If you could move to your dream retirement location at the cost of leaving family and friends, would you do it?

yes and we did. WE moved to Spain, leaving then 20 something daughter here.. she was in a relationship and with her own home, had no interest in moving .. had her own life.. 8 years later she followed us out .. different part of Spain, and started a business..
 

Hubby and I lived in the City all of our life's until a few years ago when my grandsons lived near us and moved on Campus then they started college and then we moved to be near my daughter and her little girl.
 
At the moment, we are in our dream location. As far as leaving family or friends, there are some that would be hard & there are others that would just need to get the H3LL out of the way.
 
Depends of what your definition of "dream retirement location" is and if that place is more enticing than family and friends you would be leaving. If you are feeling adventurous and willing to start over and like the prospect of finding and forming new relationships then it may well be just the thing for you.
 
When I studied in Sydney at the University of New South Wales, I lived at Coogee Beach. The first week, I couldn't sleep because I just listened to the surf. After 3 weeks, I didn't even hear the surf anymore. The point is: once you live in the paradise, it quickly becomes so common that it stops being the paradise.

At Waikiki Beach, I started talking with a guy who lived half the year in Florida and the other half in Hawaii. He bitched about of not knowing anyone. Living in paradise without friends is no paradise.

My former boss retired in Paradise, a small town east of Chico in Northern California. A year later she came back to Southern California where all her children and friends were. Living in paradise by yourself is no paradise. (Luckily she returned before the Camp Fire killed there 85 people in 2018. Paradise can also be dangerous.)
 
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Yes, when we "retired" we moved from one end of the UK to the other. However, our daughters had already moved having studied and found employment in the Midlands. It's now a case of travelling south instead of north to visit them.

Years ago people would have lived, married and settled down in the town where they were born, so were usually near their parents and relatives. That's not the case now as people are more mobile and often settle a good distance from their family and friends, but with good communications, they are only a phone call or Zoom away.

We've done our bit, and we should do what suits us best in later life.
 
Capt Lightning said:
Yes, when we "retired" we moved from one end of the UK to the other. However, our daughters had already moved having studied and found employment in the Midlands. It's now a case of travelling south instead of north to visit them.

Years ago people would have lived, married and settled down in the town where they were born, so were usually near their parents and relatives. That's not the case now as people are more mobile and often settle a good distance from their family and friends, but with good communications, they are only a phone call or Zoom away.

We've done our bit, and we should do what suits us best in later life.
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Try and that to my friend’s wife. He wants to move to Arizona to get away from the cold winters where he lives in Wisconsin. His wife won’t budge because she won’t leave their adult children and all but 1 adult grandchildren out of their 5. They have had numerous spats (for lack of a better word) over this. He has also threatened separation and then divorce, but no luck. She is unwavering. One time he said he was going to pack and leave and that will be that. She said “Good-bye.”
 
Where I used to live, there were a Dutch couple who had moved there to be near their daughter and her O.H. This was fine until O.H's job relocated some distance away so they had to move and this left the parents 'stranded'. They were getting on in years and didn't want to be chasing their family round the country. As to your friends, what would they do if their children moved - follow them? What if they all went to different places?

You love them and then you let them go. You never stop loving them, but you have to let your children lead their own lives, and you have to live yours.
 
Nope, family is everything. Moving to some "tropical paradise" is a total lie that is advertised by some real estate company that wants your money. eg: Lake Chapala, Mexico (nice in 1940 but a cesspool in 2023. Sorry, but sometimes the truth hurts! (By the way, I know what I'm talking about as I have spent an entire winter there.......... never again! Ha, ha! Oh, the American Legion there is really good for beer and fries! You can keep the traffic roaring by day and night.
 

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