I have lived in California for 15 years now and still miss the plushness of trees and foliage from home. I was raised in Mississippi where we had beautiful trees and bushes - lots of honeysuckle growing in thick vines - just like kudzu.
We would pick the locust shells off the pine trees and throw horse apples in the street. That was back when the bug spray truck would go up and down the streets blowing out that thick white spray and we would run and play in it! sURELY it affected my brain??? I think you always have those fond memories of "home". Having said that, I would never consider moving back to Mississippi. I have moved to many different states and would consider moving back to Winston-Salem, North Carolina. I loved the beach and the mountains being so close. I still loved the Southern appeal. Road and mountain biking were great. We would drive to West Virginia to ski - its beautiful there. I think they should have declared WEst Virginia a national park rather than a state - it is beautiful. We have cycled the green and white mountains in the east and the mountains in the west - I like them all.