[JPrzybylski07]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

I lived in DC/Northern Virginia which is worse. Traffic is a trade off for a much more enriching life versus simply "weather" and saving a few bucks.

Speak for yourself. Once again sitting in hours of traffic everyday is one of the most soul sucking activities one can be involved in. I don't know what criteria you use to assume life up north would be more enriching and still justify that with having to deal with much worse traffic, but if you can explain more I'll seek to understand your perspective!

[JPrzybylski07]

Originally Posted by expatCA

Not necessarily. The person may remain a "true" friend in many ways, but their day to day life changes and they make new "true" friends as well. They don't just stop living and making friends. They may call a lot, visit often, etc, but their life goes on and you would play a smaller and smaller part in it over time. I have a friend like that but his day to day life does not include me and I do not include him, not when we are about 2500 miles apart. We will always be friends but even with a visit it requires a changing of plans for both parties. Just life. Moving "back" will not take you back.

I like it, so profound, moving back won't take you back.. So true

[expatCA]

Originally Posted by JPrzybylski07

I like it, so profound, moving back won't take you back.. So true

That is why my wife and I will be moving to FL next year not back to CA (SoCal) where we were born and raised and still have friends. Memories are one thing, but we decided it is better to make new ones than try to live in the past.

[Kim in FL]

Originally Posted by beabea03

So I have a dilemma on whether to stay in Florida or move back to Illinois. I am female and 27 years old. I have lived in Fort Myers for about 3 years and I do enjoy the winters here and I also like my job. I have a pretty cushiony life here, am able to pay my bills and have a small amount of disposable income. I'm also within 10-20 minutes from work and pretty much everything I use on a regular basis. I make okay money and there is some potential to change job positions or move up or around at work. I also have excellent job benefits and insurance. However, I only have a few work friends but no one that I hang out with after work. There are also quite a bit of work politics where I work.

So two years ago, at around the same time, my parents lost their house and had to get rid of their possessions and my dad passed away two months after that. So my mom is kind of bouncing around between staying at my brothers and her friends and she also goes overseas 6 months at a time to care for her parents. So my mom has no house and only receives ~$1200 a month which is not enough to afford rent or a mortage on her own. She cannot live with my brother because of his wife.

Whether I stay in Florida or move back to Illinois my mom has offered to put a down payment on a house for me in exchange for being able to stay there for 3-6 months out of the year and she will help with the house payments. Or she can move back overseas with her parents and potentiality lose the retirement/SS money she gets in the USA and we are worried because she is a permanent resident not a citizen.

I have been considering moving back to Illinois since last year but am unsure what to do. The reasons I want to move back are that I miss my family and I sometimes get lonely because my only friends are from work and we rarely hang out outside work because they are all married with kids and older than me. I also am more on the liberal and progressive side of things and most people around here are not.

I understand that no place is perfect, but if I move back up north I have the potential to be around family and friends. However, the cost of living in the Chicagoland area is more expensive and the traffic can suck.

Any advice would be appreciated.

If your mom is broke and living on $1200 a month where is she going to get the money for a down payment on a house?

As for her retirement, it will follow her wherever she goes. She can live overseas have it direct deposited in a bank there....you're not penalized for living out of the country. Social security does require you to come bank stateside and that sounds like something your mom is going to do anyway. Of course, she will still have to have file US income taxes as well as any foreign taxes, but its not a big deal.

Cost of living in Florida is much lower than up north, but don't that dissuade you...this is a choice you have to make on your own. Whatever you do, make sure you do it for you and not for your mom or her down payment she's promising...make yourself happy first.