What an exciting plan, @ChoatieMom! I’d be interested to hear how the investigation/research works out!
That idea has been floating around my head for a while too (and a work colleague who’s retiring in April has a one way ticket to Europe and multiple locales lined up).
Do you think you will try out trips of a month or so, before making the move?
One thing that has made me and H hesitate on a slow travel idea is the desire for community (would we get that moving from place to place?). But I’ve also heard groups of ex pats outside the US can have very strong connections and a lot of fun.
We would definitely make the first trip before selling the house but would still plan on staying several months, probably somewhere in England. We’d also use that first trip to scope out the next year’s location. We have no requirement for any lasting community in the foreign countries as we rely on our Maine network for that stability.
Still a lot of research to do, and I will probably bite the bullet and do a scouting trip with DH in advance of committing to that first location.
Should I outlive DH, though, I will sell everything and buy that lighthouse on a remote island where I can live in peaceful isolation with the several cats I’ve yet to acquire.
Before Brexit I was serious about getting my UK citizenship, mostly for the opportunity to stay on the continent for longer than Schengen rules allow. My husband, however, would not be able to get leave to remain, so that’s out. We’ve never looked into Norway…his grandparents emigrated from there. Hmmm.
We just did 7 weeks across Austria, Germany, and France and enjoyed every minute of it. Next year is probably Hawaii, Italy, and maybe more Austria. One younger sister is retiring and wants to go someplace, so maybe another sister trip (we did Christmas markets last year).
Our second home is an hour+ away and is where we spend most of the summer. We also have a 5th wheel for camping, but have agreed that travel to other locales is great for early spring and fall into winter, leaving a good 6-9 months here in state.
I would love to see @ChoatieMom with the windswept lighthouse and @BunsenBurner with the tropical coffee farm!
My dream is a stone house in the mountains, overlooking a valley, a patio with outdoor lights for gatherings, workshop (separate building- at a distance) for husband, separate art studio for when daughter visits, and room for several large dogs.
(Been listening to Debbie Millman’s How to Design Your Life podcast )
While X flood zones are better, be sure to review the flood elevations nearby and plan for several feet of sea level rise. If the home is near the boundary with an A zone, the next flood map update may increase the flood elevation and move that area into a flood zone.
Just booked St Pete AirBnB for end of January (four nights - didn’t want to short-change it after making effort/time to travel). Will be studying flood plain info!
For folks considering Colorado or (especially) Wyoming, be aware that wind can be fierce. Does not happen a lot around me, but it can get crazy when it does. Early in our time here we were shocked to see that a new home that had been framed got blown down.
@Colorado_mom - we lived in Colorado when we were first married. One day I came out of work and found my car window had been blown out by the wind! Several other cars parked there had the same problem!
Blown out windows can happen. The example I personally recall was for a coworker who commuted on Rt 93 between Boulder and Golden (known to be especially wind). In that case one of his rear windows blew out during a blizzard. Of course these days many employees are able to work from home on that kind of perilous day.
I will say it has been terrific to have a weather app with by-hour predictions for wind. Usually I use it when planning pickleball. But yesterday it was helpful for ski planning - I still skied, but I dressed appropriately was prepared that it would be a very short afternoon stay. Just wanted to go to the local Eldora to ensure Ikon season pass works, check over my equipment.
A place in Wyoming (not a city, it was listed as ‘Near Central XXX’), got 66.7" of snow in a 24 hour period last week. Weather happens. And in Wyoming it then blows to other places, causing very deep drifts.
Am in awe of people my age or older who can sleep well enough to sleep in an RV. It’s not about how comfortable the bed is. It’s about sleeping in a tiny space when there are frequent night time bathroom visits by both you and your partner. I’d flip out!
Interesting, in NC, which also gets its share of hurricanes (although nothing like as many as Florida) the flooding is the major threat. We do get direct hits, but in 2018 when Hurricane Florence (“only” a Cat 1) hit in the Wilmington area it stalled over Wilmington and dumped so much rain (30 inches) interstate 40 was flooded and the city was completely cut off from land aka the rest of NC for about a week.
We are seeing a lot more rainfall events with tropical systems. Hurricane Helene, of course, also dumped 3 feet of rain on the mountains and caused all the devastating flooding there. And Tropical Storm Chantal dumped 10 inches of rain in about 24 hrs this July on Chapel Hill (150 miles from the beach) and caused quite a lot of flooding. There are still homes that are uninhabitable and businesses that are closed.
