Over here, it is a common notion for those nearing retirement to dream of retiring in the suburbs where there is no traffic, less pollution, and where everything is cheaper. Buying a house in the province with a big lot for a nice garden and have some animals too. Those are dreams that some fulfill and most do not. We have 2 relatives who have vacation houses in Tagaytay City, a place with a cool climate. Our uncle is living in the first house for a time but in the second house, our aunt (cousin of that uncle) is using the house for regular vacations only. Her reason is the proximity to her homebase. She admitted that it is not easy to adapt to that faraway place since she had spent all her life in the city.
I live in the suburbs now and have often thought that I would like to move into the city which is very busry, lots of traffic and congestion. I do like the quite in the suburbs but the one thing I like the city gives that I don't have here is public transportation. Where I live now there is no public transportation in the evenings and on the weekends, but the city has transportation 7 days a week up until the wee hours of the morning.
I grew up in a big city of over 50,000 population. I know many of you don't consider that a big city but it's too big for me. I now live outside the city limits of a town with less than 10,000 people. I love the country life.
I consider anything over 5,000 to be a big city and often think that the 2,000 people we have where I live are too many. Of course, I grew up in a town of 200.
We were in a mountain resort last weekend. There were about 100 houses in that village that is isolated, i.e. the nearest village is kilometers away. The vacation houses are for rent daily, weekly or monthly. We got one for an overnight stay at 11,000 pesos (roughly $300). Quite expensive for 3 bedrooms with complete facilities of air conditioners, kitchen with fridge and 2 bathrooms. But for a monthly basis, they rent it for only 47,000 pesos. In a casual talk that other day, my husband said that the monthly rental is cheap in a sense that you stay there everyday and use the facilities (the rent is inclusive of everything, electricity, water, etc). How about retiring there? The commercial area is 5 kilometers away but with good roads and no traffic so that is a breeze. And add to that the security of the place, hmm, I feel like considering.
Since I don't pretend to retire ever until life retires forcibly, I have never thought of moving to the suburbs nor buying a house in this city or elsewhere, as opposed to my young-days dreams. When I was 20-something I wanted to own a huge mansion that is located in the most exclusive neighborhood here, and wanted to have a vacation home somewhere away from here, maybe abroad, not to mention that I was always wondering why people used to retire to Florida back in the 1940s/1950s and used to wonder if this would be a good idea when my senior years would come. Today that I reached the milestone, I don't see myself doing anything of the above because long time I am not longer the valley-girl-like person I used to be then.