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

[meierlde]

The problem can be made simple if the children move away. In my parents case I lived in Tx and my sister in NM so moving from Mi to Tx made sense for them. One interesting question is what percent of folks stay where they either grew up or went to college?

 

[Persn]

I grew up in Irvine when it was mostly farmland. It's a great place! I'm in South Orange County now and love it here too. Irvine has changed a lot. You will find many homes are bought and sit empty-purchased primarily for the investment by overseas investors.

I love how close we are to John Wayne Airport, Laguna Beach, Newport, Dana Point, San Clemente. If you get a chance next time you are in town, head down to Balboa Island. It's a great place to walk. Westside Costa Mesa is booming too. If you love coffee, check out Kit Coffee-so nice

I think you better buy a big house, because everyone is going to want to come visit you!

When I moved to California from Chicago in 1984 I almost rented an apartment in Irvine, but before doing so I stopped someplace for coffee and saw a local newspaper. I went to the classifieds (remember them?) and saw an ad for an apartment on Balboa Island - substantially cheaper than the one in Irvine. I saw it that day and got the place, and my love affair with California began.

My job was problematic and I had no friends in the area, but every time I crossed Pacific Coast Highway on my way home and saw the ocean, I was happy. I moved to San Francisco a couple years later for grad school, but the time I lived on Balboa Island was wonderful. And yes, my family came to visit me there.

I lived in Silicon Valley for over twenty years and my family visited rarely. Now we are on the Central Coast and the family is visiting again, so I guess the lure of California beaches is pretty appealing.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

I think some of the trouble with some of these responses is people already live in amazing climate places! If you guys all lived in the frozen north like us I think you'd be singing a different tune.

I think some posters here did relocate to warmer weather, we just don't like to talk about it.

 

[audreyh1]

Yeah, I'd say we moved to a warmer location. It's supposed to hit 107 on Saturday!

 

[TallTim]

+1 to those suggesting long-term snowbirding. We've lived all over the country (GA, MA, NCal, SoCal) and finally ended up in SoCal for RE, more or less by accident. When DD and DS were small, we lived in ATL a well as Western MA and MIL/FIL lived in Orlando, which was great. DW took them regularly in the colder months to see the GPs ... but once they got into school it got a lot more complicated.

Then MIL/FIL moved to CA to be near their own aging parents, and our cross-country trips contracted to school breaks only .. between the cost of plane tix, jet lag for little kids and school schedules, it became a real chore to visit.

That said, it all changed when DW and I moved to CA ourselves. We see MIL/FIL regularly now (it's a one hour flight and we all have flexible schedules).

So ... if you move to another timezone and/or your grandkids are in school and/or have extracurricular activities, IMHO you will be flying to see them more than they come to your - your own kids will tell you that you have time and money and they have less of both .. so please come to them.

Because of that reality, I'd endorse the idea above of renting a place for a month or two in the winter (say, from Christmas to end of Feb) .. that gets you so-cal weather for the worst part of the NoVA winter and you don't lose the connection to the GKs.

All FWIW ...

 

[Ronstar]

I suggest snowbirding as well. We were gone from our home base for 3 months during the winter. We don't have close friends at our winter place. But we picked up with our home friends just fine when we got back.

And 4 groups of family / friends came to visit during the winter. You'll find that family/friends will want to visit you frequently in the winter if you're someplace warm and they aren't.

 

[NW-Bound]

Yeah, I'd say we moved to a warmer location. It's supposed to hit 107 on Saturday!

Wow, you win this time. I just looked it up, and we are easing off here from 95F to 85F.

 

[StaceyR]

Ironically, just as we are considering moving from SoCal/Orange County my DW's parents announced they are leaving the house they built near Yosemite and to move back near us. Age and physical issues made it difficult to maintain a mountain home and they wanted to be closer to major medical care and family. They offered up their house for siblings to share but that would mean we would be separated much of the year again. We have some time to mull this over as their new continuous care community home is two years from completion. Kind of a reverse situation to consider this option.

 

[Iusta]

Highly recommend you make the move. I was in the same situation as you. Now sitting in the sun chilling out with a coffee and listening to the birds sing. Just do it as you can always move back. I bet you never will move back though.

 

[davismills]

I have always wanted to move to Hawaii, but knowing that I would be leaving all of my friends behind has caused me to hold off on making the move. It's not easy to create a new life for yourself at our age.

But I also wonder if I will regret not having done so at some point in my life. I just don't know how I will feel once I get too old to do anything about it. It's not an easy decision.

I was stationed at Hickam AFB on Oahu back in 1993 for four years. We were worried about family and friends not wanting to visit. We were WRONG. We could barely get the sheets changed in the guest room before the next guests arrived. Now that we're in middle GA.....crickets!

 

[TrophyWife]

One thing to consider is the COL in Orange County, CA...its very high. If you have lived here for a long time, you don't really notice it. LOL. You won't find a one bedroom condo for under $250,000 unless it's in some of the bad areas. In some ways it's probably cheaper to live here because there is so much do outside that is free. But yes, the housing market is crazy. Studio condos in moderate to good areas rent for 1200+

 

[brett]

Had a similar dilemma.

Solved it by leaving our cold winter climate as close to New Years as possible and returning in late March. Also do a 6-12 week trip in the Sept/Oct time frame. We like where we live, summers are wonderful, and we can be in the Rockies in an hour. Moved to a condo, and next to an HOA community so we don't have to concern ourselves with lawn care or snow removal.

 

[socca]

I'm not ready for harsh winters or humid, bug infested summers so that limits my options further.

I lived for 11 years in suburban Chicago (harsh winters) and now 10 years in south Florida (humid, bug infested summers), and have enjoyed both, but for different reasons. I enjoyed the changing seasons up north, but I was employed full-time so I had to venture out even when the weather was nasty. Being self-employed or retired would make a huge difference in quality of life up there. Bad weather? Just hunker down and wait until it passes. A huge advantage to living up north: you aren't overwhelmed with warmth-seekers causing mind-boggling congestion wherever you turn ...

 

[Ready]

Orange County is no doubt very expensive. But you won't find any better weather within this country, outside of Hawaii. We constantly remind each other that we only have so many years to enjoy life, and part of enjoying life is living in a climate that is enjoyable to be in.

The traffic is awful, but it really doesn't matter if you are retired. You can easily avoid the rush hour commutes, and you will rarely need to leave Orange County since there are such abundant resources here.

Of course, I'm not sure why I'm trying to convince anyone to move here. We already have too many people living here!

 

[fasteddie911]

I agree with the snowbirding idea. The grass may not be greener, you may find visiting California to be different than living there.

 

[novaman]

I appreciate all the great responses. This is definitely going to be a tough decision. every moment of every day I keep waffling back and forth.

 

[iloveyoga]

I've thought about this question a lot. My grandkids are getting older now, some are in their teens, and I would not trade being close for their growing up activities for anything. I do find that the older they get, the easier it is to go away for at least part of the cold Iowa winter. By the way, we have had a string of nasty, rainy, cold days here recently. Everyone has about had it!

 

[meierlde]

Orange County is no doubt very expensive. But you won't find any better weather within this country, outside of Hawaii. We constantly remind each other that we only have so many years to enjoy life, and part of enjoying life is living in a climate that is enjoyable to be in.

The traffic is awful, but it really doesn't matter if you are retired. You can easily avoid the rush hour commutes, and you will rarely need to leave Orange County since there are such abundant resources here.

Of course, I'm not sure why I'm trying to convince anyone to move here. We already have too many people living here!

For weather about as good but still in Ca consider Santa Maria/San Louis Obispo, which are at least not as large.

 

[Scuba]

DH & I absolutely love living in So CA, so much so that we continued to work for several additional years so we could afford to stay here after we RE'd. If you stay out of LA you can avoid much of the crowds & traffic, and there are many options including Santa Barbara, Ventura, South Bay, Palos Verdes, Long Beach, OC, & San Diego. Personally I value living on the beach so I wouldn't choose Irvine. Irvine is very nice but it's more suburban. Given the OP's situation, I would choose a town/neighborhood on the water. It's not just being able to see the ocean, but also having easy access to biking, jogging, or walking on the beach path as well as sailing, kayaking or paddle boarding on the ocean. These activities really help make So CA feel special to me.

Only the OP can decide the values question (proximity to family vs lifestyle of CA), but if a move to CA is the OP's preferred option, I encourage consideration of an oceanfront community. When I first moved to CA, we lived in inland OC. While it was beautiful & the weather was great, I realized I was missing out on the true So CA lifestyle by not living close to the beach. Now I look at the ocean every day and the beach/ocean are big motivators for my fitness.

 

[kcowan]

We have several friends from CA who snowbird in Mexico. They come for the warm water and stay for the people (so they say). 3 from Orange and 3 from Monterey through Sonoma. I was surprised when we first met. Many more are here but not close friends.

 

[ponyboy]

I live in the WDC metro area. Winters here are mind at most. Im surprised you think its that bad. I used to live 3 hours north in PA...those winters were much worse. Winter was really mild this year...and that seems to be the trend for the past couple years. Not to mention the "cold" weather lasts around 3 months here, lol. Not a big deal...just dress warm and stay inside more.

 

[ponyboy]

I have always wanted to move to Hawaii, but knowing that I would be leaving all of my friends behind has caused me to hold off on making the move. It's not easy to create a new life for yourself at our age.

Hawaii is amazing...unless you have to work while you're there. Ive visited hawaii a bunch of times. Its always great being in vacation mode. Those that do live/work there that Ive spoken with sing a different tune. just an fyi

 

[novaman]

I live in the WDC metro area. Winters here are mind at most. Im surprised you think its that bad. I used to live 3 hours north in PA...those winters were much worse. Winter was really mild this year...and that seems to be the trend for the past couple years. Not to mention the "cold" weather lasts around 3 months here, lol. Not a big deal...just dress warm and stay inside more.

Wait I never said the winters were horrible. I just don't like the weather. I don't like the cold, nor do I like the heat and humidity. And when it is nice in the Spring my allergies kick in. All told we might have 25 or so really nice days a year here in DC that Are simply spectacular. The rest you can have.

 

[Ready]

My morning swim at the local resort pool, short drive from Irvine. Just in case that helps the OP think this through a bit. Ocean and beaches in the background. Daily routine for me year round here.

 

[whatnot]

Ready - That is a great pic. Do you live in this community or do you pay a fee to use the resort? Looks awesome!