I never thought I would be saying this, but I actually kind of miss Florida.

For the past two months, I have been in the city of my dreams, Washington D.C., interning for the National Republican Congressional Committee. And it has been great. Don’t get me wrong.

But (there always is one), I am realizing just how special my home state of Florida actually is.

There are the obvious factors that I am sure are true for anyone who has left their state. Leaving friends, significant others, family, peers and, in this case, school, behind is a tad depressing. I also have self-diagnosed myself as having FOMO – fear of missing out. The knowledge that back home life is going on without is a little daunting and makes me want to watch yet another season of my new found Netflix addiction, Fuller House. I dearly miss all of my loved ones and the activities I was involved in.

But enough with the mushy gushy.

Let’s talk about the weather. I have successfully survived my first blizzard. I have also walked to work in the snow in high heels. I have learned that scarves are more than just fashion accessories and why anyone north of Florida doesn’t own a dozen pair of flip flops. It is cold. Like really cold. I, of course, am not completely foreign to natural phenomena. I am a child of the 2004 hurricane year, so I know what it is like to fight over the last loaf of bread in the grocery store. I do not, however, know what it means to “bundle up indoors.” I went out and bought my first body lotion. In Florida, lotion is for occasionally ashy legs, not for sore, blotchy, crimson hands, arms, and legs. My hair is lifelessly limp, but that may just be karma for cursing humidity back home. This morning I was overjoyed to see temperatures rise into the 50s! In Jacksonville, anything below mid-70s is winter weather.

D.C is the city of commuters. Commuters who commute on the city wide metro service. All conveniently at the same time. Every weekday. Sure traffic is bad in Jacksonville, Orlando and Miami, but at least, you are in a car with at least four walls to protect your personal bubble. Not so on the metro. Secondly, on the weekends trains can run as slow as every 24 minutes. So going somewhere has a whole new timing factor. What I wouldn’t give for my car... I miss the control that having your own personal mode of transportation gives you. Yes, I could have a car in D.C. But where would I park it?

I am a self-proclaimed non-beach enthusiast. I can’t remember the last time I actually went to the beach during the daytime. However, I have always lived near the coast, and the beach is the perfect go-to spot at night. I can’t count the number of times I have been with a couple of friends in a sporadic in the moment beach night. Get a blanket, a couple of towels just in case, and a phone for music, and you are set. Here, in D.C, I am city-locked with no beach to take my cares away.

The cost of living is way too incredibly high here. Now, granted, this is coming from a college student who doesn’t exactly know the cost of living specifics in Florida either. However, I can tell you that my all-important food purchases are insane (price of citrus is through the roof!), and the real estate market is crazy enough to remind me why I am only here for a semester.

So, despite the mosquitos, the sweaty humidity, and the tourists, Florida is a pretty sweet place to call home. It just took a couple months, some increased latitude and lots of concrete to help me realize it.