Montana or Oklahoma.

No. Montana. Oklahoma doesn't have mountains (I don't think).

look, I found a chalet:
http://www.homegate.ch/rent/10336522...ault&l=default

I've been to Oklahoma and it's horrible!

I think maybe I am good here in CA or maybe the pacific north west is worth a look. I've heard a lot of good things about Montana but there are no cities or culture up there. I've also head Boise Idaho is nice. All of these places are inexpensive too. I don't particularly care for the cold - I am not sure if leaving Californina is going to yield happiness.

Hey, Cali, I am from California (Bay Area....Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, over 20 yrs). I am now here for about the same amount of time. My advise:

- forget the advise from the Brits here. They are on a totally other wavelength
- It is awesome here, but extremely difficult to get in, and then really hard to adjust to once you are here, but really worth it once you do
- It is as beautiful here as you imagine. Really.
- Don't give up your dream

Good luck.

well done :-) - but Lugano to Bern is a long commute (mountains inbetween)

Hi again Cali,
To answer your question earlier, I'm from Ohio originally, but I lived in Seattle for 5 years before moving to Zurich in March, 2009. You had also asked if I would move back to the US if I could, and yes I would. Unfortunately, though, I don't think my Swiss husband could handle it. Lol. He doesn't like the excessive American lifestyle (and even I have come to realize how excessive it really is after being away from there for 2 years). Here in Switzerland, you just don't see 3 gas stations and 4 fast food restaurants at every major intersection (thankfully!).
But one of the things that I think makes Switzerland a very complex country and a difficult place for foreigners to live is the fact that so many different languages are spoken here. In the German part (e.g. Zurich), the language spoken is Swiss German, yet before learning that, one must learn regular "high" German because Swiss German is not a written language. So people speak in Swiss German but everything is written only in high German. And these two languages are very different. I've taken 5 semi-intensive courses here in "high" German and still, I only speak at about 20% fluency.
Have you considered trying to live in England? I would live there in a heartbeat, if I could. When I was in London last September, I swear I was smiled at more in just that one week than I have been in an entire 2 years here in Switzerland! And of course, then you wouldn't have the language barrier to worry about.

I would also tell people "don't give up on your dream" but it sounds like this not is OP's dream but her "vague notion".

Montana is not such a bad idea, after all:
http://valais.suisse-blog.ch/wp-cont...ns-montana.jpg
http://maps.google.ch/maps?f=q&sourc...76346&t=h&z=11

As far as I'm aware, there's only been one Brit on this thread - me!

This graph may be of some interest to you:

Thank you for the positivity Karl Makes me remember why I had the dream in the first place.

Lakeside: Can I just live in Lugano? Is there work there?

I don't think Montana is a great idea because I can't travel around the area, there is no where to go. If I am in Switzerland, I can go to Italy, France, Holland, Denmark, Austria... Also, there is no culture in Montana and it gets boring fast. There is no art, it's mostly cowboys I would imagine. I would also like the idea of being somewhere different and meeting interesting people, learning new things, a new language... The US government is very corrupt as well and I don't the priorities here. Not to say it is better in Switzerland but at least it is different and probably a step in the right direction. As I said, I have a dream of Switzerland but maybe I should consider somewhere else in Europe. Probably can't swing anything without a company to sponsor me but my fiance's father is german so I think he could get citizenship but that doesn't help me I don't think.

Cali, anything is possible if you put your mind to it, but Lugano is more difficult to find work and knowledge of Italian would be important.

Have you considered Fribourg? (French is spoken there and it is close enough to Berne)

yes silly, that's why I am going to the south Plus, 30 isn't so bad. I used to live in upstate NY. It was much worse there.

So, to summarise, you want to:

• live in Ticino;
• live in a detached house/chalet on the side of a mountain/in a remote area;
• live somewhere that doesn't involve a long commute to work;
• live somewhere that actually has work to go to;

Have I got that right? If we know exactly what your intentions and desires are, then someone who lives in the area might be able to give you specific advice.

What about this place?

You forgot:

• live like in California just not in California

(but that must be because your British and you're on another wavelength. )

What DB's summary and your various comments say to me is that you should stay home. Idealized notions about living abroad will not help you be happy living abroad. To be honest, I was going to write something else but when I start hearing (yet again) the mindless blabber of "the government is corrupt", I don't know anything about Switzerland but "it must be a step in the right direction", "I don't like the priorities", my eyes start to glaze over. I am American but I think sometimes that Americans need a big slap across their faces so they can wake up and deal with the world as it is. I am sure you have legitimate reasons for wanting to leave California but given how much you seem to like it there, it is probably the case that whatever is "eating at you" in California will follow you wherever you go. Maybe you should do what many of us here would love to do: stroll down to the beach and take a long walk and think about 1) whether you really want to and could handle moving to a foreign country and 2) how great it is exactly where you are, even if it is not perfect.

You really don't know much about me and I don't see how anyone could put up the argument that the US is a good place to live for the long-term? I am interested in hearing how the US is not corrupt. Maybe you should come back here, that may be the slap in the face you need to see the realities that I speak of.

I can tell you, I've made moves in the past and I've never had any regret. I have family members who live abroad and they would never consider moving back here. I don't need to make any plans today but I will be making plans and I have learned a lot from getting involved here. I see that what I want is probably not realistic but I can still make it happen. I may have to give up a piece of my dream but I don't have to give up the whole thing.

I don't know why you're so bitter. If you follow a dream you will be a little closer to happiness. I followed a dream of coming to CA and I am appreciative every single day that I followed that dream. You need to figure out what is "eating at you".

You forgot:

• not be forced to buy health insurance but have universal healthcare

• be isolated but have culture, art and things to do

Yes, I thought my response might ruffles some feathers and I should have refrained from posting it. If you go through some of the past posts that have come from Americans, you might be able to see why I am a bit tired of the same thing over and over. The US is a democracy; the government at state and federal level is run by elected officials. I find it frustrating to hear arguments like “the government is corrupt” with absolutely no concrete evidence as to how all of it could be so.

I have lived in several places throughout the US and I go back regularly. I am well aware of the difficult situation the country is in but much of it can be traced back to people voting for politicians who say things like “the government is corrupt” without providing any kind of evidence and the voters, having heard what they want to hear, don’t ask for any. A democracy cannot survive if the voters don’t educate themselves and vote according to their understanding of the situation and the issues. Unfortunately, much of the political discourse is made up of one-liners and everyone is too consumed with consuming (US TV, for example) to try and do the hard work of living in a democracy, which is reading up and understanding the issues and how the system works.

So that is what is “eating me”. And you? You are the one writing about dissatisfaction and wondering if it is better “to live how you want to live or live where you want to live”. Having lived in many countries, I have found that I can generally live how I want to live where I am living, wherever that may be. There are many expats who would say the same but those same expats will also have stories of other expats who do nothing but complain and are never able to settle in whatever country it is that they are in. I am not saying at all that you fall into this category but it might help to explain some of the more hesitant comments. So, by all means, dream the dream. The criticism is meant to encourage reflection not destroy the dream.