Where in the World?

If I were going to leave my own little piece of paradise behind, where in the world would I go? My life as I knew it had ended. I had no children. My large and wonderful family is spread out. I was self-employed so I wasn't working to earn some great retirement benefits. If anyone could go anywhere, it was me.

Of course, after my friend's comment about Tuscany and the fact that "Under the Tuscan Sun" is one of the five or six DVDs I own, I had to consider it. But in my think-big mode, I refused to limit myself. I love Napa and Sonoma. Okay, a definite wine-country theme was emerging here. For a little diversity, I added to the list Ireland where my mother's family is from. Why not Provence? I've always loved the mountains so I added Colorado. And after conducting a strategic planning retreat for a client in a lake house in the Maine woods in early October (breathtaking), I added Maine. 

Thank goodness for the Internet. It was easy to start researching all of these places to whittle down specific locations then sign up for some real estate notifications about property that fit my needs. I found out quickly that my meager price range severely limited my choices. My inbox was filled with information about some quaint little two-bedroom bungalows on postage stamp-sized lots in Napa. Not exactly what I needed for a B&B. Tuscany and Provence were also beyond my reach. After hearing so much about these two areas from Chef Joanne Weir, whose week-long cooking course I had attended in her lovely restored Victorian in San Francisco, I started to get a little disheartened. 

Then, a good friend of mine emailed me some photos from the trip she was taking in Slovenia. Of course, I knew she was there but when I opened a photo of the coast and palm trees I was definitely taken aback. This was Slovenia? I had always associated the country with the Julian Alps and forest, not palm trees and seawater.

My friend wasn't aware at the time that I was searching the world for potential B&B properties. In fact, she was actually trying to fix me up with her friend and tour guide who was born in Slovenia and had lived in France for the past 30 years. Nonetheless, I Googled "Slovenia" and discovered something incredible. This tiny little country, which had separated itself from the former Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, had everything -- the alps, forests, magnificent caves, thermal spas, the Adriatic Sea and, drum roll, please: wine country; lots and lots of wine country. In fact, Slovenia shares its western border with Italy. To the north is Austria, Hungary to the east and to the south, Croatia. You could ski in the alps from Slovenia to Italy and back in the morning and enjoy a glass of wine watching the sun set over the Bay of Trieste in the evening. 

I added my email address to another couple of real estate agencies. Perhaps this would be the "where in the world" I would land.