In case you missed this week’s podcast or didn’t get to read the transcript, we wanted to put our big news into a proper blog post. This is one of the biggest life changes we’ve made in the last decade, so we wanted to make sure everyone is up to speed. Thank you for all the support and encouragement you’ve sent — we can’t wait to live with less, spend more time outdoors, and eat more fresh-caught shrimp than we ever imagined. And yes, for everyone asking: we plan to share plenty about downsizing, moving, renovating, and how to feel at home in a new place.
Wait, Is This An April Fool’s Joke?!
Nope. We’re officially moving to Florida — full-time. It probably sounds sudden and a little wild, but it’s an idea we’ve revisited for years. We’ve lived in Richmond for 14 years, in our current house for almost seven, and have deep ties to family, friends, and neighbors here. That made moving feel daunting for a long time. But over the years, a few clear priorities kept pulling us toward a change: wanting a smaller home that’s warm year-round, a walkable neighborhood, and less upkeep. As Sherry put it on the podcast: the time came to poop or get off the pot.
Where In Florida Are You Moving?
The top question we’ve gotten is location. We’ve chosen a spot in the Florida panhandle on the Gulf Coast — the northwest part of the state. The water there has that beautiful blue-green color we love, and the climate is milder than southern Florida while still providing significantly more warm months than Virginia. We’re not sharing the exact town yet since we haven’t closed on the house — it’s a fixer-upper and currently vacant — but we’ll reveal more about the general area once it feels right. Many guessed Destin since that’s the airport we flew into and where we’d vacationed before, but while we visited there, it’s not where we ended up. More on that later.
Why Move? To Simplify!
The main draw is simple: one smaller house that fits our family’s needs year-round. Summers at our beach house in Cape Charles made us fall in love with a lifestyle that values walkability, proximity to water, and a small-town urban vibe rather than a suburban sprawl. We’re not chasing a perpetual vacation; we want a daily life that encourages walking, fewer errands, and more time together. Small-town walkability to locally owned shops feels magical to us.
Cape Charles is wonderful, but the weather there limits outdoor time to a few months each year. Moving to the panhandle stretches those warm months from roughly four in Virginia to nine or ten where we’re headed — a big win for a sun-loving family. We also wanted to find a place that retained conveniences we enjoy in Richmond like good schools, dining, shopping, and simple everyday amenities (yes, being near a Home Depot and a movie theater matters).
Consolidating into one house means less driving back and forth, less maintenance, fewer bills, and less to clean and manage. We’ve long said mo’ houses = mo’ problems, and clearing out one property felt like a real opportunity to live lighter. Selling our duplex helped us taste the freedom of simplifying and made it easier to consider bigger changes.
Why Move? Also To Downsize!
This move is an intentional downsizing. Our Richmond house is about 3,200 square feet and we’ve long felt it’s more than we need. Our beach house at about 1,800 square feet suits our family much better — even that feels roomy at times. The new house is less than half the size of our current home and closer to the square footage of our very first house, so it’s a meaningful reduction in space. We know people live with far less and thrive; we’re excited for the challenge and the chance to pare down possessions while prioritizing what truly matters.
Why Now?
A few factors aligned this year. Selling the duplex taught us we could change plans and still be excited about the results, which made pivoting easier. More practically, the timing is best for our kids’ schooling. Our son is in kindergarten and our daughter is entering a transition phase before middle school. In some Florida districts, fifth grade sits in middle school, so acting now allows our daughter to transition with her peers instead of mid-year. That created a clear deadline and pushed us from considering to actually moving.
We’d been thinking about Florida for years, inspired by friends who moved there and loved it. Last year we explored areas around Fort Lauderdale but didn’t find the right fit. This year we went back with a more focused plan and visited multiple towns over a 2.5-day reconnaissance trip. We kept the trip low-key online so our choice would be based on our own impressions, not outside opinions.
How Did You Find The Neighborhood?
On that recon trip we drove through many neighborhoods, toured more than a dozen houses, met a contractor to assess fixer-uppers, checked schools, tested walkability to the beach and local shops, and measured drivability to everyday places like grocery stores and hardware stores. We saved 75+ houses online and mapped them before going, but nothing compares to seeing a place in person. The neighborhood we loved most didn’t look promising on street view, but in real life it felt wooded, walkable, and close to everything — even deer near the beach, which felt fittingly like a blend of Richmond and Cape Charles.
Once we fell for the neighborhood, we saw a house that surprised us. We hadn’t even favorited it in our online searches, but visiting in person changed everything. After coming back for another look, consulting the contractor, and making an offer, our bid was accepted just hours after we flew home.
Tell Me More About The New House!
We’ll wait to share photos and full details until closing feels final, but here are the highlights we can share: the house is significantly smaller than our current home, it sits on a much smaller yard (about a tenth of an acre instead of an acre), and it’s near the beach and a walkable town center. It’s a fixer-upper — currently with one non-functioning bathroom, no running water, a removed sink, a busted HVAC, and some structural issues — but it has a charming lot and a location we love. We plan to reconfigure the layout to create two full bathrooms and three bedrooms after some renovations. The lot is wooded and low-maintenance, and we’re excited to spend far less time mowing and more time walking to the beach, shops, and a grocery store year-round.
Long-term, we hope to add a pool and a small guest structure for visiting friends and family. For now, working with a trusted contractor to get the house safe and livable before the kids and our dog arrive is our top priority.
You’re Selling Your Houses?!
Yes — we’ll be selling both our Cape Charles beach house and our Richmond home. That’s bittersweet. These houses hold so many memories, but part of moving on is appreciating what they gave us and opening space for what’s next. We’ll remain in Richmond through mid-June so the kids can finish the school year, to prepare both homes for sale, and to give our Florida contractor time to get the new house ready.
What About Your Family & Friends?
Leaving friends and family is one of the hardest parts, but we plan to visit and host often. Their enthusiasm has been wonderful — my parents have already offered to drive the moving truck and my dad is excited about biking the trails with me. Our extended families are already spread around the country, so we have solid examples of how to stay connected despite distance.
How Do Your Kids Feel About It?
Thankfully, our kids are excited. They’ve been asking to move to a warm, beachy place for as long as we can remember, and they flourish in an outdoor, simpler environment. If they hadn’t been on board, we wouldn’t make this move. Right now we’re practicing patience with their excitement rather than trying to drum it up — they’re already sold.
Overall, we’re a mix of nervous and thrilled. It’s a big change, but it aligns with goals we’ve talked about for years: more walkability, more warm months, less upkeep, and more simple family time. We don’t have every detail nailed down yet — including exact sale dates for our current homes — but things moved quickly this month and we’ll share updates as they unfold. For now, I’m off to see if BeachDeer is an available license plate in Florida.