Escaping the cold... an introduction

I mentionned that I was planning to "go live south", and I'd like to talk about this now because it's an interesting quest that you might be able to relate to at some point in your life, and writing about it makes it even more real for me.

Anyone who lives where I live or in a similar climate knows what I'm talking about. I grew up here (in Quebec), and let's be honest: the winters are brutal.

Sure, there is a certain beauty in it, a certain calm, but every year I end up thinking to myself "What the hell I am doing here!!!"I mentionned that I was planning to "go live south", and I'd like to talk about this now because it's an interesting quest that you might be able to relate to at some point in your life, and writing about it makes it even more real for me.

Anyone who lives where I live or in a similar climate knows what I'm talking about. I grew up here (in Quebec), and let's be honest: the winters are brutal.

Sure, there is a certain beauty in it, a certain calm, but every year I end up thinking to myself "What the hell I am doing here!!!"

(---> that's my house last winter at dawn <---)

For the last few years, I've been escaping the cold for at least a month every year. Three years ago I was in Brazil, 2 years ago in Costa Rica for almost 3 months, and last year I went to Bali for a month and Tahiti for 3 weeks.

For the last few years, I've been escaping the cold for at least a month every year. Three years ago I was in Brazil, 2 years ago in Costa Rica for almost 3 months, and last year I went to Bali for a month and Tahiti for 3 weeks.

When I get to a warm place from the wintry cold, as soon as I land I can feel the blood rushing to my finger tips and I immediately feel more alive. "This is how I want to live" I think to myself every time.

===> I'd rather be here!<===

So last time I came back I made the decision that I would not spend my winters in Canada anymore. At this point, there are different options available, but the biggest obstacle  has already been overcome!

The biggest obstacle that I've worked on for a couple years was to create a semi-automated business that could operate with me being anywhere in the world.

At this point, this has been accomplished. To work I only need my computer and an internet connection. I can be anywhere in the world.

So I've been looking at different options as I don't want to completely isolate myself, and I'm not ready to completely leave Canada at this point.

This winter I expect to spend most of my time during the winter in the south, and come back 2-3 times during a 6 months period to take care of some things I have to here this year.

The year after I intend to spend the entire winter (6 months) in a warm country and only come back once if absolutely necessary.

Within 2-3 years I'd like to make a more permanent move.

In my next post about this I'll let you know what countries/places I'm considering and you're also welcome to ask me any question by using the comments link. 

Comments

will you go alone ?

[Daryl Perry]

I too have had the same dream as yours Frederic for as long as I can remember. It's a bit hard when you don't have enough $$ to just leave and if you don't know the language either. I wish I could just do it and figure it out afterwards. Good luck to you and let me know where you end up going. I may just come to visit you...smile...lol

[Frederic Patenaude]

I think it starts with a plan... like everything else. Maybe some things are more important than moving south. I understand not everybody will do that. I'll talk about my countries of choices next time...

[Linda]

I live in the US in the east and bought a part-time place in a colder climate upstate because other than than the winters, the seasons there in the mountains are fantastic. The plan is to live the 3 seasons in the mountains and then the winter in the city where it is cold but not brutual. Even though raw food eating and a warmer climate seem to go hand-in-hand, I do not care for hot weather. It drains me. I feel refreshed once autumn comes. I like feeling cool air when I step outside. If you ever consider the US, they tell me that California has the best weather. Good luck in your ventures

[Amy]

Want to come to Joburg with me? =)

[Solange Ogle]

I was born in Sherbrooke Quebec and moved with my parents to Florida when I was eleven years old.Then I moved to Cookeville Tennesee and still love it here. I found it to be too cold in Canada and too hot and too busy in Florida.In Tennesse the growing season for fruits and vegy is longer and more variety then in Canada. Our stores are now carrying a lot of organic produce.
It's a college town and we do have good internet connections.
By the way Tennesse is warmer then Canada. I don't see all that snow and when I do,it does not hang around very long.
May God lead you in the right direction.
Solange

[Mila]

Hey, if you think about Tennessee, think about Kentucky, too! I live there, and maybe, I dunno, you could try to urge some of the allready veggie places to include a raw menu as well! (I know I could do it, but you do it better)

[Gary]

Hi Frederic

I so feel this way too. I live in England where the winters are long, cold, wet & rainy and the summers, though hot, unpredictable.

A lot of fruit is imported but most is good quality. Late summer and autumn, there's an abundance of wild food - raspberries, blackberries, apples, pears, plums etc very soon now :)

The winters though - for YEARS have I longed to live in a tropical jungle near the sea living simply, peacably and with love and feeling. Like you I have visited Europe many times - lived in Spain for 6 years - but it just doesn't cut it for me.

I would dearly love a cheap holiday home in Bali, CR, Panama etc to escape to during the winter. Indeed I'd love to live there.

An absolute prerequisite however is not to live within 500 metres of a phone mast or 100 miles of a nuclear power station.

All the best friend
Gary
UK

[Arabella Benson]

Fred, my husband 74, just couldn't bear Toronto winters anymore. With his chronic heart disease (he had a triple bypass, 5 angioplasties, and suffers lots of problems including arrythmia), he was practically going steady with the ambulance man, last year with 5 hospitalizations. We saw a Weather Network broadcast on March 2, 2005, when we had 6 inches of snow in Toronto, saying that day, they had 4.9 BILLION blooms in Victoria! We also saw a documentary about Comox Valley in Vancouver Island, saying how lovely is the life there: you can ski in the morning, go kayaking in the afternoon, and go night fishing, almost every single day. So this January, we went house hunting and found a lovely little house in Comox, where we can see a peak-a-view of the ocean from our living room window, and the mountain glaciers from our deck off the kitchen. My husband has been living there since June, while I travel back and forth. He thinks Comox is God's country! We were trying to escape the Winter Cold--they tell us there's only about 2 days of snowfall, altho it rains an awful lot in the winter; but we got an added bonus: the Summer is so temperate!No need for air conditioning! Hardly any bugs, except for honey bees. Plants, flowers, flourish like nobody's business--all year--roses are blooming in December, and rhododendrons are so massive and laden with blossoms for maybe 2 months. Second only to the Canadian rockies, BC has the most scenic highways in Canada.

You owe it to yourself to stay in Vancouver Island before you decide to leave Canada for good. You'll get a very healthy lifestyle, lots of organic food, even a 12 Step Program (from Victoria B.) for those addicted to cooked food--right in Comox! Check out Raw BC. Comox is still within reach for real estate, but it's coming up fast. Better grab something in this paradise before everyone else gets here.

Arabella

[Kaye Sullivan]

Hi Frederic!

Have you considered Australia? Northern New South Whales and especially Queensland on the east coast, as well as northern Western Australia on the west coast, offer tropical climates. You have the option of living in larger cities or quieter locations. Internet and phone connections are generally no problem and the cost is reasonable. Real estate is generally cheaper than the States but I imagine no where as economical as Bali. Some of the smaller towns in particular are wonderfully quaint, offer great deals on housing and are not too far from a major city when needed. Availability of organic produce is good to excellent depending on where you choose to live (Australia is a BIG place so you have lots of choices!). Queensland would be the better choice for meeting the needs of a raw diet. Noosa, which is near the Gold Coast in Queensland, is a gorgeous place, and would probably be one of my top picks. Byron Bay is also very popular but I think it is in Northern New South Whales. Aussies are generally very open, friendly people with a somewhat more relaxed approach to life. You would have a good chance of immigrating given that Canada and Australia are both Commonwealth nations. Check into the legalities but I think that, given that you would not be looking to take a job opportunity from an Australian citizen, the government would look favourably upon your application. You can at least travel and stay there as a tourist quite freely as a Canadaian citizen. I am an Aussie, married to a Canadian, just recently moved to La Quinta California (near Palm Springs). We are soooo relieved to see the sun consistently and to enjoy EVERY evening by the pool. It's a long story how we ended up here but suffice to say that we can very much relate to your lifestyle ambition. I follow a mostly raw vegan diet and I must say that your website and books have been instrumental in helping me to find a 'happy place' with my diet. Tera might remember me - I spoke to her not long before we decided to leave Canada. At that stage I didn't know we'd be leaving so soon and I was looking to train for a marathon. I was inspired by her little testimony that was sent with one of your e-zines. She was wonderful to speak with and her help, encouragement and advice was invaluable. I know you get lots of mail but I'd love to receive even just a quick note re what your thoughts are on Australia. I know it's far from Canada but you get to choose a stop-over in Hawaii on the way there/back as incentive! If you need more information I am happy to oblige - we spent 6 weeks there last year and had the chance to tour some of the Queensland coast - beautiful beaches!!!

Kind regards,

Kaye Sullivan

[Kaye Sullivan]

Hi again Frederic!

I was just reading some of the other comments and I noticed the one from Vancouver Island. With no intention of offence to the writer (please forgive me Arabella), I do not think the island is going to 'do it for you'. This is where my husband and I have escaped from, having lived there the past 7 years. Granted, there is little snow, but the winters are still long and cold enough to have caused us to yearn for warm bones and sunshine. Some people love it - I'm honestly glad for them - but if you are one to need the sunshine a warmth for at least a good part of the year then Vancouver island is not the place. Very few evenings are comfortable without layering up and summer never really seems to arrive - the weather starts to improve and you get your hopes up for 'beach weather' but, apart from a few days here and there, it is suddenly over before your cravings are satisfied. The continual overcast, grey days of the other seasons can really affect your mood too. I don't want to sound too critical but, having read a little about what you are looking for, I perceive that you are looking for more than a place that doesn't get the heavy snow falls and crazily low temps of the west coast.

Hope this added note to my previous comment has been helpful.

Kind regards,

Kaye Sullivan

PS My husband is the host of 'Doggin'it' - a national TV show in Canada. Not sure if you have a dog(s) or not but his website is awesome and worth a look anyway (www.dogtrain.com). You can see a photo of us as a family under his personal bio.

[cynthia Slooten]

What about SURINAM in South America, it's GREAT!
Cynthia

[JJ Pennington]

Everyone thinks the USA is such a paradise - not so! Health insurance is almost out of reach, and the drug companies have every incentive to keep us all sicker and sicker with our latest ailment -- the gap between the Haves and the Have-Nots is ever-widening, our own jobs are being lost overseas, and the corporation is God here. People are greedy, xenophobic and paranoid and everything is for sale in America - forget buying that 'paradise' haven, it will soon be overdeveloped. I live in Florida and hate worrying about hurricanes every year, as well as rising prices and overcrowding. As for Bali, don't you remember all the tourist bombings there? You may get island fever living in a beach resort. And do consider that with global warming ever happening, all the frigid cold areas will be warming up....

[Chiquita]

Hey Frederic,
You really must try Southern Vancouver Island. I have read the other comments and read Arabella's and Kaye Sullivan's with particular interest.
I was born in Toronto, lived in Quebec for 5 years and on the West Coast for over half my life. Arabella's comments are absolutely true! I also understand what Kaye Sullivan is saying, and if hot hot weather is what you wish for, then Vancouver Island is not the place for you. I love it because the weather is not extreme. Some winters we don't even get snow! And I love it that the summers are not extremely hot; just nice.
I have lived here near Victoria for over 15 years now and have never felt a need to go on a vacation. I don't like the abundance of rain in the winter, but it only lasts for a couple of months, and lots of flowers still bloom during the winter.
If I ever did wish to go on vacation, it is very cheap to travel to warmer places from here, like California and Hawaii, because they are not that far away when you are already on the West Coast. Also, if you prefer to live part time in the U.S. and part time in Canada, Southern Vancouver Island gets the best year-round climate in Canada. I hope that you at least visit it one day.

[Federico Aguilar]

Hi Frederic, I was looking in the internet for people interested in spending a season away from the cold, since I have a nice townhouse for rent in Atenas, Costa Rica, which is a location that typically receives seasonal travelers from Canada, and came up with your blog page. So, if you are interested in comming back to Costa Rica, or if you could help me out by referring some cold-escaping travelers looking for the "best climate of the world", I would be very grateful. Some pics of the house at http://spaces.msn.com/sc-consultants. Rgds, Federico.