# Do you ever feel sad when leaving a town or city you are visiting? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 4, 2019, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-feel-sad-when-leaving-a-town-or-city-you-are-visiting/841285 "2019-10-04T22:01:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2019, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-feel-sad-when-leaving-a-town-or-city-you-are-visiting/841285/21 "2019-10-05T19:28:45Z")
Barbados. Every year I am sad having to leave and return to the great white (at that time of year) north. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2019, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-feel-sad-when-leaving-a-town-or-city-you-are-visiting/841285/22 "2019-10-05T23:55:55Z")
All the time. There have been places I just didn’t click with, but the vast majority of cities I’ve visited while traveling, I’ve been sorry to leave. Fortunately, there are usually lots of exciting things to look forward to in the next city, but the last one before going home is always particularly rough. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-feel-sad-when-leaving-a-town-or-city-you-are-visiting/841285/23 "2019-10-06T00:08:42Z")
Cities, not particularly. In my last square job I did a lot of traveling, and a co-worker said to me once as we were talking off from SFO, “Doesn’t if always make you sad to leave San Francisco?” I thought for a minute and said “It would, if I weren’t going back to New York.” I suppose Paris and Vienna might be different. For the past few years we’ve spent two summer weeks on Mount Desert Island, Maine, in a comfortable cottage on the “quiet side,” on a good sized pond. We cook simple meals, hike in Acadia National Park, and sit and read books on the the huge deck. Leaving it to go home has been heartbreaking. ---
**Author:** ![Boycott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boycott/32/6741_2.png) [@Boycott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boycott)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-feel-sad-when-leaving-a-town-or-city-you-are-visiting/841285/24 "2019-10-06T00:14:21Z")
Frankfurt, Germany and Basel, Switzerland ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-feel-sad-when-leaving-a-town-or-city-you-are-visiting/841285/25 "2019-10-06T00:16:10Z")
The only place I feel that way _immediately_ upon leaving is Estes Park, Colorado, as that is the place I’ve stayed the longest straight without living there - a week at a time for three times. I know I’m going to miss the mountains and streams and I am there long enough to get used to it. The place I’ve stayed the second longest in a row on vacation is probably London, but I don’t feel sad _immediately_ upon leaving. I feel sad the next day when I wake up and I can’t just walk down the street to a store or hop on the Tube but rather need to pile in my car to get anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-feel-sad-when-leaving-a-town-or-city-you-are-visiting/841285/26 "2019-10-06T00:48:25Z")
Back when I was way into whitewater paddling I did a lot of trips to Appalachia and the Ozarks. I loved the natural beauty and mountain environment. Sadly, I don’t have transferable skills to allow me to relocate there permanently. I was always sad to leave. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-feel-sad-when-leaving-a-town-or-city-you-are-visiting/841285/27 "2019-10-06T01:15:04Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I came to post that, too. My eyebrows rose before the word “beach” – just at the name San Bernadino. Most people are extremely happy when they leave that place. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-feel-sad-when-leaving-a-town-or-city-you-are-visiting/841285/28 "2019-10-06T01:15:04Z")
For short visits, no, because I don’t know all of the negatives that are involved. For longer term stays, such as for work (and I’m talking nine months to five years), yeah, I wish I’d lived in some of them. Particularly, certain parts of Mexico, but only assuming I’m still collecting a US wage. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-feel-sad-when-leaving-a-town-or-city-you-are-visiting/841285/29 "2019-10-06T02:16:21Z")
Oh hell no. I’m going home to Chicago. Nothing beats that. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-feel-sad-when-leaving-a-town-or-city-you-are-visiting/841285/30 "2019-10-06T02:20:47Z")
Not anymore.But I did all the time when I lived in West Texas decades ago. I would spend a lot of time in northern New Mexico and fell in love with Santa Fe. Leaving it always made me sad. But I’ve lived only in decent places since leaving West Texas and have not experienced that for a long time now. ---
**Author:** ![Personal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Personal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Personal)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-feel-sad-when-leaving-a-town-or-city-you-are-visiting/841285/31 "2019-10-06T05:38:43Z")
For the past couple of years, yes. About every city, especially those further south. Likely because we’ve been in the same place for 17 years and both are restless to move on before we get too much older. And these winters are just brutal. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-feel-sad-when-leaving-a-town-or-city-you-are-visiting/841285/32 "2019-10-06T05:41:08Z")
Most recently, we wrapped up a vacation in Craig, Montana, population 35, three fly shops, two bars and no churches. It is fly fishing heaven, right on the Missouri River. We both started planning our next trip and looked at home prices. ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-feel-sad-when-leaving-a-town-or-city-you-are-visiting/841285/33 "2019-10-06T07:41:10Z")
It’s not so much the leaving London, it’s the getting back home to central Switzerland. London is a 24/7, anything goes, city. There are so many people, no one notices what you’re wearing, and if they do, who cares? Back home? Can’t go anywhere within 50 km without seeing a coworker. I wish I was joking. Stores close at 16:00 on Saturday and don’t open again until 7:30 Monday morning. We like living here. But we always need a few days to get back to the routine. I don’t think I could live in London - it’s exhausting. But I miss the variety. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-feel-sad-when-leaving-a-town-or-city-you-are-visiting/841285/34 "2019-10-07T14:09:11Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > The only place I feel that way _immediately_ upon leaving is Estes Park, Colorado, as that is the place I’ve stayed the longest straight without living there - a week at a time for three times. I know I’m going to miss the mountains and streams and I am there long enough to get used to it. > > The place I’ve stayed the second longest in a row on vacation is probably London, but I don’t feel sad _immediately_ upon leaving. I feel sad the next day when I wake up and I can’t just walk down the street to a store or hop on the Tube but rather need to pile in my car to get anywhere. Actually I think the second longest is the DC area because I’ve stayed there for several times for four days, at least as often as London, and then several more times for less than four days which is a tiebreaker. I don’t feel sad when leaving because I only stayed close to transportation twice, at Rosslyn and Crystal City, and the other times were in an inconvenient part of Alexandria or Arlington Heights, and my yearly visit to an annual weekend party was over Memorial Day weekend and so in those places it was too hot to walk to a Metro comfortably. ---
**Author:** ![ZurBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/71e660/32.png) [@ZurBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZurBob)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-feel-sad-when-leaving-a-town-or-city-you-are-visiting/841285/35 "2019-10-07T14:47:39Z")
Being from bumfuck middle America, I always appreciate new experiences regardless of locale, but \*\* ASTORIA, OREGON\*\* remains my most memorable re the OP in the U.S… **TREVI, ITALY** re the world. ---
**Author:** ![Rough\_Draft](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@Rough\_Draft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rough_Draft)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-feel-sad-when-leaving-a-town-or-city-you-are-visiting/841285/36 "2019-10-07T16:22:42Z")
El Paso, Texas, believe it or not. I went to college there for four years and had some of the best and worst times of my life. I’ll always miss it. I wouldn’t want to live there now, but in the 1970s it was a great place both indoor and outdoor recreation. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-feel-sad-when-leaving-a-town-or-city-you-are-visiting/841285/37 "2019-10-07T19:57:56Z")
Definitely feel that way when leaving Ocracoke. (Although I probably wouldn’t feel that way now, considering the awful damage done by the recent hurricane.) Of course, you can only arrive/leave by ferry (or some other boat), so I’m usually standing at the rail as we leave Silver Lake. Always very emotional for me. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-feel-sad-when-leaving-a-town-or-city-you-are-visiting/841285/38 "2019-10-07T20:13:00Z")
Toronto. But housing costs fix those urges REAL quick. I can live with frequent visits. Hong Kong. Ditto, except the frequent visits part. ---
**Author:** ![2ManyTacos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/3da27b/32.png) [@2ManyTacos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2ManyTacos)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2019, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-feel-sad-when-leaving-a-town-or-city-you-are-visiting/841285/39 "2019-10-08T01:50:11Z")
A part of me weeps every time I leave Las Vegas, NV after concluding a vacation there. The thing is, my family and I went there _constantly_ when I was a kid and nowhere near old enough to really enjoy it - and that’s the source of my enduring love for that city - but I’ve been there only a handful of times since I turned 21. I wouldn’t want to live in Vegas proper, though, but I have said for years that I plan on retiring in nearby Henderson. Still might. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2020, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-feel-sad-when-leaving-a-town-or-city-you-are-visiting/841285/40 "2020-08-24T03:38:22Z")
It was common for me _way_ back in West Texas. But since I left and started living in decent places, not so much. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-feel-sad-when-leaving-a-town-or-city-you-are-visiting/841285.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-feel-sad-when-leaving-a-town-or-city-you-are-visiting/841285.md?page=3)