Oh, I can drill through a number of reasons why Maryland could turn you into an expat now. Pensacola. Not too far from me, as the crow flies. I’ve lived here in central AL since late ‘98, and have never been to Panama City, Orange Beach (which I hear is beautiful), or anywhere else along the Gulf coast, for that matter. Boo on me for that. Once you get established, I’d suggest a long weekend in St. Augustine next summer. Or fall, when the tourist crowd thins out a bit. I almost convinced my wife to move there, if the kids weren’t still too young.
The other main reasons were that Biden “won” the election, basically ushering in a form of communism — Florida seems to want to resist that — and the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill dumpster. With the latter, I decided I had to put as much GONE between myself and DC as possible, within reason. For example, Texas actually appeals to me more than Florida, but alas, it does not have enough water. And of course, there would be more GONE if I moved to Cali or Hawaii, but who in heck would want to do that?
I'm not an expat. Florida is my country now.