Beach or mountains? Which do you prefer? Why?
This is a tough question for me in a few ways, because I love both, but it does have to be mountains over the beach.
The reason why this is hard is because I love the sea. More specifically, I love being at sea, always have-to the point that my mum knew I would have a career at sea based on how I behaved when we went on the ferry from England to France when I was a kid. She thought it would be cruise ships, I went with the navy.
While working at sea isn’t always a picnic, I loved it. At the end of the standard working day, I would take myself and a coffee onto the upper deck and sit and watch the world go by a for a bit-the emptiness in the middle of the ocean is beautiful. Whether the sea is a millpond or really rough, whether sunny skies or rain or storms. Add the travel, and I’d be there most of the time.
With the specifics of beaches, the sea falls down a little, or a lot for me. Beaches as a place are always interesting. From rock pools and seaweed to crabs and other animals you can see, I love all that too. Sand can be a bit annoying, but that’s not that bad.
It’s the people that make beaches fall flat on their face-the number of them on a hot day puts me off because I don’t like crowds. The screaming kids-don’t need to hear it (kids having fun is no issue, but as soon as they start moaning, go home)! The need of many people to show more skin than necessary is also off putting-I don’t need, or want, to see your arse cheeks (or anything else) while you parade around like a peacock just because you thinks you’re a gift sent from the heavens. I’m not expecting people to dress like a nun or anything, but put it away! Yes, I could go to a quiet beach, but living in Sydney, that means driving for at least and hour, if not more, to get the quiet beaches outside the city. Not really worth it for a swim when I have a pool ten minutes away!
This is the point where mountains win. Beautiful, mostly less people and still with epic displays of the weather when it’s good or bad. I still get the ‘middle-of-nowhere’ feeling if I want it and never get the sand or people with clothes on!
The benefits of living in the mountains is that if we go for a weekend away near the coast, we can find quiet beaches that are wonderful. Although I’ve been out of the navy for twenty years, I can still go on a cruise and enjoy being on the sea, which is always better than a beach!