My visit to Tampa (Orlando, Trinity: live, to move, relocation)

[bavariantransplant]

I just returned from 4 days in Tampa Bay for my relocation visit. I have to say, overall I was verypleased with what I saw and came away thinking Tampa Bay would be a great fit for my family and I.

There are a few things I would like to mention for others who are in the same position.

Weather: I came prepared, light clothes / sweat towel and have to say overall I found the climate to be not so bad and that’s coming from someone who has lived the last 5 years in a high elevation in Germany, very cool and damp. Only one day, the last day seemed to be really humid and was the 1st time I had to breakout my sweat towel. The thunderstorms were impressive at times and really enjoyed incredible streaks of lightning across the sky. I really liked driving over the bridges (I drove all of them) and looking to the left and right at various cloud formations and storms among many other interesting things. The scenery driving is very nice to look at and it made my time in the car more pleasant. I looked forward to certain views each day.

Driving / Traffic: I am not sure if the fact that I spent 5 days prior driving all around New York City visiting family had an impact on what I am going to say next but the traffic is a joke. I drove morning and night “rush hours” across all bridges from top to bottom of Tampa Bay, Veterans Expressway, RT 19, all of it. I found it all to be a pleasant drive. I drove from Sand Key to TIA at 7am and it took me 35 minutes. I drove from Sand Key to Bay Pines then on to Trinity and it took me 1hr25 minutes at the height of rush hour. I never really sat in traffic for an extended period of time. The traffic seems to keep flowing at worse 30-40mph but even during commute times was running 60-70-80mph.

The people: It seemed to me the people of Tampa Bay were really good natured and friendly. I had many strike up conversations with mean and overall felt them to be some of the friendlier people I have ever come across.

I was happy I made the trip and thank everyone on CD for their input over the last 8 months, I now make permanent plans to relocate to Tampa Bay.

[tjax1000]

I'm glad to hear that you had a nice visit!

Traffic is all about timing- there are definitely selected times and places that are worse than others. If you can avoid the problem times, you can make really good time even when covering some distance.

If you move here, dri-fit clothing may become your friend (spoken as a male- can't speak for women!) A traditional polo shirt will become waterlogged during a walk across a large parking lot and will stay wet for a good while once you enter an air conditioned building. A dri-fit polo will only hold so much water, and really only becomes "damp."

[bavariantransplant]

Thanks for the tip, never heard of dri-fit before but will definitely be looking into them.

I did have a nice visit, looking forward to the move.

[Kaybri73]

So glad to hear you had a great trip and good luck in your preparations to move.

[BucFan]

Originally Posted by tjax1000

If you move here, dri-fit clothing may become your friend (spoken as a male- can't speak for women!) A traditional polo shirt will become waterlogged during a walk across a large parking lot and will stay wet for a good while once you enter an air conditioned building. A dri-fit polo will only hold so much water, and really only becomes "damp."

that's pretty much the only shirts that I wear during Spring, Summer, Fall months (microfiber stuff)

[HWTechGuy]

My company had dri-fit golf and dress shirts available this year, so I chose that option because it seemed like a good idea. I had never heard of it before. Boy, I am glad I did.

[tinytrump]

Friendly they are- social is another - I think you will be Ok as you will have family with you, and your bodies will climatize to the weather and get used to it. It a pretty place just find your space.

[Shorty458]

Originally Posted by bavariantransplant

I just returned from 4 days in Tampa Bay for my relocation visit. I have to say, overall I was verypleased with what I saw and came away thinking Tampa Bay would be a great fit for my family and I.

There are a few things I would like to mention for others who are in the same position.

Weather: I came prepared, light clothes / sweat towel and have to say overall I found the climate to be not so bad and that’s coming from someone who has lived the last 5 years in a high elevation in Germany, very cool and damp. Only one day, the last day seemed to be really humid and was the 1st time I had to breakout my sweat towel. The thunderstorms were impressive at times and really enjoyed incredible streaks of lightning across the sky. I really liked driving over the bridges (I drove all of them) and looking to the left and right at various cloud formations and storms among many other interesting things. The scenery driving is very nice to look at and it made my time in the car more pleasant. I looked forward to certain views each day.

Driving / Traffic: I am not sure if the fact that I spent 5 days prior driving all around New York City visiting family had an impact on what I am going to say next but the traffic is a joke. I drove morning and night “rush hours” across all bridges from top to bottom of Tampa Bay, Veterans Expressway, RT 19, all of it. I found it all to be a pleasant drive. I drove from Sand Key to TIA at 7am and it took me 35 minutes. I drove from Sand Key to Bay Pines then on to Trinity and it took me 1hr25 minutes at the height of rush hour. I never really sat in traffic for an extended period of time. The traffic seems to keep flowing at worse 30-40mph but even during commute times was running 60-70-80mph.

The people: It seemed to me the people of Tampa Bay were really good natured and friendly. I had many strike up conversations with mean and overall felt them to be some of the friendlier people I have ever come across.

I was happy I made the trip and thank everyone on CD for their input over the last 8 months, I now make permanent plans to relocate to Tampa Bay.

Glad to hear you had a nice visit here. Yeah the lightening storms here are pretty amazing. I love if I am coming back from the Orlando area in the evening and going I-4 west. Since it's pretty flat you can see SO much of the sky. It's a great show.

[bavariantransplant]

Now I have to get some of these dri-fits, sounds perfect.

The lightening is a great show. I was amazed how you can look in one direction and have an incredibly lightening show then to the other direction a beautiful setting sun. I found neat things to look at to be endless.

[BucFan]

Personally, I'd rather be looking at the Zugspitze.