Wow

My longest experience was in New England - Connecticut and Massachusetts.

I lived in Plantation Florida for a period after graduating college. I lived for a summer in Contre Coeur, Quebec Province, Canada. I've spent at least one week in every single contiguous state in this country, except Washington State, where we only drove through, stopping for lunch on the way to California.

If life had turned out differently for me I imagine I would've ended up out west, at the foothills of Zion or near the canyons of Utah/Wyoming. Lower elevations, since I like SEEING snow, but not fond of being stuck in it for months at a time. All that, to me, is what makes America great. It's breathtakingly beautiful and I can't imagine anything closer to heaven than waking up to the sight of Bryce Canyon at sunrise.

Even living a day's drive from there in a larger city with more/better health care options than the local medical center, knowing I could just hop in the car and get away for a weekend, would be enough.

But yeah New Mexico - maybe up closer to Santa Fe than ABQ.

Your post is a good example of how to acclimate. If you are a relatively permanent resident, adjust your exposure to the heat by time and time of day as the heat season approaches.

If you travel down during the hot season it can take 3 to 6 weeks to acclimate (first week is the worst) depending on your age, habitus, and medical status.

Wear light poly fabrics made to pass moisture. I use light short sleeve poly polo shirts for hot environments and the same in long sleeve that have roll up sleeves (the long sleeve is meant for sun protection, and helps block ambient infrared from the ground/structures and can be cooler in direct sun). Look for fabrics with a high SPF factor. T's can work, too (I like the poly shirts because I can fold up the colar for neck protection). Take a cooling towel to use on your neck if doing sports, exercise, or just lounging at the pool. Look at what hot desert based people wear - they cover up. But we do not need to be that extreme here. If the humidity is high, evaporative cooling methods do not work as well.

Wear a hat with a brim. UV exposure here is much higher than our northern homes. Use sunscreen with a high SPF factor. Nose and ears are particularly vulnerable. Do not forget insteps and back of knees. Use the shade and breeze.

Drink plenty of water if your medical condition allows. Doing daily weights is smart when coming in a heat season to watch hydration.

Avoid cotton. As any outdoors person can tell you "Cotton Kills".

Stay out of the direct sun and avoid hot spots if you have the opportunity. Go inside into air-conditioned area if you feel fatigue.

Wear quality sunglasses outside. No reason to hasten the cataract progression.

Stay cool!

Very important, something you probably wouldn't even give thought to up north:

Make an appointment to establish a patient/doctor relationship with a dermatologist, and have an initial full body skin exam with him/her.

If there are no biopsies needed, or any biopsies come back as nothing concerning (like just a pigmented keratosis), then go back for an annual skin checkup with that doctor, every year without fail. For the rest of your life.

I had ZERO suspicious anythings back in Connecticut, I'd been to the dermatologist and they didn't even do a biopsy. I've been in The Villages for over four years now. Within the last two years, I've had two malignant melanomas removed, radiation to kill a basal cell carcinoma, a "severe dysplasia" abnormal growth removed, and I'll be having another one of those taken off my nose next month - with another TWO suspicious growths that we have to watch every 3 months for at least the next two years.

Friends got married a few years ago and suggested dress was nice pair of shorts and golf shirt

Very true about seeing dermatologist here regularly and keeping skin away from the sun. Florida sun is not your friend.

I have had mohs surgery and recently something else had to be biopsied so be careful out there.

Except the pools climb to 95+ degrees in the summer, making them anything but refreshing. That was our biggest shock our first summer last year, more so than the heat/humidity. The villages pools need chillers for the summertime. We also came from the west with very dry weather, and a much shorter hot season.

Great attitude! We aren’t minding the heat, though we do love our AC in the house and our golf cart, lol. Like I said in my other comment we’d just like the pools to be more refreshing. Otherwise, love the slower pace and less crowded paths, restaurants, etc.

We did our lifestyle visit in June 2022, coming from SoCal. It was mid-90s all week. We wore shorts, t-shirts, hats/visors, sandals, and swimsuits for afternoon pool dips. You’ll have a great time! We now live here full time. No regrets!

The cloud cover really helps with the high temps. It makes it way more bearable. Also, the summer afternoon storms are nice sometimes, other times they make it way more humid. 😅 I still love them though as I never saw storms like this where I moved from. They still fascinate me, but are scary at times too.

If you leave all summer why have a chiller for your pool? Just curious. If we had a pool we’d definitely have a chiller, but we didn’t know the villages pools would be too hot in summer until our first summer here last year. Unfortunately, we don’t have a pool sized lot or we’d build one, so we just don’t swim most of the summer unless neighbors invite us. One by one every home in our neighborhood that can add a pool, is adding a pool, lol. 😜

I grew up on Long Island and it took me 20 years to acclimate to Florida summers.

Even now I don’t spend a lot of time outside in Summer.

The main thing that helped was enclosing our lanai and putting in
air conditioning/heat.
This makes me feel like I’m enjoying being outside but comfortable.

The last 3 Summers have been very hot!!

Keep throwing ice into the pool:a20:

Plattsburg AFB had a policy of shutting down the flightline when the windchill hit -50. -34 plus a 20mph wind far exceeds -50. I was working that day in 1981, when they finally got around to shutting down the flightline, after my crew had spent most of the previous 8 hours taking turns sitting in the cockpit with the heat blower hung over the side, pretending to work. I never heard the official temp. All I know is they finally cut us lose while I still had all my fingers and toes.

Same with us with our lanai. Enclosed with mini-splits. It still heats up a bit from morning sun, but we’re looking at solar film or interior solar shades to combat that. Afternoons it’s great.

I'm originally from Connecticut. July & August were the hottest months. When we moved to Florida in 96' it took me a long time to get used to the heat. But I was out of shape and over weight. When the weight came off, and I eventually got used to the hotter and more humid weather I was fine with it. Now I enjoy the heat in the summer. I don't spend a lot of time outdoors but I don't mind at all being outside in the heat when I can.

I was stationed in NM vehicle insurance was crazy high do to half state population did not have vehicle insurance. You wanted no fault insurance in that state. Maybe it better than it was 30 years ago? But, I doubt it? It probably worse?