Adventures in Florida Relocation

We previously mentioned that we intended to set up our Florida relocation before fully engaging in our slow travel early retirement plans. So we hopped on an airplane and made the trip to make that happen! Mostly Florida relocation business, but some pleasure too.

So Why a Florida Relocation? Why Not Hawaii?

The reasons for our Florida relocation are almost entirely financial.

The state of Florida does not have any income tax or tax on investments. This is very important for anyone 100% reliant on their investments for their livelihood. I doubt this requires any additional explanation.

Also, Florida has favorable Affordable Care Act options that work well for travelers. We value nationwide coverage, which is apparently impossible to find for ACA plans in other states. Although this is less important abroad, when we come back to the USA we still want to be covered anywhere we are if the worst happens health-wise.

So bottom line, Florida has the best combination of perks for us.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

We woke up at the ungodly hour of 1:45 am on July 4th and left for CVG Airport (near Cincinnati, Ohio) to make our 5:00 am flight.

Why 5 am on the 4th of July? Cheap travel of course!

Using Southwest Rapids Rewards points our 2 tickets from CVG to Destin/Fort Walton Beach (VPS), FL cost 23,840 points + $11 in fees.

When we depart VPS and fly to Bradley International Airport (BDL) (near Hartford, Connecticut) on July 7, 2 tickets will also cost us 23,840 points + $11 in fees.

So the total for this journey is 47,680 Rapid Rewards points + $22 in fees. Sweet.

If we flew on a different day or time, the cost would have been much higher.

Based on the news reports of travel during the 4th of July weekend, we expected the flying experience to be a bloodsport. I fully anticipated losing a day of travel due to delays, and the entire experience to be a complete nightmare.

But our plane departed right on time and the seating in the plane looked like this:

And our layover in Baltimore went just as smoothly! I can’t remember the last time I flew when we weren’t packed in like sardines. And I’m not a small man, so that makes everyone sitting in the same row as me extra miserable.

Honestly, the reasons for our ease of travel were probably a combination of the time of day we flew and the date we flew. These are some of the perks of having a super flexible schedule, so if waking up at 2 am allows us to fly cheap with minimal pain and suffering, so be it!

Pleasure Before Business

After landing in Destin, we picked up our rental car and spent the next two days exploring the beautiful Gulf Coast. In our travels, we checked out Freeport, Pensacola Beach, Defuniak Springs, Niceville, and Navarre.

As some of you may know, we generally don’t like hanging out for long in locations where there are lots of people. So we almost immediately sought out the quiet, natural places.

But the crowning jewel of our exploration was the Gulf Islands National Seashore between Navarre and Pensacola Beach. We opted to avoid the $25 entrance fee (for 1 week of use) and go where the people weren’t.

Absolutely gorgeous. We basically had the whole area to ourselves.

Florida Relocation Time!

On the morning of July 6th, we arrived at the Okaloosa County Tax Collector in Crestview, Florida to get our Florida driver’s licenses and voter registration cards.

The whole process took about 15 minutes for each of us. All we needed were our passports, social security cards, and two types of approved correspondence with our new addresses on them. We used an online bank statement and our Google Fi cell phone bill.

Done. That’s it. We are now residents of Crestview, Florida!

Florida relocation complete.

[2024 UPDATE: Recently, either Florida or Crestview changed the rules for obtaining driver’s licenses. Now PMBs (personal mailbox addresses) cannot be displayed as an address on a physical Florida license card. Instead, they use your vehicle tag number. This means that you will need to have a properly registered and insured vehicle before going to the Crestview, FL tax collector’s office to get a Florida license. This is no big deal for full-time RVers, but is a HUGE deal if you are a nomad without a car! Take a look at the updated MyRVmail Florida Residency instructions HERE to see the current process.]

But Where Is Our Address?

Good question.

We are taking advantage of what full-time RVers have been doing for decades…using a mail forwarding service. This gives us a mailing address that is 100% legal for use as a domicile address in the state of Florida.

Quite a few of these services exist in Florida, as well as other states. Texas, South Dakota, and Florida are all popular choices among full-time RVers. We aren’t full-time RVers (yet), but our travel patterns and concerns are virtually identical to the RV crowd.

Specifically, we are using MyRVmail (affiliate link) for our mailing service. For a yearly fee, they provide an address, notify you by email when you receive mail, email you scans of the envelopes, and send you your mail wherever you are (after you pay postage). They also include free mail content scans, and mail shredding, and will even deposit checks for you.

Pretty cool, and very useful when you are on the road 100% of the time.

And yes, Okaloosa County is fully aware of what they do and supports their business. There are a bunch of mail forwarding services scattered throughout Florida, all of which are embraced by their communities.

Think about it. Supporting retirees is a cottage industry in Florida due to the money they draw in, directly and indirectly. And retirees are a very powerful voting block in this state.

For fun, we stopped by the physical location of MyRVmail in Crestview to pick up our accumulated mail, which they had been receiving for several months.

The company has quite an organized operation inside. They have to be because thousands of people use this service. They were quite busy when we arrived, but we received our 20 pieces of mail quickly and without issue. The advice that they give on their website made our Florida relocation very smooth.

So What’s Next?

It is late in the evening on July 6th as I write this. Tomorrow we will do some final exploring of Florida, but nothing too crazy as we fly out on July 7th at 6 pm. And then onward to Connecticut to visit my family and our friends in the area.

We are flying out later in the day, so my fingers are crossed that our flight is as smooth as the one that brought us to Florida. Here’s hoping!

We’ll post again after we arrive and have a chance to get oriented in our new location. Be well, everyone!

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