Now that we’ve officially announced our move to Southwest Florida, I’m so excited to finally share more freely — including everything we’ve learned, researched, and thought through along the way. I wanted to put it all together in one place while it’s fresh and real and we’re still right in the middle of it. We move in exactly one month, and here’s everything we know.

Before we get into it, a little context that I think matters: Ben and I weren’t starting from scratch when we made this decision. We both did the Disney College Program, so we’ve actually lived in Florida before. We’ve vacationed there every other year for nearly 20 years. We had our babymoon in Miami. We visited Southwest Florida specifically five years ago when a similar opportunity first came up. In a lot of ways, Florida has always felt like a second home — and Southwest Florida in particular felt like a place we already knew and loved before we ever officially decided to move there.

All of that is to say: we went into this with open eyes, real experience, and a lot of prior research already done. And even so, there were things worth knowing and things worth sharing. Here’s what I’d tell you.

Southwest Florida Is a Region Worth Exploring Before You Commit

Southwest Florida isn’t one place — it’s a whole corridor of communities, each with its own personality and its own feel. When we visited five years ago, we spent time driving through different areas and getting a genuine sense of each one, which made our decision this time around so much more informed.

Naples is the most established and upscale part of the region — beautiful, walkable, world-class dining and shopping, and stunning beaches. It has a sophisticated, polished feel that’s unlike anywhere else in Southwest Florida. The price point reflects that, but if Naples fits your budget and your lifestyle it’s one of the most genuinely beautiful places to live in the entire country.

Fort Myers is the largest city in the region and the most diverse — a mix of historic charm, a vibrant food and arts scene, and neighborhoods at a much wider range of price points. It’s the commercial hub of the region and a city with real character.

Bonita Springs sits between Fort Myers and Naples and has a warm, relaxed community feel with beautiful beaches and a pace that feels genuinely unhurried. It feels like the best of both its neighbors in a lot of ways.

Estero is one of the fastest-growing and most exciting communities in the region right now. It’s more affordable than Naples, close to the airport, has excellent schools, and is home to a lot of the newer master-planned communities that have been drawing young families from all over the country. Our community specifically is brand new — expansive, resort-style, and exactly the kind of neighborhood we were dreaming about.

Cape Coral is a boater’s paradise with more navigable waterways than almost anywhere else in the world, and one of the most affordable options for families who want space and water access.

If you can visit, drive through different neighborhoods. Have dinner on Fifth Avenue South in Naples and then spend a morning in Estero and feel how different they are. This region rewards exploration, and knowing which community actually feels like you before you sign anything is so worth the trip.

The Weather Is the Whole Point

We are moving to Southwest Florida because of the weather. I want to be completely honest about that, because I think it’s the most important thing to understand before you make this move — both why it’s so wonderful and what to actually expect.

Coming from Minnesota, the idea of being outside in every single month of the year felt almost too good to be true. Watching Ollie bounce around the house all winter, wanting so desperately to be outside but unable to because of the cold, and then watching summer arrive and still not being able to go outside because of poor air quality — that was what finally made us say yes. We wanted to live somewhere that let us actually live, not somewhere we were constantly waiting for the weather to cooperate.

Southwest Florida gives us that. But there are a few weather realities worth knowing honestly.

Summer is hot and humid. Genuinely hot. June through September takes adjustment, especially coming from a northern climate. But the mornings and evenings are beautiful, the beaches are less crowded, and the pace slows in a way that actually feels really wonderful once you settle into it. We’re planning to do our outdoor activities early in the day and lean into the slower summer rhythm rather than fight it.

Afternoon thunderstorms happen almost every day in summer. They arrive quickly, they’re dramatic, and then they pass and leave everything smelling fresh and clean. Once you build your day around them they become part of the charm rather than an inconvenience.

Hurricane season runs from June through November. This is something we researched carefully and took seriously. Before we committed to our home, we made sure we were out of the flood zone — that was genuinely non-negotiable for us. We also spent time understanding our insurance situation, because homeowners insurance in Florida is significantly more expensive than the national average, and it’s something you want to understand fully before you purchase. The age and construction of your home, your proximity to water, and your flood zone all affect your insurance costs meaningfully. Do your research here before you fall in love with a specific property.

The dry season from November through April is everything. Low humidity, temperatures in the 70s, blue skies, and the kind of weather that makes every single day feel like a gift. This is when Southwest Florida is at its absolute best and its most visited — and honestly, just knowing that season is coming makes every hot summer day feel completely manageable.

The Logistics of Actually Moving

We’re moving from Minnesota to Southwest Florida with a household of belongings, two cars, and a toddler — and figuring out the logistics of a long-distance move like this was its own project.

For our belongings, we’re using U-Pack — a relocube system where they drop off the cubes, you pack them yourself, and they transport them to your new location. It’s a genuinely wonderful middle ground between a full-service moving company and a DIY truck rental, and it’s been one of the decisions we’ve felt best about in this whole process.

For our cars, we’re using Montway Auto Transport to ship both vehicles to Florida rather than driving them. With everything else going on during a long-distance move — coordinating the timing of belongings, getting the house ready, managing the transition with a toddler — not having to drive two cars across the country feels like such a relief.

Then we’re flying to Southwest Florida, staying in an Airbnb while we wait for our belongings to arrive, and spending that time getting the house set up and doing any work that needs to happen before we move in. We have curtains to hang, potentially a room or two to paint, and the general beginning of turning a beautiful blank canvas into something that feels like ours.

The Community We’re Moving Into

This is the part I get genuinely excited talking about, because our community is one of the biggest reasons we chose this specific home.

It’s a brand new, expansive master-planned community with a resort-style pool, fitness center, pickleball courts, a restaurant, a coffee shop, a smoothie bar, and a playground. There are on-site activities for children including dance classes. The ability to walk or bike to all of those things — to have fitness and activity and community built into our everyday life rather than something we have to plan around — is something we’ve been dreaming about.

Our home itself is a completely blank canvas right now. Everything is white. And rather than finding that intimidating, we find it incredibly exciting — a genuine fresh start, a chance to create a space that feels coastal and airy and completely new. We’re planning to lean into a light, breezy aesthetic that feels like Southwest Florida rather than trying to recreate what we had in Minnesota. We have a beautiful lanai with an L-shaped sliding door that opens the entire living room and dining area to the outside, which feels like such a gift for a family that has spent years wanting to be outdoors.

We also have a separate suite within our home — its own living room, kitchenette, bedroom, and bathroom — which means Ben’s parents can spend winters with us and family can come for extended stays with a real space of their own. That detail has made so many people in our family genuinely excited about this move right along with us.

What We’re Most Looking Forward To

Sanibel Island is my favorite place on planet earth. I mean that without exaggeration. The shells, the water, the unhurried beauty of that island — the idea that we’ll be able to go there not as a special vacation but just as a Saturday is something I genuinely cannot wait to experience.

Beyond Sanibel, the access to everything in this part of Florida is extraordinary. Disney World is about 3 hours away. The Florida Keys are reachable for a long weekend. Disney cruises leave from nearby ports. The whole Gulf Coast is ours to explore. We’ve been treating Florida like a vacation destination our whole lives together — and now it’s just going to be our life.

We’re also excited about a more active everyday life. More time outside. More movement built into regular days. More mornings at the farmers market and evenings on the lanai and days at the beach that don’t require flights and vacation budgets.

The Honest Emotional Reality

Moving somewhere completely new — even somewhere you’ve dreamed about for twenty years — is a genuinely vulnerable thing to do. We’re leaving the home where our family began. We’re leaving neighbors who have become real friends. We’re leaving the hydrangeas out front and the staircase photo wall and every corner of a house that is full of the memories of Ollie’s whole life so far.

That’s real and it’s bittersweet and we’re holding both things at once — the grief of leaving something beautiful and the excitement of stepping toward something we’ve wanted for so long.

But if I’m honest about where we’ve landed emotionally, it’s this: we moved from anxious to genuinely excited. And the excitement is winning.

What I’d Tell You If You’re Considering the Same Thing

Life is too short to not live where you want to live.

We came to the realization that we were living for weekends and summers. And then when Minnesota’s air quality started affecting even the summers, we realized we couldn’t go another year feeling like we were trapped — by the cold, by the air, by the calendar. We wanted to be somewhere we could feel alive. We love the ocean. We love sunshine. We love palm trees. Sanibel Island is my favorite place on earth, and I’m floored at the opportunity to go there regularly.

So if something has been nagging at you — the way this has nagged at us for nearly twenty years — just take the leap. Do your research, make a plan, and then trust yourself. You know better than anyone what you want your life to feel like. Go live it!