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 nearly seven years living in six countries, I developed a practical framework for testing it – informed by environmental psychology, place attachment research, and a fair amount of personal trial and error. The video below walks through the framework and the stories behind it.
This page is your reference guide: the 8 tests in a format you can return to and actually use. Tap a test to open it, or download the Scorecard below to score a place on paper.
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 & Creative 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 Friction | How much friction do basic tasks create? | Transport, shopping, housing, bureaucracy, language |
| 6. Community & Social Support | 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 parts, moving from whether a place fits who you are to whether you can build a life there over time:
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
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 – the infrastructure to get real work done, 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?
PART TWO: Adaptation Foundations
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.
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
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 and the day-to-day reality line up well enough for you to thrive.
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:
- A one-page scoring sheet for all 8 tests, each with a guiding question
- Subtotals for each of the three parts and a total out of 40
- A 1-5 scoring legend and quick hints on what to look for
- Print a copy for each place you’re considering, then compare them side by side
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.
Looking for something deeper? The Scorecard gives you a quick first read on any place. When you’re ready to plan a scouting trip and evaluate a place as a potential resident – not a tourist – IMMERSE-U, our eight-factor immersion method, goes further. See how IMMERSE-U works →
The Research
This framework blends academic research with nearly seven years of personal testing across six countries. Three bodies of scholarship have been especially foundational:
Place Attachment Theory
Scannell & Gifford’s “tripartite framework” (2010) breaks place attachment into Person (who is attached, and what the place means to them), Place (its social and physical characteristics), and Process (how attachment shows up in feelings, thoughts, and behavior).
Expat Adaptation Studies
Black & Stephens (1989) and later researchers describe expat adjustment in three distinct areas: daily life, work, and interacting with local people.
Environmental Psychology
How physical surroundings (noise, light, nature access, density) directly impact stress and wellbeing.
These fields shaped the questions the tests ask; they haven’t tested the eight tests or their scoring. Treat your scores as a structured way to compare what you notice, not as a verdict.
Last reviewed: September 2026
“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