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I like your plan Golfingduo. Sounds like a winner. Sounds like you are moving to a warmer climate and then traveling. Does that mean you will be renting? I don't know if we will ever own another home, not that we don't like our present one. I just think it will be easier to rent and travel.
Texas - ugh - dry heat and I mean hot. I have a friend born and raised in MA went to CA and then to Texas. She hates the heat but it is a dry heat. I too do not like the dry heat. Don't know if I will like the humidity heat but willing to try it. At least it will be better for my skin. LOL That dry heat is HOT having visited AZ, NM and Utah.
I like your plan Golfingduo. Sounds like a winner. Sounds like you are moving to a warmer climate and then traveling. Does that mean you will be renting? I don't know if we will ever own another home, not that we don't like our present one. I just think it will be easier to rent and travel.
Texas - ugh - dry heat and I mean hot. I have a friend born and raised in MA went to CA and then to Texas. She hates the heat but it is a dry heat. I too do not like the dry heat. Don't know if I will like the humidity heat but willing to try it. At least it will be better for my skin. LOL That dry heat is HOT having visited AZ, NM and Utah.
Texas is cheap though for retirees.
Not sure at this point. My mother-in-law will relocate with us. She likes to garden. I am thinking a small house with a small back yard. A place where she can putter around and I can go putting. Since I am going to be retired military the 3 air bases are perfect to get the wife out of the house to distant places like England or Italy and Germany. With the wife being Korean we will do Korea a number of times as well.
Your point about dry heat though isnt as true for Texas. AZ and NM yes. Lots of moisture comes off the gulf and runs it way around. The only issue I was concerned of was tornados. That is why I am heading towards hill country where it is less often.
Lots of great advice here. I second the notion that if it costs more to ship than it's worth, then just sell it or give it away, and then replace it later, except for sentimental items or souvenirs from travels, etc. But as far as furniture and household items, a calculation about what it's worth, what it costs to ship and what it costs to replace should definitely be done before just packing everything up without thinking about it much.
I have hobbies, so those items will need to go with me to my new place (haven't decided where that is yet), but my furniture is IKEA or other inexpensive stuff that I can easily sell before moving. We all want to hang on to our treasures, and I plan to scan all my old photos that were taken with film/pre-digital, so I can have them as a record, but not have to pack/ship all of it. Clothes? good time to weed out old stuff not being worn, or things that no longer fit..... Moving isn't fun, but seeing it as an adventure can help!
xz2Y,
You've been wanting to move away for a fairly long time. Any leads yet? Wondering where you are leaning toward...
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Originally Posted by golfingduo
...issue I was concerned of was tornados. That is why I am heading towards hill country where it is less often.
I chose Hill country as one of my 4 USA abodes. There are plenty of nice things about it for retirees, and for me... the choice of Flying from Austin or San Antonio. Saves me plenty, as one or the other is often running a fare war.
We moved to another coast/latitude (Florida) in our mid/late 60's about 2+ years into retirement (2-years ago). While we moved to be nearer grandkids/daughter, but, had been in previous location for the previous 27 years.
We sold our place and then had a moving company do the packing/moving and then put most of our stuff in storage. We also rented a small truck with a tow bar so we could take enough personal stuff (and 2nd car) that we could rent a furnished place for a while, until we scoped-out the local area and housing market. The two part move didn't cost us anymore than a single move, except for added storage time/cost. Our plan was to rent for 6-months, but, we instead, moved in with our daughter & family and stored the rest of our stuff. The move/transition worked out very well. After six months, we made the decision to stay here, and also determined where we wanted to live ... and located the best house/condo and location for us (amenities, church, shopping, etc).
The difficult part has been trying to get re-established in a new area at our age. We no longer have the ministry connections, golfing/ quilting groups, long-term friends, community involvement, etc. ... plus, with no jobs/kids/established reputation, etc. - making meaningful friendships and new connections is much tougher than it used to be. The fact that our daughter and grandkids are here, has made a big difference! (Without that, we would probably feel a lot more disconnected).
The logistics of a move at our age is not that big of an issue ...unless you try to take on the entire physical move yourself ... like you said, you are no longer 20). My advice would be to take a serious look at what you have now (that you will be giving up) ... and your real expectations of the new location (eg; how much time and effort are you really willing to put into getting integrated into a new community, set of friends, activities, etc.). Then/when you decide to make the move, do it in stages that give you some flexible options to make necessary changes.
Mom moved from upstate NY to Indianapolis last summer. She is 80 and waited for one year after Dad died. She made the decision because even though the house was small, the city was old and the people she needed to do things for her were hard or impossible to find.
She sold everything (but personal possessions)and strangely her house sold full price as is in 7 days. We had already been collecting good furniture for us and just shared our extra with her. She moved into a large senior apartment complex with health center and good 6 day a week bus service. She has remained positive and making new friends. She is exercising more and watching her eating and her latest doctor visit was "excellent health".
We steered her to the large complex due to her single status and the issue of having lots of people around she could meet and lots of activities she could choose from or not at her desire. Just last week she participated in a WII bowing tournament and is making party favors for 60 people for next Thanksgiving. So good to see her active and planning future events.
She misses her knitting group and we have helped her get to a new one but are working on figuring out how to start one at her complex.
Consider RVing for awhile. You can get a nice used travel trailer (I am not a fan of motor homes). You can get one that can be towed by a lighter truck---say an F150. See as much of the country as you want. Find a place? Settle in and sell the rig.
It is my thinking that relocation must consider finding new physicians rather than waiting for an ER visit and getting assigned to someone or worse, not getting a doctor at all. I'm on Medicare and so finding a doctor BEFORE relocating is paramount. No doctor is a deal killer.
After lots of research we re-located to NM when we were in our mid 60s. It worked well for us, we are very social and not afraid to jump in. Our church was small so they were very welcoming to new families and we had a neighborhood of mostly people close to our age. We stayed for 7 years and then decided to get a little closer to family so we came to AR. Again, because we are joiners and our health (especially when we moved here) was very good we had very little adjustment problems. Of course we missed our tight knit church and neighood in NM. For us it has been fine. On the otherhand we know a few couples from our chruch who have moved to be closer to family or for weather reasons that are not as outgoing and are very unhappy. In two of the cases, they expected the kids to be there for them and be their social network. They didn't realize kids and grandkids have their own lives
How successful a move can be depends on research, your personality and why you want to re-locate. Having outside hobbies and interests can make a big difference.. Remember the re-location can mean, finding new shopping, doctors, mechanics, beauty shop, maybe church (If this is something you are looking for) but all this, while a challenge can make the move fun and exciting.
I'll be 70 this coming June and my wife is now 71. After living here in northeastern Florida, Jacksonville, for the last 10 years, we are now packing things to move BACK to Colorado. Lived south of Denver, in both Englewood and Parker, for a total of 5 1/2 years. Even though the winters can be tough, we really enjoyed the things we did while living there. I fell in our driveway after a snowstorm, that required rotator cuff surgery and we decided that it would be safer for us to live in a "less winter" area. Moved to Huntersville, NC for a year, but, after wife got laid-off her job there, decided to visit Jacksonville in Dec 2008. Since we love boating, we seen a lot of water (St Johns River) in Jacksonville and moved there.
Had a boat in Colorado, but sold it there. So, found a boat here and bought it. Wasn't thinking about the tides and salt/brackish water that is here. Didn't have those in Colorado. Plus, I fell in the parking lot in front of our apartment and that fall required a rotator cuff surgery in my other shoulder. The day I fell, it was completely sunny and warm!
We came to realize, a couple of years ago, that Jacksonville, Florida, the South and East Coast just aren't for us. Due to a boat repair in 2017, couldn't get finances together enough to move last year.
Flew to northern Colorado last July for a week. Went to a pro-rodeo in Cheyenne, WY (CFD) while there and loved it. I'm a former member of a major rodeo association. There are just things that Jacksonville and Florida don't have, that Colorado, Wyoming, Montana and nearby states do...…..that we really, really miss.
Been thru a couple of tropical storms and two hurricanes here (Irma/Mathew) and, to a point, would rather go thru a full-blown blizzard.
I'm already retired and with will either fully retire or party retire when we move.
I see your on the West coast and I'm 70 on the East coast. My wife and I retired and were Snowbirds from MA to FL for 5 years before moving to FL year round and staying for 3 before moving out of the endless Summer of FL to our new 65 acre homestead in the mountains of WNC. We thought we could handle the H/H of Summer, we couldn't so moved further North, we get snow but it melts in a day or few.
I suggest crossing over at different seasons in order to get a feel for your desired areas, I'd fly over, rent a car, and cottage, or in winter stay at Motel of choice.
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Moving isn't fun, but seeing it as an adventure can help!
