I am someone who really doesn’t like vacations. I don’t like travel, I don’t like hotels, and I don’t like eating in restaurants all the time.

What I do like is living for an extended period of time in a new location where I can really get a feel for the place (months not days). I go years without a vacation then move somewhere for 6 months or longer.

Vacation doesn't have to mean travel. It can just mean taking time off to relax, read, play, pursue hobbies, and spend time with your family and friends.

All that stuff that most of us would be doing if we didn't have to work for a living.

How do you decide where to move next? Do you follow work? Or do you work remotely?

I would love to do this but find moving to be incredibly stressful, and moving every six months I would feel like I don't have a real "home".

I've lead a similar life to the OP so can probably answer this one.

In the last 10 years, I've lived and worked Switzerland for 6 months, in the south of France for 9 months (contracting), in Scotland for a year, Canada for 10 months, New Zealand for 2 years, Australia on several occasions for a year or so at a time. I'm currently back in Australia now.

In between those, I've lived back in the England, my home country.

I've both been following work and picking places to live. I've done a little bit of remote work while I've been overseas but mainly working for various companies who have sponsored me for a visa to work.

You're right in that moving is stressful but more than stressful, it's a real pain. As I've tended to live somewhere for longer than 6 months, I've lived in a place long enough to get settled to some degree and as a result, acquired "stuff" - living stuff such as small items of furniture, quilts, pillows, kitchen utensils, some consumer electronics (I've got an iMac and a laptop now) and so on. Stuff you need if you're not living out of a hotel for 6 months. That has been the biggest cause of stress and pain. If you can do without stuff, and I'd suggest if you live somewhere longer than 6 months you probably can't and unintentionally you'll start acquiring it anyway, then it would be far easier. If you can live out of a suitcase and laptop bag for 6 - 12 months, then seeing the world is a much easier prospect.

I've never intentionally moved to new places, it's just how things have worked out but this time is the last time! And I've said that before but this time I mean it! (And I've said that before too).

I would certainly recommend travel and working overseas - the experiences you get on both a personal and work level are invaluable. Do I feel like I have a home when I've moved to a new place? I would say I do but an outsider might suggest otherwise when they look at my living spaces that have a tendency to look unpacked! But this time.. this time, I'm staying.

I can relate to accumulating "stuff"... when I move to the town I'm currently living in, one of my goals was to not acquire anything new that I didn't need. Two years later and just thinking about moving makes me dizzy because I have so many things, most of which are pretty frivolous and I would just donate/throw out when I move. Frivolous, but I'm going to miss it all anyway...

I remember reading an article that said a good way to deal with the anxiety of throwing stuff away is to take photos of it. Because generally, you know you're not going to miss it in any practical sense, you're just going to miss having it, and in that sense a photo is almost as good.

I used to be an academic so I would go on sabbatical. I now work for myself so can basically live where I like (or more importantly where ever my wife wants to live). This is one of the nice perks of being the boss of a business with a small team that is all remote.

I would not like to move every 6 months either. I basically go years without a break, then move somewhere for a while. The last place I lived for 6 months was NYC - a totally different lifestyle to Australia and one we really enjoyed.