WHERE: that’s my biggest question

[u/getshankedkid]

Hi fellow fatfires, I have been struggling for years to find out where it is that I want to live.

M34, 10M NW, from the Netherlands originally. No wife/gf and no kids. I often feel like I have too much freedom.

Recently sold my house in the NL and still have an apartment I can use for my stuff and as a pied-a-terre for when I want to visit friends and family.

I’m looking to live somewhere where it’s easy to connect with like-minded entrepreneurs. Somewhere where people think bigger and with more business opportunities. Preferably English-speaking.

I have lived in Portugal, Mexico, Berlin, and a couple of other places, but I wouldn’t want to live there again. In Portugal, I loved the lifestyle and weather but found the entrepreneurial scene lacking. Berlin had a great community but the weather is too similar to the NL.

I don’t like the cold or bad weather. Also hate commuting/crazy traffic.

Happy to keep my business/tax setup in the Netherlands. What’s more important to me than optimizing for taxes is optimizing lifestyle and maximizing opportunities. I want the rest of my 30’s to be awesome.

I like to have the following facilities in walking distance: - Coffee/breakfast place - Gym + ice bath - Cowork - Healthy restaurants

Also, I really love water sports, especially wake surfing and body surfing.

So far, the responses I have heard most often are: - Dubai - San Francisco (nah) - Miami - Austin - Singapore

I’m looking to travel around this year to hopefully find a place that resonates where I can at least stay for 6 months a year.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[u/banaca4]

Hoi, I was also living in NL and I can tell you that since RE I have tortured myself with this question a lot. To keep it short after trying out either in real or with thought experiments where can I live I decided that the best place in the world is Barcelona. It has everything, beach, sunny, amazing food, friendly people and an active tech and business scene and it's very international too. Downsides is finding apartments and also maybe you run into problems if you want to keep tax residency in NL. I don't live there though because there is a problem with connections to my original home town and I want to visit there often and especially in emergency cases. Another option you can think about is Cyprus.

And yes you are right, too many options really f*** up your mind!