GONZALO/Bauer-Griffin/GC ImagesTaylor Swift may spend plenty of time in New York and Los Angeles (and she even has a beach house in Cape Cod), but she doesn't have to hesitate when asked where her true home is located.
"It's hard to describe why you consider a town your home base, except that when people ask me 'Where's home?', I don't even think before I say 'Nashville,'" the 24-year-old songbird told Time magazine in a new interview in which she gushes over her love of the capital of Tennessee.
Swift reveals she decided she wanted to move to Nashville when she only 10 years old because she "was obsessed with watching biography TV shows about Faith Hill and Shania Twain" and "noticed that both of them went to Nashville to start their careers."
"From that point on, I began relentlessly nagging, begging, and pleading with my parents to take me on a trip there," the ambitious beauty shares.
The "I Knew You Were Trouble" singer says her mother finally took her to Nashville with her brother during spring break when she was just 11 years old, recalling how they spent the trip driving up and down Music Row.
"She would wait in the car as I scampered into record labels one by one, handing my demo CD to the receptionists," Swift says. "I remember thinking it was so odd and wonderful that all of these important record labels were all on one street, most of them in small buildings and old houses. I remember being charmed by how kind people were to strangers and newcomers like us. We took more and more trips to Nashville as time went by, and when at 13, I was offered a development deal by a major record label, my parents gave in and we moved from Pennsylvania."
And despite the fact that Taylor says she loves both New York and L.A., she admits she couldn't imagine calling home anywhere else.
"I've been lucky enough to find friends who live in New York, L.A., and Nashville, so none of those cities ever feel foreign or lonely," she shares. "Choosing to have my management company based in Nashville just made sense because my family is there as well as my record label. I never think about moving home bases."
As for how much time the world traveler actually spends in her favorite city?
"I spend as much time in Nashville as I can," the Grammy winner reveals. "The cool thing about spending time in Nashville is that no one knows when I'm there. In New York and L.A., there are photographers waiting on the street, and it seems like every errand I run is photographed and documented. You don't see as much evidence of me spending time in Nashville, because I'm not being photographed at the grocery store. I'm just able to wander around the grocery store and make casual conversation with the girl standing next to me in the produce aisle."
And in case you're now ready to hop on a plane to Nashville (we certainly are), T.Swift also shared her favorite spots in the city:
"I absolutely love the parks and trails," she reveals. "There's a park called Radnor Lake that's gorgeous on a fall day. I've had some of my best days walking there with my dad, talking about life."
"Another huge priority for me is having a good coffee place to go and hang out," she continued. "Fido has such a great atmosphere, and you can wander around browsing the shops in Hillsboro Village once you're there. I love driving past the Bluebird Cafe, because that's where I played the acoustic show that ended up getting me a record deal. The other areas where I like to go for cute restaurants and shopping are 12th South and East Nashville," the performer shared before adding, "Now I have to stop because I sound like I am the president of the Nashville Tourism Board. Sorry, not sorry, I just love it here."