We moved from the Midwest to Florida 5 years ago. Living here has been filled with surprise expenses and unexpected weather.

I’d always dreamed of moving to sunny, tropical Florida, especially after growing up in South Dakota’s frigid winters.

Every year, my family would head south to cruise or visit relatives in Orlando, and I quickly fell in love with the state. At one point, I even considered heading south for college.

But my dream didn’t become a reality until after graduation, when my Minnesota-born husband was stationed at a military base in the Florida Panhandle.

Although we had both visited Central Florida’s tourist hot spots, neither of us knew much about the quieter, more rural Panhandle.

Sometimes it still feels surreal that we can visit the beach in December, but the blistering-hot summers keep us humble.

After five years in Destin, we’ve learned a few surprising things about living in Florida as two Midwesterners.

Florida isn’t hot all year, especially in the Panhandle.

We moved to Florida in July, so the intense summer heat didn’t surprise us. However, the chilly winters caught us off guard.

Destin is about 300 miles north of Miami, so our seasonal changes are more drastic. Late fall and early spring bring cool, crisp air, and the winters have lows in the 20s Fahrenheit.

Our winters in the Panhandle are mild compared to the Midwest, but we still didn’t expect Florida to have noticeable changes each season.

In fact, our pipes froze during our first Christmas in our home — and this January, we even had several inches of snow. Our Midwestern hearts were bursting with joy seeing the neighborhood covered in snow and our pups having the time of their lives.

Worrying about hurricanes is more stressful than we expected.

Most longtime Floridians are accustomed to hurricanes, often unfazed by any storm below a Category 3. However, my husband and I still get super anxious about storms after braving Hurricane Sally just a few months after we moved.

We lost power for three days, and without air conditioning or electricity, it felt like we were camping inside our own home. My parents happened to be visiting, so we kept the generator running and passed the time playing board games.

Grappling with the threat of hurricanes is just part of living in Florida — and it’s especially stressful knowing my husband could be required to evacuate military aircraft. This would require me to brave the storm alone or evacuate without his help.

Generally, living in Florida is more expensive than we thought.

One of the biggest shocks of moving to Florida was the high cost of living, and it feels like it’s only getting worse. It’s considered one of the most expensive states to live in.

As Midwesterners, we had never dealt with highway tolls. Imagine our shock when we learned we’d be paying $4 each way to visit Destin from our home in Niceville.

If we want to visit the beach, eat at our favorite restaurants, or shop at the national retailers, we have to swallow this toll — or drive an extra hour to avoid it.

We also couldn’t believe the high cost of home and auto insurance in Florida. We recently scrambled to find a new home-insurance policy when our original coverage would be more than doubling.

Our auto insurance is also much pricier than it was when we lived in the Midwest. Over the last five years, the annual policy prices have steadily increased.

In fact, Florida is one of the most expensive states to have auto insurance … but I think it makes sense when you see how fast people drive here!

Florida summers are brutal for us Midwesterners.

Back in the Midwest, summer is the start of beautiful weather and long evenings outside. After braving freezing temperatures and snow for months, summer was always a welcomed change. In Florida, it’s the opposite.

Now, we dread the miserably hot summers where temperatures can head into the triple digits. By July and August, the humidity is stifling and unbearable, so we retreat inside with the AC running constantly.

Ironically, staying inside to escape the heat feels a lot like how we used to hunker down during brutal Midwest winters.

However, we’ve learned to make the most of Florida’s hot summers. We love cooling off in the pool or lounging on the local white-sand beaches. And, unlike the snowy Midwest, we don’t need to worry about icy roads or blizzards derailing our plans.

The state is bigger and more diverse than we realized.

After moving from the Midwest, we were surprised by how diverse and vast the state is. The Florida Panhandle is rural with forests and wooded land — a stark contrast to the swampy Everglades and theme parks of Central Florida.

The state itself is about 450 miles long, meaning the drive to Key West would take us 11 hours from Destin. If we’re going south of Orlando, we typically book a flight instead of driving.

Even the culture changes drastically, too. In the Panhandle, there’s a strong Southern influence thanks to our proximity to Georgia and Alabama.

Compare that to the Cuban and Caribbean influences of South Florida, and it’s hard to believe we live in the same state.

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