[RichDinNC]

Hi all, this has been a very informative thread. A lot of different perspectives have been presented. I've never lived in Florida but have lived in several New England states, North Carolina (twice and presently), Texas, and Virginia. My wife and I became tired of dealing with the cold, snowy New England winters and expensive cost of living and moved back to North Carolina in 2011. There are still several things about New England we love, but not enough to hold us there. We do like the weather in North Carolina better, plus the fact we're close to our kids who both ended up back here in NC in the past few years. For the next 3 - 4 years North Carolina will be home, however we are both very interested in retiring to Florida. In February we'll be visiting relatives there in the Inverness area and plan to so some exploring and gather as much info on the area as we can. My sister, who's always lived in New England absolutely loves the Inverness area, the people, the weather, however she and her husband haven't spent a summer there. They typically head down in October from New England and stay through late April/early May. They haven't experienced a summer there. So my question is, especially for people who've moved to Florida from the northern parts of the country, did you have a hard time adjusting to the summer heat and humidity? Do you end up staying inside all summer? It might also be interesting to hear from people who've moved away from Florida to cooler climates, then moved back. Was it difficult to adjust to the heat and humidity after getting used to colder weather? I assume mid and northern Florida don't get quite as oppressive in the summer as southern Florida?
Perhaps I should have started a new thread, but it seems to me lots of people who've commented here might be able to provide some good feedback.

[Donna-501]

Originally Posted by RichDinNC

Hi all, this has been a very informative thread. A lot of different perspectives have been presented. I've never lived in Florida but have lived in several New England states, North Carolina (twice and presently), Texas, and Virginia. My wife and I became tired of dealing with the cold, snowy New England winters and expensive cost of living and moved back to North Carolina in 2011. There are still several things about New England we love, but not enough to hold us there. We do like the weather in North Carolina better, plus the fact we're close to our kids who both ended up back here in NC in the past few years. For the next 3 - 4 years North Carolina will be home, however we are both very interested in retiring to Florida. In February we'll be visiting relatives there in the Inverness area and plan to so some exploring and gather as much info on the area as we can. My sister, who's always lived in New England absolutely loves the Inverness area, the people, the weather, however she and her husband haven't spent a summer there. They typically head down in October from New England and stay through late April/early May. They haven't experienced a summer there. So my question is, especially for people who've moved to Florida from the northern parts of the country, did you have a hard time adjusting to the summer heat and humidity? Do you end up staying inside all summer? It might also be interesting to hear from people who've moved away from Florida to cooler climates, then moved back. Was it difficult to adjust to the heat and humidity after getting used to colder weather? I assume mid and northern Florida don't get quite as oppressive in the summer as southern Florida?
Perhaps I should have started a new thread, but it seems to me lots of people who've commented here might be able to provide some good feedback.

I moved here years ago from LI and didn't really notice it much hotter here then up there in the summer.

[8to32characters]

Originally Posted by RichDinNC

Hi all, this has been a very informative thread. A lot of different perspectives have been presented. I've never lived in Florida but have lived in several New England states, North Carolina (twice and presently), Texas, and Virginia. My wife and I became tired of dealing with the cold, snowy New England winters and expensive cost of living and moved back to North Carolina in 2011. There are still several things about New England we love, but not enough to hold us there. We do like the weather in North Carolina better, plus the fact we're close to our kids who both ended up back here in NC in the past few years. For the next 3 - 4 years North Carolina will be home, however we are both very interested in retiring to Florida. In February we'll be visiting relatives there in the Inverness area and plan to so some exploring and gather as much info on the area as we can. My sister, who's always lived in New England absolutely loves the Inverness area, the people, the weather, however she and her husband haven't spent a summer there. They typically head down in October from New England and stay through late April/early May. They haven't experienced a summer there. So my question is, especially for people who've moved to Florida from the northern parts of the country, did you have a hard time adjusting to the summer heat and humidity? Do you end up staying inside all summer? It might also be interesting to hear from people who've moved away from Florida to cooler climates, then moved back. Was it difficult to adjust to the heat and humidity after getting used to colder weather? I assume mid and northern Florida don't get quite as oppressive in the summer as southern Florida?
Perhaps I should have started a new thread, but it seems to me lots of people who've commented here might be able to provide some good feedback.

I moved to Boca Raton, FL from North Providence, RI in 1995 and lived there for 12 years until I moved to Long Beach, CA in 2007. In my experience, most of the New Englanders who had difficulty adjusting to the heat were those who were skeptical about being able to handle it in the first place (i.e., before they moved). So if you're questioning your ability to handle the Florida summers from afar, you probably don't particularly care for the heat in general and should probably look into other retirement destinations with cooler or, at the very least, shorter summers.

However, I will have you know that, in my opinion, summers in Florida are a lot easier, for lack of a better term, than summers in much of Texas and the Desert Southwest, as you have more "breaks" from the intense heat and humidity in Florida than in those areas--lots of cloud cover, daily afternoon thunderstorms, sea breezes along the immediate coastline, days of rain due to passing systems, more shade trees, and so forth.

For me personally, the heat and humidity of Florida never bothered me--it was the people and overall culture I despised. Living in Florida kind of felt like wearing a pair of shoes that just didn't fit right, and I'm far from the only the poster on this forum who feels this way, either.

[Spring Hillian]

After 7 years ya would think he would be over it.

[OKCSteel]

I lived up north most of my life and then moved to Orlando for 12 years. I left and went to Oklahoma City for almost 5 years now. I am in the process of moving back to Florida and can't wait. The weather and sunshine can't be beat. Sure, it is hot and humid for several months out of the year but I prefer that than ice and snow. Got used to the summer weather after about 2 years.

[Bluesky249]

Experienced living in New Jersey and Florida and the best I can say about Florida is the no income tax that's it.
I lived in Miami and its heavily Hispanic, high car and health insurance and people are not too friendly. I like NJ better but the taxes too much though, I can handle 3 months of winter over there. Now am in Hawaii and hands down has the best weather, best health insurance but then cost of living too high coz of remote location. all places have its pros and cons just have to learn to be happy where you are at the moment.

[expatCA]

Originally Posted by Bluesky249

Experienced living in New Jersey and Florida and the best I can say about Florida is the no income tax that's it.
I lived in Miami and its heavily Hispanic, high car and health insurance and people are not too friendly. I like NJ better but the taxes too much though, I can handle 3 months of winter over there. Now am in Hawaii and hands down has the best weather, best health insurance but then cost of living too high coz of remote location. all places have its pros and cons just have to learn to be happy where you are at the moment.

Remember Miami is not FL anymore than Newark is NJ. I would never live in Miami.

[OceanGirl815]

Born and raised in Michigan (mostly), briefly lived in Arizona during my younger years. Husband, kids, and I just moved to Florida last year. We have NO intentions on moving back up North! Majority of my life was in the cold, snowy weather and I am so beyond sick of it. We love Florida, theres so much to do, places to visit, and you cant beat the beautiful sunshine and ocean! We live about 5-10 min from the Atlantic and love being able to go there anytime we want. We chose Melbourne to live because the city had everything we needed, not too big but not rural at all. I love the laid back lifestyle here and so far everyone I've encountered has been friendly!