[Sunny-Days-in-Florida]

Life is too short to miss out on things you enjoy.

If Florida offers you all the things you enjoy then Florida it should be.

If Georgia, Arizona or whatever state offers you the same thing then you need to look into what fits your needs and wants.

I spent most of my adult life being around family, taking care of aging parents etc and now it is our time to do the things we have always wanted to do.

I wont miss the cold, snow, sliding across the highways etc. The only thing I believe I will miss is seeing the smaller nieces and nephews grow up but that is a trade off.

They can come stay with us any time they want and we will be back to Ohio doing our antiquing and going to our favorite auction houses to buy things to take back to Florida.

For us 20+ years went by quickly and we missed out on doing the things we enjoyed when we were in our 20's and 30's. 99% of those things were in Florida.

You just have to make a decision based on you and your family.

As a person who came back home because both sets of parents were missing us so bad we often got calls with crying involved. So we did the right thing and headed back to be around the parents and other family members.

It has worked out for us other then missing out on tons of things we enjoyed at an earlier age.

Hopefully we will be headed south soon and start a new chapter in our life and getting to enjoy the life that we talked about at 20 years old.

I do not think the vacation will ever end for us as we are still like little kids in a candy store. When we head north we don't want to leave Florida.

Nearly everything we enjoy as a family or individuals is all over Florida.

Now it is our turn, we did the things we were suppose to do.

If we move to Florida and miss all the little town diners, neighbors, friends and they way things were before then we should not even be thinking of moving as it would be a mistake.

When someone post they cannot wait to go back home, that tells me they should have never left home because they are attached to it.

Home is where I lay my head down to sleep at night, not where I was born, grew up, lived etc.

When we get to Florida, Florida will be our home.

[gator.the.dog]

Curious in what part of Florida you've had these experiences

[FL2MT]

I've lived all over the place (northern Michigan, Philadelphia suburbs, Miami, central Florida, Key West, Montana), and I've managed to meet great long-lasting friends at all of those stops. There's work involved when you're new, you have to go out and find those people, they're not just automatically going to come to you or be around like they are in a place you grew up and already know everyone. Maybe it's because I've done the moving thing a few times but when I got here I knew it would take a little while to make some good friends but I joined groups that I had an interest in and met people that way. If I'd lived in the same place for 30 years and thought I could make another lifetime worth of friends in just 4-5 years then I'm sure I would have been disappointed.

There's also much more to Florida than a Publix every mile or boring drives down I-95. St. Augustine is older than any of those 'historic' New England towns. There are tons of back roads criss-crossing Florida with unique towns, shops and people located all along them.

To each their own, I happen to think it's a pretty great place to be and to build a life.

[Sunny-Days-in-Florida]

Originally Posted by gator.the.dog

Curious in what part of Florida you've had these experiences

Florida is full of great things to do.

No other state offers such a variety of things to do from scuba diving, antique shopping, boating, the historic things to see, amusement parks, beautiful scenery to look at everywhere you go.

Our hobbies will increase 10 fold once we get to Florida as it has so much to offer an active fun loving person or family.

I have traveled the entire state many times over, from Jacksonville to Pensacola and everywhere in between.

Did you see the thread about all the things to do in Florida?

How about the thread of success stories of those who moved to Florida?

[seeriously]

Originally Posted by FL2MT

I've lived all over the place (northern Michigan, Philadelphia suburbs, Miami, central Florida, Key West, Montana), and I've managed to meet great long-lasting friends at all of those stops. There's work involved when you're new, you have to go out and find those people, they're not just automatically going to come to you or be around like they are in a place you grew up and already know everyone.

As have I, FL2. I didn't just crawl out from under a snowbank, whack myself on the side of the head and say, "Hey, let's move to FL!" We've lived in MA, Chicago, Northern Virginia, and NY and I actually found people friendlier in the D.C. area than I did in Florida. I understand the friend making process, I've had it pretty down pat since my kindergarten days, but thanks for the tip.

[Mamasaurus0607]

it seems a bit silly to base one's whole opinion about 'the people of the state of Florida' as far as making friends goes on just your experience in the place you lived. Unless you've lived all over Florida...how can you make a judgement like that? Perhaps expecting people to be your 'bosom buddies' in six years time was what made making friends difficult...just sayin'...

Anyhoo...glad you're back north and happy...that's all that matters I guess...one person's paradise can be another's hell. We all have to find what fits us the best.

To Sunny Days...where is that thread about Florida success stories of people who moved there? I would love to read it!

[Sunny-Days-in-Florida]

Originally Posted by Mamasaurus0607

it seems a bit silly to base one's whole opinion about 'the people of the state of Florida' as far as making friends goes on just your experience in the place you lived. Unless you've lived all over Florida...how can you make a judgement like that? Perhaps expecting people to be your 'bosom buddies' in six years time was what made making friends difficult...just sayin'...

Anyhoo...glad you're back north and happy...that's all that matters I guess...one person's paradise can be another's hell. We all have to find what fits us the best.

To Sunny Days...where is that thread about Florida success stories of people who moved there? I would love to read it!

Here ya go. Some awesome stories for sure.

//www.city-data.com/forum/flori...have-been.html

[Dextar]

Hi ipoetry,
Touchy article. Are you missing your in laws and neighbors and friends?
How long you are in Florida?

[seeriously]

Originally Posted by Mamasaurus0607

Perhaps expecting people to be your 'bosom buddies' in six years time was what made making friends difficult...just sayin'...

Did I say this??? I believe what I said was, "I understand that close friendships don't grow on trees or fall out of the air and that they need to be cultivated over long periods of time but the lack of commitment and the shield some people build around themselves made this impossible."

I want to clarify (again).. I didn't have trouble making friends. We had numerous opportunities, parties and invites, but what I said was there's a shield, a self-imposed barrier that came off as shallowness and there's a lack of commitment and respect I found some people had toward nurturing friendships.

[boston904]

Originally Posted by rpmx1000

Life is constantly changing. Things are not the same anymore. What made you happy 10 or 20 years ago doesn't do the trick anymore. Friends drift away. Relatives die. Children grow up and move away. Your favorite restaurant back home is now closed. The grocery store you shopped at for years is bankrupt. The weather up north gets colder and colder. Icey streets and sidewalks are harder to cope with. The city you used to love is now a different place. Taxes in the north are through the roof. And the job situation isn't much better than Florida.

You should have stayed in Florida and just took several vacations a year to visit your family and old friends.

I agree 100% with you. We live in the lakes region of New Hampshire and just getting your mail from the mailbox can be a challenge with the snow and ice melting its very slippery never mind the dirt roads that have a build up of 5 or 6 inches of snow and ice. ipoetry and ken e are always negative about Florida. Seems to me that ipoetry is same poster as verobeach and his post are negative as well. We intend to move to Vero Beach,fl in a couple of years and can't wait to get out of this ice box that we live in. Like you said a couple of weeks a few times a year to come back here to see family and friends will suit us just fine