To:Heimdall
I have BS/BC insurance. They said they will cover all emergency care outside the country. I also have annual Allianz travel insurance for services like air ambulance. Hope these are enough. And, I will contact those expat communities you suggested. Thank you for your helpful tips.

To; janisj
That sure seems like the easiest way, and probably that's how I end up doing. Thanks.

To:Traveler_Nick
Ha ha, no, I don't plan to stay in hotel for a year. Thinking about airbnb rental unit. I don't plan to stay any more than 3 months at one place. In UK about three months in Scotland and about two months in Wales. Nothing is firm yet. thank you for your good tips.

To:kerouac
I did not know there is such a thing as "extended" visa. That's what I meant by long term visa. I googled several times for visa for Schengen or EU countries, but without specific place, time or purpose, it's hard to apply. Without knowing that I will get a visa, it's hard to plan. Thank you for your help.

To:lavandula
Thank you for the info. I will visit those web sites and see what I can find.

tominrm - check the fine print on your annual travel insurance policy. They might not cover a whole year. It may be that the policy is for those who travel parts of the year but not the whole year. Worth checking.

Heathrow and other major airports have e-gates now so you probably will not even talk to a border guard.

Re insurance. I have heard very good reports about April Insurance. It is a French company and covers everything covoid related.
tominrim as there are no border controls they don’t know you have left the country that granted you a long stay visa. This may change next year with Etiias.

https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/po...tion-system_en

Tom, you need to talk to your insurance providers, if you are seriously about this. Annual travel insurance policies have limitations because they are supposed to be for travel, not for someone who permanently decides to go live abroad for a year or more. Allianz annual policies that I know of specifically exclude any trip longer than 45 days. Which yours obviously would be. IN general, travel insurance is not meant to cover people indefinately who expected 365 days of coverage and is "traveling" all year. At least that is what I recall from reading various terms, so you need to check on that.

And as for the BCBS, you should clarify what that coverage means. For example, you fall off a cliff while hiking and have to go to the ER. Will your insurance only cover the ER visit, or will it include all subsequent needed care, even if you have to be in the hospital for some weeks. Maybe you know all that, I know some BCBS plans to have overseas benefits in general but that doesn't sound like the type of policy you have. Lots of casre is not called an emergency after you are stabilized, of course.

-Allianz annual policies that I know of specifically exclude any trip longer than 45 days. Which yours obviously would be. IN general, travel insurance is not meant to cover people indefinately who expected 365 days of coverage and is "traveling" all year-

This has been my experience too. I think there are better policies for what they call “nomads.” This is one of many websites, the key is figuring out the right policy for you.

https://www.worldnomads.com

Not only is ETIAS coming next year but also EES - fingerprints and photos needed on entry, just like in the US. Probably earlier than ETIAS.

so what? Compared to traveling these days this sounds like a walk in the park.

I'm a little confused. If you're going for a year and plan to spend half of it in the UK, do you need a long stay visa? It sounds like it could fit within the Schengen rules if you plan it appropriately.

As far as I know, World Nomads don't offer 365 days cover on an annual policy but you may be able to buy a Comprehensive policy for 365 days (but it will likely be expensive).

I recommend making sure that your passport is stamped when you move in or out of Schengen zone. Border authorities occasionally fail to record your entry/exit.

The problem is if a border guard decides you aren't a tourist. Either the UK or the EU border might catch some one bouncing back and forth.

I know nothing about this but just asking...

If you comply with the border conditions, timeframes for staying in a country, have plenty of funds, and declare that you've no intention of working, can a border official deny you entry? Surely that could potentially muck up even the plans of the best intentioned person? They could arrive in Europe/UK with all conditions met but be turned back - and presumably at your own expense? That sounds harsh. It's a lot to risk - giving up your careful plans to spend a year as a tourist overseas only to be denied entry on the basis that the border official doesn't believe you or takes a dislike to you. There must surely be rules to guide their actions, beyond mere suspicion.

I'm not in the position to be able to do as the OP is doing but if I was, I'd hesitate if that's the case.

dreamon. Yes there are guidelines that border officials worldwide have to follow. However any border official of any country has the right to refuse entry. Even when you are granted a long stay visa it says that entry maybe refused. It is unlikely to happen to older people. Younger people travelling are more at risk of being refused if they don’t have adequate funds.
Lesslikely to happen if you have been granted a long stay visa because a person has met the conditions of the visa at application stage.
When we arrived in France we had copies of the documents we lodged for the visa application in case of the scenario you mentioned. I was a previous immigration officer and was aware of the possibility that things can go wrong.

"there are guidelines that border officials worldwide have to follow"

there are? Do you have a link to this standard and how many countries have signed up?

Thank you all for your insightful suggestions and good advices, but the emergence of this Omicron virus puts my plan on hold once again. When do you think people will be able to travel free as we used to pre-pandemic era? For those retirees like me clock seems to tick fasters as the remaining available time to travel appears to shrink faster. There still are so many places I want to visit and experience, and I want to go on my own two feet.

Who knows? I'm not optimistic for next year tbh.

First they will need to figure out if omicron is really dangerous although they arlready know that it is super contagious. Then we have to see what the next variants do.

Contrary to what many people think, these viruses do not want to kill us. They need us to stay alive to be able to spread. What we are waiting for is when our bodies and the viruses finally decide to call a truce. Live and let live.

it is part of a persons training and not available to the general public. However I think it is on every countries web page that a visa approval or visa waiver does not guarantee entry. For example if you had a person standing before you and you requested proof of financials you would want to see regular amounts in an account, and not just a lump sum placed into an account three months before travel. That could mean that a person doesn’t have resources of their own and it maybe a loan, and they will probably need to work while they are in the country .

We were pulled aside at Heathrow and asked to show our itinerary, and questioned. No big deal. My husband said that after talking to me the immigration officer let us go because I went on and on about what we hoped to see.

In previous years when coming to Australia, a person would have passenger cards that were required to be completed. One of the questions were do you have a criminal record. If this was answered incorrectly further checks were made and sometimes people were denied entry. Also most countries randomly select people at airports to check that their system is working. Bit like being selected for the explosive test.

As I mentioned before people over 50 would only occasionally be asked. Younger people are more likely to be questioned.
Surprisingly once you start questioning people they usually open up pretty quickly.