I realize not everyone wants to move to Florida, so this could also be entitled more broadly “following your dream”.
When we said we were moving to Florida, most people responded with “it’s so hot!” Â So often in fact, Bob and I started joking with each other and saying “I don’t remember asking them to come with us!” Â Of course, we never said that out loud, we would just smile and say “yes!, it sure is hot”.
There are so many things we love about Michigan, I have previously shared our 5 Favorite Family Weekend Getaways and the 10 Best Michigan Field Trips.  We just don’t love the cold and the snow.  So, we decided to do something about it.
Here are our 10 Reasons for Moving to Florida
Warm Weather Here We Come
1. Â Rather Sweep Sand than Shovel Snow – if you’ve ever shoveled heavy, wet snow then you know what I’m talking about.
2. Â No More Driving on Icy, Snowy Roads
3. Â No More Snowpants, Winter Coats, Hats, Scarves, Gloves and Boots times 6! {8 if you count us}
4. Â 246 Days of Sunshine in Tampa vs. 180 Days of Sunshine in Detroit
5. Â Continue to Nurture a Love of Animals in Our Children – Alligators in our backyard pond are not really what I had in mind, but swimming with the manatees? For sure.
Beyond the Weather
6. Â Following a Dream – We had a very vague idea of moving south in our heads for years. Â We just never thought we would actually make the move. Â Then the time came when we felt like it was something we needed to do. Â We were either going to move, or likely spend a long time regretting it.
We know it has been hard for our parents, but through it all they have been extremely supportive. Â My dad told me “if it’s your dream you have to follow it”. Â I have great parents! – I only hope I can be as encouraging to my children.
7. Â Kids Born in Different Places – Our children are from all over the globe, it only seems fitting that they should experience difference parts of the United States.
8.  Moved to a Much More Diverse Area – there are many perks to living in a small town, diversity generally isn’t one of them.  I have loved sitting at church over the last few weeks knowing that my kids can look around and see people who look like them.  May not seem like such a big deal, but I think it is for our family.
9.  An Adventure for Our Family – We want our children to grow up feeling confident and comfortable trying new things.  Being flexible and able to cope with change are good qualities.  I also realize that plenty of children grow up with these attributes without making a cross-country move in their lifetime.
10. Â Why Not?? – there are a million excuses for not doing a lot of things, it feels good to have set a goal for ourselves and our family and accomplished that goal!
Be sure to check out the other great blogs participating in the Autumn 2013 Hopscotch.
#3…..sigh. This takes up so much space. Last year during the blizzard I realized my snow pants (which I have had since college) were no longer warm or water resistant. I just bought a new pair at a sports store that was closing. It pains me to spend so much money on these things but living in New England, you know sooner or later you are going to need them!
You pretty much summed it up for me in numbers 1-4! I could really relate to number 6 as well. 🙂
I often look around as we are driving over the Bay and say to my children- “I wonder why everyone doesn’t want to live here!” Don’t get me wrong- I’m glad they don’t (the traffic would be crazy) but it is so gorgeous here and the beautiful views and sunshine NEVER get old.
We are so happy to you moved to FL! We have made 3 moves as a family (our most recent to FL 7 years ago) and I agree with all of your reasons. I grew up with snow and ice – don’t miss it at all now. We have actually visited the mid-Atlantic states in Feb just so my son could see snow but it was nice to leave it behind after 5 days :-). We love the more laid back lifestyle that we have found here and the adventure it has been for us as a family. It is more challenging without family close by but it has brought us all closer together in the process. And don’t worry…now that you live in FL you will notice that you get a lot of company from friends and family that you haven’t seen in years!!
I would love to move . . . . . I’ve been out voted 1-3 every time I mentioned it. My oldest is almost 13 so we are running out of time for a move before the kids are grown. I love winter and snow, but I wouldn’t mind taking a break from it for a few years. I guess my dream of moving will just stay a dream!
My husband and I have been talking moving to Tampa! We stay in Huntsville,Alabama now. We homeschool our three children as well. I have been doing my research on homeschool education in Florida, and its a little overwhelming. He is applying for jobs in IT/ project management. We are hoping sometime in the next few weeks we will get a response. So that we can get an idea on the best communities for family’s. So excited and ready to leave, Huntsville has run its course!
We love living in FL so far! Hope all goes well for you.
Hi I was so happy reading your post. I live in Michigan now and my son and his family are moving to Florida with the Coast Guard and I have decided to move with them. I have a question, did you get rid of all of your winter clothes or did you save some? Thanks
I did bring a bunch of my winter clothes, just because I wasn’t sure. We definitely did need jeans, sweatshirts, and jackets. We didn’t need boots, heavy winter coats etc. I would bring it and then get rid of it here 🙂
Do you still love Florida?
I have been dreaming of moving to Florida for quite some time now, I have three girls and section 8 which makes things a bit more complicated. I am a Registered Medical Assistant, I am looking for a job in Florida. We hate Michigan, especially winter, I am completely convinced Florida is the place for us, any advice on making the transition?
Hi Dawn,
I’m not familiar with a section 8. I do know that we prayed a lot and felt God opening doors for us to move. Ultimately my husband got a job transfer and we could pretty much pick where we wanted to be in Florida. I would encourage you to continue pursuing the move if you feel like Florida is where you are supposed to be! We love living here and it’s been a great fit for our family.
Hey Jen,
My wife and I are really wanting to make the move to Florida with our children (we have 4 children that would be moving with us). We are looking at many areas one of which is the Tampa / Largo areas.
Any insight or advice would be great!
My husband and I were born and raised in MI. Lots of great things about MI – the summer and fall are beautiful for the most part. We were so tired though of the snow and the gray days. We love living in FL and don’t regret the move at all. It’s been great for our family in so many ways. We are very happy in Tampa, great community!
Hi I’m moving from Canada to Florida with my son in 3 weeks, it has been my dream since I was a kid and finally my 11 year old son agreed. So we are packing up the car and heading down South. Do you know how Winter Park Florida is like? Or would you recommend an area outside Orlando??
Thanks
Hi Iris, congrats on your move to Florida! Sorry, but I’m not familiar with Winter Park or the surrounding Orlando areas. I don’t know enough yet to be able to recommend one area over another.
Jen recently posted…Why Your Big Kids Should Use a Homeschool Planner
stumbled in here looking for blogs on moving FROM Florida TO Mi(up around Gaylord area)..we live in Melbourne, east coast , and are planning on moving up to Michigan..Funny how the grass is always greener somewhere else..just tired of the heat and worrying about hurricanes..best of luck to you down here!..
Tim
The Gaylord area is nice! Best of luck to you as well 🙂
I live in Gaylord now. It is wonderful in the 3 months of summer and as long as you don’t kind the cold this is the place to be. This last winter was a bit warmer only 20 days below 0!!! Our family is looking at moving to Florida we are done with the snow.
Forgot to ask if you had moved up here?
Thanks for posting about your move! I am planning my move from NYC to South Florida and I just feel ao excited and grateful to finally have this opportunity now that my daughter is grown and there’s no one to have to compromise with. Been wanting to do this for many years.
Best wishes on your move, we love it here!
Welcome to Florida guys, we love it here its just the right state for your kids with huge backyard space for activities in the beautiful Weather. And the beaches is just wonderful.
Thank you! We love it here.
My husband and I have been dreaming of moving to Florida for a long time with our 2 kids. We have already been down there this year 3 times. We have some family in Melbourne. We love it there. We went to Tampa and it was a little to busy for us. We were looking to relocate our business. I am hoping next year we can. It would be easy for us to move. We homeschool our kids and work from home. Well we have to be able to sell our home in Ohio.
We are in North Tampa and we love it. Close to the bigger offerings that downtown Tampa has – which is quite a bit, but definitely not crazy busy. There are so many great areas in FL. Best of luck to you and thanks for reading 🙂
How are the schools in North Tampa? We are planning to move as a family of 4. Thanks Gio
Honestly, I can’t really say. Our oldest goes to high school, but we homeschool the rest of our children. My knowledge of the schools here is very limited, sorry!
I’m looking at moving to Wesley Chapel from Mi. Does your body just get used to the humidity? What is the story about cockroaches?
LOL! Well, there are cockroaches in FL 🙂 But I have only seen one once or twice since we have been here (3 years now). They like dark and dirty areas mostly and we do have a pest control company on occasion but it’s not an issue. We haven’t noticed a huge difference in the humidity from MI to FL, it’s just hotter in FL in the summer.
Me and my husband and our 2 children want to move to Florida soon, we are currently living in Novi,MIchigan and I hate the winters? We live in a suburban area in Michigan and basically looking for another suburban area? What do you recommend
Where do you recommend? A suburban area in Florida?
Well, we like being on the west side of the state. We picked Tampa because there is a lot to do but it’s not so overwhelmingly big city. Good luck!
Are you guys all still happy with your decision to move to Florida?
Yes! We are very happy with our decision to move. No regrets 🙂
Do you mind if I ask where exactly in Tampa do you live? We currently live in a smaller suburb west of Lansing (about 9,000 people) and we love this town but HATE the weather in Michigan. Can you point me in the right direction as far as subdivisions or more specific areas of Tampa?? Thanks so much! Looking forward to a move to sunshine state sometime this year. 🙂
Kelly,
Send me an e-mail and I would be happy to chat with you!
Me my husband and 5 kids are looking to relocate down there… my biggest concern is school … yikes any suggestions on where to start …. I am looking into state to state home school program and any info I can get … thanks so much this has been a great read
I’m not really sure! When we moved all of our children were homeschooled so we didn’t give school much thought. When our oldest did start attending school, we were already in a home and a neighborhood that we love. You can check out Florida Virtual School and see if that appeals to your needs.
My husband and I are moving our family from Genesee County, MI to treasure coast before fall. Your article has eased my mind about a few things. Thank you.
I’m glad to hear that! Best wishes with your move.
Hi Jen, congratulations on your move to Florida! I dream of living there, too (I’m currently on Long Island), but I’m PETRIFIED of alligators. I think I’d be on edge every time I walked around outside, afraid I I (or my young daughter) would be attacked by one. What are your thoughts?
Karen,
I understand your concern. I was concerned as well as I have a nature lover who loves to watch shows like Gator Boys and Steve Irwin. Alligators are all around, however, they are around water/ponds etc not just out and about on the sidewalks 😉 Of course you will hear stories about anything, but truly if you are not bugging them and trying to feed them you have no worries. We love living in Florida!
Thank you, Jen… I’m a little more encouraged now to at least consider it! 🙂
Hi Jen!
My husband and I have 4 small children, all under the age of 8, we are planning to move from Maryland to Florida next summer- we are so excited!
From reading your blog, it sounds like the Tampa community is a very diverse area and we are looking for a diverse area with a good school system to raise our children… Is there any information you can give me about which parts of Tampa may be the best fit for what we are looking for? Any thing you wouldn’t mind sharing would be great… Thanks!
Hi – thanks for reading! Tampa is a diverse area – we like that as well. We are in north Tampa and we like it a great deal. Very family friendly and we are within a short driving distance of the beach, theme parks, all sorts of things to do. Plus we are close to the airport which makes it nice when having visitors! I’m not as familiar with the school system in the area as we have only homeschooled until this year. I do know there is a wide variety of options with public, charter and private schools. I think you will love Florida, I know we do!
Jen,
My family and I are looking at a move to Florida in the near future (We are from Michigan, and are done with winter). I am currently looking around the web trying to find out what moving to FL really looks like. I am concerned with the crime rates that I am finding, and also with rent costs. We would be selling our home here, and rentals in the area we are looking at (Palm Harbor, Dunedin area) are more than our mortgage is now. I’ve also seen some negative blogs regarding education and cost of living. My husband is a teacher and would take a HUGE pay cut to move to Florida, which doesn’t make sense to me, if the cost of living is higher. Can you give me some more information about these issues?
Thank You.
Since we homeschool our exposure to the school system has been limited. Our oldest does go to school and that has been a good experience. We have found housing to be comparable to where we were in MI. I’m not sure where you are located in MI and I don’t really know what you are looking for in terms of housing so it’s difficult for me to answer. I would highly recommend taking a weekend to come down and see what’s available. The closer you are to the beach the higher costs are going to be. Also, I can’t really comment on teacher salaries either. Sorry, I’m not much help! I do know that making the move was the right decision for our family and we love living in FL 🙂
To Sunnyside Up,
I currently live in Dunedin, FL. I moved here from Columbus, OH about 7 months ago. The Dunedin/Palm Harbor area is low crime compared to other parts of Florida. Nearby Clearwater can be sketchy though. Low crime was important to me when looking for a place in Florida to relocate to because I grew up in a very nice suburb of Columbus where you didn’t have to worry much about anything. I find the rent and overall cost of living here to be cheaper, if not on par with Columbus. I rent a small one-bedroom on the water and I think it’s pretty affordable considering how close I am to the beach. The public school systems in Florida are known for their inferiority, so it wouldn’t surprise me if your husband had to take a pay cut. If you have kids then you’re probably going to have to put them in private schools. The weather and scenery down here are lovely. Palm Harbor and Dunedin are both pleasant communities overall, though for me it’s a little boring compared to Columbus. I feel like I have to drive too far to get to shopping and stuff, so I am looking at possibly moving closer to a big city. In the end I think it all depends on where you’re coming from, what you are comparing it to.
Hi Jen, we’re thinking of moving to the Port Charlotte/Punta Gorda area which is farther south than your are. Currently we’re living in Colorado but are really tired of the cold and snow, even tho it’s not as bad as MI. I’m originally from Cleveland, OH and hubby is from Pittsburgh, so we know cold and snow. My question is: how hard has it been for you and your family to adjust to the heat and humidity. All the negatives I’ve been reading about say that it’s unbearable and that’s one of the reasons people move back out of Fl, in addition to the bugs and mosquitoes. Thanks
Hi Ann,
I wish I had a nickel for every time someone told us “oh it’s so hot in Florida!”. Most of the time it was from someone who didn’t live in Florida and had never been there in the summer 😉 It really has not been a big deal. At all. There is almost always a pleasant breeze and we have air conditioning here! Just like in the coldest winter months you probably don’t spend a ton of time outdoors for no good reason, I wouldn’t want to be running a marathon in August or standing in line at Magic Kingdom. It’s pretty humid in MI so I know CO is much dryer, that might take a bit of getting used to. Again, we haven’t really been bothered by it. Love Bugs are here for a short time in spring/fall – they are annoying but totally harmless. They spray for mosquitoes here so again we saw far more in MI than we have in FL. I too read all of the negatives about bugs/snakes etc and it just hasn’t been an issue at all. It’s gorgeous today – 77 and sunny! Florida isn’t for everyone but I would not move north again.
Hi Jen. We are trying to decide whether to move to southwest Michigan or the Tampa/Clearwater area as soon as possible (our house in Illinois will be on the market soon and houses usually sell quickly in my neighborhood.) We homeschool four boys and I was wondering how Florida homeschooling compares to Michigan’s. Support groups, activities, ease of making friends, etc. Are the regulations in Florida a pain? The summers in Michigan were great for our vacations, but we are sick of winter weather and gray days, so Florida is more likely to win out. Thank you for hosting this topic on your blog!
I am a young student who plans to make the move when I get out of school (Physical Therapist Assistant) and this article summed up this all so nicely. I keep getting the “it’s so humid!” Comment. I am from the Metro Detroit Area, more specifically, Westland, MI. I LOVE the heat, and would rather deal with extremely hot days, rather than extremely cold days. I am not a snow bird in the least like my Grandma is. I am very glad you took the plunge, and this has helped me want to take it even more!
Your blog is wonderful and helps me in my choices. Florida is such a lovely place.
Hello Jen, I am considering moving to Florida with my little guy. I currently live in Sacramento CA, how did your little guys adapt? How were the people? Friendly, helpful?
Our kids did great with the move. They were all excited and Florida is an easy sell! Good luck with your decision.
Hey Jen, love your story. Hoping to carry out my dream in two years. I’m 23 and planning to move my parents and siblings and myself from Michigan to south Florida. Was the process of getting Florida driver’s licenses easy and seamless? Do you like not having to pay state income tax?
It’s very easy to get a drivers license in FL, we did most of it online. It’s always great when you don’t have to pay tax!!
What is your email address? I would love to ask you a few questions about Tampa. Thanks
Feel free to send me a DM through my FB page!
Hi Jen!
Are you still loving Florida? My husband and I are seriously exploring moving to the west part of Florida. Tampa area is where we’d love to be. We homeschool our son who is in 3rd grade and we have another on the way due in August. I am a nurse practitioner (he is in social work but only bachelors degree level which doesn’t pay well most anywhere). We are looking at me getting a full time job as a nurse practitioner and him staying home with kids for now. I have applied with Florida for my RN and nurse practitioner licenses by endorsement, and I’ve applied for a job in Florida already.
We are set on moving, so much that I’ve paid to have everything processed for my nursing licenses in Florida, but I read so many negative websites about how most people hate Florida after moving there, and it was discouraging to hear. We love heat and can handle humidity….but we just cant handle the cold weather anymore. We are outdoor people!
We are looking at areas around Tampa….we weren’t sure that we wanted to live in Tampa itself. But we’ve looked into Sarasota, Dunedin, etc….any tips on family friendly areas??
We still love living in Florida! I will contact you with more info 🙂