the troubadour

Nothing at all wrong with Gozo. Hard to make up mind exactly where on the island I'd go for. Initial thoughts would be Victoria with easy bus access to all other parts of the island as well as being in a place with bit of a centre.

Gozit

Victoria is too expensive for what it is, IMO... Sannat or Xewkija are both a 5min drive from there and are way cheaper than Victoria. The thing with Gozo is everything is within 10 min of each other so nowhere is too far

not2old

in fact folks living in Sannat will tell you that they walk from there to Victoria, as well, thumb a ride

Sannat would be my preference

Moses2013

Well, the island is only 67 km2. We have a lake around the corner that's twice the size.

not2old

Moses, you're taking the mickey on us all.

As for small & somewhat ideal, it'd be Norfolk Island for me, at only 36sq Km & 2200 people, why would one not want to live there? Why do you need a big lake when you're surrounded by an ocean bigger than Ireland & UK put together?

Home - Norfolk Island Tourism and Travel Information

And yes, Norfolk have a perfect 'low cost' residence program for self sufficient. Then, after five years of residence, its OZ citizenship

http://www.immigration.gov.nf/#Contact

page 15 onwards

http://www.immigration.gov.nf/Immigr...2002072013.pdf

Moses2013

Just said that the island is only 67 km2 and people should be aware of that + it's not Norfolk Island and a lot more crowded. You don't have to live in Victoria to be central and the majority of people will get rock fever, that's just fact. I have the feeling that many people dream of living on a small island, but have never really lived on one.

not2old

its all perception Moses - give or take

Other than those [like yourself] that have traveled, either for work, play or immigration, I'm guessing the majority of folks work, play & die within 20 minutes of where they live - small island, village, town, city, big metropolis, it doesn't make a difference.

What about you?

On 'Rock Fever'

There was a study done (cant find it now) that most folks living in London Town, Tokyo, New York City & other monstrous places, did what they did within 20 minutes of their home.

20 minutes travel in those places or in Gozo or Malta, is no different than 20 Minutes travel living in Galway town, Dublin, Bermuda or Norfolk Island.

From personal knowledge, most all the folks that lived in the area that I grew up in, that even the ones today - their children my age, have not ventured beyond 5km from their home base - bar the few that got married & moved away or emigrated.

Even today living in this big metropolis in an average month be lucky if its 12 KM one way, then back home. Other than that, if we need to get away from our little spec of patch to vacation we get on a plane & go

Of course 4x year we travel about 150KM one way cross border shopping just to give the car a good run

Moses2013

The size is not the only issue, it's everything else that you don't see on a holiday. If you want peace, you can also live outside a city and there's a huge difference if you live on an island that's so small. If you are already willing to move away, don't compare yourself to the people who didn't move 5 km away from their home. It might be different for an old person, but you were actually the one who said don't retire to Gozo/Malta in another post:-). I'm still active, so would do more on a weekend, than I could do in Gozo the whole year. It starts with cycling, because the island is only 14 km's long. Even as an old person health care would be an issue, because you'd always have to go to Malta for certain treatments and getting away also takes longer, because there are hardly any direct flights to different locations. Most people in Gozo actually want a bridge.