Great thread, thanks so much.
my experiences pertaining to your thread: I travelled alone 3x to Vancouver Island BC and there saw exactly that pic you posted on the beach one morning.
So I was gonna post that you might try there, it's so beautiful. And yes, when I had I polite chat and introduced myself and smiled when they walked back past my tent I said: "Hi, I'm Linda from London, this is so beautiful", they said, yes it is, it is truly beautiful, but we take it all for granted...
I think they lived there but just visited the ocean on Sunday mornings.
xL