Beach, mountain, forest, or somewhere else entirely?

Beach, beach, beach!

The thing about mountains is, they’re high up. Not the worst thing in the world if you’re travelling there by car, or train, or even by cable car if you’ve got a head for heights, but if I had to walk a great deal then mountains are out. I live in a hilly enough place as it is, I don’t want to add more of a gradient to my life!

Forests sound lovely, and indeed, they are. Plants and trees are very important for the planet and we should do everything to protect them. The thing is, I’m highly allergic to the bloody things and if I had to live in a forest I’d spend most of the day crashing into tree trunks because my eyes would have puffed up to extreme levels.

I’ve always lived near the coast, so I naturally gravitate towards beaches. I prefer beaches in autumn and winter, though – mainly because I know the annoyance of trying to find a space on a local beach when the tourists come in the summer! In my mind, when I think of my dream house, it’s always on a beach somewhere. The sound of waves on sand is automatically soothing, and the noisy squawk of seagulls just reminds me of home. I love the smell of seaweed, even though that actually means it’s started to rot. Once I lived in a flat that was on the seafront, and the best part of my day was the walk from my front door to where a colleague would pick me up for work. The sun would be glinting off the water, if it was a calm day, and the waves would be lapping at the rocks on the beach. It was just a lovely way to start the day, walking the length of the seafront and listening to all the noises of the sea.

So beach, definitely!