One country only, as much as you like, the rest of your life, which one?

[Ug_Caveman]

The Netherlands: love the country, love the culture, love the language, love the fact chicken satay is a common street food

Belgium would also be a good shout for me (perhaps BeNeLux could unite one day and become a BOGTF sort of deal here...)

[Le Baron]

It's nothing like Europe, where one city could be interchanged for any of the others - large river, nightlife district, brutalist apartment blocks, kebab shop, church, old castle, railway station, rinse and repeat.

This is what comes of only visiting the well-known cities.

[kanewai]

Are we restricted to the country proper? If overseas territories are included France is the easy answer for me. France proper has the glamorous cities, the working class cities, small villages, lots of hiking trails, mountains, coastline, wilderness, an interesting history, and a diversity of regions. Exploring France could keep me busy for a lifetime.

But Spain and Italy can make the same claim, with Greece and Turkey being runners up (missing only the long camino-style trails). But when I add in the overseas departments in Polynesia and the Caribbean then France takes the lead.

Interestingly, the title of the question made me think it would be one country to live in, and then my choice would be Mexico.

[Raconteur]

It's nothing like Europe, where one city could be interchanged for any of the others - large river, nightlife district, brutalist apartment blocks, kebab shop, church, old castle, railway station, rinse and repeat.

Wow, right? A friend once sent me a postcard from Kiev, and my first reaction was... that jerk didn't tell me he was going to Porto!

Gdynia and Neuchâtel? Twins. Valetta and Oslo? One and the same.

...I think this may be the #1 silliest sentence I have ever read on this forum, and I've read a lot of them over the years.

[fresh_air]

It's nothing like Europe, where one city could be interchanged for any of the others - large river, nightlife district, brutalist apartment blocks, kebab shop, church, old castle, railway station, rinse and repeat.

Wow, right? A friend once sent me a postcard from Kiev, and my first reaction was... that jerk didn't tell me he was going to Porto!

Gdynia and Neuchâtel? Twins. Valetta and Oslo? One and the same.

...I think this may be the #1 silliest sentence I have ever read on this forum, and I've read a lot of them over the years.

I'm holding an image of Kiev in my mind right now. There are thousands of oak trees covered in mistletoe, steep hills, Soviet-era mosaics, streets with dilapidated buildings covered in graffiti, gold-topped cathedrals. Yeah, it's cool and an interesting place, but I've traveled around former Eastern Bloc countries before, and it's nothing completely new. It's familiar. Paris, London, Glasgow, Frankfurt, yeah they're distinct, but there's a corporate culture and internationalism that has homogenized these spaces. I don't feel a sense of wonder like I do while hiking hills in the Brazilian sertão and watching the Cruzeiro do Sul appear in the equatorial twilight, or waking up at the crack of dawn to spend the next few days fishing salmon by an Alaskan glacier. It's just personal taste.

[tarvos]

Finland