My first post, back in 2010, was called “Why the Relocated Tourist” which was in reference to the name, but also what the whole point of this story was. If you have never read it, it’s a nice, brief one and can be found here. “https://atomic-temporary-12231859.wpcomstaging.com/2010/02/24/why-the-relocated-tourist/

The original idea of moving here was to be able to access and visit the Disney Theme Parks anytime we wanted….the sunshine and warm weather were always a bonus.  Who wouldn’t want to play every chance they got? And for awhile, that’s what we did.  We took the tours, we ate all over Disney World, we were able to enjoy other Theme Parks, and we filled our weekends with magic.

And then something changed….it wasn’t sustainable and it wasn’t enough. Trying to have the reality of life with school, work, church, bills, family and marriage dynamics, friends, and out of town family life seemed to blur with the fantasy here. I am not saying you can’t balance it, but most who live here I think can agree with me that living a theme park life is our normal, but not for most outside the FL State lines.  But with that blessed privilege of carriage filled pixie dust, comes the guy walking behind the horses in the parade who has to pick up the poop. That my friends is called reality.

Reality is that living in Florida is rough. Not easy, not accessible, and definitely a challenge of getting anywhere. I honestly feel like I am playing “Mario Kart” every time I get on 27, I4, 192, and so on.  I can’t just run an errand and hope it’ll take a hot second to get done. Nope, its like I am back in the prairie days and going anywhere is like going into town and it may take the entire day to just get to the grocery store and back. Every idea I have about leaving the house has to be approached with “What time is it, how is traffic, are the Parks letting out, what Season is it, is it a Holiday week, and is it a week day or the weekend?” I can tell you that back in WI, I never thought about leaving the house unless we had bad roads due to the weather, that was it. It just shouldn’t be this hard to enjoy your own city or part of town.

I always wonder what I would go back and say to that Amy in 2011 just on the start of this journey. Would I want to warn her? Would I have wanted others to warn me about how FL really isn’t all that you dream it up to be? Or would I just leave her be and let it play out like it was meant too.  I am glad we not only moved here once, but twice, because I wouldn’t have had the amazing adventures I’ve had. But they all came at a hefty price and moving forward with the blog, I will be sharing the ups and downs of living here and whether or not this will be our forever home.

Catch “Part 2” here… enjoy! therelocatedtourist.wordpress.com/2019/04/14/the-reality-of-living-near-the-fantasy-part-two/

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Published by Amy Joy

Inspiring adventure and joy, one day at a time. View all posts by Amy Joy