Top 10 SURPRISING Things I Learned Traveling Around Florida for 3 Months 

Growing up around Jax, we used to have a saying about Florida: The farther south you go, the farther north you go. Refers to the snowbirds and transplants migrating to south Florida. You can also invert the South and North and be equally true. Jax was actually the largest city in the state prior to that rush of migration (up until around the 50s) but it sort of stayed stagnant compared to the other metro areas which allowed it to get left behind. When I went to UCF it amused me that the only free expressway in the Orlando area is I-4. There are 3 things (and only 3 things) I miss since I moved to Seattle in 2006. Thunderstorms, Publix, and my family

It's not just Miami. They'll honk at you in Destin too. Moved here a few months ago. Insane drivers, gorgeous beaches, friendly people as long as they're not driving, and more trucks than Texas

Even funnier about Deltona: as large as it is, it does not have its own police force and relies solely on the Volusia County Sheriff's Office for any law enforcement needs. And there's a lot of need.

How am I watching these videos about highways and I don't even like driving that much anymore. Your voice and story-telling is somehow magnetic. Good job!

I miss florida so much. Its my FOREVER home.

Something else I’ll add that Florida is famous for: Auto Racing. The 24 Hours of Daytona, the 12 Hours of Sebring, the Daytona 500, The GP of St. Pete, F1’s GP of Miami, and of course when NASCAR visits Daytona again in August and Homestead in October.

Two of the things I learned about Florida. First it’s inverted. By that I mean the further south you go, the more northern it feels. But the further north you go, if feels more southern. Second, FL is a very big state, even though most people don’t think as FL as being as big as it is.

there's literally a part of orlando called altamonte springs and there are two publix directly across the street from each other. no joke.

I'm a former New Yorker (Long Island) who has lived down here (Palm Beach County) for almost 5 years now. One thing that makes driving in Florida different almost everywhere else is that besides the infamous Florida drivers, you also have drivers from many other states, all of whom have their own idiosyncrasies. A joke I heard when I moved here is this: "How do you know when its Autumn in Florida? When the license plates change." One nice thing about Sun Pass that changed recently is that you can now use it in many other states. This I believe happened when Florida started allowing E-Z Pass to be used on Florida toll roads.

4:55 -- actually pronounced Duh-NEE-din (and the Greek town you're probably thinking of is Tarpon Springs, a few miles further north). Dunedin's got a nice downtown too though. I love living in the Bay area but it's getting so damn expensive.

As a native Floridian, thanks for the kind review. This does cover a couple of angles looking at our State but misses a lot about the great places to go and admire the beauty and things to do other than just the big metro cities and beaches. While I don't consider myself a nature enthusiast nut, I know I would be selling any friend visiting from up north short if we didn't visit any of the springs, Spanish Forts, cool river and lakeside fish camps, State Parks, etc.... A lot of places have overbuilt, but there is still a LOT of nice remote areas. I just got to say. I'm pretty proud of the Sunshine State.

Nice video! A couple thoughts from a former Florida resident: The reason places like Lehigh Acres are so awful is that they were never intended to be developed. They're basically land scams. The owner divided it into tiny lots and sold them to people in the Midwest on installment plans. Lehigh Acres really started developing after 2000, during the first housing boom, but they weren't built too well and suffered problems with bad drywall ruining the plumbing (look up Chinese drywall). Cape Coral is really popular with Germans, for some reason, and has been since the 1980s, so there's been a direct flight from SW Florida Int'l to Germany for decades. Cape Coral is trying to build the infrastructure of a real city now, adding sewer and water service to most homes. As you can imagine, 100,000 homes on wells and septic tanks won't work for long. Finally, if you are renting a car, don't get the SunPass sticker. It might be worth getting the SunPass PRO, which comes with suction cups. It's $15 + tolls, but if you're there for any length of time, it's cheaper than the transponders the rental car agencies install in their cars, which come with a daily "service fee" plus the toll charges.

25:24 I always thought it was crazy seeing a sign for Tampa all the way in Atlanta

Excellent video as usual! I'm a transplant from 66 years in New Jersey and, while I have yet to experience a lot of areas in Florida besides the Orlando, Miami and Fort Lauderdale areas, I found many of your comments right on track! I, too, am an engineer and certified land use planner, and completely agree with your assessment of the haphazard land use planning within most regions of the state. I am a resident (full time) of the Treasure Coast and find myself mystified by how the planning can be coordinated and uncoordinated at the same time. Many businesses and restaurants have interconnected drive accessibility, which is one thing that NJ does not do well. But, at the same time, development is occurring in every inch of open land, facility reuse is not a thing, and there is little regard for surrounding uses and transportation system when it comes to new sites. One of the Treasure Coast's biggest offenders is Port Saint Lucie, which is a nice area for seniors and fast growing, but the growth is haphazard and the transportation system is choking with few improvements planned. But every inch is being built upon, with construction getting closer to the roads. Incidentally, the Turnpike in that area 8s way too narrow, with only 2 lanes.

As a Jacksonville native, I was wondering how our review would go. Just as I figured 🤣 Jacksonville is an industrial/military city. They could do more to spice it up and make it a place people would want to visit when first getting into the state, but instead they got rid of Rockville, and moved that to Daytona, have been slow on getting with the times, but Jax Beach is nice. It's nothing crazy but they have some good restaurants out there, and have shows every now and then.

1)As a born, raised, and still resident of Florida, you pretty much nailed it Mileage Mike. Also thanks for shouting out my home and current region, The Space Coast. 2)When are you coming back to record or re-record parts of Florida? Because Florida is growing like wildfire. Even in the Space Coast, we are growing.

One aspect about Florida is the two time zones present. While most of the state is in the Eastern zone, the Western panhandle is in the Central Time zone, one hour behind Eastern. The border between them is west of Tallahassee, south of the Alabama state line.

As a native from Orlando, Downtown Orlando is DEFINITELY not sleepy downtown area. You got plenty of clubs , bars , restaurants, movie theater , Dr.Philips performing arts theater, lake eola park the Orlando magic and the Orlando city soccer team that play in Downtown.. That to me sounds like a vibrant Urban core.

Gulf coast is my favorite. So chill and no big city bs

Florida’s interstates and highways have a very distinct sound compared to in other states.

Totally agree with you about the single-family housing. I think it takes up 90% of our housing, which forces us to spread super wide, need cars, and spike our housing prices. Outside of that, I love this state and am thankful to call it home. Thanks for the video!

My great aunt lives in Deltona. She originally lived in Massachusetts, didn't make a lot of money but was still able to spend her final couple of decades in the sunshine state. I think that is main attraction of The Florida Model, cheap, single family homes, beaches, no snow (and nothing else). I wonder how long that proposition will hold up as the state becomes more and more crowded and insurance prices continue to rise. Not my cup of tea but I'm starting to get it more and more.

Moved to Fort Lauderdale 30 years ago. It’s been like being on vacation forever.

Let’s not forget Jupiter was the missing link for 95. It stayed unconnected for decades. The most dangerous segment of the interstate highway system is near Fort Lauderdale Airport. That deserves some recognition in its own right.

I Visited Florida for the first time this year! Flew from CA and Stayed with my friend in his apartment in Daytona Beach for a week and he took me all the way down to Miami and to Tampa as well ❤

Great video! I grew up as a youngster from about ages 3.5 to 13 (with a gap year in Guam), mostly all over South FL. I vaguely remember Cocoa Beach, Titusville but a set of grandparents lived in Sarasota and we lived the longest time in Homestead, approx '70-'74. That was a very long period of not moving. Even as a youngster, I did not handle heat & humidity well. Yes I was often outside doing the typical era boy stuff, riding bikes, building forts, exploring the town, baseball, football in a vacant lot. Found out after we left in the winter up to Baltimore County that I had had allergeries to just about everything...And you know, in south FL, none of the plants die or go dormant in the winter. Plus, the cloud of gnats hovering around my face all the time irritated the heck out of me. And, there was the childhood traumas of a quick tempered, chain smoking, alcolohic step dad that didn't like me... So, I don't have any fond memories. In July of '05 I was back for a work related training trip, and it was a horrid swamp week extraordinaire. My brother moved there 5 yrs ago now but I've never visited. Voluntarily I can't stomach it. Plus the politics. Taking away people's rights, etc. Whenever I've seen pictures, videos, TV or movies, I know for a fact you can't see the humidity. LOL. Conversely I was also out in the Bay area and also Sacramento area in CA., and the temperature was the same, but it was very low humidity and it felt GREAT, totally different. Plus the mountain views...Yeah! But FL...Cannot recommend. LOL.

Great Video. I lived in various parts of FL for 25 years before relocating to VA fours years ago (extended family still there). This was indeed a very well researched video. I found myself smiling at some of your comments as I pretty much agreed with most of them. I am glad you mentioned Lakeland in your video as this was the last place I lived in the state before moving and the house next to mine was owned by snowbirds! Great town. Keep up the good work!

I live in the South Alabama “Panhandle” region of Florida 🤣🤣🤣. You’re spot on with your assessment! My family tree starts in Alabama and a lot of my family moved to the Panhandle over the decades.

As native Floridian of over 20yrs, this video pretty much covers it all..well done! Anyone looking to re-locate, this would be the video to watch.

As a more urbanist-minded person who loves cold weather, Florida is kind of a nightmore for me, but I do love the vibrancy and diversity of Miami no matter how awful its weather is.

Man you nailed it 👌🏼 Hit every part of Florida with facts I love my sunshine state

Good video. I live in Florida for some 15 years and know the state very well, and I think your video covers it quite well.

You are so on point this entire video!!!

Wow! Great video. I was considering moving to Florida until recently.

It is not just in South Florida where you better go as soon as the light turns green. We honk the horn in Panama City as well-- especially if it is an out of state car who is lost.

I was waiting for you to mention The Villages when you talking about cities and their development.

Tallahassee is lower Georgia. Pensacola is Lower Alabama, also known as L.A.

Just came across your channel. Thus far, I've watched your NJ Turnpike and 3 months in Florida videos. I lived d in Hudson County NJ, until 44, then 17 years in Orlando. Even lived in Pembroke Pines, north of Miami for a few months. Your take on both states is accurate. Subscribed.

I'm liking these commentary videos a lot! You can't forget about the Canadian snowbirds--though not sure how much of that has recovered post-COVID. Can't wait until you make it to Alaska and Hawaii.

DUDE!!! At 16:20, you literally panned over where I used to live years ago! I know you're from NC, but did you live and/or grow up near Ballantyne, S Charlotte, Marvin/Waxhaw area? So uncanny that you happen to scope out that exact area during your B-roll 😅 it made me pull over and double take while I was driving!!

Interesting take on the modern Florida driving experience. Well researched and well articulated by you. I like your experienced take on the locals driving habits and your juxtaposition of population vs development vs toll hwy. mentality in and around established urban centres. Cape Coral comes up frequently in Canadian realtor searches for near-affordable Florida properties. Thanks for the heads-up on Leehigh Acres. Well done.

Excellent overview of the state for one who hopes to tour there soon (that would be me). Love your video and commentary.

Was watching this while on Dinner break and enjoying a Pub-sub.

Recently visited my parents, who just moved to Melbourne, and was kind of scouting it for a potential move. It’s undeniably beautiful and on paper a great place to live but with all the new development and endless big box stores it all felt artificial, like everything was just put there in the last decade. Because of this it felt very clean and resort like but lacked character. For now I think I’m good with having Florida as a built in vacation.

Thanks again Mike, us business travelers thank you! FL honors other toll road passes, like EZpass, worth researching folks.

We started visiting Florida (from NJ) for our yearly family vacation in the late 1970s. My parents loved it there and so did I. My favorite area was Ocala and Silver Springs. We also visited many of the regions you mentioned. Florida feels like my second home.

Mileage Mike, Mario here from St Petersburg Florida, 1 year transplant from Buffalo N.Y. and Ohio. NEW to your channel.... I LOOOOOOOOVVVVVVE this video!!! As the owner and operator of a MOVING company here in Tampa, and travel ALL over the Florida star, YOU are 💯% SPOT ON with EVERYTHING!!! LOVE your brutal honesty and sarcasm.... Hilarious!!!

Thanks Buddy i love your channel

I’m from Tampa! I enjoyed hearing your opinions!

I first visited Florida back in 2013 in the Florida panhandle but back in Oct 2021 it was my first time visiting Jacksonville Florida. I visit Orlando back in January

The Toll Roads in Orlando are egregious 😂 Good vid!

Good to know when I’m down in South Georgia again. I wanted to visit Jacksonville and Orlando myself! I’ve been to Panama City though.

This one is spot on for Florida. A couple things: Most of those cookie cutter cities were developed with the express purpose of parting Yankees from their money. My favorite Lehigh Acres story was the time the first families moved down and wanted to move into their house (which was never built). We call the Panhsdle "LA" for Lower Alabama.

I'm hyped to watch 🤌

I went to Destin when I was very little, and it was beautiful! Even though I did get sunburned.

Florida is a beautiful nice lookin state

Amazing to hear an outsider's perspective on the state I've been born in raised in. One disagreement: give more credit to Jacksonville! It's not just a sleepy town, there are a lot of unique regions with their own style. You mentioned San Marco but also Riverside with its iconic Five Points, the beaches (not just "Jacksonville Beach", the rest of them are included too!) with another beautiful piece of A1A running through it, and even Downtown has interesting things to do with beautiful river views to boot. It's an excellent hub to other areas such as Gainesville, St Augustine, and even Orlando if you're willing to make a day of it. And with the largest municipal parks department in the country there is plenty of green space to break up urban monotony. Even Jacksonville has beauty if you know where to look! Excellent video as always Mike, thanks for visiting us in the Sunshine State! :)

The “extra space” on the map killed me 😂

Thanks! I lived in Daytona Beach 1986 to 1993 and have been back to Florida many times since then (Panhandle, Delray Beach and south), and Daytona Beach is still my favorite area. Close to Orlando when needed but not too large and hectic, except for Bike Week and Daytona 500.

I used to live in southern Deltona. The place was so dull that I was losing my mind, and I’m not a particularly exciting person myself. I still live in the Orlando area (near Oviedo and UCF), and I’m much happier here.

Great channel! I appreciate the perspective. I was stationed in Orlando for a few years. A group of us would travel to the Space Coast whenever there was a shuttle launch. I was able to see several.

Hey Mike, love your channel. I love to geek out on highway design. Could you cover the expansion of the FL Turnpike? They’re doing interesting things there.

You make very good videos about our country.

Great, wide range of stuff covered here.

I've never been to Florida before. The clip that you shared are very cool. Thank you for giving us your analysis of Florida. 3 months is a feat to stay in a different state to shoot content. Amazing!! I was wondering if you went to the Everglades while you were in Florida. By the way, I love your voice in your videos. ❤ I can listen to you speak about your travels all day. ❤ I hope that you travel to Chicago and Memphis one day and give an analysis on both.

2:25 "Magic and Joy of Walt Disney" lols!!! That is the funniest thing I have heard in a long time

Fellow midwesterner who has visited Florida in the summer of 21. It’s cheaper to visit in summer plus I had to wait on kids with school. This time I plan on visiting again in December on Xmas break. We all love FL and yes I do plan on retiring down here on the future.

I’d definitely like to see more videos like this

I drove to Disney a few years ago and the toll road saved a lot of time!

As a proud fourth generation Floridian, I approved this message!

After seeing this, Montana and Wyoming are looking REALLY good to me.

Next time you should visit a natural spring and swim in it. Excellent video.

Absolutely would love to get on I-69 in Texas and follow it to Michigan for a new scenic view.

I’m surprised you didn’t mention Universal Orlando resort becoming a major powerhouse rivaling Disney. They’re becoming somewhat of a Twin city. And not mentioning Daytona International Speedway. Such architecture many marvel.

Tampa has a place called Ybor City it’s a neighborhood within the downtown area. It’s always packed due to the historic Cuban area. From bars, nightlife to shopping and dinning no shortage of things to do. Also downtown Tampa has a popular waterfront area as well. I’m surprised you didn’t mention either of these. Tampa has a decent Downtown.

As a Floridian who plays Cities Skylines, I must admit that I cover the map in suburbs to some extent too

Florida- keep it all down there

My favorite name for the Panhandle is Lower Alabama, or LA... ;)

Very nice, fairly inclusive (it’s a big state). One thing that caught my eye was your mention of the turbine interchange, very different form the more traditional cloverleaf design. Maybe I'm just a nerd who is fascinated by form and function, but this looks like a very interesting new idea. Unlike the cloverleaf design you can just keep going round and round if you made a mistake and redirect yourself to exit back the way you just came, but it looks to have solved the main problem with the cloverleaf, creating a bottleneck between entering and existing traffic at the same time.

I moved to Florida about a year ago to be closer to my immediate family (was living in Indiana at the time.) I thought with no state income tax and a more right leaning state government it would save me some money. Dead wrong! My car insurance basically doubled by moving here and most things just seem to be more expensive in general. I don't think I'll stay more than another year. The drivers in the state (not just Miami) are awful. I see it everyday as I work in highway maintenance.

Developer's paradise.

I can't believe someone visiting DP noticed the absurdity of the two Publix's right in front of each other, this has been the butt of jokes with me and my friends forever lol. Living in the heart of Orlando's tourist area my whole life, I am so used to the life here I often forget how other areas of the state are incredibly different. It must have been so much for you to go on this trip, and I look forward to more videos such as this for the rest of the states! Going on a tour of each of the US states is a dream vacation for me and if you make a guide to make it easier for us to do so, that would be incredible haha. Keep up the great videos!

Very fun video. I've lived in Florida for decades and it certainly is unique. I'm a little surprised you didn't go to the Villages. If you thought Cape Coral and area was terrifying in terms of how it's built out, you should see what they have up there. 90-year olds driving golf carts and no sidewalks...weeeehhhaaaa. Thanks.

Moved to SWFL a year ago and I love it

You nailed it Go 🌴ampa 🏴‍☠️

Loved this. Mahalo

Family moved to NW “Hollyweird” in ‘67 from the NE. Beach east, Everglades west, grew up with Seminole/ Micosukee as neighbors and friends. Davie was pretty rural with rodeos etc. Some of the best fishing both fresh & salt water anywhere in the world. Thought we’d died and went to heaven as a 13 year old! But then they “paved over paradise”. Left in ‘80 for beautiful” New Nowhere Beach” - New Smyrna Beach. Great life in the ‘80’s, sadly it’s suffering from the development decline also these days. Now live near Mt. Dora, due to work, miss my ocean though. Going to retire soon, will probably head back to Treasure or Space Coast areas, hard to get the sand out of my shoes! Great vid Mike, pretty spot on for the most part. Florida’s pretty diverse, oddly enough found NC the same way just could never leave here. Been a pretty good life all the same. Hope you come back sometime.👍

The Orlando lakes are stocked by the state fish and game division. Not just as food for migratory birds but so that residents can fish. Lots of families do that on the weekends and evenings. I grew up in Plant City, More or less half way between Tampa and Lakeland. Before 1988 (when I left) the fight wasn't for who got Lakeland but for who didn't. lol PCB golf cart, for sure. I moved back to Florida for 2010-2012. I lived on the south-west side of Orlando and worked in Winter Park. Toll roads cut the commute time in half. Cape Coral deserves its own video. If I moved back I'd have to live on the space coast. Close enough to Port Canaveral to be able to Uber to the cruise ships.

I found your commentary on Florida to be both amusing and factual. As a long time resident of Florida (from Hialeah to Kendall to Miami Beach to Coral Springs to name a few) I have seen quite the transformation of South Florida (from the late 70's to 2005) and can honestly say that I loved and enjoyed my time there (My wife and I have lived in Knoxville now for some 18 + years), but also don't miss it one bit (except the beaches in Destin!). Once you've actually lived thru a hurricane like Andrew (not to mention the plethora of them in 2003 and 2004) your perspective gets changed right quick. Crazy drivers, high property taxes, higher insurance rates (if you can even get it - homeowner's insurance specifically), and just far too much congestion made me long for a somewhat slower pace of life. I can get to the beaches in Destin just fine in 8 hours when I feel the urge 🙂.

I've been living in Florida in the Broward county area and it's nice

Publix is great. I enjoyed shopping one in Nashville, when on vacation, back in March.

Here in the Sarasota area, the most outstanding issue I have, having lived here my whole life is the rapid development that this town has never seen in decades in the form of towering apartment/condo buildings popping up literally everywhere in and out of the city, as well as cookie cutter subdivisions and expansion away from the coast into what once was rural land. Many exceptions have been made by the city and county governments to allow these developments to get through the system much quicker and with less opposition. Notable examples being Lakewood Ranch in Manatee County, as well as Lakewood Ranch wannabes in Sarasota County. Our own airport, SRQ, had to fight the City over an approved apartment complex, basically at the end of its main runway Luckily SRQ won that but continues to happen elsewhere. Self-storage complexes are also popping up everywhere, with one right outside my neighborhood entrance. Many of our local roads are struggling with the ever-increasing amount of traffic. I-75 is getting the attention it needs by the FDOT but the massive amount of interchange construction currently at Exits 223 and 205 causes even more problems with traffic which spills onto our local roads and highways. The current political landscape is a whole other story. Red tide is becoming a regular event. Hurricanes like 2022’s Category 5 Hurricane Ian almost wiped us out. They paved paradise and put in a parking lot.

I'm from Malaysia. My childhood friend was in a long-distance relationship with a Floridian. Eventually they got married and they now live together in Tampa. I hope to pay them a visit one day, so I found this video to be a fascinating preview of what to expect. Thank you Mileage Mike for sharing your observations and thoughts about Florida 😄 To everyone watching, if you have any travel tips for a first timer to Florida (and in fact to the US), do share them with me!

The exponential growth in FL is simply mind-blowing.

Extra space 😂 great video 😊

Yes, Publix is everywhere!

I moved to Cape Coral from new jersey 5 years ago, and i have to say, this city has grown on me. It has a small town feel with access to city life over at fort myers.

The Jacksonville metro is still the fastest growing of all the large metros in the state. Meanwhile Miami's metro population has went stagnant, largely due to high home prices.

Been in that Champions gate traffic many times before Also, right about Cape Coral Family moved out of there finally

I liked old school St. Augustine and Cocoa Beach and some parts of the gulf side. You can keep the rest.