Long trip tips

[Gryff]

We too have done a long trip taking the dog and I’d echo what a faff we had returning home including United loosing the dog for 2 days he was apparently sight seeing in NewYork but how you misplace a dog in a sky kennel the size of a fiat 500 I’ll never know
Dog was neither up nor down though can’t say the same for me

[Bozza]

I'd take more than my usual 2 pairs of pants.

[Kingbhoy]

Originally Posted by capecoralfl

We did this twice, going out to SW Florida in mid November and returning mid February and it was great. We even took our wee Westie dog with us (that was the most challenging administrative task).
We did go to our own villa in Cape Coral so a lot of villa chores were carried out as well as enjoying chillin poolside and visiting beaches in gorgeous weather.
I would offer the following comments:
Our UK bank travel insurance did not cover a US trip lasting over 30 days, unless we paid a very high supplement so it was cheaper to do a stand alone new policy we got online.
Make sure you have cover for your home insurance and a family member or friend is able to pop into your home. We had a problem with our Hive heating control whilst away but a friend organised British Gas to visit and sort it (a frozen pipe!)
It was much cheaper to do our car rental in three separate bookings, at a month at a time. It meant returning to the Ft Myers airport once a month but it was no problem and we could keep the existing car or replace it each time.
The winter months in Florida (especially where we were on the gulf coast) is very very busy, we sometimes spent hours on the roads trying to get about with all the influx of the snowbirds.
The cost of rental accommodation is at peak season (again especially on the coastal areas) so the prices do shoot up and the restaurants and malls are busy.
Take plenty of teabags and the goodies you enjoy from home.
Bulk buy in the supermarkets when you see a deal, it’s amazing the amount of soft drinks etc you go through in all that hot weather.
Everywhere on Xmas day is busy, we left it to the short term visitors to hit the main attractions and waited till another day.
There is always one week in January when it gets freezing (even down in SW Florida) so pack for that happening. We were so used to never wearing fleeces or long trousers it was a shock!
With all those weeks in Florida, enjoy the time, space things out and relax.
With regards to renting out a place for long term rental, we did offer this when we had our place (through VRBO) and to be honest, it was the income from the peak winter months that paid the big bills. You may also find that on top of the basic rental charge, there may be an additional charge for utilities.
Hope this helps and happy to offer any advice.

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Thanks for the tips, extremely useful. We're looking at possibly buying a place out there in the future, did you end up selling yours in the end?

[capecoralfl]

Yes, we sold in 2019. We had our Cape Coral villa for 16 years and it was time to move on. We will still visit the area and we have already booked a months trip in a rental villa organised for Oct/Nov this year (hopefully) but no visits to Home Depot or spending days painting walls and cleaning!
I highly recommend a few months wintering in the Florida sunshine, we had a great time (even with all the DIY) and we will continue to visit and enjoy poolside days in the sun, picnic day trips to the beach and exploring the wonderful attractions of the sunshine state.