[Ohiogirl]

Very interesting to me to see all our friends' and other acquaintances' retirement choices - all over the place, different strokes etc.

One set of friends sold everything and bought a liveaboard boat - in reading their block and emailing, they are very happy, having the time of their lives. We would be miserable, same with RV'ing.

We are currently snowbirding, although Florida residents, and loving it. Others get really tired of the back and forth - so far, we find it refreshing to have the change in scene, different types of activities for the season. Also getting to see friends. We may do it longer than some because we have children halfway back. Makes a nice break in the drive and we get to see them more often, since we come back a couple of times.

I know 2 other couples who live in Florida in winter and Wisconsin cottages in summer, one on a lake, other in the woods. One likes it, one hates it (her husband loves it). It's nice when you both agree on what you want to do.

Some people just don't like those long drives back and forth, which I get, especially as we age.

Some people do lots of traveling in summer, to avoid the heat, but the older we get, we find we like to travel less frequently. But - we've already done a lot of traveling, so it's not novel to us and maybe not as appealing anymore. We find we are now really glad to get home, whether it be Florida or Ohio.

We'd rather have 2 smaller places that we can afford instead of one big place. That's us, might not be you. We are also getting into home exchanging a couple of times a year - easier when you have 2 places and can do non-simultaneous exchanges.

Another great option, if you don't have a "home" city you like that much, is to buy a mountain place within a day's drive from The Villages, or 2 easy days, if you're not that into driving.

If we didn't love Columbus, and have lots of friends here, and could afford it, I think I'd look into a summer home in Asheville, NC or Blowing Rock, NC (which I haven't yet been to). Going to look into home exchanging there once our 16 yr old min. poodle is in doggy heaven.

Met a woman golfing who was from Maine - they go back for about 3 mos - 2 mos. renting a furnished apt. in Augusta, I think, where they are from, and 5 weeks of timeshares - same resort, but have to switch places once or twice. Much cheaper, she said, than buying a summer place. Sounded like a good solution to me if you go back to a summer resort area, or want to.

Another friend bought an inexpensive house near downtown Lake Charlevoix, MI, since prices were depressed in MI last summer when they bought. Taxes not high away from lakeshore. She has lots of siblings who have summer places in the area. Loves being there in summer.