I grew up by the shore. In fact, I have never known anything else, so trust me when I say life at the shore is its own special thing. It's different from anywhere and anything else. When you live by the shore, you have unlimited access to the beach and the ocean.

Instead of having to drive hours on end to get to the sand, maybe it's only a 15 minute drive or a walk down the street! The air is warm, the sand is too, and everything in life seems to be okay. The beach has a way of doing that, of taking all your troubles away, and when the summer months come around everyone seems to realize it, but for you the serenity that is living at the shore doesn't disappear with the summer months. Living at the shore has many, many pros (and maybe a few cons). Here are 14 things you know are true when you live by the beach all year round:

1. Once May rolls around (sometimes even earlier *sigh*) there is no such thing as going anywhere “quick." Shore traffic is a real thing, people, and a drive which usually takes you a half an hour could wind up taking you an hour and a half.

2. You will see more out-of-state license plates in a few months than you do the entire rest of the year.

3. And you’ll long for the days where you didn’t feel outnumbered by the bennies in your hometown.

4. However, you’re more than aware that these people alone are a major contributor to every single business in your hometown … so you’re also kind of thankful for them.

5. You know that you will always have something to do whether it involves the water or not.

6. You know you have to get to the beach bright and early, if you want a prime spot, because if you roll up around noon it’ll probably look something like this:

7. And all foods taste better when you’re eating them sitting on the sand. This is scientific fact.

8. You understand those dark months exist where the seasonal businesses close down in the winter because summer has left, and with it a large majority of their customers. It usually leaves you like this:

9. You know all about the joy that is the raising of the speed limits once all of the summer people have left.

10. The beach isn’t just for the months of summer, and some of your favorite nights have probably been spent wrapped up in a blanket at a bonfire or walking along the water’s edge in jeans and a hoodie.

11. You live somewhere most people wish they could.

12. You have no tolerance for people who claim they don’t like the beach. They’re either wrong or they’re lying and you don’t have time for either.

13. Though you may leave, you could never imagine living somewhere without the beach, and so you always come back.

14. You know first hand that life is better at the shore and you wouldn't trade it for a thing.