Weekend Engagement - Always A City Guy

City living or country living, which is your preference and why?

Having lived only in the city before, my preference is definitely city living.

A large part of the decision is based solely on familiarity. I was raised in a city since the day I was born, and I have been so used to the lifestyle in the city, seeing high skyscrapers, cars on the roads, trains running underground, shopping malls and more shopping malls.

One of the best parts is everything feels so accessible. I could easily go to a supermarket within a 5 minute walk and grab some groceries, I could grab a coffee at a cafe or even Starbucks within a short span of time. Or if I am feeling lazy or unwell, I could even order delivery using apps be it for food or even groceries. The level of convenience is just something that country living doesn't have.

Job opportunities are probably a plus point for cities as well. I am not sure if it would be easy to find decent paying job in the countryside, as compared to the city. Naturally, more global and local companies would set up their offices within the city and this creates more job opportunities for the people.

Of course, nothing is perfect and cities do have some of the not-so-good stuff. And despite having a preference for city living, I do enjoy some of good points of country living.

The cost of living in countryside is definitely much much lower. Or rather, things in the city have become increasingly more and more expensive given the inflation trends (most of us would have faced this). Be it daily meals, public transport, groceries, and depending on where you are in the world, some cities have high property prices and rental rates as well. And in some cities, people just live paycheck to paycheck because there's not much left every month after paying for mortgage, taxes, food, and other basic needs. I guess it's a trade off, convenience does come with a cost.

Related to the earlier point, it's probably more stress free to live in the countryside. There's fresh air, nice scenery, and sunshine in the countryside and it's all good for the body. In the city, things move at a faster place, for a good reason sometimes, but the trade off is that it results in more competition and more stress for people. Perhaps some people do enjoy living a life competing with others, and thrive on these fast paced environments, but personally, I do prefer to have a slower pace of life where I can just sip my coffee and watch the sun rise.

All in all, it's down to a preference and a comparison of trade offs, and deep down, I think I will still be a city guy. And it's really down to the familiarity and convenience of the lifestyle, whereas cost of living and stress levels are stuff that I have come to accept and just have to manage my expectations, and be mindful of my expenses, my mental well being, etc.

Ending the photo was a complimentary cake from Starbucks which I just had this weekend. It's my birthday month, so I do get a free slice of cake with any beverage purchase. So that's all I have, and thanks for reading! :)