A place to call "home"

There are a lot of habits that D and I have slipped in to over the years. One of my favorites is that we'll usually find ourselves in deep, soul-searching conversations during road trips. It's something we've been doing since we were teenagers, and I absolutely love it. One of us will come up with an open-ended question, and we'll spend time piecing together our thoughts by talking through them out loud. {To be fair, this is not the only way we pass the time in the car. There are frequent breaks for singing at the top of our lungs, dance parties from the waist up, and road-raging with a sailor-like mouth. Okay, so that last part is just me. I am the worst backseat driver.}

On a post-call day trip we took early last week, our conversation of choice was this: If you had to pick one place to call home for the rest of your life, what places would be in the running? And why?

This was a really tough question for me. I tend to fall in love with cities because I'm a sucker for nostalgia--once I've had a positive memorable experience somewhere, it has a special piece of my heart forever. And on the flip side, I can't really imagine living in places that I haven't at least visited.  Here are the five cities that I came up with:

City meets sea, tummy meets Mexican food.  

Sunny for 360 days out of the year? A world of yes.

After living here for five formative years, there will always be a tug at my heart to return.

 

Crisp air and clean streets.

Ridiculously fit people with a love for the great outdoors.

 I've never met a Coloradan who wasn't (a) incredibly kind, and (b) hilarious.

Dude. This place is, like... so chill, brah.

All the beachy perks of San Diego, but without the crowds or traffic.

My parents lived here in their early twenties. I can't get enough of visiting their old haunts.

The greatest city in America.

You will never have a better meal than at Girl and the Goat.

I realize both of the above are bold claims, but after four years of frequent visits, I stand behind those statements 100%.

Sailboats, seafood, and sensational people-watching.

 It practically always feels like fall weather here. Read: boots and scarves for.ev.er.

I agreed to a lifetime with Dr. D while standing in Crissy Field, so it seems only fitting that now this is the closest "big city" to visit during residency. I can't wait to explore it again and again over the years.

So there you have it! D's list was fairly similar to mine, except he included New York City and Los Angeles instead of Ventura and Denver. What about you guys--what's missing from our list of possibilities? Where do you hope you end up?