As someone who grew up in Florida, I’d suggest that you visit for a few weeks in July if you are serious about moving there for retirement. Going in winter is great but if you are going to live there full time you need to fully understand that the heat starts as early as April and continues through October. It is intense.
Also, investigate the cost and availability of property insurance in the area you’re considering. I have friends whose long term insurers have refused to operate in the state any more and who have had to scramble to find coverage. It’s not as easy as it used to be.
Thanks for all the feedback! Joblue - yes, I’ve heard the heat/humidity in FL is intense. Maybe we should go in the warmer weather so my hub can see what it is like then (he’s not a fan of high temps, actually!).
Creekland - I’ve also been looking at (well, researching - not actually going to!) many, many places outside the US that are popular retirement destinations (incl. Mexico, Portugal, etc.). Although many are so beautiful, affordable, and tempting - what I keep coming back to is - with all it’s flaws - I really like the US democracy, constitutional rights/protections, relative political stability, generally good quality of health care (assuming you can afford it).
So I’m trying to (for now) consider a future home base in the US. Hub has traveled to HI and loves it, but from what I can tell it’s super-duper pricey (and, as noted, far from so many US points).
momoffour - great your daughter loves OR. My son also used to want to live in the PNW (Seattle). Ended up in another beautiful, outdoorsy state, though. I also love the outdoorsy lifestyle!
kjofkw- I do think about the ‘visit instead of move’ idea (even for a long-term solution). I think that will (hopefully!) shake out once we’ve done some preliminary reconnaissance (ha, planning side-gig to fund all these travel plans!).
I don’t think short or vacation visits are sufficient to determine a move. You need to spend significant time in a place, experiencing all seasons, before deciding to move there. What you might experience on even a lengthy vacation is not the same as, say, renting a place in a town you might be considering. The day-to-day living in a place will enable you to see what the ups and downs of routine life there will be like. For example, people may love winter in FL or AZ, but one summer in either place (not a week’s visit) may dim those rose-colored glasses. Or not. You need the whole experience to make an informed decision on something as significant as a move. You may find that the political climate is or is not as important as the weather. You need to explore neighborhoods, counties, real estate—just exactly where are those houses that look good to you and fit your budget really located? What surrounds them? Who lives there?
Given that no place is perfect, immersing yourself in a new locale will help you decide just how happy you will be with that place’s imperfections.
We have always rented prior to buying with our moves and no regrets at all about doing so. It helped us learn the areas so we knew where we wanted to buy and could spot a good deal when we saw it.
As we’re checking out areas now I’m actually backing off buying a second, investment place. We like traveling too much and I wouldn’t want to have to keep going back to the same place over and over (I think). We’re at the point where we’re thinking of a boat to explore the Grand Loop (Intercoastal, Great Lakes, Mississippi) and then perhaps an RV to continue land exploration - going where we want to simply because we want to.
But even that curtails a bit of foreign travel, so we’re still not sure. We’re about 2-3 years away from having to decide something.
That is true ^^. I guess a visit is a good first step tho. We have traveled so very minimally during the past 20 years (only to exact same vacay spot w/hub’s fam) that even a short trip to a new place would be an improvement lol.
Creekland - I tried to convince hub to consider (as home base) the colder-weather mountainous state I love by positing a second home in a warmer place. He thinks it’s too expensive and I have also considered - as you mentioned - it might limit travel.
We decided we’d rather not own a vacation home, because we too like to go to different places (although I admit, we’ve been to the same couple lots of times). Now that the kids are pretty independent we’re starting to travel more afar. We did buy a timeshare in Grand Cayman. We go there once every 2 years, which gives us plenty of time to go other places. I know timeshares get a bad rap, but we visited this place a couple of times and all of the owners were really happy, as opposed to others where people were talking about how they couldn’t get rid of them.
We know people who own a vacation place many hours from their normal house, and they don’t make it there very often. In their case I’m sure the place has really increased in value, so it’s not terrible, but I’d hate to own a place and pay maintenance and not go very often.
We are not people who would do well in an RV for a long time. For better or worse, we like our “stuff” and the routine of being “at home,” even though we like to travel a lot too. Next year will be the first vacation of over 2 weeks we’ve ever had.
You need to visit where you are thinking about living, but not like a tourist. Check out the library, where the supermarkets are - what they carry, eat at the local pizza place, etc. It would be a good first step to rule a place out. Think of it like college tours - what is the vibe, would I fit in here.
From what you have said (as far as I have gathered!)…
you want to stay in the US
you love the outdoors - maybe specifically hilly/mountainous areas
you (H) don’t like extreme heat
you like some seasons but not extreme on either end, hot or cold
There are definitely spots in the US that fit this need if you’re looking for a one-stop shop - so one home, not two (to move to and from seasonally)
Climate like Florida does not seem to fit those parameters. I think people cannot stress enough that summer can be brutal and your outside time can be limited to moving from car AC to house AC!
We’ve just settled into Santa Fe -hopefully our final move. SF ticks all of those boxes of hilly/mountainous with lots of outdoorsy living, not much in the way of extreme heat or extreme cold. I’m enjoying the winter far more than I thought I would, coming from Texas, because the sunshine makes it feel much warmer most days. Small city living takes some getting used to, but we love the laid back feeling and there is lots to do.
PS - I didn’t mean all that -it’s a horrible place with snakes and you shouldn’t even consider moving here
I’d love to hear back from you about how SF is going in the next year or so. We considered it as a retirement destination, but since most of the family that we are close to is on the east coast, we’ve decided we’re likely to stay here. I do think I’d love to do something like most there for a year or so.
You don’t have to worry about us. My problem with the desert SW is the “desert” part. I enjoy passing through and seeing it, but it has no appeal to me for living there. I grew up with lush greenery and have found I “need” it in my life. Same with H.
Same here, but much of the Phoenix metro area “desert” looks just as lush as California (though not as much as Maine). Where we lived for 16 years in Scottsdale and where we live now in a golf resort in the SE valley is completely green and lush, no brown in sight. I couldn’t deal with actual desert surroundings either.
In my Phoenix experience…Green because they plant things that are green and are tolerant of the climate. My kid has a great green patio garden. It takes the right plants…and some watering, but it is really nice.
Xeriscape can be very green due to the types of plants grown as @thumper1 indicated. Every residential plot in our community uses drip irrigation only, and all common areas and the golf course are restricted to desert-adapted plants and grasses that are solar-power irrigated with recycled gray water. We are also a dark sky community. The water suck in AZ is mostly due to agriculture, not residential use, but I was responding to the comment about lack of green, not how it’s nourished.
But this is one of our concerns going forward TBH. I suspect water wars to become common due to too much water draw from sources. Not long ago I recall reading a news article about how Scottsdale cut a community off from water completely due to it. Whether people are drinking the water or using it for agriculture or landscaping or whatever, if there isn’t enough to go around, that’s concerning to us.
Even when we’re looking elsewhere, we want places that can be self-sustaining if need be. Sand based islands don’t work for us either.
We’re off topic with this, but Scottsdale cut off water to Rio Verde Foothills because it is an unincorporated “wildcat” community not within the boundaries of any city and was built without regard to the law that if developers build subdivisions on county land, they must secure water and prove that the community has enough to last 100 years. Due to a loophole, Rio Verde Foothills was built without regard to a sustainable water supply. For decades, Scottsdale generously provided water to this area but warned the community that it had no obligation to do so and would not do so indefinitely.
On topic: As with any place you are considering to live, be careful where you buy. Do your research.
While I don’t entirely disagree, I’m a bloom where you are planted type. I moved every two or three years as a child (in Africa and Asia) and as an adult have lived in Tours, France, Munich, Germany, New York City, the outskirts of New York City, Cambridge, MA (but only as a student) and spent three months in Hong Kong. I can deal with weather. Politics might be a concern for me in some places. I’ve enjoyed something about everywhere I’ve been.
H and I like Santa Fe and have been there several times on our ski road trips in the past few years. We really love Taos when we visited last year and stayed there to ski in the mountains. It is not a large town, but it really appealed to us.
It’s difficult living in San Diego to imagine living somewhere else. H wants somewhere near the beach if we move since he is from Bermuda and has lived in San Diego for 40 years he likes being able to walk a couple of miles to the ocean. We also love the mountains and are avid skiers and I would love to live closer to be able to ski more. But if D1 and her fiance decide to stay in San Diego to raise a family I don’t see us moving far away. So many things to consider.
