[YAZ]

I considered KY, TN, and GA.

Ended up in Phoenix.

Weird how things work out.

[Luzette]

Originally Posted by Fripper

We just built our "retirement" home on Fripp Island in S Carolina. Our future plans are to spend summer and early fall in Michigan then head down to SC for winter and spring. For now, because we're still working, we just grab anytime we can to head down. We are only a few short years away from retirement, so at this point it doesn't make sense to do a career change. Today with it snowing and the wind blowing, it sure is hard to stick with the plan. By the way, temp will be in the high 70's today and sunny on Fripp.

We chose SC because of mild winters, wanted to be able to walk to the ocean (can't afford to live on the ocean), husband wanted a golf community (ours has 2 golf courses), and we loved the feel and look of the lowcountry.

You're doing what I hope to one day. I hadn't heard of Fripp Island so now I have something to look up and research. I wouldn't mind staying in Michigan through Christmas, but I'd leave afterwards and then not come back until May. Weather that makes outside activities enjoyable is what I want. If you spend summers and fall in Michigan then winters into spring down south then you've got the best of both.

[zthatzmanz28]

Daughter number 2 is looking at Texas... Daughter number 3's husband is looking at Charlotte NC...both for employment. I think the winter Michigan just experienced has something to do with the idea as well...

[JimmyInGreatLakes]

Funny that I can actually consider a move now that I've "retired". I still need to work part time to finance "extras" but you can find PT work anywhere. Will most likely just stick in Michigan, especially with a daughter still in high school (sophomore). I guess there's a faint whisper in my mind to go out West, my favorite other state is Colorado, for the mountains. One other spot that I hear rave reviews about is the mountains of Tennessee (cooler in the summer than the lowlands).

Overall, I think one option would be a month each year somewhere south. March would be a good month to do so because I can handle a couple months of winter. You get to March and you want a little warmth again but it's still a long time coming (just look outside today).

[JimmyInGreatLakes]

Originally Posted by alleyyooper

As much as I love the winters in Michigan, the fall also I am tired of the oppresive summer heat and humidity.
I am also tired of the politics in this whole country where the rich rob the poor to give to the rich.

Wow, I don't hear too many people complaining about the heat in Michigan. It does get a little warm on certain days and certainly the humidity doesn't help much but, for the most part, it's pretty nice in the summer. And plenty of water to run to and cool off.

If you are talking about tax policy (rich vs. poor), it's takes a family of four to make $45,400 (far from "poor") before they even pay a dime in tax. So the rich aren't doing their supposed stealing in that arena.

[maersk]

gulf coast of florida between tampa and ocala. already lived 5 years there so i know and like the area. i love michigan but this snow in spring crap is getting kinda old.

[canudigit]

Well, my dh and I are in the process of buying a condo in Myrtle Beach, and he wants to move to one of the outerlying suburbs of Atlanta in roughly two years, so for me it would be the Southeast. I'm not sure if I want to move to the South full time, I think that it would be nice to go to the condo from just after Christmas until mid-April and then spend the beautiful May through late autumn period up here. However, that kind of lifestyle can only happen if one is retired, and we're not there yet. Summers in the Southeast can be oppressively hot and humid, and I would miss my family so much. Another thing in Michigan that I would miss terribly is Greenfield Village and the Henry Ford Museum. These are national treasures that just aren't duplicated anywhere else, and every year we buy a membership and go at least 6-8 times. I would miss that like crazy. And I LOVE summer in Michigan. It will also depend on where our kids end up once they get out of college. Our son is in broadcast journalism, and those jobs are hard to come by, so if he goes somewhere in the Southeast for work, we will probably go through with the move to Atlanta. Our daughter hates Michigan and the Southeast and wants to live somewhere out West, so we are probably going to lose her one way or the other, unless she comes to her senses between now and when she gets out of school and figures out that the eastern U.S. is where it's at.

[jeeg]

Originally Posted by Luzette

I wish I were like you. I agree about not having much "stuff." I don't have much, but might I ask if you work out of your home? So many people are stuck in one place due to their job. It sounds like you set the rules so that's the best of all possibilities.

No, don't work from home
In the early years we never worried about the jobs, just took off on faith alone.
For the last 10 years, the spouse has worked for a large company with offices in many states so we just transfer whenever a job opening comes up that catches our eye. No the company does not pay for our relocation otherwise they would probably frown on us moving so much

The other main thing besides not having much stuff is living without debt (other then rent/mortgage). We live rather frugally (no credit cards, drive our vehicles until they can't be driven/fixed anymore, make everything from scratch, etc. etc.)
I can't imagine anyone moving around like we have with a lot of debt. Unless they make a lot more money then we do.

My better half is quite cranky about all the snow we've gotten in the last 24hrs and is currently looking at moving to either North or South Carolina. That's not going to happen! To humid and to many bugs!

We really do love it where we are (the U.P.) and I think we've decided to settle here for the next decade or so and raise the kids in one spot.

[PreservationPioneer]

I moved down to Pittsburgh after graduating from CMU a few years ago. My parents still live in Howell. The economy is very bad there. I wouldn't have minded living in Grand Rapids or Jackson (both nice cities, in my opinion) if I had stayed in Michigan, but there just weren't any jobs.

If you're interested, Pittsburgh is a vibrant, urban city, much like Detroit must have been fifty years ago before the riots.

[tjay]

I like Michigan summers (although last summer was way too hot, I pray that doesn't happen this summer) and can tolerate winter up til Christmas. Then it does sort of get old. And this year the warm seems to be taking its time. But moving south doesn't seem like a solution because its TOO hot down there. I'd rather be able to go outside to enjoy the summer, rather than be stuck in air conditioning. I think I'd like the Oregon/Washington area, mainly for the beauty and the mindset. Maybe Austin, TX if it weren't so much south. Canada would be a great place if it weren't so cold. The people seem much more simple. I guess you just have to be happy where you are:}