You get used to it. I've never lived in a place with palm trees. Not to mention it cost a fortune to live in those places. I'd love to move to LA for business purposes. Especially since Chicago only has a handful of shows filming here and I'm working as a background extra while I'm laid off. But so far, I can find what I need in Chicago. Besides, everywhere but the big cities are the pretty parts of America. There's nothing like driving through Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia when the leaves are changing.

I live is Southern California in the beach cities. I go to Palm Springs often an in the winter the surrounding mountains have snow with a palm in the foreground. You can literally ski in the morning and tan by the pool afternoon. I have. I have worked and lived all over the world and states and call here home. It's tight but worth the extra. I also work in the film industry, which is becoming global so I am looking at (warm) options. The amount of HIV clinics and care in CA is immense but also support, like housing and rent assistance, disability etc...as needed. I have access to many HIV social and athletic or activity groups and they are quite large. Keep in mind my friend , here we don't have seasons, just hot summer and cold summer-unless you venture up the mountain to a ski resort. The cost of living here is preventative to most, rents can be 2-3x as high as the rest of the country and mortgages are a joke, a small house where I live can be $700k-6 million (West Hollywood/San Francisco...)depending on location here. Lower in rural CA areas. My parents have a 2 bedroom house on a hill, near the beach. 1400 sq ft, valued now at 1.3 million. So if your income doesn't keep up it can be very tough. xo

Seems to be a huge difference in temparature if you travel a little bit further South today