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That's why I moved to Maine. I always wanted to live, hunt and fish in New England and Maine appealed to me. I was approaching a crossroads, looked at the calendar and said to myself "you are f'g miserable here. If you want to do this, do it now or you might never do it. And then you'd be kicking yourself in the behind while lying on your deathbed."

So, I sold out, folded the tent, and moved. I live cheap. I pick up work when I need to get money. And I have not been happier in a long time. My way of living isn't for everyone, but it suits me fine. I chose happiness now, over chasing the mirage of "success". I'm happy with my choice.

Left Bergen county PRNJ 13 years ago with the same feeling and moved to "Live Free or Die" NH, you can't get better gun laws then here(as well as no sales,or income tax) and much worse then where you are now. My only regret is not doing it sooner !

One retired friend is a "snowbird". He lives in the northwest in the warmer months and travels to southern AZ in the bird seasons and stays the winter. Looks like a great way to enjoy our northern U.S. and not be snow-bound for 4-5 months nor fry like a lizard in the summers.

Southern AZ fills with snowbirds every fall. Snowbird towns sprout up in the same places. There are places where many thousands come in their motorhomes and trailers. It's quite a sight. These folks carry on relationships with other snowbirds year after year. Kind of a part year retirement community.

As KY Jon said, don't delay. Procrastination is your enemy.

The advice on doing it sooner rather than later is sound.I am fortunate to have "retired" the first time at age 56.I promptly, before I could change my mind, packed up and moved to Baja. I had no money, lived on unemployment and guide fees for a few years. I never have really stopped working, just quit taking it so seriously.There are no "do-overs" after you get older. I live on a cash basis, quite well thank you, and adjust my wants accordingly. AND I am still eating tri-tips Chuck H brought to the ranch last bird season...Kansas provides the fabulous hunter friendly low overhead Northern base for me....Just do it.......

Claybird,

As a fellow inmate of PRNJ and being faced with the same conundrum I wanted to offer one other plus to the sage advice offered by Dave. PA does not tax retirements ,(if there is one to be taxed?).

I have lived in TX, FL, GA, KY, MD, NJ, CA, MI, NJ, Ontario and overseas. All have pluses and minuses. Sadly the phrase "you can never go home again" is true. None of the places I have treasured look anything like they did when I was there, not even the UP in Michigan. So all I can recommend weigh your needs - access to activities, healthcare, cost of living, proximity to family - and see if the attractive places (CO, NM, etc.) meet the requirements. Tell us what you decide when you come to it and vaya con Dios.

Dave, success is working where you want to live. There's no success working where you are miserable, even if the streets are paved with gold.

Interesting thoughts.

I'm planning to give up the ratrace in a few years myself.

How about Gainesville, FL?

Hunting is not important, but I do like to shoot.

Anyone ever been to Gator Skeet and Trap?

I could probably shoot bunker trap the rest of my life and be pretty happy...

It would be cool to coach some of the kids too..

I thank everyone for your replies / advice. Retiring is not easy, especially as I don't work 9 to 5 every day. Just yesterday I gave up to some importuning and agreed to defer my retirement from 9/1 to 12/31.

Right now, I live about 4 miles from my hunting club, Amwell Valley Conservancy (put and take pheasant, chukar & huns on about 1400 owned acres)(not cheap, though), and usually hunt by myself with hardly anyone else nearby. Here in PRNJ there are essentially no wild upland birds (except during migration), and I don't count Canadas, which we have up the ying-yang, as wild.

I'll keep you all informed.

Claybird, should you move here are some things to consider. How far will you be from family? Will you miss your friends? You will need to find a new doctor, dentist, barber, auto mechanic and other good to know people with whom you now have relationships. Hunting is season is 2 to 3 months a year, what will you do in the new location for the other 9 to 10 months?
What will do if a day comes that you can not drive? There is a great deal to consider before packing it up and hitting the road. Perhaps the answer could be to take more hunting trips out of state in retirement and stay in place you are familiar with. Everybody is different, what is right and works for others may not work for you. Good luck.

To add to what's said immediately upthread - one of the hardest "things" to replace on moving is a good veterinarian. I had a great one in Jersey, and a devil of a time finding one in Maine. Harder to replace than a human physician.

I stand by my rec to jump the river into PA - the difference between 14 miles and 4 is not that much.