We love being snowbirds! We winter in Venice Fl, and summer in Manitoba ... 6 months each. We experience the best part of all the four seasons. We are never homesick because our family loves to come down throughout the winter months. We fly down now, and have a car that we leave here. A bit expensive keeping two houses, but it's worth it. Have been doing it for 20 some years.

We are Summer Birds. Since it gets hot here in the Summer we head North with our motor home for a couple of months.

We are when we make it out of Oregon before winter shows up. Last couple of years health issues kept us home and this year we hope to beat-feet out of town before Thanksgiving. Winter is just too long, dark and cold for these old bones.

I'd love to be - don't like winter at all.

Do it and find out. Could be only 3 months are a worthwhile escape. Nice condo rentals for a trial period. It was 98 in AZ last week, and starting to warm up. PERFECT!!!!

Before we move to ND, we were what I call--reverse snowbirds--that is we had to stay home winter time because of living in the mountains with snow etc and no one to take care of the animals and house. We traveled summer time. But here in ND it seems like over have the state leaves usually in OCT and come back end of March into April Many go to the same area and get together just like they would if they had stayed home. They love it and they stay is touch with facebook etc'

I stay here in the Iowa winters because I live and breathe basketball.Iowa State University won the Big 12 championship this year. Some of my non-basketball friends do go south for a month or two.

We're not retired yet, but we have talked about it. I can't stand the heat and humidity. The problem is affording two homes or even putting out the extra $ for a rental on a retirement income. Then of course...where to go? And do you establish a second set of doctors? Lots to consider.

We planned to spend January & February in Florida. Wanted to be here in Pennsylvania with the kids for the holidays. We had a camper trailer and a diesel truck to pull it, that was what we would stay in in Florida.
We went the first year after my husband retired and planned to do it every year thereafter, but I lost him last August.

Robert is going to retire early in a couple of years (maybe, he loves his work) and we've talked about living in different locations for a couple of months out of the year.

It won't be to escape severe weather, Huntsville is just about perfect in that regard. But we would truly enjoy experiencing other parts of the world for a month or two. I would sure love to spend part of the year back in the Lowcountry (South Carolina) during oyster season. :-)

We have gone to Savannah the past several years for January, February, and March. Love being out of the cold and snow. It's a plus for us that one of our boys lives with his family in Jacksonville, so we see them and our precious grandsons often in the winter. We really love experiencing another city and have made a few friends there, too. However, we really miss our granddaughters here at home while we're gone, and so three months is our limit to be away.

I wish we could be snowbirds. This winter was simply awful.

I'd consider a version of it if I could afford it. For the first 10 years of our marriage we had a weekend/vacation home in the mountains of PA--not quite the same as being a snowbird, but we did manage two households. It was great, but of course I had more energy then. :-)

PS: Eventually we moved to PA full time, and I'm still here (in a bigger house).

I moved to Florida this winter to be with my new significant other. I miss my friends, my life and my apartment back in Rhode Island even though I adore this man I'm with. I won't be sure how I feel about this until I'm home for the summer and heading back to Florida again next winter. Maybe my single life back home wasn't as great as I thought it was. I had a lot of life style changes and adjustments to get used to so it's hard to separate them from the snowbird part of it.

Rose, I am so sorry that you lost your DH. Hugs to you and your family.

Sidnee

We've escaped Chicagoland winters in Hawaii for years, then began spending a month out there after DH retired early.

In 2000 we rented at a condo complex in South Maui and liked it enough to buy there in 2001. We've gone from staying only the month of February to staying two and a half months. Our DS and family are coming out for Christmas this year, so we'll be there from then until mid-March.

We we might want more than 1000 sq ft if we started staying much longer, although there are two bathrooms and there's lots of 'outdoor living'.

We bought in a licensed vacation rental complex so that we could rent our condo when we are not there. Owning saves us $6K a month we would pay to rent somewhere else, and the income from our guests makes a good dent in the expenses. We use a local agency to take care of our guests and our condo when we're not there.

There's been a bit of a whammy this year because both the condo and our home were new in 2001. Everything that needs replacing here needs replacing there. We're two water heaters down, and some kitchen appliances to go.

When we returned home in March our neighbor stopped my DH on the street and grimly said, "You are the smartest people I know." (We missed this long, super-cold winter that began in November.)

No wonder I avoid Hawaii. It's hard enough to afford a gallon of milk or a burger out there. That rental fee seems more like an annual figure than monthly??

Fixer -- January through March is Whale Season, with even more demand added to the snowbirds escaping mainland winters. We have had returning guests from Canada for several years who come as soon as we depart and stay until mid-April.

You can see how *agency* rates vary by season and length of stay: www.crhmaui.com Renting direct from an owner is usually less.

It's faster and cheaper to fly to a Caribbean island, Mexico, or Central/South America, but Hawaii has the advantage of being a US State. One of the least expensive ways to enjoy some sun is at an all-inclusive -- on land or aboard a cruise -- where labor rates are low.

fil did it for years...he chose less expensive Yuma az, over the phoenix area...then went to texas....at one point I believe he left the trailer year round...cheaper than hauling, I believe? he had really good neighbors who watched the house, and of course was lucky to have family not far away to also check...his second wife though wasn't as thrilled at leaving her (adult) dds so did fly home alone for Christmas...they always returned just in time for taxes, lol...

now friends of my sister ended up with a condo (not time share) but believe they rented out in the months not in use (fla) again their summer home is a delightful cottage on a lake in mi, so they have it made! again super neighbors and family to care for the lake house...

We tried wintering in Florida and then California for 4 months every winter before the kids were old enough for school, returning to the Chicago suburbs in late March. When we had to stop the travel because the kids were starting school, we moved to coastal southern California.

They went from being locked inside all winter to playing outside whenever they wanted. My older son lettered in surfing in high school! His PE surf class was at dawn on the beach every day. They had to return to class showered and ready for the day by the end of 2nd period class.

My folks snow bird- They leave after christmas and are back for Easter. They have a 45' RV. At first they would travel. Staying in one location for two weeks at a time was long enough to relax and see the sights, then move on. They stayed in Gulf port for several winters to help out with Katrina repairs... then it was Galveston. For the past two years they have been staying at Travelers Rest near Tampa. The place is big, lots of programs and clubs for every interest. Good church that is very well attended. Two planned entertainment programs a week. Tampa is 1000 miles closer than McKinnely texas, which is one of the benefits.

They were telling me that right now there is a single wide for sale, furnished for 25K. The RV Park charges 3K per year... so you have a place to go anytime or you can also rent it out. Sounds like inexpensive living to me! + you have all the programs to entertain yourself with and far less overhead than maintaining a house or condo.

The learning curve was that I watch their house while they are gone. Check up on it every two weeks and forward the mail. It took dad a while to learn not to worry. I am glad that they are enjoying their retirement. They deserve it!

We are wannabe snowbirds. But not yet. We would like to RV in the winter, heading south, stopping in MN to visit my son, then making a loop back in the spring and going to MD to visit my daughter. The Keweenaw peninsula (and our camp) in the summer and hmmm... someplace warm in the winter. We'll see. We're not retired yet either, and although my job could go on the road, his couldn't.

Sheila.....I grew up in So Cal and moved to the DC area in my 20's for a change....what was I thinking? Lol!

Joanie, we lived in Bethesda as newly weds. He worked in DC and got his MBA at the U of Md. He picked that school for graduate work strictly because it had the cheapest tuition of all the universities around there.

We're snow birds and love it! We rent in Venice, Florida for January, February and March. Going back there next year to the same place!
After this winter it's going to be harder to find a place to rent with all the people trying to go south.
On the way home to Michigan we passed a car with a bumper sticker that said, "Snow Birds Suck".
Can't blame them, we live in northern Michigan and we call the weekenders "Trunk Slammers".
kathy g in mi

Don't come to Florida! Here it is, April 15th and tomorrow morning it's supposed to be FOURTY degrees here on the beach. This weather SUCKS swamp water for sure. I moved here to get warm - instead, I'm freezing! I am now sitting in my living room, wearing a fleece-lined hoody and I'm STILL cold!!!

Sheila...oldest son is a U of Md alum...we're not far from Bethesda. I graduated from CSULB.

My parents snowbirded. They belonged to Thousand Trails, and started with a 5th wheel. Sold their home and property. Upgraded to a motorhome, then to a beautiful converted bus. They would park at our place in the summers which was wonderful for our boys and were a great help to us. Then, they'd travel to California for the winter. They loved it, and kept it up until my mom could no longer get in and out of the bus.

I guess I would want to be a "sunbird." I wouldn't mind retiring to Florida but would want to escape the summers there...heat and humidity zaps all my energy and I just want to sit in the A/C all day....which is pretty much what I do here in the humid Maryland summers.

What would be some inexpensive, easy rental places with cooler summers?

Well, not inexpensive, but coastal California has great summers. I hardly ever have to use the AC.

I've also heard the Pacific Northwest has great summers. Cooler and relatively low humidity, and prices are definitely cheaper up there than a lot of coastal California, at least outside of the major metros like Portland or Seattle.

I've lived in Chicago, Florida and Boston and hated the summers in each one due to the humidity. I handle "dry" heat so much better, but wouldn't want to live anywhere like Arizona where it gets 100+ fairly often.

Two years ago we looked for an alternative to Maui. Florida's winters are unreliable. Arizona/California desert doesn't appeal. No to Mexico. No to some Caribbean island. No to leaving the US in general. When I'd ask people for alternatives to Maui, most asked, "WHY wouldn't you want to go to Maui?"

I just confirmed/booked our flights Chicago-Maui: Out late December; home early March. Got the first class seats using upgrade miles -- nice outbound; wonderful to be able to sleep on the overnight return. Bonus was no fare increase since I booked the outbound in February. (If you haven't looked at airfares lately...don't!)

Chi----ha ha......I grew up in SoCal....4 miles from the beach....probably couldn't afford anything there now...not even the house I grew up in! No a/c growing up..it always cooled off enough to sleep.

Oh nice, I grew up a bit north of San Diego, and we never had a/c growing up either. There were hot days but overall it wasn't bad.

I grew up in the 90's and real estate was still reasonable. We just bought our first house last year in south OC and it was over 4x more expensive than when it was built in the 90's. Painful.

A little bird told me ...

... that it snowed, last night.

ole joyful

Kathyg, that bumper sticker phrase made me chuckle. When I lived in Beaufort SC, a bumpersticker started showing up that read, " I Don't Care How You Did It Up North! "

We live in Long Island NY. This past winter was a bear. My daughter plans to move to Florida after her wedding in a couple of years. She promised me she'll have an extra bedroom so I can visit anytime!

We've been going to N. Ft. Myers for 35 years and just love it....Being from Pa. we do appreciate the sun and the warm weather during the winter....Wouldn't trade it for anything....We did have to come back earlier this year and of course got a dose of the nasty weather...I talked to a gal friend in Fla. on Monday and the temps were well into the 80s......Who said, don't go to Florida???

I did! This has been the coldest Florida (and across the USA) winter since 1989. The weather is changing all over the world.

We currently have 64 degrees and a 15 m.p.h. SHARP wind. We are about 15 degrees cooler than normal.

So far I still like winter plus I'm not retired so not an option to head south in the winter. At this point I'm not planning to become a snow bird when I retire. I haven't identified a place that I'd want to go every winter. I might take a month and go somewhere different each year for a warm weather break.

I don't care if it's 80F in Florida *now*. It was darn cold there all winter. We learned a long time ago to go much farther south if we wanted to be sure of warm, dry weather. Even the Bahamas can't be counted upon during the worst of winter in Chicagoland. THAT'S when we want relief...not in April.

I agree with you chisue, I don't think Florida compares favorably to Hawaii in any way except geographic proximity for those east of the Mississippi. And the easy access makes a big difference for them.

Even if Hawaii were a longer trip for me from my West Coast starting point, I'd still choose it over Florida as a short or longer term destination.

I agree, there are parts of Florida that have been cold but you have to go below Bradenton, there is a difference...St. Pete, Orlando, Jacksonville, Tampa, even up in the Panhandle, it does get cold...
I'm not saying it stays in the 80s all winter and this past year, we did have some chilly nights but nothing that was cold.....I always laughed at my friend, when it got to be below 70, she turned on the furnace.. Said, she didn't move to Florida to be cold.....

Luck to HAVE a furnace in some Florida locations.

My late mother would meet her old pals from RI in Pompano Beach in winter -- and I've visited when it was much nicer to be at home in a heated house in Chicagoland. (Funny how East Coasters stay Atlantic side and Midwesterners go to Sanibel on the gulf!)

The Gulf side of FL is better. Helped someone look for a condo in HI, avg was $600/wk, cheaper if long term.

Fixer: I think you doubt my statement about saving $6K a month rental in South Maui.

When you say you found some rentals "in Hawaii", that covers a lot of ground! There are rentals in some locations in Hawaii in some seasons for even less than the $600/wk you quote, and there can be a discount for more than 28 nights.

We are 'a few palm trees' from Wailea in South Kihei, across from Kamaole III beach park. The smallest (1 BR 2 Bath) ocean view units at our complex run over $200/night January through mid-April. Taxes add 13.42% We pay neither rent nor rental tax to stay in our own place.

It's also great to know we won't be disappointed. We've rented our share of pricey condos in Hawaii -- and elsewhere -- that turned out to be pretty 'bare bones'!