Sarasota

I first came across Sarasota in my early 20’s when one of my oldest best friend’s spent a couple of summer’s working in Orlando. Me and another mate came and visited him and during those trips we would regularly drive out to the St.Petersburg, Clearwater and Sarasota beaches on Florida’s gulf coast.

Memories of that trip always stuck, mostly because of how much fun three early 20’s London lads had out there, but also at how stunningly beautiful the area was.

Fast forward almost 30 years and when we were looking to throw some savings at a Florida pad for a mixed use of long weekend getaway (from Bermuda) and perhaps a little something for the horizon of retirement, I suggested that we take a trip out to the gulf coast and take a look.

We looked at houses from Tampa to Naples, but kept coming back to Sarasota with its walkable and congenial downtown. There is a surprisingly large contemporary arts scene here, a plethora of natural attractions and a growing number of fantastic restaurants.

Additionally, the beaches of Sarasota and the keys (Longboat, St. Armands, Lido, Siesta and Casey), long narrow barrier islands that dot the ocean along the coast are still beautiful. I have to at this point remind myself that they are not Bermuda beautiful, because very few beaches are, but the 35 miles of coastline are still very pretty.

If I’m honest I never thought I’d want to live in Florida, but from Bermuda it was an easy journey so we made it a regular trip and got to know the state quite well. Yet, Florida does come with shall we say it’s idiosyncrasies, but then again so does all of America.

Sarasota has a sophistication that doesn’t quite belong in Florida, but it does and therefore reaps the benefits of the year round weather, an outdoorsy lifestyle, being family friendly and has no state income tax!

We bought a house a few miles south of Sarasota’s downtown in a gated community with eye-watering housing association (HOA) fees, but with a ton of amenities that can wait until I don’t have to go to work anymore.

The house was built in 1991 and needed modernizing. We spruced up the colonial exterior, made a lot of changes to the outside, but took a sledge hammer to the inside, and entirely renovated it.

One day when Charlton finally drive me to complete writers’ block I will write a book on what a f’king nightmare it has been renovating this house. It is the house that is nearly finished, but you know what, we love it.

Therefore one of the many reasons to take our leave from Bermuda was having this house sitting here mostly empty, but now we can get to enjoy it, well usually with a builder sat in the kitchen drinking coffee….

Leaving Bermuda was always about timing. We had 15 great years there, but I wanted to make sure that we, the best way we could, were able to be in control of our exit. For expats in Bermuda leaving and moving there is often complicated and messy.

We did have a long runway and despite a few bumps in the road, but with the support of a few key players, my company moved us to Florida in the summer of 2023. We had the house, I was given a new work opportunity, we went through the immigration process, and we found a school and a swim club for our daughter. The moon’s aligned the best way they could.

Sarasota is a hidden gem, but quickly being discovered as the population grows. We are clearly not the only ones to want to settle here amongst the allure of Sarasota’s burgeoning downtown and the area’s cultural and natural features.