Reflections on Jersey

We are on our way north from Newcastle to home, a journey of just under three hours. It has been a good week in Jersey, it proved to be both picturesque and interesting. The houses are individually designed with beautiful gardens, and they are all freshly painted and maintained. There are lots of sandy beaches so you can choose where suits depending on wind direction. It is supposedly the sunniest place in Britain which I can well believe; we have just had a week of sunshine while most of the country has had rain, especially Scotland. There is lots to see and do; castles, war museums, restaurants, water sports. You can travel from there to the other Channel Islands and even to France. The people seem to be unfailingly polite and friendly. But would I live there? This is a question that I always ask myself when I visit a new place. I wonder if I am looking for somewhere that I might fall in love with and want to move to. When we were in Shetland a couple of years ago I met a lady who had gone there on holiday and had decided to stay there for the rest of her life. I felt quite envious of her because although I have travelled to many beautiful places I have never felt quite like that about any of them. I am fairly contented with where I live, so maybe I'm not really looking, but I do always give some thought to the "liveability" factor of a new place. My criteria are beauty (both house and surroundings and hopefully a view), proximity to wild countryside and some kind of water (river, loch, or sea, and an outdoor swimming pool would be great), accessibility to facilities such as airports, shops and hospitals, hopefully some sense of history, and some undefinable quality that makes me feel that I must be there. Well, Jersey certainly scores highly on beauty and on nearness to water, it has an interesting history and the facilities are fine. However it loses out a bit by being a bit TOO manicured and perfect; it is quite densely populated and even though there are plenty of fields and greenery there is not much wilderness around. Every square foot of the island is used and cultivated, and although it is a lovely holiday destination, it is not the home of my dreams. Never mind, I'll just have to keep travelling!