I was thinking the other day, "when will the day come that a "Snowbird" will not be able to physically drive between homes that are miles apart?" Which home will they chose to keep and sell? We know two couples that have their winter home here in Florida. The one couple's other home, their original home aka their summer home, is in southeastern Michigan and the other couple's original home aka their summer home, is in the mountain area of PA. So, do they sell their Florida home and stay full-time in their original home, which means putting up with winters of snow and ice again OR sell their original homes and put up with the hot and humid summers in Florida? Obviously it's really nice to have two homes, especially when one can financially and physically afford both. But, just what do they do if health problems get in the way of traveling back and forth anymore?
Well as someone who own 2 homes, the holiday home in a hot country, I can tell you, that if we get to old or infirm to fly back and forth we will move our whole selves over there.. and not stay here. We're in the process of selling our home in Southern Spain which we've owned for many years but with the intention of buying another in a different area.., the fact that the heat helps with arthritis, and the sun just makes you feel much better than rain and cold for the best part of the year.. is a huge redeeming factor as you get older..
Well, when "Snowbirds" fly, they can't take stuff with them from their summer home to their winter home. Both couples we know bring things from their summer main home to their winter second home. One has a van the other pulls a small trailer behind their car loaded with things. And, with the cost of flying today, as we found out the other night, when we bought our airline tickets to Colorado for this summer..............flying is not cheap! So, to fly back and forth each year, that would definitely get expensive. And, there are Seniors that rethink their ideas of becoming "Snowbirds" with two homes, due to the cost and maintenance of two homes.
Here are some “snowbirdies” just for you, @Patsy Faye ! As for the snowbirds traveling once they can no longer drive, I agree that flying would be one option, and you would just have to cut the necessary items to be transported, or ship them with UPS or something similar. Otherwise, they would have to do the same thing as Holly says, and choose one place that suits their lifestyle the best. As long as they could avoid having to go outside much when the weather was either too hot or too cold (depending on which home they chose to live in permanently), then they would probably be fine with either choice.
If you fly enough and also fly when prices are low...it's not that expensive @Cody Fousnaugh. You can get a lot of free flights with points. The can also take the bus or train....just make sure both houses have what you need so you don't have to drag too much with you. Also, if you get to a point where you can't drive then maybe it's time to sell one house anyway.
The two Senior couple "Snowbirds" we know, fly very little-to-no more at all. They don't even take vacations anymore, other than to spend the winter here in Florida. And, if Senior "Snowbirds" were to fly back and forth, unless it was an emergency, they'd only fly up and back once a year. Flying twice in a year sure isn't much. And, from what we know of both couples, one couple being my brother and his wife, neither would even think about taking a bus and possibly not even a train. Why? They just aren't "bus" or "train" folks.
The Michigan couple use to drive thru the night, to save the cost of a motel, but that was a number of years ago, when they were younger. As far as I know, my brother and his wife no longer drives thru the night either. Personally, even though it may not want to be talked about or said, I think, so or later, both couples will have to live in one state or the other. IOW, "the fun times" will end.
I think people even that live in just one state can still have fun. I prefer flying but if I had no other choice I'd take a train.
Yes, they can still have fun. But, when spending years enjoying two homes and getting what a person really likes for weather, the main objective of having two homes, it can be extremely hard for some to chose which one to sell, when/if that times comes. I know the couple from Michigan really, really like the beach, which is only two blocks from their Florida home, but, at the same time, really like being in Michigan during the hot and humid Florida summers. And, now that they have a grandson, Michigan really appeals to them as much as Florida in the winter does. They have the money to drive back and forth, but health issues can change a lot of things.
Not only health issues but the death of one spouse....you have to think about these things when you're making a decision. It can happen to anyone.
A few years back, when my daughter, Robin, was still stationed at Ft. Eustis, in Virginia, se sent me a round trip ticket on the Amtrak to come out and visit her. It took longer than the plane; but I thoroughly enjoyed the trip, and would do it again if it were possible. The train was not crowded except for commuter traffic between Chicago and Washington DC, and I had plenty of room to relax and sleep on the train. For one section of the trip, Robin was offered an upgrade to a sleeper car, and she got that for me, and I actually had a little bed to sleep in and privacy when i had the sleeper coach. The sleeper price also includes one meal in the dining car, so I enjoyed a lovely steak dinner on that day. Otherwise, I just went in for morning coffee, and then used the snack bar for food, or ate some of the protein bars that I had packed in my backpack. Anyway, I met this nice retired couple in the dining car, and they were telling me that they didn’t feel comfortable traveling by their motorhome for vacations any more, so they chose a destination trip, and went by train. When they got to where they were going, they either used a taxi, or rented a car if they were going to be there more than overnight. They told me that when you counted in the price of fuel, and staying at a nice campground, or even at a motel, plus meals at a cafe. It was actually just as cheap to travel by train, and there was no worry about traffic problems, or road conditions. It seems to me that this would also work for a snowbird who was traveling back and forth each year, if they didn’t want to fly.
My oldest brother is, I think, 78 years old. He and his wife used to use a combination of timeshares and hotels to spend their winters in Florida. Then they leased a trailer in a trailer park in Florida. I haven' t been there but I know that it can't be too far from Disneyworld because they both work there part-time. The trailer park had sections where people lived permanently, owning their home but paying a small lot fee. They found a small building, not a trailer but, they say, a very small building, that was for sale very cheap so they bought it. The park management rents it for them in the summers, and they live there in the winters, traveling back and forth from Florida to their home in Menominee, Michigan. They haven't had to make that choice yet, but I think they might choose Florida. It all depends, though. If one of them should die, the other might prefer to be living near people he or she knows well. However, one of their children recently retired near their place in Florida.