***Migrating to be close to the ports***

[reedl]

Personally I could not deal with the summers in Florida. I need my snow, even though I do not ski or anything like that. I just like cooler weather.

[Warm Breezes]

DH and I have been nailing down our retirement plans recently since he plans on retiring in 4.5 years at 55. At that time he will get our house, which we will have been in for over 30 years, ready to sell. I will retire when our house is sold, hopefully not too long after him. The proceeds from the sale of our house plus our liquid savings should nicely tide us over plus some until pensions, 401ks, and social security kick in. The plan is to purchase a motor home and a small home in Florida to be close to the cruise ports. We don't plan on our kids sticking around here. DS has already moved 16 hours away in ND and DD is in her sophomore year of college. We want to be able have the flexibility to travel where ever and when ever we want to and/or need to. So hopefully you will see us moving down there about the same time you are...only I'll be on a permanent vacation :D:):p.

[Jamericannn]

So hopefully you will see us moving down there about the same time you are...only I'll be on a permanent vacation :D:):p.

 

 

 

Lol

[Flatbush Flyer]

State job and decent salary/benefits do not go together in this state.

 

 

Amen.

OP: If you want to work for a "state" in general and a "state university" medical school in particular, you're looking on the wrong coast. Even with the higher housing costs, state employment in California (both salaries and especially benefits/retirement) are unmatched anywhere else in the US. And the med schools? UCLA, UCSF, et al. Need I say more?

[Sequim88]

Has anyone here moved just to be closer to the cruise ships? How was the transition?

 

Not just to be closer but it was a small factor. When the job is Minnesota (not famous as a cruise port ;) ) went sideways and an excellent one popped up close to Seattle the thought about cruising crossed our minds really fast. Did not take long to book an Alaska cruise for our anniversary.

 

We had been considering FL for retirement (partly for no state income tax) and local cruising options until my wife decided she has a severe phobia about being swallowed by a sinkhole. :eek: No way would she ever move there. But WA is also no state income tax (they certainly make it up everywhere else) and the "blue hole" in Sequim beckons more every year. A bit of a drive to the port but no airfare makes a huge difference. Even Vancouver for Hawaii cruises is a close by option.

[mamasylvia]

> I have been looking @ Island Homes Down in the Florida Keys

 

Congratulations, when did you win the lottery? ;)

 

To the OP: I did the reverse. I'm a Florida native now living in Wyoming and you couldn't pay me enough to move back to the heat and humidity. Yes, I miss the street vendors selling ripe mangos and empanadas de guayaba but not enough to go back to sweating through my clothes in minutes and gasping whenever I had to go outside. (Except the Keys, if I had unlimited money I'd move there like a shot.) But as someone else said, I am me and you are you and I would not tell you to do or not do something.

 

But I would lay money the job is going to be your stumbling point. If you (and your wife) are really serious about this move, I would start job hunting IMMEDIATELY. It could well take 5-10 years to find a suitable job in an area you would want to live. If you happen to get offered a great job in the first few months of your search, yes, you will have a panicky few months getting the old house sold and moving but you are young, you will survive.

 

I would also recommend taking a couple of weeks to drive around central and south Florida to pin down where you would and would not want to live. Also start watching Florida real estate sites so you can get a solid idea of what housing is going to cost you in different areas.

 

BTW, I know the NE climate sucks for anyone who needs sun - I spent my teen years in the NYC suburbs. But Wyoming would give you plenty of sun. It might be -30F outside but nine days out of ten, we have bright sunshine. ;) No nearby cruise ships, though.

[Jamericannn]

> I have been looking @ Island Homes Down in the Florida Keys

 

Congratulations, when did you win the lottery? ;)

 

To the OP: I did the reverse. I'm a Florida native now living in Wyoming and you couldn't pay me enough to move back to the heat and humidity. Yes, I miss the street vendors selling ripe mangos and empanadas de guayaba but not enough to go back to sweating through my clothes in minutes and gasping whenever I had to go outside. (Except the Keys, if I had unlimited money I'd move there like a shot.) But as someone else said, I am me and you are you and I would not tell you to do or not do something.

 

But I would lay money the job is going to be your stumbling point. If you (and your wife) are really serious about this move, I would start job hunting IMMEDIATELY. It could well take 5-10 years to find a suitable job in an area you would want to live. If you happen to get offered a great job in the first few months of your search, yes, you will have a panicky few months getting the old house sold and moving but you are young, you will survive.

 

I would also recommend taking a couple of weeks to drive around central and south Florida to pin down where you would and would not want to live. Also start watching Florida real estate sites so you can get a solid idea of what housing is going to cost you in different areas.

 

BTW, I know the NE climate sucks for anyone who needs sun - I spent my teen years in the NYC suburbs. But Wyoming would give you plenty of sun. It might be -30F outside but nine days out of ten, we have bright sunshine. ;) No nearby cruise ships, though.

 

Hey Mamasilvia - I have started my search already. I have family members in Ft. Lauderdale, Pompano Beach and Tampa. Two things I don't like about Florida are the heat and hurricanes. Everywhere have pros and cons. I have aunts, uncles and a sister who moved from NY to Florida and every time they come up north for the winter they wonder how I deal with it every year. A pool and the car AC will help with the heat. I am not someone who work outdoors unless it's for my gardening or something I chose to do on my time so I can work my way around the heat. The ability to come out on your back porch everyday of the year sounds very welcoming to me.

I have an aunt who has been in real estate for over 20 years and she knows the are SF area well. I would ask her for ideas and also do my research

[Jamericannn]

Amen.

OP: If you want to work for a "state" in general and a "state university" medical school in particular, you're looking on the wrong coast. Even with the higher housing costs, state employment in California (both salaries and especially benefits/retirement) are unmatched anywhere else in the US. And the med schools? UCLA, UCSF, et al. Need I say more?

 

You are right about the California schools. I communicate with a few of them when our students goes their to do electives. They are in high demand even for students to go there for a month.

[mamasylvia]

> I have started my search already

 

Sounds like it, smart move! And having family and friends there already will be a huge help, especially since one of them is a realtor.

 

> Everywhere have pros and cons

 

True. The key is to find somewhere with pros you value and cons you can live with. I prefer bitter cold in the winter to the physical attack of heat & humidity in (long) summers - that is *my* choice. Fortunately not everyone feels that way, or Wyoming wouldn't be a lovely uncrowded place any more. ;)

 

I actually don't consider hurricanes a big con. Everyplace is prone to some kind of natural disaster and hurricanes are about the best IMNSHO - you know they are coming and you have plenty of time to get out of the way. I've lived through at least 4 hurricanes that I can rememer (Donna, Dora, David, and Alicia) - worked on an ambulance during David - and they were no big deal. The people who die in hurricanes tend to have done something really stupid, like the man who went outside to smoke a cigarette during Hurricane Charlie or the idiot who went for a drive along the Galveston seawall with his 3YO daughter during Alicia. (No, none of them survived.) I'm guessing that someone smart enough to do his homework before moving to Florida wouldn't fit in that category.

 

Good luck in your search!