So many of us here in Lake Nona come from different places and have different stories of how we wound up in the Nonahood. No two stories are the same, with each comprised of individuals making the choice to pick up and move from another part of Florida, another state, or even another country. This is How We Got Here, telling stories one at a time of how different families from all different walks of life ended up in Lake Nona.
This month, meet the Meyer family: Mikaela, Justin, Carrington (9) and Kingston (4). Mikaela owns a travel business called Dream Vacations and Justin has a law firm, Meyer and Associates Counselors at Law. The family is based out of Lake Nona and has fallen in love with Lake Nona’s constant growth and development, as well as their friendly neighbors. Check out our full conversation with the family below!
NHN: What drew you to Lake Nona?
MWM: A friend of mine who was relocating to Lake Nona for work told me a little about the area. I did some research on my own and decided that it seemed like a great place to put down roots. I liked the fact that there was a mixture of people from around the country moving to Lake Nona and that it is a growing area. I wanted to be a part of the growth.
NHN: What is your favorite part of Lake Nona?
MWM: My favorite part of Lake Nona is the constant growth. It is exciting to see the new restaurants and stores that are opening. I think something new has opened every month since we moved here last July.
JM: My favorite part of Lake Nona is being a part of the community and getting to know people. In New York, we barely knew our neighbors, as everyone was too busy. But here, people take the time to be involved in their community and make an effort to meet others.
NHN: What was it like living in New York? Do you miss anything about it?
MWM: One of the best things about living in New York was the access that we had to New York City. We would try to go into the city at least every other month. We loved walking around and exploring the city and trying new foods. We are huge fans of food tours and have done a few of them in New York City alone. I definitely miss going to Broadway and going to the Metropolitan Opera. Also, things are a bit closer in New York. I have done a lot of driving since moving to Lake Nona.
JM: New York was a completely different pace – things needed to be done quickly, even though things like real estate transactions take longer there than they do here. Everyone walks faster, and rarely do people say hello to neighbors walking by if they don’t already know each other. Even though it’s more relaxed here, I sometimes miss that pace. I miss the local sports – hockey, in particular – which everyone talked about. There doesn’t seem to be as much interest in the local teams down here.
NHN: What are your family hobbies? What do you like to do together?
MWM: We love to try out different activities that Central Florida has to offer each weekend. We have visited amusement parks, museums, outdoor movies, concerts, food walks, etc. If it sounds fun, we will try it. We love to travel as a family and have been on lots of trips together. Our coolest trip so far as a family has been to Hong Kong and Macau.
NHN: Tell me a bit more about your family trip to Hong Kong.
MWM: We went to Hong Kong for Thanksgiving two years ago, when our kids were 7 and 2. Luckily, we were able to take a direct flight, but it was still 15 hours on a plane. Everyone came through the flight unscathed; Kingston watched the same episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse until he fell asleep.
Once we arrived, we spent four nights in Hong Kong, two nights in Macau and then two additional nights in Hong Kong. We took the kids to visit temples, went up to Victoria Peak, did a food tour and ate in our first Michelin star restaurant. We took the ferry over to Macau and stayed in Venetian Macau, which is pretty impressive. In Macau, we went to see the show The House of the Dancing Water, which is probably one of the best shows that I have seen anywhere. We also went into the town of Macau to try one of the oldest Portuguese restaurants located there.
Our last day of the trip, we went to Hong Kong Disneyland. Kingston hadn’t been to Disney before, so it was doubly exciting for him. Hong Kong Disney has a Toy Story Land, so we got to experience it before it came to Florida. We were only there eight days, but we fit a lot into the time we had.
NHN: What is the most interesting thing that has ever happened to you?
MWM: The most interesting thing that has happened to me is meeting Nelson Mandela in person. I was studying for my MBA at Oxford and the school dedicated a new theater to Mr. Mandela, so he came over for the dedication. I wasn’t able to be in the theater for his speech, but I figured I would try to meet him in the hallway. While he was walking out, I saw him and started to cry as it just meant so much to see him in person. He came over to console me while I was crying. That is a memory I will never forget.
JM: The most interesting thing that has happened to me is meeting two Supreme Court justices. While at law school, I met both Justice O’Connor and Justice Scalia. I was able to talk to them about being on the Supreme Court and decisions that they have made.
The most interesting thing I have ever done was again during law school; I worked at Colonial Williamsburg. If you took your family to Colonial Williamsburg from 2008-2011, I might have been the one showing you around. I was one of the tour guides and taught people about the different trades in colonial times as well as took them around for the ghost tours. And yes, I did have one of those “cool” historic outfits.
NHN: Tell me a bit more about your studies in Oxford, Mikaela. Why did you decide to go to school there?
MWM: I went to Oxford for business school. I was interested in international business and felt that studying at a school that had more international make-up would be beneficial to me. I decided to look at schools in Europe and felt that Oxford was the best fit.
Studying there actually inadvertently led me to my current business. I hadn’t traveled much before going to Oxford, but while I was there, I started traveling all around Western Europe. Prices were cheap, and everything was a short flight away. I fell in love with traveling and continued to do so after I left Oxford. When deciding what to do in my “second career,” travel seemed a natural fit.
NHN: What was it like doing the ghost tours, Justin? Did you have any interesting reactions to the tour that you remember?
JM: Ghost tours were a lot of fun. I would lead guests to several buildings in Colonial Williamsburg, and I would give them an introduction to a story that they were about to hear. The intro was both informative and slightly scary. Inside the building, an actor would act out the part of a ghost from Colonial times.
As far as interesting reactions, my favorite one was when I managed to scare three separate groups from a school. My group, along with two others, were all within earshot of each other – it was dark, and you could just see the other two groups walking to other buildings. I scared my group and got some good screams. As soon as the group closest to us heard the screams, they got started and screamed as well, and then it hit the third group. My second favorite was when someone complained to my supervisor that I was too scary because they didn’t want to be too scared on a ghost tour!
NHN: What about the hardest thing that has ever happened to you?
MWM: In my last position for work, I traveled frequently, sometimes one to two times per week. Leaving my kids every week and seeing their disappointment that I was going away again is probably the hardest thing that I have had to deal with.
JM: When my daughter was born, I was just about to start my second year of law school. Having to juggle law school, a job and an infant is the hardest thing I have had to deal with.
NHN: Can you tell me a bit more about Dream Vacations?
MWM: Dream Vacations is a comprehensive travel agency. We plan trips for families, couples and singles. We focus mainly on cruises, all-inclusive resorts, and European vacations. One of the key differentiators between other agents and myself is that I go and see the product that I am selling. I visit the countries and the resorts and I go on the cruises so that I know what to recommend to clients.
NHN: Where do you all see yourselves in 10 years?
MWM: In 10 years, we will still be in Lake Nona, with one child in college and the other in high school. We will continue to be a part of the Lake Nona community and continue to volunteer our time to help our schools and our community.
Would you like to share your story of how you got here? Please fill out this online form: forms.nona.media/how-we-got-here or send an email to Vanessa@nonahoodnews.com with a brief summary of why your family moved to Lake Nona. We’ll be in touch.
