A year in Europe: links/advice/experience?

[laylamcb]

Does anyone have links to suggest for someone looking to spend about six months to a year living in/around (mostly Western) Europe? We'll have two elementary-aged kids in tow as well. If you have a personal testimony about such an experience, I'd love to hear that, too. I really...don't know quite where to begin. :001_huh: Thank you!

 

Layla McB

[laylamcb]

Anyone? :)

[TammyinTN]

This is our 4th year living in Germany...were a military family. What would you like to know? :D Lay those questions on me.

[laylamcb]

Woohoo! Thanks! Well, dh will (probably) be retiring from career #1 in mid-2010. So we're thinking, sell everything and go on year-long European SABBATICAL! We'd have nothing to live on but a pension of about $40-50K after taxes. Is this doable for a family of 4 (kids will be approx 8 and 6 at that point) for a year? We were thinking of basing ourselves in England or Scotland and visiting France, Italy, Greece, Ireland, Germany, and possibly Hungary and Poland. How does one find longer-term-yet-ultimately-temporary lodging? What about health insurance?? Any thoughts?

 

Thanks!! Leila

[TammyinTN]

I think personally I would try to find a place to rent cheaper than Germany..the Euro rate stinks! $1 US dollar in euro translates to $1.61 the british pound even worse ...that's big when your paying rent, utilities and food taxes here 19%..ouch! Homeschooling is illegial in Germany the only way we can do it..military. I have not idea about insurance as again, were military. I'll try to hunt you down some info..it's almost 1am and we just got home from downtown...I don't won't to discourage you..but I would really be putting away some money each month along with the pension money if you really would like to make this happen. It's very expensive here and you will have a desire to travel..trust me...it's great..but expensive!:D

[elegantlion]

check out this site.

 

http://www.familiesontheroad.com/fotr.html

 

There is a family on there, or maybe more than one now, who travel throughout Europe. I'll try to find the specific ones and post later, I'm off to dinner soon.

 

Sounds like a wonderful idea.

[TammyinTN]

Awesome site!:iagree:

[Happy]

We spent a year and a half in Belgium with an eight year old and a fourteen year old. Loved it. Hated coming back. We traveled extensively while we were there due to my dh's flexible schedule. Have tiny car, will travel.

 

Here's my thought....England and Scotland are terrific, but they do not make a good base for travel to other parts of Europe. Rather than hopping in a car and driving an hour to be in another country, you have to climb on an airplane or a train or a boat. If I were you, I'd base my family on the continent. After a few months without a car, we purchased small vehicle to use.

 

Most large cities boast a number of 'corporate' apartments that you could probably rent for a few months at a time. Keep in mind a tourist visa (which is assumed, you don't apply for it.) covers about three months if memory serves. So you will need to break camp and move to another country, even if it is for only a few days, to renew your tourist status. I can easily imagine you living in one place for three months, then another and another.

 

Find a book called 'Take Your Kids To Europe' which addresses many of the questions you have. For general what to see and do advice, grab anything by Rick Steves.

 

As for taking your young'uns along. Excellent idea. You can all learn basic polite words in every country you are in. Practice doing math with Euro to dollar conversions. Enjoy many different types of foods. (Be aware McD's and Pizza Hut are there in case someone won't eat local fare. Practically every restaurant has a version of pizza you can order.) Keep a journal of their adventures complete with drawings and postcards. Collect one specific item from everywhere. One son did cloth patches which we have in a large frame now, the other one chose spoons which are displayed in his room.

 

What you want to do is quite do-able. Your dollars may not stretch as far as your time, but you will have a wonderful life-changing experience.

 

GO FOR IT!

 

Edited to add...Homeschooling is legal in Belgium, France, and Holland. I think everywhere but Germany. If you are living like nomads, no one will bother you.

 

You may have to do private health care specifically for traveling in Europe.

[laylamcb]

Thanks to all--you've been most helpful! This is a great start. Oh, I hope and pray that this comes to fruition... :001_smile:

 

Leila

[Laura Corin]

I think you are wise to research how far your money will go, as income (and cost) levels are very different from the US. This page gives median (gross) incomes in the UK in pounds:

 

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=285

 

If you don't have a permanent base, you are going to be paying more for accommodation. For comparison, we are going to rent a small, four bedroomed house in Scotland on a short term basis for 200 pounds a week. You might look into getting a tent and camping for the year (or caravanning). That might leave you more money for the fun stuff.

 

In general, Eastern Europe will be cheaper than Western Europe.

 

Best wishes

 

Laura

[laylamcb]

Laura in China, may I ask how you found your Scottish lodging? I think the camping is a great idea except that...I've never camped in my life. :tongue_smilie: How embarrassing!

 

On lodging, I'm leaning toward 2-3 months in Scotland, a month in Paris, a month in a more rural part of France, a month near Rome, a month near Florence, a month near Athens, etc., and then back to England or a different part of Scotland for 2-3 months. I'd rather spend some time in just one part of a country and experience it and its people in greater depth (even if we "miss" a few of its "must see" attractions) than attempt to see every single tourist site in a place without really experiencing its culture and its people. KWIM?

 

If you've got any tips on what region to focus on/what to see/where to stay in Scotland, I'd appreciate it. Thank you!

 

Layla McB

[JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst]

Don't forget to research your transportation costs-those can be very high especially as gas is even more expensive than in the US.

 

Choose your bases according to transportation-if you want to live in a cute Tuscan village that would be great but how isolated will you be if it lacks a train station?

 

You have a wonderful plan and I am envious but be sure to plan like crazy-the preplanning will help you control costs etc.

 

Then there is all the usual stuff like different foods, little or no American products etc. Are you kids prepared for the good and the bad of this?

 

Research your cell phone options for staying in touch, how will you get internet can you use vonage/skype to stay in touch with the folks back home?

 

Luggage-clothes, toys, books, school materials-how will you make it mobile? Especially if you plan on moving every few months.

 

Just a few thoughts as you prepare...

[laylamcb]

Great ideas to keep in mind--thanks! I figure with a container of peanut butter, it's all good. Right?! Oh wait--can we still take peanut butter overseas? What are the security regs re PB?! ACK!!!!! :D

[Harriet Vane]

http://www.amazon.com/One-Year-Off-Round-World/dp/1885211651/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215949960&sr=8-1

 

It's called One Year Off. It's the true story of a man who sold all and took his family for a year-long tour around the world.

[laylamcb]

Thank you, Strider--I'll check out that book! You know, strangely, one of the scariest and yet most exciting elements of planning this is thinking about getting rid of everything that isn't essential. (We plan to sell our house; when we come back to the States, we hope to live on the West Coast rather than the East.) I mean, isn't that a frightening concept? And yet...it's like a fresh start. I feel like aside from all of the GREAT cultural interaction and mind-bending experiences, doing this would teach us how LITTLE of our "stuff" is actually essential. KWIM? :)

[Happy]

Thank you, Strider--I'll check out that book! You know, strangely, one of the scariest and yet most exciting elements of planning this is thinking about getting rid of everything that isn't essential. (We plan to sell our house; when we come back to the States, we hope to live on the West Coast rather than the East.) I mean, isn't that a frightening concept? And yet...it's like a fresh start. I feel like aside from all of the GREAT cultural interaction and mind-bending experiences, doing this would teach us how LITTLE of our "stuff" is actually essential. KWIM? :)

 

It is freeing. The company dh worked for provided a furnished apartment. We shipped a few things--books, a small TV with a VCR (Europe's system won't play AMerican tapes. Same goes for DVDs.) some videos, some kitchen essentials. But the rest of our stuff went into storage.

 

When we came back, we had no home, no car, and little furniture as we had sold part of it to our renters, along with the house. :D The coming back was disorienting.

 

Living in that little apartment with one bathroom was a terrific experience. THe boys shared a tiny room. We lived simply. No pets (that was hard.) No gardens or yard. Just time to walk to the bakery and grocery store. Time to read. Time to travel.

[Laura Corin]

I'm not the person to ask about Scotland - I'm not there yet. Beware of the summer months in the Highlands though, especially near water: the biting midges are said to be very unpleasant.

 

There are campsites in Europe where they set up the tent for you and you just move in. The name that comes to mind is Eurocamp, but there are others. It's a very civilised form of camping.

 

We found the place in Scotland through a colleague of my husband's, and he found it through word of mouth.

 

Yes, peanut butter is highly available in the UK. Not sure about elsewhere.

 

Laura

[laylamcb]

Biting midges--ewwwwwwwwwwww! My dh would LOVE that, though: Makes the fly fishing that much better. ;)

[Colleen in NS]

Does anyone have links to suggest for someone looking to spend about six months to a year living in/around (mostly Western) Europe? We'll have two elementary-aged kids in tow as well. If you have a personal testimony about such an experience, I'd love to hear that, too. I really...don't know quite where to begin. :001_huh: Thank you!

 

Layla McB

 

I'll be watching this thread - we've thought about doing this, too! In fact, dh brought it up again recently. Only it's scary for me, because he's self-employed and would have no pension or sabbatical pay to rely on - only $ from sale of a house (and then the unknowns of coming back to North America - Happy, what was disorienting - can you describe your experiences?)

 

I've read a lot of the Rick Steves books, the Take Your Kids to Europe book, and the One Year Off book, and they are all excellent.

 

Laura, can you describe civilised camping? To me, camping means living in a thin rayon tent with room for a few blowup mattresses, a couple of suitcases, and a cooler and a Rubbermaid bin for dry goods and pans and utensils. Coleman cookstove. And having to get out of the tent at 9 a.m. because it's heating up inside and won't cool down til 7 p.m.. Is it more civilised than that somehow?

[Snickerdoodle]

Camping like this:

 

http://www.vacansoleil.co.uk/

[Natalieclare]

I wish I had something to offer you! I'm justing eavesdropping on this conversation because it is awakening extreme wanderlust in me! I would LOVE to do what you are proposing to do. Big sigh. How marvelous.

 

:bigear::bigear::bigear::bigear:

[mazakaal]

I haven't read all the responses, but I will say that it's very expensive to live here in England. If you want to rent a house here, you can check out these web sites... www.rightmove.co.uk and www.findaproperty.com. You can also just google search "house for rent in..." or "house to let in ...". It may be difficult to rent a house over here if you don't have a job, though.

 

Hope you find what you're looking for. Sounds like it could be an awesome experience for your family. I'd be happy to answer any specific questions you have about England. You may want to pm me, though, because my computer time is limited and I don't read every post that get posted.

 

Megan