Want to move to better weather but tough to leave family/comfort

[Music Lover]

+1. It really comes down to how do you want to spend 30-50% of the rest of your life? Miserable in the cold with gray skies? Or in sunny (down south, CA) where you can walk, ride bikes, and play outside all fall/winter/early spring.

If weather is #1 on your priority list, sure. But, not everyone ranks weather that high.

It's easy to dress for the weather or take a trip somewhere warm...but it's not easy to easily replace decades long friendships.

Everyone on this site would have a different top 10 list of retirement requirements.

 

[YeahNo]

If weather is #1 on your priority list, sure. But, not everyone ranks weather that high.

It's easy to dress for the weather or take a trip somewhere warm...but it's not easy to easily replace decades long friendships.

Everyone on this site would have a different top 10 list of retirement requirements.

It's generally the social life/friendships/family that make it so difficult to move. The question is, do we have the balls to break the family chain and set roots in a new, better climate, region. I think our answer will be just to test it out. If we love it, great! If we miss family too much we will just come back. No need to over commit to ideas.

 

[Music Lover]

It's generally the social life/friendships/family that make it so difficult to move. The question is, do we have the balls to break the family chain and set roots in a new, better climate, region. I think our answer will be just to test it out. If we love it, great! If we miss family too much we will just come back. No need to over commit to ideas.

It makes perfect sense to test the waters first before committing. Renting for a few months would give you plenty of time to check out different neighborhoods and housing options with no time constrictions.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

One thing to note is that it is easier probably easier to make new friends in places like California and Florida than it might be in some other areas because there are going to be other retirees in the same boat - those that moved for the weather with no local family or maybe moved for the weather and have adult children /grandchildren in the area. But the grandchildren and parents are likely in school and work during the week so even those retirees are looking for friends for weekday activities.

There are lots of senior and hiking clubs in our area and some people we know stay busy almost every day with one subgroup or another, like bocce ball, hiking, golf, dinners out or wine tasting.

 

[YeahNo]

It makes perfect sense to test the waters first before committing. Renting for a few months would give you plenty of time to check out different neighborhoods and housing options with no time constrictions.

We've been doing ~2 months per winter the last 3 years and will be doing it again this winter. I've come to the conclusion that if you want to be in the relationship building mode(IE making new good friends in a new location) you need to be there for more than a couple months per year. What I would like to do is test it for a year or so and go from there. We have young children (1, 3, and 3rd due next month) so its been a struggle for us to navigate. I think in a perfect world we would keep our house in Minnesota and buy a 2nd house in Florida. During the school year we would be in Florida and then come back for the summers and spends tons of time with family and old friends. But then comes the confusion of what city to raise a family in in Florida since most towns are retiree flooded. I would love to find a community in southern Florida that is more of a young family catering.

One thing to note is that it is easier probably easier to make new friends in places like California and Florida than it might be in some other areas because there are going to be other retirees in the same boat - those that moved for the weather with no local family or maybe moved for the weather and have adult children /grandchildren in the area. But the grandchildren and parents are likely in school and work during the week so even those retirees are looking for friends for weekday activities.

Very true!

 

[meierlde]

My parents moved for retirement since the nearest family by that time was 250 mi away. Plus I and my sister lived 1300 and 1700 miles away from them. So no reason to stay in the cold. It would be interesting to see how many folks children left their home state and how many stayed. (In both cases it was where the jobs in the our fields were)

 

[YeahNo]

When I think about potential losses of friendships/family ties if we moved south and how hard that would be, I then remind myself that the ones that matter most are our kids. If we stayed in a very cold weather state I would think there is a much greater chance that our kids would move away to a better climate state vs all of us moving south now and they grow up down there. So move south now = potential greater chance of immediate family sticking close by. With that said, man plans, God laughs.

 

[freebird5825]

I'm one of those crazy people that lives in upstate NY, just south of a very serious snow belt area due to Lake Ontario lake effect snow. Yes, Winter is long. Yes, I would love to live in a more temperate climate. I have no family here, but I do have very close friends in my same age bracket, plus or minus 5 years. We are our own little "adopted family" within our small, purposely select group. By "select" I mean that we are positive thinkers and drama free by mutual agreement. Very refreshing.

HOWEVER...I watch The Weather Channel a lot. I see different parts of the good ol' USA experiencing weather emergencies that I personally would not want to deal with. The tradeoff of the snow thing versus the fresh air, open spaces, relatively low crime, non disastrous weather conditions, small town feeling, and low population density is a no brainer for me.

And...I don't feel like moving.

To each their own.

 

[ERD50]

https://kellegous.com/j/2014/02/03/pleasant-places/

Thanks for posting, I had not yet seen this. I think the only thing I don't like about this graph is that a day with a temperature of 0 degrees is treated equally (not-pleasant day) as a day of 89 degrees and I'd guess that a large majority would certainly take 89 over 0 for weeks/months on end. Maybe I'm reading this wrong though.

Yes, that's a neat link. Impossible to put everything in a number or two, though I suppose if they used an "pleasantness" factor of 10 to minus 10 for each day, and a graph of days in each category, that might be pretty informative.

And I am one of those people who can prefer a zero degree day, assuming it's sunny, (and it usually is when it gets that cold around here, cloud cover traps the heat), and no wind (not so likely). It's actually enjoyable, crisp and clear and bright.

But 89 and humid and I'm dragging - no thanks.

-ERD50

 

[zinger1457]

The tradeoff of the snow thing versus the fresh air, open spaces, relatively low crime, non disastrous weather conditions, small town feeling, and low population density is a no brainer for me.

Kind of describes where I live except I don't own a snow shovel and can golf 12 months of the year.

 

[misshathaway]

+1. It really comes down to how do you want to spend 30-50% of the rest of your life? Miserable in the cold with gray skies? Or in sunny (down south, CA) where you can walk, ride bikes, and play outside all fall/winter/early spring.

And to that end I am finally taking some action. Made a decision to snowbird after reading tons of helpful threads here, and will take my first vacation this January. I am using the list of places from this very thread to make a selection for the first break.

Everybody has a different trigger for finally taking some action. Mine is a neighbor, my age, who wants to move to CA to be with her grandchildren. She feels that she must sell her house first rather than burden her daughter by living with her. She has had her inherited house listed for 2 years at a ridiculous price and will never get it because her parents completely redid the house over the years with under-the-table contractors. It's a teardown. She recently relisted with yet another broker.

I was standing in front of the mirror thinking about how she does not realize how time is getting away from her ...

 

[ncbill]

I've seen friends' parents do the snowbird thing for a decade or two before permanently retiring to warmer climes.

Usually the final move occurred after all the kids moved far away and enough of the parents' local friends had also moved...or died.

 

[Sunset]

..

I was standing in front of the mirror thinking about how she does not realize how time is getting away from her ...

Awk !!
I thought I was the only one noticing this old person staring back at me from the mirror

 

[harllee]

For someone wanting a cool, low humidity place for the summer on the east coast I can recommend the mountains of North Carolina. I am at my summer place now in Linville, North Carolina. I am sitting on the porch 72 degrees low humidity, feels wonderful. In North Carolina to get the coolest weather you want to be at the higher altitudes, around 4000 feet like where I am in Linville. Asheville is a great town but it is at a lower altitude and is much hotter than where I am. In my area there are tons of things to do--hiking, fishing, golfing, music, dancing (I flatfoot and clog every weekend), college campuses, good restaurants.

 

[novaman]

I'm the OP and just thought I would give an update as to my situation.

I've had some big changes. I sold my dental practice 3 months ago and bought a nice townhouse about 12 miles further out from McLean in the Reston Town Center area. I continue to work 12-16 hours a week for the new owner, but I have full flexibility and control over my schedule, and can quit if I want next Spring.

We continue to watch our grand daughter 2 days a week and it is such a joy. It is true that being a grandparent is so much better than being a parent. You get all the good parts without a lot of the bad parts!

My middle daughter just graduated from UVA and has taken a job in San Francisco. My youngest daughter who has just started her 3rd year of college is now saying that she might want to follow her sister out to San Fran. If that happens and everyone stays where they are, we will have family in DC and the Bay Area, so it will make sense to possibly have 2 places, one in each city.

We might start out by doing short term rentals in the Bay area and see how it goes.

My wife and I are currently on the tail end of a 2 1/2 week trip to the Bay Area to help get the middle daughter situated and have been spending a lot of time exploring the various locales to see if there is a particular place that feels right for us so that we will be prepared for any potential future move.

The weather out here has been incredible- basically it feels like a perpetual Spring/Fall without the rain and/or humidity. I can really see why so many people flock to the West Coast. Back in DC we might get two or three dozen of these types of days in a whole year.

Anyways, I appreciate all the posts on this thread, and all the various viewpoints. It has all been helpful!

 

[YeahNo]

Thanks for the update OP!