Florida

Many of my friends are fortunate to have been very successful in their lives. They have second homes, most of which seem to be in Florida. These folks go back and forth between north and south and every year we have to deal with invitations to come and see them in their winter homes. While this is an expression of kindness and hospitality and I am glad that folks want to have us visit, it puzzles me that logical explanations of why we are not coming to Florida. That winter or ever – well ever might be too long. It seems logical to me though:
1) I can see these folks in PA (one of them lives across the pond) or NJ anytime I want when they return from FL
2) I don’t have to schlep on an airplane, pay for a flight, pay for parking at the airport, pay for boarding my animals when I can see them in PA or NJ for free.
3) I have a job that sort of requires that I do some work in order to get paid.
4) If I take off time from work to go on vacation, FL is not my choice of where to go. I like to travel, but interstate travel with condos and strip malls on either side of me while driving does not trump overseas travel.
5) When I don’t go traveling overseas, I happen to like where I live. A lot. I spent a whole lot of years living in PUKE! Midland, Texas where I fit in about as much as a palm tree in Maine and I am exceedingly happy to be back on the East coast. I have friends here. I have season tickets to stuff. I can be in Philly in 50 minutes, New York City in 75 minutes and Washington in 2 hours by train. And I want to go to FL why? Warm? It’s damn hot here in July and August for when I need a heat fix --- AND I happen to like winter.