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Comment by josai | Hacker News Reader

Obviously Tokyo would be pretty low on anyone's list if they're seeking peace and quiet.

However, I think Japan, and some european countries with good high speed rail, can indeed offer viable "living close to nature" scenarios - you can be quite far away from the big cities but still be within an hour by train. I have actually been semi-seriously considering buying a place in Karuizawa - a beautiful small town in Nagano prefecture, yet you can be at tokyo station in 45 minutes. There's also some lovely, quiet small towns along the akita shinkansen line.

Best of both worlds! And internet is ubiquitous, fast and cheap.

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You can find this right in the bay area.

West Marin in general, and the pt Reyes nat. seashore in particular.

I am currently 13 miles as the crow flies from the transamerica pyramid, and I am looking at 360 view, to the horizon, with no trace of humankind. It's silent.

If I may: How does your social life work?

Is the train _that_ good to reach civilization and other people? How do you reach the train if you don't see any trace of humankind (maybe my English-as-a-second-language skills fail me, but I read that as 'the station is far away')?

That sounds like you're absolutely dependent on your car, at least until you reach a station? Is anything leaving from that station after - say - 21/22 in the evening?

I'm seriously curious. This way of life is so completely different from what I'd choose. I'd like to understand how that "works"..

I can answer some of the logistics questions.

In Marin, for public transport, there's bus and ferry to San Francisco. For Bart (regional metro service), one would have to go over the Richmond bridge or the Golden Gate bridge (and far enough into SF that you'd be downtown already). Getting to Bart stations via either bridge is really quick as long as you have a car. Bus and ferry are quick enough. Also, you can bicycle to the ferry or even across the Golden Gate from Marin.

How expensive is rent out that way? I remember looking into it a few years back and found it was more expensive than living in the city, considering I would have had to buy a car.

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