Of course the first question is “How can you afford this?” We have been blessed, but we’ve also worked very hard throughout our lives. Al retired as a Colonel in the Air Force, so we have military retirement and the health care that goes with it. We saved a considerable amount of our income and have been fortunate in our investments. One of those investments was several townhouses that we bought when the housing prices fell. They had fallen into foreclosure and we worked hard to renovate them. They are now rental properties that help finance our new lifestyle. We are also frugal people. We’re not interested in designer clothing, fancy cars or the latest gadgets. (except for Al and his bike!) We are still bringing in a little income with Al’s consulting and Sue’s writing, which can be done anywhere. With careful management, we’re finding that this lifestyle is possible!
Downsizing house, changing lifestyle – actual costs
Setting up finances (credit cards to get, setting up direct deposits, auto payments, mail delivery)
Setting up your USA home (nexia, auto insurance while you’re gone, lawn, etc)
Finding places to stay (city vs country, car vs no car, inside city, edges of city, how big?)
Where have you always wanted to live? We’ve got a long list of places we hope to visit. But even when you know where you want to go, there’s lots of decisions still to be made. What time of year do you want to go? How long do you want to stay? Do you want to be within a city or outside the city? Do you want a location by all the tourist sites or do you want to live closer to the locals in residential areas?
We avoid travelling in the summertime. It’s peak season and everything is more expensive and more crowded. In Europe, many countries simply shut down in August while everyone goes on vacation. We like being home for the holidays, so we generally won’t travel between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Christmas is also usually peak season for pricing accommodations. If you can travel during off-peak times, you can usually negotiate a lower rate for your rental flat in a long-term rental. This is because the landlord knows that he or she will have a guaranteed income during the entire slow season and will be happier to work with you. The off-peak travel times vary due to location, but usually they are in early spring and late fall, so that’s when we tend to plan our travel.
The longest you can live in most countries with a U.S. tourist visa is three months. You can go back to the U.S. for a few days and then return to the same place if you really want to stay longer, but we’ve decided that for us, three months is a good length of time. It’s long enough to meet people in the community and to get a real flavor of the place, which is the entire idea.
Each location is different, but for us, we’ve found that we like to live within a city. We’ve found that choosing a ‘second tier’ city is the best choice for us. By this, we mean staying out of the biggest cities, or the ones that attract the most tourists. We didn’t stay in London, England; we stayed in York, for instance. It would have been nearly twice the cost to rent a flat in London for our time there. Smaller cities have plenty of charm, there’s still much to do, and if you want to visit the larger cities for a few days, you can do so without paying the housing rates for three months.
Our home in Charlottesville is a more country setting, so city life is a nice change for us. It’s also nice not to have to drive everywhere in unfamiliar areas and we enjoy walking to the sights. Many places we’re considering have good train connections so if we are in a city near to the train station, it’s easy to tour other towns by train. We’ve been able to do without a car in every place so far, only renting one when we want to go places not served by trains or public transportation. The downside of city living is that it is usually more expensive, it can be noisy, and there is often no parking if you do have a car.
Once you’ve chosen your location, you then need to figure out in which part of the city you want to stay. We’ve generally avoided the very centers of the tourist areas for several reasons. First off, they are usually the most expensive accommodations you can find for a short term rental. Secondly, because it’s often the area with entertainment, nightclubs and bars, it can be noisy at night, making it difficult to sleep. Thirdly, as our goal is to learn what it is like to actually live in each location, we believe we can best do that by living in a more residential area. We generally try to look for a residential area that is walkable to the city center or is conveniently served by public transportation. We feel safer in a better residential area, and after the city center, that is also where the most short term rentals will be available.
We’ve used HomeAway.com and AirB&B to begin our search for long term rentals. HomeAway is generally better for Europe and AirB&B is better for North America. It’s a good place to get an idea of the cost, the locations that are generally available, and the services and fees that are usual for the area, as these change from place to place. For example, in York, England, there were no fees at all above the stated rate, and weekly cleaning was included. In Florence, Italy, there is often a nightly fee per person added above the quoted rate, and most places also charge utilities. HomeAway does a very good job of making the locations and additional fees clear. If you find places that look as though they will work for you, MESSAGE more than one of them, (do NOT hit the orange button requesting to book!) Tell them your dates, describe yourself briefly, and ask for the best possible all-inclusive price for the time period that you will be there. This is the paragraph we use for inquiries:
Hello! We are an American couple in our mid-fifties, non-smoking, who would be very respectful of your apartment. We are landlords ourselves. We are researching apartments to stay in (city) for three months in the spring.
Could you tell us the full price that we would pay for three months, including all fees and taxes? We could be a little flexible on dates. Also, because we would be there for 3 months, is there any possible discount for a long term stay? Thank you!
Some people will not be willing to negotiate, but we have gotten as much as a 25% discount by asking. If you find more than one flat that would meet your needs, you have the ability to accept the best offer. If they offer parking and you will not need it, you can let them know and ask if that could affect the price.. You could offer to clean the apartment yourself if cleaning is included. Don’t be shy negotiating – this is the part of the process where you can save the most money. If they won’t negotiate, move on. There are plenty that will work with you, especially if you are interested in off-peak times to rent.
Another good way to find a flat is through personal connections. As of yet, we have not rented a place this way, but we have some possibilities in the pipeline. As we’ve travelled, we’ve met people with vacation homes or connections in other places we’d like to visit, and we expect that we will be able to use these connections eventually. Just don’t be shy asking and let people know that you are open to travel.
Connecting with the community
One of the very best parts of this lifestyle is meeting people in the places you’ll be visiting. There’s no better way to learn the flavor of a city than to get to know the people, and our very best memories are of the times we’ve spent with friends we’ve made. We’ve found that the best way to meet people is through your interests and hobbies. Al is an avid bicyclist and we’ve made wonderful connections through biking clubs. Sue likes to knit, enjoys learning about history, and likes to write. Most communities have clubs that we can join for at least one of our interests. Another possibility is finding a club for learning English where you are visiting. If you look on line before you visit, there is a good chance that you can connect with clubs or organizations before you even arrive. Once you arrive, you can connect with other organizations through community centers or shops. For instance, Al could find biking clubs through the local bike store and Sue would be able to find knitting clubs through the local yarn shop. Libraries and museums also often have lectures or programs, and depending on the location, they may be offered in English as well.
Many towns also have a strong expat community. In Florence, we made some wonderful connections through their expat club, with the added benefit of meeting people that not only came from Florence, but were from all over the world.
What to do while you are there?
Quite honestly, at first, we were concerned that we might run out of things to do. That did not prove to be a problem. While we both have remote work that we can do, we also found more than enough to do in each location. Once we’ve seen the most popular tourist sites, we started to learn about the little hidden gems that the vast majority of the tourists never find. All you need to do is talk to people, especially when you’re in sites that you particularly enjoy. “Where might I find more Renaissance art in the area? Are there any other notable Roman ruins nearby?” Be open to suggestions. One of the most memorable places my husband visited was a coal mine in Yorkshire, England, which really didn’t sound very interesting at first. One of the wonderful things about living in an area for a while is that you can revisit museums and really take your time in them. We also enjoy walking, and just taking long walks throughout the neighborhoods can open your eyes to hidden gems like neighborhood shops, restaurants and parks.
What and how to pack
We learned rather quickly that if you’re living in a place with laundry, you don’t really need to pack a lot of clothing. We really overpacked for our first trip, and overpacked a little less for our second. When we biked across the country, I got by for three months in very different climates with just a backpack carryon and a small duffle.
One very important rule – do not pack more bags than you can handle yourself. Our status with our preferred airline allows us two free checked bags each, a carry on and a personal item. However, one person has a very hard time getting all of that through an airport alone. We know. We brought all that the first time! Consider using a backpack for your carry on so that you free up one of your hands, and a bag with a strap that you can put across your body for your personal item. If you absolutely need two checked bags (for instance, when Al brings his bicycle) make sure you have two free hands for them. My goal is to have one checked bag, a backpack that will qualify as a carry on, and a personal item – a purse, usually. I also try very hard to leave a lot of empty room in the bags when I go, because of course I want to bring some things back from my adventures. If you really believe you need more clothing than that, try tracking just how much you really wear at home between laundry loads. I think you’ll be surprised how little you actually can get away with.
I use packing cubes – they’re great. You can really fit a lot more in a bag with them, and you can keep things a lot more organized, too. They’re most useful when you’ll be moving from place to place a lot (like during the bike trip) but they do help you get more in your luggage. The true issue, we’ve found is not space in your luggage, but weight. Generally you are restricted to 50 lbs or 23 kg per bag. A small suitcase scale is pretty invaluable – it will help you when you pack to leave, and save you from having to repack your luggage in the airport to shift the weight around. (Like we had to do in Florence.)
We’ve become big fans of hiking clothes. They tend to be lightweight, comfy, dry quickly and pack very well. Three pair of hiking pants weigh about what one pair of jeans would weigh. Pack for layering and consider buying bulky items when you get there at thrift shops and just donating back when you leave. Snow boots are a great example.
There are a few things you should consider bringing with you besides clothing.
- Kindle or other digital reader. You can get American newspapers or magazines on it and keep up to date with news from home, besides not having to carry around books for pleasure reading.
- A guidebook. This is really the only book I want in non-digital form. It’s much easier to carry around with you as you’re walking the city
- A good cooking knife. Of course you need to put it in a checked bag – but many of the apartments you’ll rent won’t have a good, sharp knife.
- Little gifts from your local area. There is a candy maker near us that makes incredible toffee, so we throw a few bags of it into our luggage and give it out to our landlord, neighbors, favorite shopkeepers, restaurant owners, etc. Maybe it’s a little cheesy, but it’s appreciated, and just makes for a friendlier time while we’re there.
- Charging station and electric converters – Lee?
- You can get small, travel binoculars, and they’re great, not only for obvious things like watching wildlife, but when you go in churches, cathedrals, or any other place that has artwork high up in domes or by the ceilings.
How to choose where you want to go (and what is on our list?) https://www.expatistan.com
We’ve traveled a lot, and in our explorations, we’ve found places that have really piqued our interest; places that felt good to us, and made us wish we could stay longer. We’ve got a pretty good list of those places, and it’s how we chose York, England as our first spot to visit. If you’re considering this lifestyle, no doubt there are also places you’ve been that you’d like to explore more in depth. That’s a great place to start in making up your list.
Here are the things we consider:
- Safety. Sadly, in today’s political climate, there are many cities we would love to add to our list to live in for three months, but we believe the risk may be too great. For instance, we initially had Istanbul, Turkey on our list, but due to the terrorist activities targeting Western tourists there, we removed it. Crime is another factor to consider. While nearly all places carry the threat of pickpockets or minor theft, we choose places where we won’t be afraid for our physical safety. Another safety factor is health risks. For example, the threat of the Zika virus might limit your travel to South and Central American countries. A good place to look is the State Department website (https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/alertswarnings.html) for current travel warnings.
- Cost. Cost vary widely depending on where you might want to go. We will probably never spend three months in New York City or London simply because the cost would be too great. https://www.expatistan.com/cost-of-living is a great site to tell you comparative costs city to city that is crowd sourced – based on actual people inputting the cost of things they buy every day for cities all over the world. It helps you figure out what places are more affordable, and what categories of things will cost more. For instance, in Krakow, gas will be 89% more than in my hometown of Charlottesville, Virginia, but I’ll be able to get a nice lunch in a restaurant in downtown Krakow for about $5.
- Size of the town/city. We prefer mid-sized cities. One of the big reasons is cost – York is cheaper than London, and Florence is a little cheaper than Rome. Mid-sized cities give us plenty to see and do for the time we are there without being too overwhelming. In most mid-sized European cities the downtown is completely walkable. Choosing a centrally located mid-sized city in an interesting region is a great tactic because in most countries, mid-sized cities will have a transportation system that will enable us to go visit other cities and towns in the area. While country living sounds great, we decided against living in more remote areas for two reasons. First off, we enjoy the events, museums and culture that a city affords. We live in a fairly rural area in Virginia, and we can get our ‘country’ fix while we’re home. Secondly, if we live in a mid-sized city, we can mostly avoid having a car, which is usually a huge expense. If we want to go somewhere that is not serviced by public transportation, we’ll rent a car for the day. If you live in a rural area, you’ll be forced to have a car for the entire time you’re there, greatly increasing your costs.
Other factors that may weigh in on choosing a site are :weather, internet availability (very important for us) friendliness and proximity to beaches or mountains. A great site that can help you match up your preferences to places in the world is https://nomadlist.com/. Once you input your preferences, it ranks over 550 cities worldwide against what you’re hoping to find.
- Location within the city or town Unless it’s a small town, we’ve decided we like being just outside of the downtown area the best. Again, one of the prime reasons is cost. It can be very expensive to rent a flat right in the middle of all the tourist attractions. But there are other good reasons not to stay right in the center of town, too. The “Old Towns” are most often the locations of bars that have music and loud crowds late into the night. Crowds around the most popular tourist attractions can get very large and difficult to navigate. It’s most touristy place and it will be harder to find the charming family restaurants and shops that locals frequent. It might also be difficult to find the type of stores you would need for day to day living, such as grocery stores and drug stores. We’ve found that we prefer a residential area within walking distance or a short bus ride to the downtown. As the people living around you are dealing less with tourists on a daily level, we find that it’s also a little easier to make connections to the local area that way, too.
