If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

It seems like every couple of months I see a question like this crop up, usually as part of discussions with friends on Twitch or Discord. A couple of my close friends and I agree on a few things that would be ideal (for us) to want to live somewhere. The only problem is, does a place exist anywhere in this world that checks all the boxes?

Some of us want to live in a little witchy looking cabin in the forest. Some of us want to live near water. We all still want access to high speed Internet. Sometimes the discussion takes a slight turn as more friends join and agree that they like those ideas, so we turn from being hermits to a small group of homes. Make our own little village. We’ve also joked about one of us getting a massive house and doing “Streamer House” because several of us stream on Twitch, and we think it would be a fun idea.

Now, coming back around to what my ideal place would be? If there is somewhere in this world, possibly in North America so I don’t have to move TOO far, it would need the following.

• Forest, probably something like the Pacific Northwest
• Next to a large lake
• Probably on a small mountain, to have a slightly elevated view of the lake
• Close enough to civilization that it’s just a short drive into town
• And of course that high speed Internet connection

Well, based on my criteria, it turns out there are several potential candidates in the United States! But they’re nowhere near me. Being centrally located, I’m in the Great Plains. All the areas I’m looking at? The Rocky Mountains are probably the closest I’ll get. If I omit the mountain part (which cuts out one of the criteria) I could probably get away with Minnesota or the Great Lakes areas. Of course, if I REALLY wanted to do this, I would need money. Most likely a lot of it.

Oh well. I can dream.