[duffysmom]

Although I dislike snow and hate the cold the problem for me in northern climates is the light. I'm not at my best emotionally of physically in the short dreary days of Winter in the north. Even when we have cold weather here in Florida, the blazing sun and azure blue sky lifts my spirit and I love life. Not so up north. Another thing I dislike about the northern Winters is the grime that covers everthing after the snow melts. YUK!! Do I sound like a drama queen? When they said "Come On Down" I did and I never regretted it.

[laryb]

Originally Posted by whartonjelly

I long to live a different lifestyle. I dont care if I ever see snow again. I have plenty of pictures. Todays society is mobile. My family and friends will be welcome in TV. I have been enclosed working inside a hospital for years. My husband has been outside in all kinds of weather all year long. We both look forward to enjoying the lifestyle of TV. Our one grand child will miss us and therer are sure to be more someday. They too will be welcome. Our children feel that we need to do what is best for us. All three are out of college, married and have careers. It is our turn to start our new career!

Wife is a nurse, I worked for the electric company at a power plant on the waterfront, so we have a lot in common. We have 4 kids, 7 grandchildren, and our kids feel the same, although a couple begrudgingly. And as you said, they're all welcome, and I'll even pay the airfare, but it's time to start living for ourselves. Some of our friends say they could never leave the kids and grandkids, I say that we're never more than a phone call or plane ride away. Now with that being said, it took my wife 4 years from the first time we saw TV, and the grandkids coming over less and less, for her to feel the same way.

[natickdan]

The concerns posted about moving to The Villages are quite valid! They are concerns many of us have had to wrestle with and, for some, continue to wrestle with. My wife and I have a great relationship with our three adult children and we both realized if our move to TV was going to work, we had to keep a home here in Natick, MA. Our plan is to sell our large home and then buy a condo in town. This way we can split our time between TV and Natick. As time progresses, we expect to spend more time in TV. No matter where we are, technology will continue to make the distance seem that much shorter.

[redwitch]

Geraldine, I'm glad you decided to go back home. From your previous posts, it was obvious you were not happy here and your heart was elsewhere. No matter how great a place is, if your heart isn't there at least a little, it doesn't stand a chance and you'll always long to go back to your heart place. Congrats on your decision!

[Pturner]

We are snowflakes in TV and every time we come back to Atlanta, TV feels more like home than home does-- despite the fact that we have wonderful friends in ATL and are active in our community. We've met people in TV who we love, friends and family love to visit us there and it's just an easier and more pleasant quality of life by almost every measure. When hubby retires, froghood would be an easy decision for me.

[barb1191]

The "snowbird" works for awhile in returning to our condo up North in the summer and spending winters in our home in TV. Maintaining two homes is not an easy deal and costly to boot. We chose to not rent either place as we wanted access in both places at our convenience as well as not wanting strangers in either home.

We sold our condo up North and built an adorable in-law one bedroom, living rm, kitchen, laundry & bath, deck and inground pool (pool was already there) onto our daughter's home. That worked out well for awhile but did notice that the "kids" all had their activities such that we didn't really see them that often. We decided while up North that we missed TV soooo much that why are we up North? The kids would enjoy visits South and that turned us into TV "frogs."

We have no regrets and communicate with the kids often, email, facebook, phone/Skype....works out fine. Since we've made the decision to stay permanently in TV, we gave the kids permission to rent the in-law and that should cover the additional costs for adding onto their home. She has a nice young professional couple who love the place (inlaw) and they were willing to rent on a month-to-month basis just in case we needed to return for whatever, illness, for one reason.

I write this as a suggestion to those who choose not to break the tie from "home" that the inlaw worked out great for us, however, TV won out. The inlaw is well maintained by the kids and it does have an "open-door" policy for us, if need be.

[Ohiogirl]

We're sort of doing the same thing as barb1191 - for me it's not a big deal, I could be a Frog in an instant - but, I've moved a bunch and know I can do it.

Ohioboy has never lived in another city, even bought his parents' home 10-11 yrs ago when his Dad passed away. They built it when Ohioboy was 2 months old.

That's where we live when in Ohio, but we're currently renting it to his son (this will make it a 3 generation home, passed from son to son to son) with the plan for him to buy it outright (well, okay - with his own mortgage) this fall. Part of the deal is that we can return in the May-Sept. period for the foreseeable future.

It does make it easier to gradually move and still keep ties in both places, but we both foresee that as our social life switches more to TV, we'll spend more and more time here. Kind of nice to have the best of both worlds here for awhile. Really nice to also not have to worry about an unoccupied home.

Another option for those finding it hard to decide to move to TV might be to rent their "up north" home to a responsible family member, or help out one who is struggling in today's economy - could be a win-win situation for both of you, and maybe make the transition easier and not so final in case it turns out you are not happy away from your roots. TV - or any retirement community - is not for everyone (but I think it is for me and hopefully for Ohioboy as well.

[Barefoot]

Originally Posted by GERALDINE

We sold our 2nd home in TV a few months ago (September) and moved back to our home state of Michigan in November. We're in northwest Michigan where we get LOTS of snow!! We lived in TV for 5 years and just couldn't get really acclimated to Florida living. We're sooooo thrilled to be "Home" and are enjoying "Winter" up here. We'll come to FL and rent for a couple of months in subsequent years, but for now we're just enjoying being here. Nothing against TV...it's a great place to live IF you're really into it. Personally, we just couldn't make the necessary adjustments to be really happy there. We DO miss our friends...but they'll ALWAYS be our friends and we'll be back to visit.

Congratulations Geraldine .. you sound happy and relieved to be back home in Michigan. I think your post is important because we rarely hear on TOTV from people who have sold their houses in TV and moved back home. TV is paradise for a lot of people, but not for everyone.

I love TV and my friends here with a passion. But I honestly wouldn't want to live here 100% of the time. Being a seasonal resident is perfect for us. I am always super excited when it is October and time to leave Canada to travel to TV for the winter. When we first bought in TV, I hated to leave my new friends each Spring. But now I've grown accustomed to the routine. I'm happy to return to our other existence in April, and catch up with lifelong friends and family. We love the cooler summers in Canada, living on a lake, and enjoying the "wide open" spaces. And best of all, now we have TV friends that travel north to spend time with us in the summer!

[Debfrommaine]

Yes, different strokes for different folks, and there is no right or wrong. Hubby and I moved here six months ago after thinking about it for 7 years. It is an adjustment but that's what life is, making adjustments, and learning to step outside your comfort zone. I work full time so my experience is rather different from most. The husband is retired and enjoys the daily amenities of The Villages.

Eight years years ago we moved from Maine to Bradenton (that's when we discovered The Villages) stayed 2.5 years, missed the family, etc. So, we ended up back in Maine and after four years of realizing our family and friends have their own lives and, that while the state is gorgeous, the weather isn't really that great for much of the year we headed for The Villages.......no regrets. Will it be forever? Who knows, but that's the beauty of life...and choices.

Good luck on your move back home and maybe we'll see you again!

[l2ridehd]

Our plans are probably a little different then most. My home is NH, but I left there 40 years ago and have only been back to visit once in a while. The love of my life was a military brat so no place is really home.

So our plans are to move to TV as a full time home and then take summer vacations places we want to visit. Rent a home on a lake in NH, or lake Tahoe, or on a lake in Canada, or a sailboat someplace or take a summer trip to Europe or whatever. But TV will be the year round home. We believe, but not 100% sure yet, that renting or traveling for a month or two will be the same cost wise as trying to own a second home some place else. And we get the variety of seeing and staying in many places. And by not owning, just renting, we eliminate the need to do maintenance when there, taxes, ownership worries, and winterizing when we leave. Of course if we find some place we both fall in love with, then a second place could be an option. But for now that is not in the plans.

[nitehawk]

Originally Posted by Barefoot

Congratulations Geraldine .. you sound happy and relieved to be back home in Michigan. I think your post is important because we rarely hear on TOTV from people who have sold their houses in TV and moved back home. TV is paradise for a lot of people, but not for everyone.

I love TV and my friends here with a passion. But I honestly wouldn't want to live here 100% of the time. Being a seasonal resident is perfect for us. I am always super excited when it is October and time to leave Canada to travel to TV for the winter. When we first bought in TV, I hated to leave my new friends each Spring. But now I've grown accustomed to the routine. I'm happy to return to our other existence in April, and catch up with lifelong friends and family. We love the cooler summers in Canada, living on a lake, and enjoying the "wide open" spaces. And best of all, now we have TV friends that travel north to spend time with us in the summer!

Yes that does sound like the perfect life

[Ohiogirl]

Originally Posted by l2ridehd

Our plans are probably a little different then most. My home is NH, but I left there 40 years ago and have only been back to visit once in a while. The love of my life was a military brat so no place is really home.

So our plans are to move to TV as a full time home and then take summer vacations places we want to visit. Rent a home on a lake in NH, or lake Tahoe, or on a lake in Canada, or a sailboat someplace or take a summer trip to Europe or whatever. But TV will be the year round home. We believe, but not 100% sure yet, that renting or traveling for a month or two will be the same cost wise as trying to own a second home some place else. And we get the variety of seeing and staying in many places. And by not owning, just renting, we eliminate the need to do maintenance when there, taxes, ownership worries, and winterizing when we leave. Of course if we find some place we both fall in love with, then a second place could be an option. But for now that is not in the plans.

Sounds like a good plan to me. I'm guessing you'll find that it's cheaper to rent for a couple of months than to own a 2nd home.

Our original plan was to rent an apt. in Columbus - urban living somewhere near downtown, lots of options now in Columbus - for the summer. When Ohioboy's son expressed interest in buying our Columbus house, we revised the plan to stay there instead, and remodeled an area in the basement for us to be a little more out of the way. It's in a great almost-urban location, accessible by bike to summer park festivals, AAA ballpark, and OSU campus. We just felt we couldn't afford and didn't want the worry of owning 2 places.

We think eventually we'll spend more and more time in TV, but still want to travel while we're able.

I'd also like to rent for a month in the mountains or maybe on a lake somewhere. These first few years, though, while we hopefully still have good health and are relatively young, we want to see some places on our bucket list - do a repositioning cruise to Europe and maybe from Vancouver thru the Panama Canal, maybe from Canada down the east coast, etc. Still want to see the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, the Grand Canyon to name a couple. As our friends retire, we'll also visit them for a few days, and they are already starting to visit us. I'm keeping in mind though, that 3 or 4 days is a nice length of time to be or have houseguests.

Thinking seriously about exchanging homes for a month somewhere a year or two from now. We're hoping The Villages will provide a means to meet people who are maybe renting here who have homes in locations we'd like to visit, maybe can arrange an exchange in a shoulder season that would work for both of us. I know there are websites for this, but think it would be nicer (and less worrying) to meet first.

I'm liking this thread, although I've gotten off the initial subject. Find it interesting to hear about different plans/options for life as we know it. Would like to hear from renters to see if they feel like a member of the community when they come to TV. I know that many return year after year, but am thinking that would work fine if you already have friends who live here - does it work for those of you who come not knowing anyone?

[ssmith]

We are not in a position to own 2 homes so we will have to decide on staying up North and just renting in TV for a couple of months when we retire; or selling our perfect big home up north and moving to a lesser home in TV so we can afford to travel up north often.

I think I know what I want....to move to TV; but have concerns. You see, we are conservative types from the Midwest. Our relationship to our friends, family and church is HUGE for us. I am not sure that we would fit in. I also get concerned that living for my own desires will just make me a selfish old crab. I know it is a choice; but maybe that is just my problem. I am not saying you all are selfish old crabs ...it is just a fear that maybe I would become one.

We can't make any moves currently... cause we are too young; but am defintiley giving it much consideration. I beleive we will move to the TV one day if we can sell this home but....another fear I have is that.... if we decided to move back North.... that we would not be able to sell our used home and would feel stuck.

Any thoughts on any of this? Anyone else have these same thoughts? Miss family too much after the move?

My oldest grand daughter does not want us to move. We do think investing in the grands lives is very important for them and for us. Sorry to ramble, guess this post hit a nerve for me.

[JenAjd]

I see so many responses here and some emulate exactly what my feelings were about TV. But here's my 2-cents worth on this post.

We always talked about going someplace 'warm' for the winter months and tossed around ideas of where that might be. Once we visited TV though we knew this would be the place. Having 2 places, for us, was a huge pain. We thought about what the "stewardship" would be and paying (taxes, upkeep etc) on the two places. Of course our families had their expressions and ideas too. But consider this---if any of them had an opportunity to re-locate they probably would take it. Someone here said they lived the "back and forth" way but saw that their kids and grandkids continued living their lives and that alot of the times didn't include them. Once the grandkids are teens the whole situation changes. Also doing the back and forth thing doesn't really enable anyone to connect completely in either place. At least that was our experience. People will be making plans for those months that you are absent and vice-versa. One has to weigh exactly what's most important for them. Do they want to "put up with" the cold/snow/ice and not complain about the weather and stay in the place they call "home"? Or do you want to strike out and add new adventures to your lives and make a bundle of new friends??? You can still keep in touch with the people "up north", visiting them as well as having them visit you. When we went back "north" for a few months...we actually found we were quite bored even though we had activities etc. there. It just had a different "feel" after spending time here.

[eweissenbach]

Very interesting thread! Many of the responses echo some of our issues and concerns. We have often moved in our adult life, leaving our childhood home for college and first job - moving back to our childhood hometown for 11 years, then moving away 26 years ago, and finally moving back to within 40 miles seven years ago. Moving holds no fear, and in fact, we are feeling the itch after being in our current home for over seven years, the longest time in any home in our 44 years of marriage.

Our three grown children and five teenage grandchildren all live in Kansas City, an hour away. The grandchildren have their own lives and activities, but we do enjoy them all coming to our lake home every holiday weekend through the summer. We have many family members within an hour of where we live, with whom we get together often. My wife's mother is 85, but is in good health and works full time! Another complicator is that our youngest son and his wife are expecting twin boys anytime now!

So, we have decided, like many of you, that we would probably not be comfortable with moving to TV full time. However, we really love the lifestyle, and want to spend as much time as possible in TV. Our tentative plan is to sell our home here and make two moves. We plan to give our oldest son (He is divorced) enough money to put a healthy down payment on a home he would like to build on 50 acres that his brother and sister currently own. The other kids are planning on building there also within the next year. In return for the down payment, which would help him out since he has difficulty saving, and may never be able to get what he wants without it, we would get a portion of the basement to store our extra possessions in and a bedroom. We would then purchase a home in TV. The plan then would be spend Jan. to June in TV - spend the summer with our son - back to TV in Sept through mid November, and back to our son's Thanksgiving through Christmas. Seems like a good plan at this time, we'll hopefully see if it works in real life.