Has Moving to a Warm and Sunny Climate Made You Happier?

[MTF]

I live in a cold country and each year suffer for up to 6 months because of the low temperatures, lack of sunlight, short days, and people with permanent scowls on their faces. I'm starting to wonder if it wouldn't be better to leave everything I have here and move elsewhere where I wouldn't live with anxiety, frustration, and stress for a half of a year.

To anyone who has moved from a cold, dark or wet climate to a warm, sunny and dry climate - has it made you noticeably happier and greatly improved your quality of life?

If you have family and close friends back in your cold state/country, do the benefits of living in a sunny and warm place still outweigh the cons of missing them and essentially having to build a new life from scratch?

 

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[Cosepreziose]

I did the opposite, I'm from Italy but had been living in UK for one year.
What I can tell you is that I was really missing the warm and especially, the sun.
So it should be the opposite for you, especially if you feel unsatisfied about the weather already.
Weather is definitely a mood changer.

 

[theag]

Why not try it out for 6 months? Who says you have to live in just once place?

 

[TTG SS]

I'm sure it makes a BIG difference, however I am not going to let weather stop me from reaching my goals.

I have been supplementing 5000 iu vitamin D over the last two months and I would say it has made a noticeable difference in my mood. I wouldn't say I am necessarily happier(I am already happy) but I've noticed my mood is more level. I find myself complaining less, especially about the weather. In other words, my mood feels like it does all summer when I am getting plenty of sunlight/fresh air.

That being said my plan is to move to a warmer/sunnier climate because I really enjoy outdoors and great weather.

 

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[MTF]

I did the opposite, I'm from Italy but had been living in UK for one year.
What I can tell you is that I was really missing the warm and especially, the sun.
So it should be the opposite for you, especially if you feel unsatisfied about the weather already.
Weather is definitely a mood changer.

Never understood people moving from warm climate to cold climate unless one lives in a hopeless place like Somalia. Even with possible better career opportunities I'd still choose better lifestyle over voluntarily moving from a warm and sunny place to a dreary place like the UK (no disrespect to people from the UK; I'm talking about the climate).

Why not try it out for 6 months? Who says you have to live in just once place?

Yeah, I'm also considering setting up a second base and splitting my time between two countries, though that also comes with some challenges (primarily the effect it can have on my romantic relationship). My plan for this winter was to travel often, but that also doesn't seem to solve the problem. Whenever I come back, I suffer from post-vacation blues and need to plan another trip to have some hope lol. Maybe I should do it on a bigger scale and just leave every two weeks or so.

I'm sure it makes a BIG difference, however I am not going to let weather stop me from reaching my goals.

I have been supplementing 5000 iu vitamin D over the last two months and I would say it has made a noticeable difference in my mood. I wouldn't say I am necessarily happier(I am already happy) but I've noticed my mood is more level. I find myself complaining less, especially about the weather. In other words, my mood feels like it does all summer when I am getting plenty of sunlight/fresh air.

That being said my plan is to move to a warmer/sunnier climate because I really enjoy outdoors and great weather.

I'm taking vitamin D, too (the same dose), but it doesn't change much for me. It can't replace long days, sun, high temperatures, spending time outdoors (without suffering from cold).

I came back from a 2-week trip and instantly experienced a huge drop in my energy. I could function very well there with just a couple of hours of sleep. Here, I can sleep up to 10 hours and still wake up tired.

I'm generally a very happy person, it's just that winter makes me much less happy.

 

[Cosepreziose]

Never understood people moving from warm climate to cold climate unless one lives in a hopeless place like Somalia. Even with possible better career opportunities I'd still choose better lifestyle over voluntarily moving from a warm and sunny place to a dreary place like the UK (no disrespect to people from the UK; I'm talking about the climate).

I was 22 back then, I was in a long distance relationship with a british girl and had enough of it. So I decided I'd move to Uk to make an experience, learn english (which as I realised later, is one of the most important skills one can have nowadays) and be with her.

OH and trust me, Italy can be more hopeless than Somalia sometimes.

 

[OldFaithful]

@MTF you are not alone. I too live in a region that suffers from perceptual gray skies for half of the year. At the moment, I've got priorities & commitments that keep me here. In a few years, when our lives have changed...I do plan to have another residence in a sunny, dry climate.

If you don't have existing commitments that tie you to your current location, why not consider applying the Weighted Average Decision Matrix and see how it plays out? Just be thorough & honest with your WADM, it might surprise you.

 

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[MTF]

If you don't have existing commitments that tie you to your current location

"Just" my girlfriend, friends, and family. A few years ago I lived in a warm and sunny place for over 3 months and decided to go back because loneliness was overpowering. I'm afraid it might happen again, but at the same time each winter is harder and harder for me. It's a tough decision.

 

[Eos]

I'm basically the same as you. I remember MJ mentioning in his book that his lambo dreams included palm trees and sunshine.

Is your current business / income location independent?

I'm toying between
a) Staying here in the dreary UK (it literally is) where I have all of the legal rights and ability to commit to a business, rationalising by thinking "hmm but if I move somewhere hot I won't want to spend time indoors working."
b) Emigrating somewhere where it is sunny most of the year such as Sydney or Cali. If I do this though I may to do basically do any job for several years until I become a citizen. This would set my fastlane dreams back a few years at least!

 

[MitchC]

I haven't read the thread but do it! It will improve your quality of life like nothing else. I should be way more miserable and unproductive where I moved to but I'm not, and its the weather. It is impossible not to be happy, excited about life and productive when the sun is shining and its hot, clear blue sky, driving in your car with the aircon on, you cannot not be positive and happy doing that. You feel like anything is possible and you are going somewhere. You do need to get used to it tho. The first few weeks I was stuck to the couch with the fan blowing, and it slowly got better from there. I will never move back home purely because of the weather here.

 

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[TonyStark]

Traveling should be a great motivator for starting an online-passive income business.

 

[Jamie T]

To anyone who has moved from a cold, dark or wet climate to a warm, sunny and dry climate - has it made you noticeably happier and greatly improved your quality of life?

Yes! I moved from Upstate New York (ranked #4 in US for snowfall and cloudiness). Very tough time up there for most of the year.

I went to college in Louisiana (loved it). Then, went back to NY (hated it). Then, moved to Florida (loved it). Then, moved to Arizona (best decision I've made in a while).

Going back and forth. I can definitely say that I've been much happier whenever I've lived in areas where it's warm and sunny most of the year.

I recommend it for sure.

If you have family and close friends back in your cold state/country, do the benefits of living in a sunny and warm place still outweigh the cons of missing them and essentially having to build a new life from scratch?

This is something to consider. I personally would rather live where I'm happier.

Good luck!

 

[Paul David]

I live in Liverpool, Uk. This morning I had to turn the car on for 10 mins to defrost the windscreen before taking the kids to school. It's dark around 5pm now but pretty soon it will be dark by 3.30pm.

I hate it. It's about that time of year where my "winter depression" kicks in. I'd love to move to a sunnier climate but circumstances at the moment aren't suitable. I wished I had done when I was younger though.



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[MTF]

Is your current business / income location independent?

Yes. I can move wherever and whenever I want. The problem is that I can't take everyone with me, not that I can't do it myself. I could pack my stuff and leave tomorrow. Money and logistics are not a problem.

The first few weeks I was stuck to the couch with the fan blowing, and it slowly got better from there.

It didn't get better for me when I did it a few years ago. I was relieved when I booked a ticket back home (I returned in late spring, though; I probably wouldn't be that happy to come home in winter or worse, fall). That's why I'm torn as I'm afraid it would just happen again.

This is something to consider. I personally would rather live where I'm happier.

The big question is what makes you happier. Weather alone or being close to your close friends, family, etc. That's the question I can't answer. I'm aware I can make new friends, but friends aren't a commodity you can replace easily like your car, house or whatever

I live in Liverpool, Uk. This morning I had to turn the car on for 10 mins to defrost the windscreen before taking the kids to school. It's dark around 5pm now but pretty soon it will be dark by 3.30pm.

Lol don't even get me started about defrosting the windscreen! It sounds like a minor annoyance but damn, each time I have to do it I think about moving. I remember replying to your thread about the same issue.

I've actually just re-read my answer and think it would be valuable to repost it below:

@Paul David, I know exactly what you mean because I'm in a pretty similar position (except for the family part). Excuse me for writing such a ridiculously long post, but I've been thinking about it (and looking for a solution) for a few years already, so perhaps you'll find my thoughts interesting.

In my country, winters are a bitch. Over the past few years they've been getting better (less snow, fewer days with super low temperature like -15 degrees Celsius), but I still find about a half of the year (from October until April) a very bad period for me well-being-wise.

I absolutely hate snow and cold temperatures, and during winter it's usually so cold that you can't spend more than perhaps an hour outside, and even that isn't that particularly pleasant. Sometimes a week goes by without any sunshine at all. And don't get me started about the snow, especially when that shit keeps piling up and you know it will take two weeks to melt and it still won't change shit because you won't be able to do much outside due to the low temperatures...

Needless to say, as a person who loves sun, high temperatures and outdoor activities I consider wintertime (and by that I mean the six-month period) a period of survival, a bad dream that ends each April or so when I can resume living again. During winter, I shift to indoor activities and try to spend as much time as possible not thinking about the weather outside, but obviously it still bothers me. I can more or less manage it, but it's a sub-optimal way of living - I totally get your feeling.

Now, when it comes to summer (a period from about April to September), it's usually okay to great (especially during the summer proper - June, July, August). My lifestyle is at its peak then. However, I still find myself each morning stressed out about the weather. Even if I'm super tired or just not really in the mood to go outside, I still do it just because I'm worried I'll lose a day of sunshine and later on regret it. I'm not alone in this. My friends also exhibit the same behavior knowing that sunny, warm days are limited in our climate so you should take the most out of them even if you're so exhausted you can barely walk. And even if you do spend as much time outside as possible during summer, during winter you'll still regret you didn't spend more time outside. It's madness.

To sum up, even if summers here are better, I still know what you feel. I always have this thought in the back of my mind that sooner or later it will be cold again and I'll be back to my "survival" mode. Something is not right in my life if each year for six months I can't enjoy what I love the most, and if for the remaining six months I'm still worried about what's going to come soon. Don't get me wrong, though - I'm happy almost all the time because I've created an enjoyable daily routine, but I'm MUCH, MUCH happier and healthier during summer.

"If you hate the wintertime so much, why are you still here?", an intelligent person can ask. I'm still here because I've experienced on my own that permanently moving to a foreign country won't necessarily solve this problem. Such a solution involves a trade-off you've already mentioned in your post - namely, leaving your friends and family - and this one is a MUCH bigger challenge than most people think.

So many people dream about living the life of travel, but few of them would be actually able to withstand it due to your social life pretty much dying (and no, I don't consider people you meet on the road for a few days true friends). It IS possible to build a new life in a new country, but you'll most likely still miss your family and old friends.

A few years ago I moved for a few months to Mexico. While it was -20 degrees Celsius in my country, the weather was pretty much the same almost every single day of my stay in Mexico - 30 degrees Celsius, full sunshine with no clouds at all. I won't deny it - it feels incredible to wake up each day not being stressed out about the weather. You could spend an entire day indoors and you still wouldn't feel bad about it because you'd know the next morning the weather would be perfect again.

Why did I return, then? Because as much as I enjoyed the weather there, I felt like the "real" life was passing me by. All of my friends and family were still in my country, living their lives there while I sat alone on the beach in Mexico and wished they were with me to share the joy.

True, I made some new friends, but - let me be blunt here - they were nothing when compared to my old childhood buddies with whom I shared so much. I also missed some of the spots in my city, activities with my friends, things in the supermarket not available there as well as the neighborhood in which I lived and so on - little things that you can usually only appreciate when you miss them.

When I came back, I realized that for the time being I wasn't ready to move to a foreign country. I told myself that I would spend time working on my business so I can have enough money, time, and obviously location independence to be able to travel to escape winter whenever I want.

Last year I had a breakthrough in my business. Consequently, this year I started acting on this resolution. A few days ago I came back from a short trip to Spain. I could immediately feel a difference in my well-being while being there.

Even just a few days of sunshine and relatively warm temperatures (plus MUCH happier people around - and who wouldn't be happier without freezing winters?) made me feel so much better. You can actually tell from the pictures from this trip that I looked like a reborn, healthy guy. Here during winter? Not so much. I have less energy and low quality sleep no matter what I do - and I have a very healthy lifestyle.

And then I came back from sunny Spain to my frigid country and realized there are at least two months left before the weather becomes bearable...

Which leads me to my current best solution. Since I don't want to lose my friendships and be far away from my family for the entire year, I decided to start traveling more during the winter. If I can go on a week-long or so trip each winter month (or at least once every eight weeks or so), I'll be - more or less - able to bear the winter here. That's my short-term plan that isn't that optimal for people with families since you can't just take your kids with you on each trip. However, technically you could take advantage of any school breaks they have and organize such a trip every other month or so.

My ultimate goal to be completed in the next two years or so - that might be helpful to you - is to buy a second house in a warm, easy to access place (possibly Spain, too) so I can go there whenever I want and only pay for the flights and nothing else. Then I'll be able to get the best of both worlds - live close to my friends and family, but at the same time be able to leave at the moment's notice and bask in the sun and heat for a week or two (or longer) in my second home - ideally with a girlfriend or some friends with me. And as an additional benefit, I could rent out this house on Airbnb while I'm not there and make some money @GlobalWealth style.

Questions for you:

How deep are your relationships with your friends and family? Can you really picture your life without them? Skype will NOT fill this hole. Usually you won't be able to answer this question honestly until you actually move for at least a few weeks. Your idea to spend 10 weeks each year in Spain makes sense since it should be enough as a trial run whether you can do it permanently or not.

And let's not forget about your kids. If they already have some good friends or are close with your family members, how will moving to a foreign country affect them? Won't it ruin their social lives and make them unhappy?

Last but not least, are you able to adapt to a new culture and master a new language? Moving from the UK to Spain is NOT like moving from, say, Chicago, IL to Phoenix, AZ. It's an entirely different country with an entirely different culture, language, architecture, landscape, etc. Even things in the supermarket are different - and trust me, it can get annoying if you have to pay 5-10x more for the things you're used to eat just because they were common back in the UK and are not in Spain.

Can you hang out with expats and ignore becoming a part of the local community? You can. Does it make sense if you want to live there permanently? Not really.

Perhaps your idea to live 10 weeks in a warmer country will be sufficient to make you feel better - you should definitely try it. Perhaps it won't be sufficient - but then you have to consider if you're ready to uproot yourself and your family. Alternatively, consider buying a second house in a warm place so you can go there whenever you want - even for a weekend - to recharge.

Whatever you do, start small - trial runs will help you make a better decision.

As a side note, analyze your life in Liverpool. Do you have any hobbies you can practice indoors to forget about the weather outside for a few hours? Perhaps it would be a good idea to, say, learn how to play tennis, try indoor climbing, maybe get better at swimming or call up a few buddies and play basketball. If your daily routine is boring, moving to a foreign country won't necessarily fix it - the problems might be inside you, and not in the world around you. Weather does affect one's mood, but if you have a fun daily routine, bearing it gets easier.

Perhaps the "this AND that" option is indeed the correct choice here. If anyone has experience with such a lifestyle, please don't be shy and share your experience.

 

[townhaus]

Why not try it out for 6 months? Who says you have to live in just once place?

Sun isn't THE major factor to happiness.

If you think moving to a different climate will be the solution to all your problems, you might be disappointed.

I always here Brits looking forward to their 2 weeks in Spain, or dreams of retirement in the Sun to live happily ever after. I think this is a bit simple minded.

I've been in Thailand for most of the year, coming from the UK.

I've taken the Sun for granted here, and certainly am not complaining that it's sunny. I've simply become used to it and i'm as 'happy' as I have always been.

I welcome rain too. Sometimes I would be cold outside, or the weather wouldn't interrupt and put a downer or things back in the UK. So what?

Other factors are more important - food, people/culture, cost of living, my bed & room, location to the city centre, availability of hobbies, fast internet connection, your car/motorcycle, your own space & solitude etc

 

[townhaus]

Yes. I can move wherever and whenever I want. The problem is that I can't take everyone with me, not that I can't do it myself.
...
The big question is what makes you happier. Weather alone or being close to your close friends, family, etc. That's the question I can't answer. I'm aware I can make new friends, but friends aren't a commodity you can replace easily like your car, house or whatever

Sound like you have a fear of leaving people behind. Who says anyone is being 'replaced'. You can still keep contact throught email/skype and returning home for a few months.

You'll make new friends. Take a risk. Who says your new friendships won't live up to the old ones.

I wouldn't let my emotional attachments hold me back.

 

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[Vigilante]

Yes

 

[Paul David]

@MTF ha yes I remember that. Coincidentally yesterday my Wife handed her notice in work. She couldn't handle the stress.

She's on 6 months notice. I've got that time to generate the extra income she earned so that she doesn't have to look for another job.

So how about we wait until I've done that and we all move together? [emoji3][emoji3][emoji3]

Seriously, just do it. Like before you can always come back. Not to be morbid or anything but one day we'll be in a box and none of this will matter!


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[Vigilante]

 

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[Andy Black]

The winters aren't harsh here in Ireland. The kids love the frost and hopefully we'll get a bit of snow over Christmas.

My canal walk is beautiful at the moment with all the different colours of the leaves.

I love crisp days with blue skies, and as the days get shorter it brings back fond memories of previous autumns and winters.

There's something magical too about the days getting longer in the spring after coming through the winter.

It's a nice reminder of time passing as well.

The fact that I work for myself means I don't spend the winter day in a cubicle not seeing the sun for months on end. I remember commuting to work in the dark, working in a windowless office, and commuting home in the dark. It wasn't great but I enjoyed my time in the pubs in Dublin in the evenings ... ha.

Where we live now, my wife is 5 minutes walk from each of her 3 sisters, and 5 minutes drive from her parents. The kids are close to umpteen cousins, their school, and sports clubs.

The weather isn't that important to me as you can tell. Spending time with my family is.

If we could tow the whole island south and get a bit more sunshine then that would great. But realistically we've no intention of permanently moving somewhere just for the sun or weather.

 

[MTF]

If you think moving to a different climate will be the solution to all your problems, you might be disappointed.

Like I said earlier, I live a very happy life. It's only fall and winter that make me feel much worse but even then, it's not like I use it as an excuse for being unhappy. Even then I try to be as happy as I can.

I fully agree with you that sun isn't the only factor to happiness, though I still believe it can play a big role, especially when it affects your health.

@Vigilante - do you still travel back to colder climates for business/personal matters from time to time?

So how about we wait until I've done that and we all move together?

Deal haha.

Seriously, just do it. Like before you can always come back. Not to be morbid or anything but one day we'll be in a box and none of this will matter!

True, though if I were to think about my happiest memories they wouldn't be the memories of me sitting alone on a beach in Mexico; they would be the memories of spending time with my girlfriend and friends (regardless of the weather).

In the end after talking with my girlfriend and thinking about it myself I decided to fill my calendar for the winter with frequent trips to warm countries (going to book a December trip with some friends to the south of Spain today). While traveling, I'll be investigating possible places to move to in the future. If frequent travels won't solve the problem, I'll know where to go (though I pretty much narrowed down the choice to the south of Spain, the Canary Islands and the south of Portugal).

Thank you for your perspective, @Andy Black. As weird as it sounds, your post is very soothing.

 

[Nomangee]

I'm already thinking about the same for a long time, but never was in a position to make the move. Now my current goal is to become a nomad in March.

The first thing I would do is making a table of the Pros and Cons and really write them down in much detail. It's completely different writing it down and seeing it in front of you, then going through them in your mind.

I'm a more logical thinker and less emotional , so I educated myself quite a bit about the biological and also emotional effects of sun deprivation, which are huge and can't be easily supplemented with Vitamin D as the sun creates all life on earth and a simple Vitamin can never have the same effect.

From an evolutionary standpoint we are meant to be around warm and sunny weather, it's our natural habitat. For example look at the suicide rates in the north of Finland, where you have often no sun light for a long time in the winter. I also know now, that a few small health problems I have, were completely gone this summer, when I went a lot outside, so that's another big point for me.

Also a few years back, I read a lot of stories here on the forum about people moving to warm countries/states and all said that everything got so much better, be it productivity, happiness etc and most didn't even realize, that it was maybe only the weather change, which not only effects themselves, but also all the people around them.

For me it's for now a no-brainer with the only downside of leaving family/friends behind, but I think everything that is worthwhile in life has also a downside. My big Pro's are the weather, paying no freaking taxes, experiencing new cultures.

I leave this reply with a quote of my friend "Augustine of Hippo"
“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page."

 

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[Vigilante]

Like I said earlier, I live a very happy life. It's only fall and winter that make me feel much worse but even then, it's not like I use it as an excuse for being unhappy. Even then I try to be as happy as I can.

I fully agree with you that sun isn't the only factor to happiness, though I still believe it can play a big role, especially when it affects your health.

@Vigilante - do you still travel back to colder climates for business/personal matters from time to time?



Deal haha.



True, though if I were to think about my happiest memories they wouldn't be the memories of me sitting alone on a beach in Mexico; they would be the memories of spending time with my girlfriend and friends (regardless of the weather).

In the end after talking with my girlfriend and thinking about it myself I decided to fill my calendar for the winter with frequent trips to warm countries (going to book a December trip with some friends to the south of Spain today). While traveling, I'll be investigating possible places to move to in the future. If frequent travels won't solve the problem, I'll know where to go (though I pretty much narrowed down the choice to the south of Spain, the Canary Islands and the south of Portugal).

Thank you for your perspective, @Andy Black. As weird as it sounds, your post is very soothing.

I am begrudgingly going back to the midwest this year for Christmas, and my son's college graduation. Love seeing the family, but they come to Florida regularly. I don't have a winter coat or any winter clothes any more, so I am not sure what I am going to do this Christmas. I told my wife I was going to have a town car pick me up, deliver me where ever I was going, and when it was time to leave they could come pick me up again and bring me to the airport.

The older I got, the more I dreaded Fall because Fall lead to winter, and I literally came to despise winter. Quite frankly, I don't understand people who like it, and I can only assume that a lack of knowing any differently is what leads to their complacence. I had seasonal disfunction disorder. I dreaded winter, dreaded winter approaching, and spent five months a year in a shitty mood like everyone else did.

Look at the cold weather states. Six months out of the year, the people are all assholes. Why? The air hurts your face. You trudge through slush in your dress shoes to your car, noticing that your pants, shoes and socks are now wet and will be like that for the better part of the day. You scrape the ICE off your windshield, and start your car while your body is trying to adjust from the 70+ indoor temps to the now below freezing weather that literally could freeze your blood if you let it. The car starts to warm up, but traffic sucks because it is snowing, and the snow plows haven't come through yet. Your 20 minute commute takes an hour, which is OK because everyone else is late also. You walk in the door to the office, and all anyone wants to talk about is the shitty weather. Vendors like me might fly in for a meeting, marvel at the fact that you live in a freezer, and fly back to the tropics. You look at the calendar but your one week vacation to the beach is still seven weeks away. You dread the drive home, the walk through the slush, the scraping the windshield, the warming up the car, the commute home through the snow, and the driveway that is waiting there for you to shovel it after the long, stressful, winter induced hateful day you had. And the next morning? You can get up and do it all again.

Coats. Winter hats. Mittens. Frozen snot. Frozen cars. Shoveling. Bad drivers. No sunshine. Cold to the bone. Dead battery. Need new windshield wipers. New tires. New attitude. You choose that. All of that.

Guess what? NOBODY needs to live like that. It is a choice.

 

[Mac]

The reason why people are always pissed off is because of a lack of Vitamin D. You could take some Vitamin D supplements to off-set the bad mood, but it still won't help you with the cold. Personally I'm trying to get out of Canada ASAP.

 

[Vigilante]

The reason why people are always pissed off is because of a lack of Vitamin D. You could take some Vitamin D supplements to off-set the bad mood, but it still won't help you with the cold. Personally I'm trying to get out of Canada ASAP.

The reason people are pissed off is because the slush goes over the top of their dress shoes. Vitamin D doesn't help that unless you take the bag came in and use that inside of your shoes.

 

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[Paul David]

I am begrudgingly going back to the midwest this year for Christmas, and my son's college graduation. Love seeing the family, but they come to Florida regularly. I don't have a winter coat or any winter clothes any more, so I am not sure what I am going to do this Christmas. I told my wife I was going to have a town car pick me up, deliver me where ever I was going, and when it was time to leave they could come pick me up again and bring me to the airport.

The older I got, the more I dreaded Fall because Fall lead to winter, and I literally came to despise winter. Quite frankly, I don't understand people who like it, and I can only assume that a lack of knowing any differently is what leads to their complacence. I had seasonal disfunction disorder. I dreaded winter, dreaded winter approaching, and spent five months a year in a shitty mood like everyone else did.

Look at the cold weather states. Six months out of the year, the people are all assholes. Why? The air hurts your face. You trudge through slush in your dress shoes to your car, noticing that your pants, shoes and socks are now wet and will be like that for the better part of the day. You scrape the ICE off your windshield, and start your car while your body is trying to adjust from the 70+ indoor temps to the now below freezing weather that literally could freeze your blood if you let it. The car starts to warm up, but traffic sucks because it is snowing, and the snow plows haven't come through yet. Your 20 minute commute takes an hour, which is OK because everyone else is late also. You walk in the door to the office, and all anyone wants to talk about is the shitty weather. Vendors like me might fly in for a meeting, marvel at the fact that you live in a freezer, and fly back to the tropics. You look at the calendar but your one week vacation to the beach is still seven weeks away. You dread the drive home, the walk through the slush, the scraping the windshield, the warming up the car, the commute home through the snow, and the driveway that is waiting there for you to shovel it after the long, stressful, winter induced hateful day you had. And the next morning? You can get up and do it all again.

Coats. Winter hats. Mittens. Frozen snot. Frozen cars. Shoveling. Bad drivers. No sunshine. Cold to the bone. Dead battery. Need new windshield wipers. New tires. New attitude. You choose that. All of that.

Guess what? NOBODY needs to live like that. It is a choice.

I love this.


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[Red]

For me personally? Hell yes.

This won't apply to everyone though. Some people need friends & family around -I didn't. Some people need freedom & a fresh start with sunshine & warm temps -I did.

It's all relative to you & how you're wired.

 

[MTF]

The first thing I would do is making a table of the Pros and Cons and really write them down in much detail. It's completely different writing it down and seeing it in front of you, then going through them in your mind.

I made a mental list and realized that for the time being I'm not ready... yet. I just enjoy my everyday routine and friends too much, even when it's cold. Traveling more frequently during the worst months should help (already have one booked trip and two more in mind). If it doesn't work, I'll make the move next year.

Guess what? NOBODY needs to live like that. It is a choice.

I guess it's also a choice to make the best of it or not, though I generally agree with your post.

I'm not sure I would like to live in the tropics, though. Dry season is lovely, but once it starts raining and doesn't stop for a week, it's brutal (not as bad as bitter cold, but still not that fun).

I came to a realization (very recently) that I prefer a dry climate. That's also one of the reasons I want to travel a bit more - get to know different cultures, climates, lifestyles, etc. to develop my "palate" as to where I can live. Just a month ago I wouldn't imagine myself living in a Muslim country. Now I probably could.

For me personally? Hell yes.

This won't apply to everyone though. Some people need friends & family around -I didn't. Some people need freedom & a fresh star with sunshine & warm temps -I did.

It's all relative to you & how you're wired.

I believe it might also have something to do with your everyday routine. If you've had the same hobbies for years that you've been doing with the same people (and you enjoy it all a lot) it's harder to start a new life elsewhere than if you haven't had any such hobbies and didn't do anything special with your friends. If you don't have anything like that in your life, then I guess you're not very attached to the place.

 

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[Nomangee]

I believe it might also have something to do with your everyday routine. If you've had the same hobbies for years that you've been doing with the same people (and you enjoy it all a lot) it's harder to start a new life elsewhere than if you haven't had any such hobbies and didn't do anything special with your friends. If you don't have anything like that in your life, then I guess you're not very attached to the place.

What I currently try to do more and more, when you face more though decisions is, to imagine yourself as an old fellow in your 80s, who is looking back onto his life and thinks about the decision you are currently facing as you didn't pursue it. Would there be any feeling of regret? If yes, do it!

 

[Vigilante]

I guess it's also a choice to make the best of it or not.

People that live in a mud hut in Haiti can make the best of it there also. Doesn't mean it's preferable. Just means you need mind games to make it tolerable.

Live where people vacation.