Fall colors in the North Carolina mountains

Where would you like to live?

Why would you want to live somewhere if no one wanted to visit that place?

I've lived in several places that are considered vacation spots.

I lived almost 20 years on Hilton Head Island off the coast of South Carolina, and a few years in Asheville, North Carolina.

And during the 13 years that I lived and traveled in my motorhome, I spent a lot of time in the North Carolina mountains between the towns of Boone and Banner Elk.

Daniel Boone never lived in Boone, and there are no elk near Banner Elk, but there are a lot of people there named Banner.

I also lived for a few summers in the quaint little town of Black Mountain, North Carolina.

When I was living in my motorhome, I liked to spend the winter months in Cedar Key, Florida, or camping on the beach in Galveston, Texas.

For the last two years, I've lived in Costa Rica.

Even though all the places I've lived are places where people go on their one-or two-week vacations, what I found to be the most interesting and the most enjoyable part of living in these places was the people I met there—both the tourists and the locals.

There are a lot of different things to see and do in these places while you're on vacation, but when you live there, it soon stops feeling special.

Bottom line: Wherever you live (or are considering living) after you've seen and done most of the things the tourists come there to see and do, take time to get to know some of the people. Many of them are way more interesting than the things the tourists come to see.