Anyone moved to a sunny state and moved back because of heat? (home, 20')

[Giesela]

Originally Posted by TheBeagleLady

This sounds awful to me. I need variety and seasons, which basically means I have to tolerate cold and snow in the winter. I think I have found a place that is as close to perfect for me as it can get. It can get hot in the summer, but without the high humidity and also without the almost non-existent humidity levels that would irritate me. It cools down at night. Fall is awesome...cool, crisp, sunny. Winter isn't too bad. It's usually quite sunny and while it can get very cold and windy (sub zero temps/windchills aren't uncommon), it doesn't stay that way for weeks on end. We regularly get winter temps in the 40's & 50's. We can get a lot of snow (except the last couple years), but it doesn't stay on the ground for months at a time.

I do wish we got more rain in the spring and fall, and I REALLY miss the good thunderstorms in Tornado Alley. We are in a drought and wildfires are always a concern (and I'd be lying if I said I love the wind), but overall I love the weather here. The good outweighs the bad.

I don't understand why people aren't saying what state they are talking about? Its not helpful at all.

[Alicia64]

The heat is an adjustment thing. I grew up in the "best" weather in the world: the San Francisco Bay Area. Super mild weather all the time. Maybe a little cool in the summer, but the sun is out regularly.

Then I moved two hours away to Sacramento, CA never dreaming it would be a big deal.

HUGE DEAL. The heat in Sacramento is like an oven. So -- coming from the mild Bay Area to the oven that is Sacramento -- I had a huge adjustment. I'd honestly say that it took me ten years to really adjust to the temps that were over 100 degrees in the summer.

But nobody had given me the heads up. I was young and my parents didn't say a word. I actually moved to Sac without a/c in my car which you absolutely need.

Eventually I moved to VA which is supposedly humid in the summer. Okay, it is, but not a big deal. I honestly think that if I'd moved from the Bay Area to VA I would have had a problem with the heat. But Sacramento prepared me for VA temps so they were no big deal.

If you're purposely going to a state for sun and heat I think you'll be fine. You'll know in advance what you're seeking and the best advice I can give you is: be prepared to be out and about in the mornings and inside or in a pool after 1 p.m. Once I figured that out -- duh -- I was fine.

I had just been used to living my life outside in the afternoons in the Bay Area, but in a hot and sunny state you need to be indoors or in a pool in the afternoons. Much easier than being depressed in the Pacific Northwest.

alley

[timberline742]

Originally Posted by Ginger_Snap

I'm in trouble. I don't like it too hot or too cold. I don't like it too cloudy or too sunny. I like a frost. I don't like tornadoes. I don't like humidity. I like trees. I like not having to worry about a drought. I'm screwed.

I think that except for the frost part, SF hits it pretty close.

[Cdarocks]

This is such a great thread.

I grew up in Van, BC and the weather didn't bother me because I simply didn't know anything else. The rain keeps things very green there and I think it is a fabulous city. Then I moved to north Idaho - beautiful, beautiful place and one of the best for the summer season. However, the never ending winter and grey skies became hard to deal with after a few years. Every winter I found myself dreaming of warmer and sunnier places to be, and this started happening earlier and earlier each year. We got an opportunity to move to the Deep South and we jumped at it, humidity and all.

We thought the humidity would bother us and my husband kept waiting to hate it, but this has not happened yet in the 3 years we have been here. I run in the afternoons, even when it is crazy hot with 90+% humidity. My kids do outdoor sports without a problem. Yes, we sweat and take lots of showers. I would rather have this than dreary grey skies that swallow us up for months. Things cool off a bit here during the winter months, so a light jacket is needed Dec-Jan. The lawn mowers are back out early Feb. Perfection.

My hubs and son are in Idaho now visiting hubs family, who keep asking when we are moving back. I will come and visit, but you would have to drag me away in chains from the sunshine.

[Neecyn50]

Born and raised in Northern Calif, and I am SO ready to leave.
Summer highs average between 95-112, which is so miserable. We put in a nice pool when we bought this house 8 years ago, but unless we are submerged in the water, it's just too hot to be outside.
Summer nights stay hot, and have to sleep with air conditioning on, which causes our A/C to run all night causing a ginormous PG&E bill.
SO, we are actually loking on moving to WA. I love cold, wet, and gray days. For me, I am the polar opposite, I am depressed in the summer. I long for winters...(I think I am missing a chip somewhere in by brain)
Anyways, it is also my fear of relocating to WA, and getting an overdose of gray weather and thinking I want to come back. But here is my thought process......If we go, and find it miserable, we can always come back or find somewhere else. That is what is so awesome about life as we know it, we can do and go anywhere we want, and for any reason we want.
So, if youre looking at moving, go for it.....and like other posters mentioned, just dont go for the extreme heat because that will for sure drive you back to WA. The Bay area is beautiful, LOVE it....but $$$. Good luck!

[Siggy20]

We just moved to Texas over the summer and I don't regret it at all. During my growing up years, lived in CA, Australia and then Hawaii. Hawaii probably has the most comfortable climate of all the areas but not likely to live there again.

I thought that Texas would really bug my husband who hates the heat but he hasn't really had a problem this summer. He walks everyday, to and from the DART station about 30 minutes overall. It is hot but is quite doable. Getting stuck on an NYC subway in the middle of summer with no air conditioning was far worse for him. I exercise everyday outside. Try to get my workout in early but a few times I've been out when it is getting hotter. Don't really mind it.

I wither in the cold. Although a NE fall is lovely and I admit that sleeping with the windows open at night is really nice, I don't miss it. I know that the temperatures in our neck of the woods will start dropping soon but the longer I can stay in my shorts and sandals, the happier I am. I also couldn't live in a place like the Pacific NW. We lived there in our youth but now, I dreary nature really gets to me. I need my warmth and sun.

My ideal spot would be a place where it was 80 degrees every day of the year. My stepmother though hates the heat and dragged my father from Hawaii to the Seattle area. The poor man is cold most of the time. She goes about the Seattle area in short sleeves and a light jacket most of the year. BRRRRRR!!!

[knitgirl]

I grew up and still live outside Chicago. Winters are starting to bother me, but it's really because I have a large driveway to clear. I would like to live in a climate with a temperature range from 20F to 80F, reasonable amounts of rain, some snow would be fine. My parents have been going to Phoenix for several years for the winter. I finally made it out there last year in late March for a few days. I HATED it. It's so brown and you have to drive everywhere, it's sprawling. It was already warmer than I like. I would be a hermit 9 months of the year there. It just started cooling off here this week and I noticed a surge of energy now that the weather is in the 70's with cool nights.

[ElleTea]

It is really interesting to read the differences in how people feel about the weather. One person's ideal is another person's nightmare.

I am about to move from the central US to the desert SW. I am looking forward to the heat. And the sun. And no more distinct seasons. I am happiest when the sun is out and the temp is over 100!

[Fogheart]

Originally Posted by civic94

has anyone moved from a cold place to a really sunny, hot place (arizona, florida, texas, etc) and moved back because of the extreme heat?

I live in washington state and I wish for more sun, as I get depressed in the winter. if you are one of those folks who moved south for the sun, cant take the heat, and then moved back, please tell me your experiences/feelings about it.


everytime there is sun here, i love it, but i never been in a situation where it is 100 degrees or more. to me, seeing the sun is heaven, but then i can imagine a place being too hot and it feels like being in hell, if oyu know what i mean

I also can not imagine living where there is extreme heat. It is funny because I grew up on the East Coast. I also live in WA state and get very depressed during their 9 month lack of sunshine season.. I have been wondering the same thing. I think that, like anywhere, your body will adjust - you have to decide how bad you need that heat, to go with the sunshine. I believe there are milder climates too - but I think AZ & FL would fall under extreme heat in the summers - Then again, living in WA - there is no extreme cold - so I conclude there is no perfect temp all the time (probably Ha & CA are close, but lets be real about cost of living)

[ivotedale]

I think it's all relative- I've been in AZ most of my life.

This summer was a brutal one for those who live here- I think there was a day it peaked ~122+ degrees F. Luckily I was house sitting in a nice air-conditioned home w/ a car (I don't own one personally right now). Walking outside felt like it does when you grab a pizza from the oven at home.

For the most part, it's a dry heat. Although I'm "adapted" to hotter weather, it sucks. However, if you visit a humid area out of state, and come back (I went to Arkansas one summer, can't see how people enjoy living there), you will love coming back to the dryness for about a day or so.

Fall/"Winter" are the best times for AZ minus the old folks that visit during that time. I'm personally looking to get out of AZ for a change of pace- and the dry, arid climate isn't working for me anymore (it never did). I had to get my nose cauterized last year because of how bad it got, and I never really get bloody noses. Bled for almost two weeks, nearly every day, before I had the procedure taken care of. Anyway, I digress- I'm from the Philippines originally so I guess I'm used to a more humid pacific climate

Again, it's probably all relative. Some folks have been in the city most of their life, and love to come down to a more suburban lifestyle. Others have lived in cold, cloudy states and flock to the sunny side of the West Coast. Kids like me want something different.