[Van Zandt]

I have a year to travel while I do my online masters. I'm thinking ideally I would like to find a midsize city close to nature with lots of young people and hot women. Any college towns like this in Australia maybe, or perhaps Colorado would be a good choice? I'd like to hear about any other countries that might fit the bill. Thanks.

[chochemonger1]

(12-08-2012 12:12 PM)Van Zandt Wrote:  

I have a year to travel while I do my online masters. I'm thinking ideally I would like to find a midsize city close to nature with lots of young people and hot women. Any college towns like this in Australia maybe, or perhaps Colorado would be a good choice? I'd like to hear about any other countries that might fit the bill. Thanks.

Van Zandt, there are just too many. Tell us more details about yourself....your likes and dislikes, languages you speak, places you have been, type of women you like,etc Without that info we cant offer you much help.

[durangotang]

Colorado is not good for women IMHO. You need to shoot for somewhere warm. The theory is that the more skin a woman is required to show throughout the year the hotter the women will be. Take a look at cities like Los Angeles & San Diego and compare them to San Francisco for example. Places like Scottsdale, Tempe and Miami demonstrate this effect while Denver, Seattle, and Portland do not.

Choose wisely.

[Van Zandt]

I'm a big believer in nature therapy and that it's an essential part of health and creativity. We're being exposed for the first time in history as a species to an ever increasing amount of pollutants like diesel fumes and various particulate matter. Until electric engines replace gas and nuclear power replaces coal (15 - 20 years), terrible health and mental consequences will increasingly afflict big city dwellers. That is why I'm looking for mid size options on this planet.

[ComebackKid]

why the hell are you doing online masters? Never heard of any legit program of that type.

[durangotang]

I live in a college town in Colorado and if those were my criteria I would move to San Luis Obispo, California. In fact if I didn't need or want to be near the marketplace of a city, that is where I'd move. 45,000 people in total, including 15,000 college students at Cal Poly. Perfect weather - therefore hotter women. Mountain biking, hiking, surfing, wine country, fresh organic produce year round, fresh air from the ocean with Pismo Beach and Morrow Bay right there. You are close to an hour and a half drive to Santa Barbara if you want fine dinning or high end shopping. 3-4 hours from Los Angeles and San Francisco is far enough to keep the crowds out but close enough for weekend trips. Rent is cheap - I think I saw an apartment with ocean view for $800.

SLO is about as close to natural perfection (including climate) within driving distance to major cities that I have found:





City-Data.com link

To load a large picture that demonstrates the natural beauty of SLO, click here (56k killer).

[Brosemite]

(12-08-2012 12:12 PM)Van Zandt Wrote:  

I have a year to travel while I do my online masters. I'm thinking ideally I would like to find a midsize city close to nature with lots of young people and hot women. Any college towns like this in Australia maybe, or perhaps Colorado would be a good choice? I'd like to hear about any other countries that might fit the bill. Thanks.

Hey Van Zandt. As Choche asked, what will you be studying again through your online masters? Which languages do you speak?

I'm generally not a fan of online masters programs especially MBA versions bc I can't stress the importance of being close enough to a campus for the networking/field work opportunities.

An online MBA however while being situated in a prominent business market working part-time or full-time such as NYC, LA, Atlanta, Dallas, Chicago, or perhaps in international one could be an excellent idea based on how active you are networking & building career leads outside of your classes. So yeah the activity you put in outside of the classroom/course load is so important no matter your location bc I know MBA friends who do their coursework, fulfill their 40-50 hour per week gigs, and then drink with their old circle of friends as their career leads as a result have not increased whatsoever. Go figure.

I do like your idea ALOT because I would do the exact same thing for at least one semester/year in a relevant market to my pursuits if my pending masters program had online classes...esp since I'm leaving my full-time gig this May!

It sounds like you've thought this through, and advise you do it bc opportunities like this might not come around again in future. I'd maybe choose Australia if I were you...haha. Good luck.

[durangotang]

Some more San Luis Obispo pics, babes, and vids. I think it meets your criteria:

[Van Zandt]

Thanks for the replies. SLO looks sweet. I like outdoorsy, athletic blonde chicks. Although I got a thing for Koreans too after I taught English there at a hagwon. The only language I know besides English is Spanish.

I'm doing my masters in logistics, so cargo shipping or trains will be my thing (hopefully with a good bit of travel). The online thing is questionable, I agree, but I like the field so it's an excuse to read and learn about it for a year and an excuse to travel.

[WanderingSoul]

I lived in SLO for a year and a half. I would recommend it for sure. Tons of hot chicks, mostly white chicks though. Rich girls from Orange County, Santa Barbara etc. It isn't cheap though, and you can't get an ocean view from SLO because it isn't actually on the ocean. It may be cheap compared to San Fran, but it's a pretty expensive town to live in.

If you do move there, look for places early in the summer. Otherwise, the good places will be snatched up by all of the college kids.

[Brosemite]

(12-08-2012 05:52 PM)Van Zandt Wrote:  

Thanks for the replies. SLO looks sweet. I like outdoorsy, athletic blonde chicks. Although I got a thing for Koreans too after I taught English there at a hagwon. The only language I know besides English is Spanish.

I'm doing my masters in logistics, so cargo shipping or trains will be my thing (hopefully with a good bit of travel). The online thing is questionable, I agree, but I like the field so it's an excuse to read and learn about it for a year and an excuse to travel.

Another way of looking at it is if you have a chance to live somewhere while doing an online masters because you might not ever get this opportunity down the line 3-6 years from now, then by all means go for it because it'll be out of your system and you can always do the necessary fieldwork/networking when arriving back on your campus anyways.

There's a chance I could also be taking two online independent study IT classes in continuing ed while living in a random city of my liking for one sem before starting my masters, which will be overwhelmingly hands on inside/outside classroom too fyi...

Or you can travel to multiple cities known for logistics for instance say a Hong Kong or Campinas, Sao Paulo with a good dependable laptop doing research, shaking hands, etc. Anyone here know of any other good cities in the logistics/supply chain world?

Either way, I'm sure things will all work out in the end as the possibilities do sound exciting...

[UrbanNerd]

(12-08-2012 01:37 PM)ComebackKid Wrote:  

why the hell are you doing online masters? Never heard of any legit program of that type.

The bigger and more well-known colleges have now joined the online degree industry, so one does not have to attend "Podunk Univ" to get an online degree. My M.S. in Engineering degree is from the University of Wisconsin. If I would have waited a few more years, I might have went to Cornell's M.S. in Systems Engineering online program. Stanford, Columbia, UCLA, NYU and big names now have online masters programs.