No, but I'd love to live there temporarily--say a year or so.

The "south of France" is HUGE. Do you have any idea where in the south of France you might like to be? That would be a MAJOR factor in the cost of property.

That said, as a general rule property in the "south of France" is expensive, particularly now with the tanking dollar. You can check prices by going to any number of French real estate sites. A good one is Particulier à Particulier.

Your BCBS is absolutely worthless outside the USA.

Those of you who dream of retiring in Europe should read Christina Stead's "The Little Hotel."

It is about ex-pats and refugees living in a pension in Switzerland after WWII. A major part of the novel deals with bored retirees with too much time on their hands and very little to do. Many of them also run out of money.

Thin

It's becoming a lot easier to imagine not living in the USA IMO (no offense to those who disagree) these days....

question for Swanday..where are you planning to use that military health care in Bavaria????

We've actually considered moving to Europe on several occasions but for a variety of reasons not listed by the OP have chosen not to do so.

If I retired to a Swiss pension, I'd be bored out of my skull, too, and would probably run out of money.

@StCirq,

I would prefer the area in the south of France which is the least expensive. Have you a recommendation?

Thanks.

Yes, you should still be able to find a nice little ruin in the Cévennes or Lozère for a song.

As a homemaker I consider myself retired already and am only 39. I cannot be bored - I do not ever recall being bored in my life. I have far too many hobbies and interests.

When we move to Europe in a few years we plan to do a lot of traveling, gardening, and continue our current hobbies (cooking especially!). How is it possible for a person to be bored??? :))

We have known we'd move to Europe for several years and so have been saving and investing smartly for our future. We would not go if we did not know we would have enough financially and will not go until we do. Both my husband and I have always saved since we were kids so have been doing well throughout our lives - not just recently. :)

And we can hardly wait!

Thanks to all for the many thought-provoking responses.

As far as some mentioned re: difficulty in adjusting socially, you (and anyone contemplating such a move) might enjoy reading actor Michael Tucker's "Living in a Foreign Language: A Memoir of Food, Wine, and Love in Italy." It's true that he and his wife Jill were/are more financially secure than many of us, but I think that played a minor role in their ability to rapidly make new friends and adapt to the Italian way of life. Check it out... it's an enjoyable read (IMHO).

I would love to spend two to five years in Europe or a series of two year stints working in different parts of Europe.

This is such a sweeping question, and so dependent on individual experiences and preferences. I moved to Europe years ago, first to do postgraduate studies, then stayed on for a number of additional years as a university teacher. My experiences very much echo some comments previously made, to wit:

<i>…As someone who has lived here for going on two years, I will say that... it isn't that different. At least on a day to day level, you still find much of your time is devoted to going about your business. In many ways, for much of your day, you could really be almost anywhere.

…I am concerned the allure of Europe would lessen if I lived there or could travel there more often. Indeed, anecdotal comments I have heard from some who have worked abroad have often been surprisingly unenthusiastic.

…Also we wouldn't be part of civic life there the way we can be here.</i>

Among the issues that one should consider are location, vocation, communication, and duration.

Location is a big key - cost of living, climate, access to other places, diversity of the local community, hospitality or the lack of it among the locals, etc.

Vocation is self-evident. How will you live and will you live like you want to? For non-European passport holders, recourse to public social and health services is not guaranteed in all countries.

Communication doesn't just mean language; it includes seeing or being with people back home, with understanding enough of the local culture to enter into the local world and be effective. My favorite story doesn't even involve a long migration, just a move within a country. A friend's father-in-law and mother-in-law moved from one part of the Scottish Highlands to another during the early days of World War II. I was visiting the area and wanted to visit them one time in the 1980s. I was staying at a nearby hotel and was asked by a geezer in the bar why I was there (it's rather out-of-the-way.) I said I was visiting my friend's in-laws. He asked who they were and I said their name. He didn’t know the name (and this is a tiny place) so I told him where their house was. &quot;Oh,&quot; he said, &quot;The new people up at Invershin.&quot; One can be an outsider for a long time in parts of Europe.

Duration is the last thing. Do you want to immigrate or spend &quot;a few years?&quot; Because if the former, then you need to dive deeply into the above, while if it's for a short time-certain, you may keep the mindset of (and be perceived as) tourists rather than residents.

When you come home you'll need to engage in all sorts of re-entry issues, banal things like credit and work history, under-funded social security or pension schemes, and more importantly, friends, networks, and family that have moved on with their lives and may not be all that interested in hearing about your big adventures or how they do it better in (country) than here.

Which is not to suggest it's a bad idea. Personally, my life was hugely enriched by my years living in Europe. But IMO gimlet eyes are better than starry ones when planning such moves.

For Dukey --

There are US Army/NATO clinics around Garmisch. But I don't really count on using them. Rather, I would use the German health system and get reimbursed by Champus, as I am now. I think the paperwork runs through the Consulate.

s

I married an EU Citizen. German.
He's a registered alien here in the US and is still working steadily but, is starting to murmur about retiring and returning to live in the EU. France comes up A LOT in our conversations. I need to check this out, but as his American Wife, we wonder (and since its only murmurs) how that would work. Would I only be able to live in the EU for 90 days as a visitor? That would sorta be creepy. Would his German pensions, etc., allow us both to live in the European healthcare system? My personal big question.

So to answer the OP questions, yes. If I could, I would.

Never.

Great to visit - and I will forever. But not to live.

Too dificult for an American to be truly accepted, too expensive to live well - and you just can't replace New York.

&gt;Would his German pensions, etc., allow us both to live in the European healthcare system? My personal big question.

Yes, that's a fact.

I absolutely feel an attachment to where I live now and, surprisingly, it's the first time in my life I've felt an attachment to living anywhere. It's one of the reasons I felt so confident I could make the move out of America. I'd lived in a number of places in the States, and Europe once before, and while I enjoyed -- even loved -- many of the places in the U.S. I'd lived, I never missed them when I moved someplace else.

So I was surprised when, after I'd moved to Italy, I can back for an extended visit, and I instantly missed being in Italy, its people, its daily experience and quirks. And I felt a vague distate for the American way of living (although I might have felt differently if I had been someplace other than New York, which I used to be quite happy in).

Also, please remember: Those of us who've moved to Europe haven't stopped traveling. One of the reasons I live where I do in Italy is that I find it easy to go from there to London, Athens, Paris, the Netherlands, etc. and other parts of Italy. I'm even mulling a trip to India, a place I never planned to see while living in the States because I'm not good with long plane flights.

I'm surprised I like living in Italy as much as I do. There is not a single bit of American or non-Italian food I miss (I thought I would). My friends are eager to visit me there (although the weak dollar makes that harder than we'd wish).

I share Europe's love of Obama. About the only thing I think I'm missing is new release American movies.

&quot;Too dificult for an American to be truly accepted, too expensive to live well - and you just can't replace New York.&quot;

As someone born in New York City, who lived in the city most of my adult life and had a successful career there, I feel I can categorically say that has not been my experience moving to Italy. It's true, in a flat, literal-minded way, that one &quot;can't replace New York&quot; -- or California, or London, or Cenova (a pinspot of a town in Liguria) or any fascinating place.

But one of the surprises of my life was to discover there were better places to live than New York. For me.

Of course, feeling at home and loved in someplace other than America is very much a matter of personality and spirit -- which nytraveler doesn't seem to get. I'm sure nytraveler would never feel truly accepted if he/she left America, but he/she only imagines that is because of other people, not something he/she is lugging around as a traveler.

Oh -- and &quot;too expensive to live well&quot;--??


I live on a hillside with a fantastic view, the sea at my feet, incomparably fresh food to eat.

I rent 1400 square feet of totally FURNISHED living space, right down to the plates and corkscrews (and it is nice, not junky, stuff), all for 20 percent of what I would pay for comparable space in Manhattan, with new view. I am surrounded by fruits, vegetables, birds, pets and livestock, but within 30 minutes I can be at a major airport and the heart of international city.

I can walk to the train, I can walk to the bus, I can walk to no less than six different bakeries, two differernt markets, 3 fish stores, one butcher, etc etc -- and every Wednesday morning there is a fresh air market that sales everything under the sun -- clothes, rugs, art supplies, etc.

Wine is 3 euros a bottle. Olive oil is peanuts.

I feel rich. I am rich. And my income hasn't gone up and the dollar has gone down.

It's not for everybody, of course. But the idea that &quot;you can't live as well&quot; or &quot;you'll never be accepted&quot; or &quot;it's not as great as living in New York City&quot; is all in one's head.

@zeppole,

Great point of view! May I ask where you live? You give me inspiration, both academically and financially!

Any chance you might contact me off the forum at dwzemens AT comcast DOT net?

My answer is an unequivocal &quot;Yes.&quot; My husband and I have talked about it quite a bit. We just don't know where to start. Zeppole, how did you get started?