My daughter recently sent this text message to her friends in Portland. (She’s probably going to kill me for sharing it, but I’m doing it anyway. Because I’m the mom 😁)

Her assessment was pretty spot on. Yes, her school was ranked an A school by the Florida Department of Education. Yes, people do wear cold weather gear even in the heat. Yes, there are lakes everywhere. And yes, there are lots of little “exotic” critters—and I use this term loosely as they are exotic compared to where I came from. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) I have not seen any alligators since I arrived in Florida.

If I could sum up Florida in a single sentence, then this essay would be over, but I’m still going to try. Essentially, it boils down to this: Florida takes a lot from you, but it also gives you back a lot. There’s an old saying that you get what you pay for, and it’s true.

By comparison to other cities in Florida, Orlando is a bit more costly. I discovered soon after we got here that grocery prices aren’t much different than it is on the west coast. For example, products at Trader Joe’s cost roughly the same here as it does in Portland. You’d think that if a state or city has lower salaries overall then prices for commodities would adjust accordingly, but that’s not the case here.

There is a sales tax, but no state income tax, only federal. The sales tax is 6.5%; fortunately, certain items such as groceries are exempt from this tax. Perhaps that’s why they cost roughly the same as the tax might have already been rolled into the price of the product. At any rate, you have to be mindful of what you buy.

I recently texted my friend Sheri telling her that tolls are a killer here. And it’s true. Tolls, while much cheaper for residents, can add up quickly depending on how long your commute is. Prior to signing up for the E-pass and Sunpass, Florida’s two most common types of discount toll passes, we were paying out of the wazoo for regular toll prices.

Of course, you can certainly avoid tolls altogether but you will spend more time on the road. You don’t have to go on the freeways if you don’t want to; the tolls are simply a form of convenience, saving you time and effort as many freeways are well-maintained and straightforward. Each freeway has its own toll rate which depends on time of the day and days of the week.

To be honest, I avoid driving on the freeway like I avoid the plague and will only do it if I absolutely have to. My husband, on the other hand, doesn’t mind at all. I’ve written about this before, but Florida is notorious for bad drivers. And you don’t even have to go on the freeway to experience it—bad drivers are everywhere. There’s no such thing as courtesy, which tells me that I’m going to have to learn how to be a jerk on the road sooner or later.

Then there’s the heat. Oh my, the heat is oppressive…but only during the summer. Now that it’s October, I’ve found that the sunshine is glorious, just like it was the first time I visited this city. To say it’s beautiful would be an understatement. It’s gorgeous. This morning, I went on a walk and the sun warmed my skin just enough to tickle it. Then I felt a slight breeze as the sky opened up to even more blue, the kind of perfect ocean blue that you see in beach movies.

Every time I take a walk, I’m floored by the fact that the grass is still green and perfectly manicured. Then I remember that HOA communities take pride in how their homes look. Perhaps that’s why they hire landscaping companies to come out on a regular basis (usually weekly) to mow, scoop, cut, trim and anything necessary to maintain exterior presence.

According to the Orlando Economic Partnership website, Orlando has been growing significantly in the past few years, and it’s for a good reason. There are lots of things to do here, things unrelated to theme parks. (Sadly, we have not ventured out to Disney or Universal yet). So far, we’ve been to an awesome nursery, a French bakery that had a jaw-dropping selection of cakes and patisseries, a street with an incredibly diverse selection of Asian/Vietnamese foods, two Asian supermarkets that blew my mind (H-mart and Lotte Supermarket), a sushi restaurant with its own service robot, and a neighborhood cafe that serves the most delicious crepes.

Last but not least, we’ve been to Cocoa Beach a few times, gone to two excellent farmers markets (one in Winter Park, and one in Winter Garden), discovered a perfect camping and picnic spot that’s only ten minutes away from our house and visited a science museum that housed two giant dinosaur skeletons plus a real, live tree and a pond with turtles plopped directly in the center, past the front entrance.

In between all of this, we celebrated my son’s 9th birthday, got our hair cut and nails done, went out for bubble tea, got frozen yogurt, had lots of ice cream in general, dipped our toes in the ocean, waded around the community pool, walked the dog, met a lot of other dogs, said hello to the neighbors, went on lots of walks, drank too much Panera coffee, admired people’s front yards and signed the kids up for school. We saw them develop their own independence for the first time. We learned about the school system here. We also learned about the animals—even the bugs—that permeate our environment.

This is what I mean when I say that the city takes a lot from you. It’s a lot to adjust to. With almost 3 million residents, Orlando is a very large city, and large cities are not for everyone. My husband and I both grew up in small towns (mine was a village so it’s even smaller) so it’s funny how we ended up choosing the opposite of what we had.

Despite it being overwhelming, I like big cities because of opportunity. Opportunities for employment. Opportunities to meet more people. Opportunities to discover more, to widen your net of knowledge. Now I understand why people who live in New York or Paris or LA could never imagine leaving such a place.

There’s something electric about a big city. You have to learn to adapt quickly or it will eat you alive. Perhaps the challenge excites me, or perhaps I just want to see more and experience more. Once you adapt, though, it becomes even more amazing.