The Location Chemistry Framework
8 tests to evaluate whether a place will actually fit – not just look good on paper.
Some places feel right the moment you arrive. Others – even beautiful ones – leave you feeling vaguely “off,” and you can’t quite explain why.
That’s not luck. It’s chemistry.
Over seven years living in six countries, I developed a practical framework for predicting this – informed by environmental psychology, place attachment research, and a fair amount of personal trial and error. The video above walks through the full methodology and the stories behind it.
This page is your reference guide: the 8 tests distilled into a format you can return to, print out, and actually use.
The 8 Tests at a Glance
| Test | Core Question | What You’re Evaluating |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Values Resonance | Do local norms align with what I stand for? | Cultural priorities, what gets celebrated vs. dismissed |
| 2. Social-Energy Match | Does this pace recharge or drain me? | Noise levels, extroversion, spontaneity, rhythm |
| 3. Professional Ecosystem | Can my work actually thrive here? | Infrastructure, connectivity, opportunities, business culture |
| 4. Sensory Environment | Do my senses feel nourished or jarred? | Light, air, sound, aesthetics, nature access |
| 5. Daily Logistics | How much friction do basic tasks create? | Transport, shopping, housing, bureaucracy, language |
| 6. Community Access | Can I realistically find my people? | Expat networks, local openness, third places, family support |
| 7. Growth Catalysts | Will this place help me evolve? | Learning opportunities, cultural stimulation, challenge |
| 8. Recovery Resources | When life gets hard, can I restore here? | Nature access, healthcare, solitude, restorative activities |
Scoring: Rate each test 1-5 (1 = dealbreaker, 3 = adequate, 5 = ideal). Total out of 40 – but patterns matter more than the number.
Want the scoring tool?
Download the Location Chemistry Scorecard to evaluate your top destinations.
How the Framework Works
The 8 tests fall into three categories that mirror how place connection actually develops:
Part One: Personal-Place Alignment (Tests 1-2)
Does the essence of this place resonate with who you are? This is the heart-level stuff – whether your core values and natural rhythms are reflected or constantly challenged by the environment.
Part Two: Adaptation Foundations (Tests 3-5)
Can you build a sustainable life here once the honeymoon fades? The head-over-heart reality check. These tests surface whether practical daily life will support you or slowly grind you down.
Part Three: Connection, Growth & Renewal (Tests 6-8)
Will you truly thrive here over the long haul? Often the tie-breakers. A place can pass the first five tests but still leave you isolated, stagnant, or burned out if these don’t land.
PART ONE: Personal-Place Alignment
These first two tests explore whether the essence of a place resonates with who you are – the heart-level stuff that determines whether you’ll feel at home or constantly swimming upstream.
Test 1: Values Resonance
What you’re evaluating: Whether local culture celebrates or suppresses what matters most to you.
Key questions to explore:
- What does this culture reward? Status? Relationships? Innovation? Tradition?
- How do people spend non-working hours? What does that reveal?
- Would I need to hide or downplay parts of myself to fit in?
Why it matters: When your values are reflected by your environment, there’s a natural ease. When they’re constantly challenged, even “nice” places become exhausting.
Green flags: You see your priorities reflected in daily life. People seem to value what you value.
Red flags: You’d need to compromise core parts of yourself to belong. What gets celebrated here leaves you cold.
In Barcelona, I found a place where focused work and genuine social connection could coexist – efficient infrastructure for productivity, but a culture that actually celebrated unhurried time together. That alignment made all the difference.
The Test Question: Does this place operate in a way that reinforces my core values, or would I constantly feel like I’m compromising who I am?
Test 2: Social-Energy Match
What you’re evaluating: Whether the default social rhythm energizes or depletes you.
Key questions to explore:
- What’s the baseline energy? High-intensity urban buzz? Relaxed coastal rhythm?
- Does social life happen spontaneously or require scheduling weeks ahead?
- How do people interact with strangers?
Why it matters: Fighting against a pace that doesn’t fit is exhausting. There’s no “best” energy level – only what’s right for your wiring.
Green flags: The ambient energy feels natural to you. You can imagine sustaining this rhythm long-term.
Red flags: You’d need to constantly adjust to a frequency that doesn’t fit. The pace feels draining even when nothing’s “wrong.”
A friend moved from New York to a tranquil Croatian coastal town – paradise on paper. Within months, that deep quiet felt isolating. She was wired for a faster frequency. The town was perfect for someone; just not for her.
The Test Question: Does this place’s default social energy match my natural rhythm, or would I be constantly adjusting to a frequency that doesn’t fit?
PART TWO: Adaptation Foundations
If Part One was about heart-connection, Part Two is the head-over-heart reality check. These tests surface whether practical daily life will support you or slowly grind you down once the honeymoon fades.
Test 3: Professional & Creative Ecosystem
What you’re evaluating: Whether your work can genuinely thrive here, not just survive.
Key questions to explore:
- Remote workers: Is internet truly reliable? Are there productive workspaces? Time zone compatibility?
- Local employment: What’s the job market? Real networking opportunities? Business culture?
- Entrepreneurs: How accessible is bureaucracy? What’s the startup ecosystem like?
Why it matters: If work feels like a constant struggle, it spills into everything else. Professional sustainability enables everything else.
Green flags: The infrastructure supports your work style. You can envision being productive here.
Red flags: Basic work requirements feel like heroic efforts. You’d be constantly swimming upstream professionally.
The Test Question: Can I do meaningful work here without it feeling like a constant uphill battle?
Test 4: Sensory Environment
What you’re evaluating: How daily sensory inputs affect your baseline wellbeing.
Key questions to explore:
- How much natural light? How does it vary by season?
- What’s the ambient soundscape? Traffic? Nature? Construction?
- Air quality? Humidity? General aesthetics of daily surroundings?
Why it matters: These inputs constantly influence your subconscious – stress levels, mood, creativity – whether you’re aware of it or not.
Green flags: Your senses feel generally nourished. The environment’s aesthetics please rather than jar you.
Red flags: Persistent sensory irritants you’d have to endure daily. Limited access to visual calm.
The Test Question: Will my daily sensory experience here generally lift my mood, or will it subtly drain my energy over time?
Test 5: Daily Logistics Friction
What you’re evaluating: How much energy basic tasks require.
Key questions to explore:
- How practical is transportation? Grocery shopping? Housing maintenance?
- What’s bureaucracy like for essential services?
- What’s the language barrier situation for daily interactions?
Why it matters: High daily friction erodes quality of life and saps energy for everything else. Some friction is navigable; constant friction is corrosive.
Green flags: Basic life flows with reasonable ease. The adaptation curve feels realistic.
Red flags: Simple tasks require heroic effort. You’d face a daily grind just to function.
Beijing taught me both sides. Buying a SIM card took half a day; grocery shopping meant struggling with unfamiliar products and labels. High friction. But the family running the bakery downstairs – who became like a second family, helping me navigate and surprising me with homemade dumplings – dramatically reduced that friction through human connection. Both matter.
The Test Question: How challenging is it to handle everyday basics here, and is the adaptation curve realistic for me?
PART THREE: Connection, Growth & Renewal
These final three tests are often the tie-breakers – the ones that reveal if a good fit has the potential to become a great one for the long haul.
Test 6: Community & Social Support
What you’re evaluating: How realistically you could find your people.
Key questions to explore:
- What communities exist? Expat groups, hobby circles, co-working spaces, faith communities, parents’ groups?
- Does local culture embrace newcomers or feel closed off?
- What “third places” exist where connection happens organically?
Why it matters: Decades of research confirms this: social support is often THE determining factor in successful expat adaptation. Without a tribe, even paradise wears you down.
Green flags: Multiple realistic paths to community. Culture feels open to newcomers.
Red flags: Social circles seem impenetrable. You’d be facing long-term isolation.
In Barcelona, I found a place where focused work and genuine social connection could coexist – efficient infrastructure for productivity, but a culture that actually celebrated unhurried time together. That alignment made all the difference.
The Test Question: Does this place offer realistic paths to finding my people, or would I likely be facing long-term social isolation?
Note: If this test scores 1-2, the city is on probation regardless of other scores.
Test 7: Growth Catalysts
What you’re evaluating: Whether this place will help you evolve or leave you stagnant.
Key questions to explore:
- What learning opportunities exist? Language, culture, skills, ideas?
- Does local culture value curiosity, artistic pursuits, intellectual engagement?
- Are there experiences that would stretch you in ways you find meaningful?
Why it matters: For many of us, continued growth is essential for a rich life. A place that doesn’t spark curiosity eventually feels limiting, no matter how beautiful.
Green flags: The environment actively inspires you. You can imagine learning and evolving here.
Red flags: The place feels static. Nothing sparks your curiosity or challenges you to grow.
Buenos Aires constantly challenged me – the porteños’ passion for deep conversation, art, and engaging the world despite difficult circumstances. That spirit pushed me to engage more thoughtfully and taught me about resilience. The right places act as catalysts.
The Test Question: Will this place inspire me to grow, or will I plateau and eventually feel stuck?
Test 8: Recovery Resources
What you’re evaluating: Whether you can effectively recharge when life gets demanding.
Key questions to explore:
- What’s nature access like? Parks, beaches, mountains, quiet streets?
- Is quality healthcare available? (Peace of mind matters.)
- Do spaces for solitude and restoration exist?
- Can you access activities you personally find restorative?
Why it matters: Life brings stress everywhere. If a place doesn’t offer paths to restoration, even its best qualities get overshadowed by burnout.
Green flags: Clear, accessible ways to de-stress that work for you. You can imagine recovering here.
Red flags: No readily available restoration paths. You’d struggle to recharge.
The Test Question: When life gets demanding, does this place offer paths to restoration that genuinely work for me?
Reading Your Results: Patterns Over Points
Once you’ve scored all eight tests, you’ll have a total out of 40. But the patterns matter more than the number.
A city with 32 might be better for you than one with 36 – if that 32 comes from high scores in your non-negotiables.
Questions to ask:
- Which tests consistently score high? That’s your “green flag” pattern.
- Which tests flag challenges? Are they dealbreakers or manageable trade-offs?
- Are there any areas where a low score overrides everything else for you?
- What patterns emerge across different cities you’re evaluating?
Remember: This isn’t about finding a mythical perfect place. It’s about finding your place – where your personal chemistry resonates well enough with the environment to help your most authentic self flourish.
Put This Framework to Use
The Location Chemistry Scorecard gives you a simple, structured way to evaluate your top destinations across all 8 tests.
What’s inside:
- Scoring guide for all 8 tests
- Space to evaluate 3 destinations side-by-side
- Pattern recognition prompts
- Next-step recommendations
Works whether you’re researching from home or testing boots-on-the-ground. (Pro tip: Do both. Pre-visit scores are educated guesses; real clarity comes from firsthand experience.)
What’s Next
Haven’t taken the Values Compass yet?
The Scorecard works best when you already know what you’re optimizing for. Start with clarity on your values.
Have your Compass results?
Put them to use. Explore your top matches – or discover alternatives that might surprise you.
The Research
This framework blends academic research with seven years of personal testing across six countries. Three bodies of scholarship have been especially foundational:
Place Attachment Theory
Scannell & Gifford’s “tripartite model” breaks place connection into Person (your values), Place (physical/cultural characteristics), and Process (how the relationship develops over time).
Expat Adaptation Studies
Black & Stephens and others consistently find that successful adaptation depends on three areas: daily life adjustment, professional engagement, and social connections.
Environmental Psychology
How physical surroundings (noise, light, nature access, density) directly impact stress and wellbeing.
“Every dreamer knows that it is entirely possible to be homesick for a place you’ve never been to, perhaps more homesick than for familiar ground.” – Judith Thurman