I have been thinking a lot about comfort zones since Katrina. People refused to get on planes to go to states with low unemployment rates, and inexpensive housing so I asked myself where I would be willing to go. I am from Washington State. I would be pretty comfortable going to Oregon, Idaho, Colorado, Montana, the Dakotas, and Arizona. Anything else seems too far away, too foreign, too unfamiliar. I think this carries over into retirement planning. I couldn't go to Georgia because it is too far away. Until it got too expensive, people from Washington who wanted a warmer climate when they retired went to Caifornia. Now it is Arizona and Arizona is where I plan to go. It seems to me that people in the Northeast are more likely to stay on the east coast. I don't know what people in the heartland do. Do you go to Texas, New Mexico or ? Part of it is that I don't want to be more than a 3 hour plane ride from my children, but I think there is more to it than that. There may be very little difference from one state to another, but I don't know that and something in me seeks the familiar. Coming from a "blue" state, I will settle into the only "blue" county in Arizona. I would like to be more adventurous, but I always find myself seeking out the familiar. Someone I knew years ago had moved to Washington from the east coast. She said that it was so important to her that television was the same everywhere. Some people derided her comment because of her reliance on television, but I think I know what she meant. Once while visiting in South America, I found myself watching Plaza de Sesamo (Sesame Street) just for the familiar characters.

Very interesting thread especially considering the mix of accents & regional variation we have in our family (FL, NC, & NY), so I did some research: From Dictionary.com: cab-i-net [kab-uh-nit] I think it really comes down to how fast you say the word--the faster you say it, the less you hear the 'i' & it becomes 2 syllables vs. 3. The slower you say it the more pronounced the 'i' becomes and you end up with all 3 syllables.) hu-man [hyoo-muhn or, often, yoo‐] I always hated when the 'h' is dropped. Had a highschool teacher for a year who dropped the 'h' & it made me nuts! I'm a fan of phonics, the 'h' is there for a reason-let's pronounce it. car-a-mel [kar-uh-muhl, -mel, kahr-muhl] Pronunciation always seemed regional to me like pee-can vs pe-cahn. But using the rules of phonics, I have to hedge on the side of car-a-mel. I-tal-ian [ih-tal-yuhn] Being 1/2 Italian, I can definitely say it's not pronounced eye-tal-yan or-ange [awr-inj, or-inj] Seems like I use the first pronunciation for the color & the second for the fruit--go figure! wash [wosh, wawsh] Definitely no 'r' in either pronunciation or the spelling Some other interesting facts on the 'English English' language which American English is based on: -"Many varieties undergo h dropping, making harm and arm homophones. This is a feature of working-class accents across most of England, but was traditionally stigmatised (a fact the comedy musical My Fair Lady was quick to exploit) but less so now.[12] This was geographically widespread, but the linguist A.C. Gibson stated that it did not extend to the far north, nor to East Anglia, Essex, Wiltshire or Somerset.[13] In the past, working-class people were often unsure where an h ought to be pronounced, and, when attempting to speak "properly", would often preface any word that began with a vowel with an h (e.g. "henormous" instead of enormous, "hicicles" instead of icicles); this was referred to as the "hypercorrect h" in the Survey of English Dialects, and is also referenced in literature (e.g. the policeman in Danny the Champion of the World)." Source: Wikipedia -"A glottal stop for intervocalic /t/ is now common amongst younger speakers across the country; it was originally confined to some areas of the south-east and East Anglia." Source:Wikipedia. (i.e. the kitten, mitten references: pronounced as ki'en, mi'en) -"The distinction between /w/ and /hw/ in wine and whine is lost in most varieties, "wh" being pronounced consistently as /w/." Source: Wikipedia -"Most versions of this dialect have non-rhotic pronunciation, meaning that [r] is not pronounced in syllable coda position. Nonrhoticism is also found elsewhere in the English speaking world, including in Australian English, New Zealand English, and South African English, as well as most nonnative varieties spoken throughout the Commonwealth of Nations.[10] Rhotic accents exist in the West Country, parts of Lancashire, the far north of England and in the town of Corby, both of which have a large Scottish influence on their speech." Source: Wikipedia. (i.e. Norm Abrams reference on the word 'drawers': draw-ers vs draws).

A seller asked me to move into his house for free for several months before closing. Why? He wanted to close after owning it for two years for tax benefit. It was good for me, he had the bigger exposure such as me not closing and not moving out.. It all worked out fine. As said, each party to the transaction makes personal decisions which is best for each person. I'm still in the don't move out early camp, to each his own. I've bought and sold many properties and never had a serious problem. I do always try to keep agreements to my benefit and and not lose everage. Why fault a Realtor if both parties understand the risk and agree to it?

I think my favorite vacation was a cruise to Alaska. The scenery was breathtakingly beautiful. We took a one-way cruise (you see more vs the round-trip cruises). I also love Yosemite and Yellowstone and I'd give them two thumbs up. Disneyland (and surrounding attractions/areas) is always a fun vacation. :) Hawaii...I like it there, but don't enjoy the humidity. I've been to Oahu (too built up for me) and Maui (beautiful). Someone mentioned Asheville, NC. We were there a few years ago, so I could attend some continuing education courses. It is beautiful and we enjoyed seeing the Biltmore estate, but, meh...we've enjoyed other places more. So far as New Orleans, we went there, pre-Katrina, so I could present at a conference. I don't know if the city has changed much since that time, but I did not enjoy the city or the weather when we went. We were there at the end of October (over Halloween) and a few days into November. It was unpleasantly humid. Those trolleys (pictures by a different poster) were simply miserable. Imagine awful humidity, rain, the trolley drivers shutting the doors (windows shut too) and so many people packed like sardines into those things that people were basically sitting in your lap (if you were lucky enough to get a seat). We stayed two nights in the French Quarter (which we felt was run down) before we decided to go somewhere nicer and then stayed multiple nights in the garden section. The food was overall disappointing (plus I got food poisoning). There were people (including children) begging everywhere. Children were even out on the streets at night, in the French Quarter, asking for money. The timeshare sales people were also everywhere and they were really bothersome. There was more trash piled up than I'd ever seen anywhere (except a landfill) in the French Quarter on the morning after Halloween. It definitely did not seem like a safe place for a woman to walk alone. I was comfortable walking with my husband during the day, but not so much at night. We took a swamp tour, which was probably our best experience there. I wouldn't go there again. I know some people love it there, but it really wasn't our cup of tea. Washington DC...There's so much to see there. The museums are simply amazing. I'll always remember seeing the 4th of July fireworks from the steps of the Lincoln memorial. Lol, but I'll also never forget the thunderstorm which drove us and everyone else who could fit to take shelter inside the Lincoln memorial. Plus, the heat and humidity are permanently etched into every memory I have of that trip. I'd recommend going there, but definitely not in the summer. :)