# the Beach or the Mountains?



## Posie (Aug 18, 2013)

I love both! I can't decide which would be better to move near someday. It's going to be one or the other; I'm not a desert person!


----------



## SarahNorthman (Nov 19, 2014)

Always the mountains. Haha here abouts in New Mexico (northern specifically) we have some beautiful mountains. I've been considering the pacific northwest. I hear its beautiful.


----------



## Giordano (Aug 10, 2014)

I like both, too. That's why I love coastal Northern California.


----------



## Tristan (Jan 5, 2013)

Hard to choose; luckily as a Californian I get to enjoy both, sometimes at the same time 



Dufay said:


> I like both, too. That's why I love coastal Northern California.


Exactly 

That's what so great about California--beach and mountains are never far apart. The Santa Ynez Mountains along the water in Santa Barbara County--definitely one of the most beautiful places I've been to


----------



## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

The mountains. Summer beach culture (I'm australian) is just too much for me.


----------



## SarahNorthman (Nov 19, 2014)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> The mountains. Summer beach culture (I'm australian) is just too much for me.


Oh I lived in Orlando. I get that. Plus I hate the sun so I suppose that helps my decision.


----------



## Posie (Aug 18, 2013)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> The mountains. Summer beach culture (I'm australian) is just too much for me.


I guess you've had it up to your ears then.  In my case, I'll be choosing between the beach-bums and the hillbillies. I love bluegrass music, but not when it's played badly. :guitar:


----------



## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

marinasabina said:


> I love both! I can't decide which would be better to move near someday. It's going to be one or the other; I'm not a desert person!


Then move to Germany. It has beaches in the north









and mountains in the south

View attachment 56614


- the best of both worlds and all easily reachable. And no deserts!

Now, personally, I love the beaches (especially if they are North Sea beaches, not some hot as hell tropics), but I love the mountains even more.


----------



## Posie (Aug 18, 2013)

SiegendesLicht said:


> Then move to Germany. It has beaches in the north
> 
> View attachment 56613
> 
> ...


No one can top that answer, S.L.! ...and I can meet my Hesse-reading Traummann. :kiss:


----------



## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

I am sure there are more than enough educated, romantic, Hesse-reading, mountain-hiking _Traummänner_ in Germany for both of us. But then I only need one :angel:


----------



## mirepoix (Feb 1, 2014)

While not quite mountains, I have fond memories of my grandfather taking me hiking. So I'll always feel a soft spot for the hills. However the beach is more my pace. And as ever, any of it can be decided (to say nothing of being enhanced) by the right company.


----------



## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

I love both.
As a half-Scot who's in love with Scottish culture and scenery, I have always felt wildly romantic about the Highlands - and can that be wondered at?









(Loch Lomond, at Luss.)

On the other hand, I've always felt freest at the seaside, listening to the waves, gazing out to the horizon - it's almost a mystical experience. I'm not a person who sits on beaches, but I love walking along the strand. And now, because of a career move, we live by the sea - and we miss it when we go on holidays inland.
My absolutely favourite locations involve both mountains or moorland and seaside. This is Cruit Island in the Rosses, Donegal, where Taggart's grandmother hailed from, and it is a wonderful place. The photo doesn't do it justice - the waves are always a vivid Celtic turquoise:










Let's face it - as we get older, and particularly after recent health crises, we can't be living in the middle of nowhere, however beautiful. A seaside town in Norfolk is just about right, and we are very happy here.










If I had had the choice at twenty-five, though, between mountains and seashore - I just don't know....


----------



## TxllxT (Mar 2, 2011)

The beach. We live close to a stretch of 25 kilometres of sandbeach on our island (Texel, North Holland), and every time we walk there the nature-experience is new. Ebb & flood recreate the beach without end. Mountains do not offer this newness. Of course mountains have their own natural beauty, but often, very often they 'attract' rain, bad weather & an early sunset.


----------



## Varick (Apr 30, 2014)

Surprised that (so far) mountains have beaten the beach. It's mountains for me every time. I enjoy the beach in very small doses and it's usually just before or just after the summer (I can't stand the beach crowds). The sand gets in every single thing you bring and in every single place on your body that was never meant to have sand there. It's annoying, uncomfortable, and irritating.

My wife loves the beach and I tolerate it for her and make the best of it whenever we go, but give me the mountains with a beautiful lake every time!

V


----------



## LancsMan (Oct 28, 2013)

I voted mountains rather than beach - not that I don't like beaches, but I love time in the mountains. Perhaps 'coast' rather than beaches would have made the choice more difficult, I tend to enjoy cliff top walks and rocky coasts over the 'beach'. 

Much as I love mountains if it comes to choosing a location to live then near the coast would win. Certainly in Britain the mountains tend to attract the clouds and rain, and can cut out any evening sun. So a more open coastal location probably is more desirable to live in. A drive through mountain defile of Glencoe is almost overwhelmingly impressive - usually dramatically gloomy - but I don't imagine many people would want to live there!

Of course one of the glories of the West Coast of Scotland is you can have mountains and beach - but unfortunately this comes with midges!!


----------



## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

It's a toss-up. When I was a kid, we had a phase where we rented a cabin for a week every year. When I was a teenager, we rented a beach house. They both had their good points. 

Now I live in Ridgetop, Tennessee, which is at the top of a ridge (duh) and has a ton of trees and some nice vistas of the tops of trees, and we have a nice lake around the corner. I've been happy there.


----------



## Dave Whitmore (Oct 3, 2014)

I'm glad there was an option for both or I'd never have been able to make a decision! I love walking in the mountains. The view can be amazing. Of course since I live in NYC I haven't been in the mountains for a long while. But there's something about walking by the ocean. The sound of the surf is so relaxing. I'm not a laze all day by the beach type though. When we go on vacation I'd rather be off exploring than lazing on a beach.


----------



## Jos (Oct 14, 2013)

Mountains, no question about it. Love the Alps and Pyrenees. 
Climbed mnt. Snowdon a long time ago, but still remember it !
The beach bores me after an hour. 

Cheers,
Jos


----------



## mirepoix (Feb 1, 2014)

^^^^^ huh. *kicks sand in yer face*


----------



## QuietGuy (Mar 1, 2014)

I'm already in Colorado (and have been for 25 years ... this time), the mountains are an hour's drive away. Funny how I never go there, unless I'm taking guests sight seeing...

I have a daydream about being on the Oregon coast, though. Maybe one day....


----------



## Jos (Oct 14, 2013)

mirepoix said:


> ^^^^^ huh. *kicks sand in yer face*


Yeah, right !

I visit our beaches about once or twice per year. The Waddenislands are great (Terschelling being my favourite) and we sometimes go to the beaches of the Northsea for a day. Never in the summer obviously, too much traffic, too many people.
My dogs go completely insane when on a beach. Great fun to watch them.


----------



## mirepoix (Feb 1, 2014)

Jos said:


> Yeah, right !


Okay.



> I visit our beaches about once or twice per year. The Waddenislands are great (Terschelling being my favourite) and we sometimes go to the beaches of the Northsea for a day. Never in the summer obviously, too much traffic, too many people.
> My dogs go completely insane when on a beach. Great fun to watch them.


I'm sure it's great fun. And I know how much of a simple pleasure it is to give dogs something that makes them seem to be experiencing the excitement and joy of it being Christmas every day! Good stuff.


----------



## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

I'll never forget our first dog (Tyke the Airedale) when he was a puppy and we took him to the seaside for the first time - how he tried to drink the water and the surprised look on his face. Taggart our Border Terrier adored lying down in the surf and letting the waves wash over him, even on the coldest day.
Now that we are dogless, a little bit of magic has departed from our seaside walks.


----------



## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Simple:

The beach for relaxing.
The mountains for driving.


----------



## Blake (Nov 6, 2013)

Why not both at the same time?


----------



## Posie (Aug 18, 2013)

hpowders said:


> Simple:
> 
> The beach for relaxing.
> The mountains for driving.


Well, that's a negative for the mountains. I have more than enough memories of getting car-sick from those curves. Once when I was a kid, we had to stop the car for me to vomit. Looking back, it was probably my dad's driving.


----------



## MagneticGhost (Apr 7, 2013)

I love striking coastline but don't particularly care for sitting on sandy beaches. 
I've always loved Mountains though, so that's where my vote goes.
Used to live a stones throw from scenery like this and I still miss it 20 years later.


----------



## Jos (Oct 14, 2013)

hpowders said:


> Simple:
> 
> The mountains for driving.


Oh yes !
Flashback to alfa romeo 1,5 qv . Before we got married we had this very entertaining little Italian car. Smaller cousin of the GTV, not much horsepowers, but not much weight either. I was green with nausea, my wife sure could hammer through the twisties. Vroaap waaap....


----------



## Jos (Oct 14, 2013)

mirepoix said:


> Okay..


Haha, just noticed your "okay" was a link.

We're breaking up, I think you need professional help:lol:


----------



## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Vesuvius said:


> Why not both at the same time?
> 
> View attachment 56655


The water looks cccccccold!!!!!


----------



## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

marinasabina said:


> Well, that's a negative for the mountains. I have more than enough memories of getting car-sick from those curves. Once when I was a kid, we had to stop the car for me to vomit. Looking back, it was probably my dad's driving.


I cancelled my invitation.


----------



## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

I like both, with the big qualification the beach is the litoral of a salt-water sea or ocean.

Geologically, the beaches are the near end-line down the line of mountain... i.e. the beaches _are_ the mountains, ultimately broken down to the smaller particles and having gone, via wind and melt-off, downhill to end by the shore.


----------



## Rhombic (Oct 28, 2013)

SiegendesLicht said:


> Then move to Germany. It has beaches in the north
> 
> View attachment 56613
> 
> ...


Actually, in Italy you have the Alps nearer the sea... France has the Pyrenees from the Atlantic all the way to the Mediterranean


----------



## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Greece is nice too...topless beaches, etc; Beautiful isles of Santorini and Mykonos.


----------



## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

hpowders said:


> Greece is nice too...topless beaches, etc; Beautiful isles of Santorini and Mykonos.


What happened to the tops of the beaches?


----------



## LancsMan (Oct 28, 2013)

Well I spent today walking in my local mountains - the English Lake District. Fantastic weather - sunny and no wind to speak of. Although I scaled a relatively minor peak I certainly made a mountain out of it! I really must get fitter.


----------



## violadude (May 2, 2011)

I pick mountains but only if I get to live with those monks who have learned to control their heartbeat and break cement walls with their bare hands.


----------



## trazom (Apr 13, 2009)

The mountains. I don't like the beach, and I've lived next to one my whole life. I want to live where it snows and there's a great view of the mountains, like at the Stanley Hotel in Colorado where Stephen King got the idea for The Shining.


----------



## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

Rarely seen either. It's just forests in here. Heck, one rarely sees the _sky_ here because if the trees are not blocking it, odds are the clouds are. And when you get to the sea, the shore is either made out of mud or huge rocks left from the ice ace, not sand. But I can read books about these _Gipfelerlebnis_ things.


----------



## Posie (Aug 18, 2013)

Xaltotun said:


> Rarely seen either. It's just forests in here. Heck, one rarely sees the _sky_ here because if the trees are not blocking it, odds are the clouds are. And when you get to the sea, the shore is either made out of mud or huge rocks left from the ice ace, not sand. But I can read books about these _Gipfelerlebnis_ things.


I would tell you that you're missing out, but if I lived in Finland, I might be content with the beautiful, green grass and trees.


----------



## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

The west coast of Ireland has beautiful mountains and beaches. I thought long and hard about moving there (it was right after the credit crunch, when property was dirt cheap) but was put off by the weather and lack of culture. Still, I suppose you could make the same observations about where I now live (Hertfordshire) which has neither beaches, mountains nor cheap property!


----------



## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

The beach for summer and maybe the mountains for winter. Like music, a good balance is a healthy one.


----------



## Krummhorn (Feb 18, 2007)

Either would suit my tastes just fine. I can see the mountains from the beach, but not vice versa. Here in the SW desert we have mountains surrounding the valley.


----------



## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

Xaltotun said:


> Rarely seen either. It's just forests in here. Heck, one rarely sees the _sky_ here because if the trees are not blocking it, odds are the clouds are. And when you get to the sea, the shore is either made out of mud or huge rocks left from the ice ace, not sand. But I can read books about these _Gipfelerlebnis_ things.


I have been on a beach in Finland.


----------



## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

Sloe said:


> I have been on a beach in Finland.


You have, I'm sure, but I can tell you were a tourist, because if you were a native, you'd be telling how there's absolutely no beaches and no mountains here, just misery and drabness and sadness, as I am doing!


----------



## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

If you move to any of the Hawaiian islands you can have the best of both environments.

Bring plenty of money, by the way.


----------



## TxllxT (Mar 2, 2011)

These photos were taken yesterday on the beach of Texel. Our 'mountains' are actually hanging in the air: clouds as dark as granite, or taking the shape of a distant ridge. Together with a foamy rough sea one easily gets totally immersed. I like the instantness (a few minutes later the sun has set) and these grand spectres growing & growing. The least interesting part is the sand, the beach itself.


----------



## Cheyenne (Aug 6, 2012)

I like both in certain moods, but the mountains have always appealed to me most. I have never heard the supposedly enslaving call of the sea which reaches out to many youngsters (see Moby-Dick or anything ever written by Joseph Conrad); and the beach at my age is mostly an excuse for people to study each other's bodies - not a favorite pastime of mine. Those who dislike mountains exist -- "I don't much care if I never see another mountain in my life," wrote Charles Lamb in a letter -- but their majesty is hard to deny. Plus, they always bring back fond memories of Bruckner, or even this.


----------



## Guest (Nov 25, 2014)

Beach or mountains? God lord (or Allah/Vishnu/Any deity of your choice ...), if you vote "Mountains" you will have to suffer this sort of music and its associated mind-set :


----------



## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

hpowders said:


> If you move to any of the Hawaiian islands you can have the best of both environments.
> 
> Bring plenty of money, by the way.


Hawaii just reminds me of Elvis


----------



## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

TalkingHead said:


> Beach or mountains? God lord (or Allah/Vishnu/Any deity of your choice ...), if you vote "Mountains" you will have to suffer this sort of music and its associated mind-set :


Stop frightening people - this is yer pukka mountain music: 




And this is beach music - 




There's no need to choose - this poll lets you vote for both.


----------



## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

Mountains for me. Why would anyone want to live near a beach? Ever heard of floods?


----------



## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

Morimur said:


> Mountains for me. Why would anyone want to live near a beach? Ever heard of floods?


OMG, I went to Cromer just after the storm surge and saw the concrete sea walls broken to pieces and the wooden beach huts reduced to matchsticks or swept away entirely, with their contents strewn halfway up the cliffs. The brick built 70s beach huts were still standing, minus doors and windows, but with their original fitted cabinets intact. A house on the seafront (the yellow one near the pier) which had optimistically been marketed at over £1 million before the storm surge seemed to escape damage, but must have been inundated. It was amazing that nobody died- not even the numbskulls who had to be airlifted from the pier, having decided that a storm surge was a great time to go fishing. 

Mountains had never looked so good!


----------



## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

Ingélou said:


> Stop frightening people - this is yer pukka mountain music:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


LOL, how did I know what your choice of beach music would be before I even clicked on that link? Boomer music choices can be so predictable 

Loving the bagpipes though!


----------



## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

marinasabina said:


> I would tell you that you're missing out, but if I lived in Finland, I might be content with the beautiful, green grass and trees.


And the very fine cheese.


----------



## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Figleaf said:


> LOL, how did I know what your choice of beach music would be before I even clicked on that link? Boomer music choices can be so predictable


Er - thanks!


----------



## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

TalkingHead said:


> Beach or mountains? God lord (or Allah/Vishnu/Any deity of your choice ...), if you vote "Mountains" you will have to suffer this sort of music and its associated mind-set :


What is the associated mindset then?


----------



## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

SiegendesLicht said:


> What is the associated mindset then?


Toughness - fitness - ability to judge the weather - appreciation of beauty and grandeur - co-operation with neighbours - hospitality to travellers...?

But I've no idea what Talking Head meant!


----------



## Posie (Aug 18, 2013)

I can hardly believe that the beach has only ONE vote so far! I'm actually leaning toward it because of the way I feel when I'm there. The mountains make me much more introspective, which is not always positive. Standing on the beach gives me that nice feeling of "Everything will be fine, no need to worry." It's therapeutic! I guess every individual has different feelings about different places. 

In ye olden days, many people believed that if you swam or sailed too far in the ocean, you would fall right off the planet. :lol: It's understandable. The ocean does give a powerful feeling of being at the ends of the earth.

I don't mind the crowds, especially the children. I like to see children build sand castles and play in the water in their little floaties. The older adults who live there seem healthy and vibrant for their age.

And there is NO place on earth more beautiful at night than the beach.


----------



## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

I am counting days until I get to play in the snow in the Bavarian Alps, even though there are more than 30 left. I foresee this is going to be the time of my life.


----------



## Piwikiwi (Apr 1, 2011)

Morimur said:


> Mountains for me. Why would anyone want to live near a beach? Ever heard of floods?


Ever heard of dikes?


----------



## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

I'm from a very sea-based culture, so water is my style. Lakes, rivers, islands, ocean. There are no mountains in Finland except in the north that I've never seen. There are not too many mountains in my state either except to the far west, and instead the Chesapeake Bay is the highlight.

Mountains are nice to look at and maybe hike, but I actually I like rock formations (canyons, wind-carved rocks, plateaus, etc.) such as you find in Arizona, Utah and Nevada a lot more than mountains. And I like swimming/sun-bathing more than hiking. 

Desert is a lot like the ocean in its own way, the vastness/emptiness is comparable, as well as these rock formations being like islands in the desert:









But of course, if I had the choice, I go for _both_:


----------



## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

marinasabina said:


> I can hardly believe that the beach has only ONE vote so far! I'm actually leaning toward it because of the way I feel when I'm there. The mountains make me much more introspective, which is not always positive. Standing on the beach gives me that nice feeling of "Everything will be fine, no need to worry." It's therapeutic! I guess every individual has different feelings about different places.
> 
> In ye olden days, many people believed that if you swam or sailed too far in the ocean, you would fall right off the planet. :lol: It's understandable. The ocean does give a powerful feeling of being at the ends of the earth.
> 
> ...


I wish I could live near the beach like I did when I was a kid. A magical place!

Yes. The beach at night! I remember sitting high up in the lifeguard chair one night getting...hi__, well, never mind! But it was one of the happiest times of my life!


----------



## Posie (Aug 18, 2013)

hpowders said:


> I wish I could live near the beach like I did when I was a kid. A magical place!
> 
> Yes. The beach at night! I remember sitting high up in the lifeguard chair one night getting...hi__, well, never mind! But it was one of the happiest times of my life!


Ahhh, nature's "hi".


----------



## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

marinasabina said:


> Ahhh, nature's "hi".


Yes. Plants do come from nature.

The glory days! Wish I didn't have to grow up.


----------



## Posie (Aug 18, 2013)

PetrB said:


> I like both, with the big qualification the beach is the litoral of a salt-water sea or ocean.
> 
> Geologically, the beaches are the near end-line down the line of mountain... i.e. the beaches _are_ the mountains, ultimately broken down to the smaller particles and having gone, via wind and melt-off, downhill to end by the shore.


Thank you.  I'll have to use that on my dad when planning our next father-daughter vacation.


----------



## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

marinasabina said:


> Thank you.  I'll have to use that on my dad when planning our next father-daughter vacation.


How will you wake him up?


----------



## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

If I was wealthy, I'd spend the winters walking on the beach, spring and summer in the mountains, and fall in NYC going to jazz clubs, museums, and concert halls.


----------

