[miakelly]

We are moving to FL soon. I LOVE hot weather. It was 95 here yesterday and it made me even more excited to get to Florida! I hope I never see another snowflake as long as I live

I am wondering if anyone has moved to Florida from NH or the far Northeast and how has your experience been? Is there anything you can tell me or share that will help make our transition easier?

Just looking for as much info as I can to prepare for such a drastic change.

Thanks in advance........I'd appreciate any help from anyone!

[daniellefort]

Yes i have. I moved from NH in 1994. The first summer was horribly hot as i wasn't used to it. The hot weather isn't the bad part but it's the humidity in the air that kills you. In summertime, it usually rains every afternoon because the sea breezes from each side of the coast collide causing some pretty good storms sometimes. Be aware of hurricane preparation and what you need. I went 7 days without power once in August and it was absolutely miserably hot. All the food in the refrigerator spoiled, i couldn't even have a cold drink of water because all the stores were out of ice. Buy a generator if you can when you get here and make ice BEFORE the storms come. What i miss the most is the 4 seasons (especially foliage) and the end of the year holidays just don't seem the same when it's 70 degrees outside. In fact, i'm moving back to NH in 2 weeks not because i don't like FL but because of all my family, i'm the only one who moved away and i miss them and want my daughter to be around them. It would make it easier on you if you know people already down here. It's hard to make friends. Oh and leave most of your winter clothes behind. Just bring a few sweaters, pants and a light jacket because you will hardly need them. Your home furnishings probably won't match because down here, everyone has some kind of beach, sunshine and bright color theme. It just goes with the kind of weather we always have. We have a store in FL called BEALLS (pronounced Bells) and they have clothing, gifts and some of the neatest decorations for homes. So in short, leave you furnishings with your home if you can, leave your heavy winter clothing and don't move in the middle of summer time. Your better off moving in winter or early spring so you can adjust to the heat rather than just get right in the middle of the worst part. What part of NH are you moving from? I came from and am heading back to Berlin.

[miakelly]

Thanks for all the great info! We are coming from a small town, just outside of Manchester. We will probably have to move in August as this is for a job transfer. I really don't mind the humidity, as long as I have a/c. I also really want to get a house with a pool.......is this recommended? My family loves to swim.

When are you headed back to Berlin?

[daniellefort]

Originally Posted by miakelly

Thanks for all the great info! We are coming from a small town, just outside of Manchester. We will probably have to move in August as this is for a job transfer. I really don't mind the humidity, as long as I have a/c. I also really want to get a house with a pool.......is this recommended? My family loves to swim.

When are you headed back to Berlin?

Yes you'll want a pool with a screen room to keep the bugs and leaves out. I'm heading back in 2 weeks. One thing you probably don't hear about is what a "halfbacker" is. That means someone moved from the north to FL and couldn't take the heat so they moved "half" way back north usually ending up in Tennessee or the Carolina's. The weather there is not too cold in the winters and not as hot in the summer. We have property in TN so we will eventually move there some day as well so yeah, we'll be considered "halfbackers" one day.

[Lilybeans]

We moved from Vermont. Can't wait to get out of here and back to Vermont, at least for spring summer and fall. Winter is okay here, weatherwise. The pace of life is different, everyone is transient, rudeness and apathy abound, as well as transient crime and associated problems.

I guess I feel like I can't breathe in Florida. I get up north and instantly my frame of mind changes.

There are of course, nice things. But the ever present sprawl, and crowded roads and towns really puts a damper on things. Too many people.

[markhunt]

Moved from Connecticut in 2003. We have been trying to move BACK to New England since 2007. Bottom line for me is, not a place I want to raise my children. You can do a search for my past posts to see a lot of what I have to say with regards to this and other things about Florida. Both good and bad.

[Carbondated]

My hubby is from NH and has lived in FL for 20 years. He would move back to NH in a heartbeat.

[daniellefort]

I miss going places and "bumping" into people you haven't seen in a while during a festival or any kind of community activity. It's not like smaller towns up north where you might run into an old friend, a neighbor or just someone you know. It seems everybody is a stranger down here. There's so many different people too, it seems nobody can trust anybody or just get along for that matter.

[tsis1]

Moved here from Boston in 2003. Love living here and will never go back. (I do visit family in summer and they come here in winter.) Maybe I was just lucky, but I consider myself blessed.

[miakelly]

Wow, lots of people would rather be up North. I think NH is absolutely beautiful but I truly hate the winter. I could tolerate winter prior to having kids, but now with little kids, I find the winters very isolating and difficult and kind of depressing.

Not much to do with little ones without really bundling them up, and even then, there really isn't that much to do.
If we're lucky, we get maybe 1/2 hour outside here and there in the winter but it's a process getting the snowsuits, boots, mittens, then someone has to pee.....then someone's mitten falls off....then someone eats the yellow snow.....lol.

Otherwise, we end up going to the Mall or the same 2 kids museums all winter......it gets old quick. My kids are 18 months and 4 so we aren't into the Winter sports yet and it's not like they can go outside and play by themselves either. This really has been the hardest part for me is getting through the long Winters (I'm a stay at home Mom). Again, I could tolerate Winter when I worked and didn't have little ones to keep entertained.

I try to get them out as much as possible, but when the nice weather gets here, it feels like heaven. We can go out and play all day, go to the parks, zoo, beaches etc. It has been super hot & humid here the past few days and I LOVE it!!!

I can certainly see why people love NH, believe me it is gorgeous, but after 34 years of Winters, I've had it. That is the only thing I don't like about NH. Especially this past Winter, it was truly awful.

I hope we love Florida! I am really looking forward to getting there and making the best of it. I hope I won't be one of those people that wants to come back to NH. But I guess you never know until you try right?