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Pacifist Patriot

(25,079 posts)
Wed Jul 30, 2025, 03:21 PM 20 hrs ago

I made it!

There have been many instances when I thought this would never be accomplished, but after 31 years in Florida I made it out.

I met my husband in college here in Virginia. We always said we would move back when we retired. After the youngest graduated from college in May, a shared light bulb went off. We both work fully remote jobs at virtual-first companies that will never force us into an office and don't care which state we live in. Our children are spread out from Boston to Tallahassee with the baby leaving for two years of grad school in China two weeks from today.

In a 10-week time span, we pulled off a move I thought would take at least a year to coordinate.

We closed yesterday, and I am sitting in my home office with beautiful trees outside my window and a definite sense of a lighter load. Florida has felt oppressive for many years, but I had no sense of the weight of it until today.

I'm home again.

31 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
I made it! (Original Post) Pacifist Patriot 20 hrs ago OP
Welcome home! nt spooky3 20 hrs ago #1
Congratulations, Virginia is a beautiful state. A lot of my family is living there and from there. Walleye 20 hrs ago #2
Thanks turning Virginia even bluer! Staph 19 hrs ago #3
In a weird coincidence, the couple who bought our homes in FL... Pacifist Patriot 18 hrs ago #8
Congrats! 2naSalit 19 hrs ago #4
Welcome Keepthesoulalive 19 hrs ago #5
Dreams do come true..... democrank 18 hrs ago #6
So glad you made it. PoindexterOglethorpe 18 hrs ago #7
Good for you! highplainsdem 18 hrs ago #9
It is especially rewarding... GiqueCee 18 hrs ago #10
Felicitations! Glad that you made it out of Florida. GoneOffShore 18 hrs ago #11
Pacifist Patriot......... Upthevibe 17 hrs ago #12
Beautiful Virginia ❤️ live love laugh 17 hrs ago #13
Welcome home Picaro 17 hrs ago #14
Applause. byronius 17 hrs ago #15
What a wonderful outcome, seamless, it seems. ☺️ 1WorldHope 17 hrs ago #16
Congratulations! nt SunSeeker 17 hrs ago #17
💐💐💐 blm 17 hrs ago #18
Congrats Duncanpup 17 hrs ago #19
Congratulations! I am very happy for you. LoisB 17 hrs ago #20
Congratulations! nt Trueblue Texan 17 hrs ago #21
I was born there Warpy 17 hrs ago #22
Nicely done! Navy vet here.. Permanut 17 hrs ago #23
Virginia is for Lovers! Dave in VA 15 hrs ago #24
Congratulations! Buddyzbuddy 2 hrs ago #25
Congrats! SheltieLover 1 hr ago #26
Whoop, get registered to vote IbogaProject 1 hr ago #27
I do! Pacifist Patriot 1 hr ago #29
10 weeks!!!! Nittersing 1 hr ago #28
Made it out of Floridistan safely! Congratulations 🎉 Clouds Passing 1 hr ago #30
Bravo! UpInArms 33 min ago #31

Walleye

(41,550 posts)
2. Congratulations, Virginia is a beautiful state. A lot of my family is living there and from there.
Wed Jul 30, 2025, 03:30 PM
20 hrs ago

Not an easy thing to do, pick up and move

Pacifist Patriot

(25,079 posts)
8. In a weird coincidence, the couple who bought our homes in FL...
Wed Jul 30, 2025, 05:03 PM
18 hrs ago

moved from VA. From what I've been told about them, we may net 4 blue votes out of this! 😄

Home singular. On my phone can't edit the subject line easily.

PoindexterOglethorpe

(28,011 posts)
7. So glad you made it.
Wed Jul 30, 2025, 05:01 PM
18 hrs ago

Rarely do people get to live in the place they really want to be. Mostly jobs leave us stuck somewhere.

I have the remarkable good fortune to live in Santa Fe. I moved here 15 years ago when my marriage of 25 years ended -- he met someone else he decided he wanted to be with, and I said, "Goodbye, Kansas." I actually checked out several other parts of the country, but Santa Fe kept calling my name.

highplainsdem

(57,575 posts)
9. Good for you!
Wed Jul 30, 2025, 05:04 PM
18 hrs ago

The GOP seems determined to turn Florida into a humid red circle of Hell. And if you no longer have most of your family there...

Upthevibe

(9,680 posts)
12. Pacifist Patriot.........
Wed Jul 30, 2025, 05:40 PM
17 hrs ago

AWESOME!

I am SO happy for you. I lived in Virginia in the late 70's when my ex-husband was in the Navy. We enjoyed it very much.

I left my home state of TX in 1988 and moved to California. It's the best decision I've ever made. From 2016 - 2024 I worked for/with a friend (who has a small business) in Dallas. It was AWFUL! The weather was absolutely unbearable and because TX has their own power grid we lost electricity on a regular basis.

No offense to Texans but it's not at all for me. In fact, my high school reunion is coming up at the end of October and I don't even know if I want to go. There are some real right-wing trumpsters who'll be there, (I've kept up with various people on FB) and I don't know if I can enjoy myself....

byronius

(7,790 posts)
15. Applause.
Wed Jul 30, 2025, 05:50 PM
17 hrs ago

I’ve lived in a few red states so far, including Texas (where I was born) — but California is my forever home now. Not perfect, but it’s not Alabama either.

These days I get mild panic attacks anytime I go to a red state.

Good for you.

Warpy

(113,745 posts)
22. I was born there
Wed Jul 30, 2025, 06:20 PM
17 hrs ago

and have always been grateful to my parents for moving soon afterward, although I don't think it was their idea at the time. It was a very different place nearly 80 years ago, mosly interior swamp and palmetto forest and coasts of unspoiled beaches.

Well, it's almost all spoiled now, thanks to rampant development along with reckless destruction of wetlands and draining of aquifers.

My parents retired there and while my dad thought it was where good people went when they died, my mother said she loved to see the big condo high rises being built because they'd make Florida sink faster.

Now thayt they're gone, I have no reason to return to that state. That makes me happy.

Permanut

(7,389 posts)
23. Nicely done! Navy vet here..
Wed Jul 30, 2025, 06:27 PM
17 hrs ago

I spent several years in Norfolk - based on a tin can, so we were gone a lot. Odd thing is, when I arrived from boot camp in January 1967 the bay was frozen over.

Anyway, Oregon native, enjoyed seeing things on the other coast. Took a bus to New York City a couple times, Good memories.

Nittersing

(7,428 posts)
28. 10 weeks!!!!
Thu Jul 31, 2025, 09:42 AM
1 hr ago

That is impressive!! I suspect you're a pretty organized sort to begin with.

I just took a nice, long reinvigorating deep breath to enjoy the moment with you!!

Latest Discussions»Region Forums»Virginia»I made it!