Blast from the Past: Favorite Setting

This weekend I visited my alma mater (though I never did graduate from it...). And while I love the friends I made there, visiting that campus always feels -- odd. I don't miss it, and most of the memories I have of it aren't the greatest. Suffice to say that transferring to a new school wasn't a difficult decision when I made the transition last winter.

Anyway, during the 2.5 hour drive home (another reason I don't enjoy going back. Directions to my old school: drive until you feel the urge to get out of your car and scream OhmygoshSTOPGROWINGCORNOHIOBAAHHHHHH!! Ten minutes past that point, you're there.) I reflected on settings. One of my favorite parts of writing is creating new places, new worlds. Figuring out their atmospheres, their traditions, their cultures. Watching how the characters react to their worlds. And, of course, drawing insanely detailed maps of every little town/village/city/farmland in that world, simply because I can. I think I have control issues.

Of the various settings I've thrust characters into, my favorite place to return to is Yazoo Oxbow's steamboat in Stream Pirate. I love the magic of it, and the people who crew his boat make the entire thing homey and welcoming. If I could choose one place of mine to live, that'd be it.

What about you? Of all your settings, where would you choose to live?