Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Kathryn, you're feeling overwhelmed because you literally just stopped working and you're still decompressing. Getting into retirement takes a while, believe me.
Initially, you'll still wake up at the normal workday time. Learning to sleep until you wake up normally might take as long as six months to get yourself acclimated.
Move slowly in your transition to retired life in Ohio. Start going through your stuff, one drawer/shelf at a time. Think seriously about whether you'll need it in Ohio or just have emotional ties to it. If the answer is no to either, let it go now. If the latter is not no, put it aside for a later decision (I changed my mind about some "gotta keep it" as we got closer to moving). If yes, do you still need it right now, or can you pack it away for the move?
This method will also help you declutter the house so it can be staged for selling.
Don't put pressure on yourself; you already have a plan. Just don't rush to execute; you're retired now -- no rush, no deadline. Take it easy.
Sure there's a lot of variation of climates in Texas, but I live in NE Texas and if I moved to, for instance, anywhere else in Texas, I'd still be alone. I mean, I have one son who lives in the Austin area, but that's a five hour drive from here, and he wants to move to Michigan or Ohio anyway. So I am pretty sure he will follow me.
That being said, most places in Texas are hot for a lot longer than I enjoy it. I am going to go to Ohio in the wintertime though I've already been to that area, heck I LIVED in that area during the winter and early spring. Like you said, I am going to the SW area and I don't expect it to experience much if any lake effect winter weather. I think the Cincinnati area gets less than two feet of snow per year, and also most of the snow is gone by the next day from what I recall. Of course, there's the occasional winter storm but still...I honestly plan to stay put during winter storms! (For the record, for this next round of winter storms, the lows are supposed to be lower further south than in the Cincinnati area!)
I think the weather is better in southern Ohio than anywhere in Texas. My GF and I are in our 70s and moved to Bloomington Indiana a year ago after living in Venice Florida for many years and we both like the weather and scenery here much better. We live in a walkable area and we have done more walking outside here in the past year than we ever did in Florida. It's brutally hot in Florida over half the year whereas it's only brutally cold here a few weeks at most. I can always put on more clothes when I'm cold but there's only so much you can do to mitigate the heat in a hot humid climate. I think you'll be fine in the Cincinnati area. Cost of living is low and the climate is decent too. Given that you are from that area you know what you are getting into. Being retired you will see things differently too. As you said, you won't have to go out and drive in the snow unless you want to and you have plenty of time to do whatever you want to do. We sold all our furniture and moved to Bloomington sight unseen and we found it exciting. I had only been to Bloomington once in my life and that was 25 years ago and my GF (a New Yorker) had never been here so neither of us knew if we would like it here or not. I'm from Indiana but lived in the northeast part of the state for 34 years and I can tell you for sure that the weather in southern Indiana is much less severe than in the northern part of the state. So far we've gotten 1.5 inch of snow in the year we've been here and most of the winter has been above freezing. My GF loves it here in southern Indiana and she says it's nowhere near as cold and snowy as the Hudson Valley in New York where she's from. She grew up in Brooklyn and has told me that, after living in Indiana a year, she loves having space here. We go out out shopping during the day here and the there are very few people out shopping. Where we lived in Florida was overcrowded and you have to go out at the crack of dawn to avoid people. Not true here.
I think your assessment is dead on. You are on the right path and you'll be better off in the long run.
I think the weather is better in southern Ohio than anywhere in Texas. My GF and I are in our 70s and moved to Bloomington Indiana a year ago after living in Venice Florida for many years and we both like the weather and scenery here much better. We live in a walkable area and we have done more walking outside here in the past year than we ever did in Florida. It's brutally hot in Florida over half the year whereas it's only brutally cold here a few weeks at most. I can always put on more clothes when I'm cold but there's only so much you can do to mitigate the heat in a hot humid climate. I think you'll be fine in the Cincinnati area. Cost of living is low and the climate is decent too. Given that you are from that area you know what you are getting into. Being retired you will see things differently too. As you said, you won't have to go out and drive in the snow unless you want to and you have plenty of time to do whatever you want to do. We sold all our furniture and moved to Bloomington sight unseen and we found it exciting. I had only been to Bloomington once in my life and that was 25 years ago and my GF (a New Yorker) had never been here so neither of us knew if we would like it here or not. I'm from Indiana but lived in the northeast part of the state for 34 years and I can tell you for sure that the weather in southern Indiana is much less severe than in the northern part of the state. So far we've gotten 1.5 inch of snow in the year we've been here and most of the winter has been above freezing. My GF loves it here in southern Indiana and she says it's nowhere near as cold and snowy as the Hudson Valley in New York where she's from. She grew up in Brooklyn and has told me that, after living in Indiana a year, she loves having space here. We go out out shopping during the day here and the there are very few people out shopping. Where we lived in Florida was overcrowded and you have to go out at the crack of dawn to avoid people. Not true here.
I think your assessment is dead on. You are on the right path and you'll be better off in the long run.
To each their own. Me, I love the forest, nature, the scenery out by the Blanco River driving west is to die for.
BUT, as said, to each their own. It is great that you have such joy for what you have done but for each of us, we must keep in mind for why we are "there". For some, it may be the weather or being around people, in a city......for others, they may have different reasons and environments of desire.
I think the weather is better in southern Ohio than anywhere in Texas. My GF and I are in our 70s and moved to Bloomington Indiana a year ago after living in Venice Florida for many years and we both like the weather and scenery here much better. We live in a walkable area and we have done more walking outside here in the past year than we ever did in Florida. It's brutally hot in Florida over half the year whereas it's only brutally cold here a few weeks at most. I can always put on more clothes when I'm cold but there's only so much you can do to mitigate the heat in a hot humid climate. I think you'll be fine in the Cincinnati area. Cost of living is low and the climate is decent too. Given that you are from that area you know what you are getting into. Being retired you will see things differently too. As you said, you won't have to go out and drive in the snow unless you want to and you have plenty of time to do whatever you want to do. We sold all our furniture and moved to Bloomington sight unseen and we found it exciting. I had only been to Bloomington once in my life and that was 25 years ago and my GF (a New Yorker) had never been here so neither of us knew if we would like it here or not. I'm from Indiana but lived in the northeast part of the state for 34 years and I can tell you for sure that the weather in southern Indiana is much less severe than in the northern part of the state. So far we've gotten 1.5 inch of snow in the year we've been here and most of the winter has been above freezing. My GF loves it here in southern Indiana and she says it's nowhere near as cold and snowy as the Hudson Valley in New York where she's from. She grew up in Brooklyn and has told me that, after living in Indiana a year, she loves having space here. We go out out shopping during the day here and the there are very few people out shopping. Where we lived in Florida was overcrowded and you have to go out at the crack of dawn to avoid people. Not true here.
I think your assessment is dead on. You are on the right path and you'll be better off in the long run.
Veniceman, I totally agree with you. I have lived in 5 states and the only 2 I didn’t like were Kansas and Texas. Both were extremely hot and humid and I found that miserable. In colder states with the right clothes you can walk outside when it’s below zero and not be freezing. Also I wasn’t a fan of the scenery and both were very conservative so it was harder to find my tribe. In my opinion Kathryn is going to a much better place.
Mitch, all of her family is in Ohio and not Texas.
Most of my extended family is in Georgia, mostly around Atlanta. I would not even consider living east of the Mississippi. No way.
I am not responsible for their mistakes in picking out a place to live.
Midwestern weather is damn awful. I spent about 18 months in Iowa, near Cedar Rapids. Georgia's hot humid summer, combined with Idaho's winter, but the snow was not powder, more like concrete.
The thing about northern climate vs southern climate: You can always put on more clothing/clothing layers. But you can only take off so much in hot/humid temps where summers are 100 degrees with 80% humidity and last 6+ months of the year.
Nope, I'd rather have the cold, although I admit I'd feel differently if I had to get up and go to work in it again.
I'm with you. I'm OK skiing when the temperature drops to zero - but you do have to be careful & wear the right protective gear - a face mask helps. I'll have a base layer, a down vest, and an insulated ski jacket, a simple base layer & shell pants (no insulator), and mittens. I now have battery heated ski mittens and battery heated ski boots. And, of course, the slopes are frozen solid - a ski pole just bounces off, so you need very sharp ski edges & good carving technique to hold an edge.
I don't know why this is, but I've noticed when a poster shares their plans, like planning a move from one state to another as KA is doing, some will try to talk them out of it, as if the poster doesn't understand or realize what they're doing.
Why try to alter someone else's plans, especially someone you don't know IRL? Adults make adulting decisions and know what they want, certainly better than someone else on the Interwebs.
When I lived in Wisconsin we walked 3 or 4 miles a day for exercise and had the proper clothing. It had to be-20 to not take a walk. When we moved to Kansas for our careers I got sunstroke twice and the humidity had been a problem. Finally had to join a gym for the hot weather and walked outside in the winter.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
