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With respect - it is a poor idea to buy car during a less than 3 month stay in the country. You should also check whether it is legal and what all hassle is involved, should you be tempted to do so. The following website has some information about Europe:
Germany, France, Italy (three of the countries mentioned by pipersville_carol) have excellent public transportation and is a much better bet. You might get some senior citizen discount.
Yes. Tried it in my 40's by moving to Mexico, horribly bad idea. Should have kept my US property and stayed in the states.
Retiring in another country is not better than staying in the states. You can always move to an affordable state or city in the US and have US laws and protections you won't have in another country.
Always question anyone telling you it will be better in another country - odds are REALLY good that they will profit by your decision to move there.
That's your experience. It will be different for everyone. "Certain things" might be better in other countries but not others.
We can afford health care and oceanfront living here on a pittance. I'm not "profiting" by one cent by saying that, just trying to give HOPE to those like us, who for whatever reasons, end up with a marginal retirement.
We could be sitting in an old Winnebago in Quartzite or a decrepit mobile home in Alabama, but we chose this. Or spending the majority of our income on Medicare supplement plans instead of our all-inclusive $80 a month for both of us.
It's all about the trade-offs one is willing to make.
I have been pleasantly surprised at the huge selection of $50/night airbnb listings available. In every country. Whole apartments, too, not just a room in someone's house. It helps that we're willing to stay on the fringes of big cities, and in secondary cities and rural areas. I'm even finding $30/night listings in places like Wales and Croatia.
The $500 transportation budget may indeed be light, we'll have to see how it goes. Hopefully our car rental needs will be minimal to none and we'll have flexibility when shopping for the occasional airline tickets. Who knows, maybe we'll take a cargo ship back to the states instead of flying.
The "intensive language lessons" would need to come out of the $60/day chunk.
Thank you for the thoughtful responses to our plan to bounce around Europe starting at age 60, settling down again in the U.S. at age 70. I was hesitant to share it because my husband and I have gotten some negative reactions from a few people in real life.
Here's how I arrived at the $5k/month budget. Let me know if I missed anything!
Storage unit in the US = $100
Phone/tech memberships/digital storage = $100
Airbnb @ $50/night = $1500
Food, entertainment @ $60/day = $1800
Health insurance = $1000
Car/train/plane tickets when needed = $500
Total = $5000
The plan is to alternate 90-day stays in Schengen and non-Schengen countries, staying at each rental for at least 1 month. Part of our time will be spent taking intensive language lessons in French, Italian, and German.
The journey will hopefully begin by sailing on the Queen Mary 2 from NYC to the U.K., and then spending two months in London getting our footing.
If we find that we're miserable after a year, we'll do something different. That's the beauty of it. Total flexibility.
It is awful low.
Storage unit rentals in NY are over $250.00 a month. Is it cheaper by you?
Food in the EU is more expensive than the US. If you eat two meals at your Airbnb and one meal at a restaurant, $60 a not enough. Even in the USA, Dunkin Donuts is $7.00 for two medium coffees. In Rome, Italy, to sit down or use a bathroom at a cafe, then two coffees will be $10 plus tip. Two gelato cones are $10 too. Museum entry for two at Vatican City is $40.
There has been a lot of bad press on people getting scammed on Airbnb. Rome (for example) has rentals for as low as $50 per night, but if you don't know the area - it could be tricky. There are bad areas in all cities. Cheap rooms or apartments are cheap because they have issues.
Staying at a hotel for a few days have help you get your bearing before you chose an Airbnb location.
Storage unit rentals in NY are over $250.00 a month. Is it cheaper by you?
Food in the EU is more expensive than the US. If you eat two meals at your Airbnb and one meal at a restaurant, $60 a not enough. Even in the USA, Dunkin Donuts is $7.00 for two medium coffees. In Rome, Italy, to sit down or use a bathroom at a cafe, then two coffees will be $10 plus tip. Two gelato cones are $10 too. Museum entry for two at Vatican City is $40.
There has been a lot of bad press on people getting scammed on Airbnb. Rome (for example) has rentals for as low as $50 per night, but if you don't know the area - it could be tricky. There are bad areas in all cities. Cheap rooms or apartments are cheap because they have issues.
Staying at a hotel for a few days have help you get your bearing before you chose an Airbnb location.
The EU is huge is like saying US food is expensive by using NYC or California as your comparison. I spent a month in Spain this past summer and found food to be cheaper than what I used to in Florida
Food in the EU is more expensive than the US. If you eat two meals at your Airbnb and one meal at a restaurant, $60 a not enough.
No. Some countries in EU are more expensive than some cities in USA, and the same is true the opposite direction. Groceries are generally similar in cost, cheaper for some things but it evens out. There are often local cafes in neighborhoods away from tourist centers with affordable meals, especially for lunch. If you like Turkish food you're pretty much guaranteed to have a place nearby where a good meal can be had for cheap.
One way to eat cheap in Europe is take advantage of full service delis that more and more modern supermarkets have. Pre-made salads, rotisserie chickens, sandwiches/wraps, soups, selection of locals dishes sold by the kilo, etc. It's easy to get a meal for under five euros each, and some even have a small area to dine in.
The EU is huge is like saying US food is expensive by using NYC or California as your comparison. I spent a month in Spain this past summer and found food to be cheaper than what I used to in Florida
It depends on where in Florida - I found Sarasota restaurant prices to be comparable to NYC. Maybe a dollar or two cheaper, but not enough to make a difference.
Rome and Florence are equal in terms of expensive NYC restaurant prices. Venice is more expensive than NYC. Outside of capitol cities will be cheaper. However, there are less English speakers in smaller towns or in suburbs of larger cities. Potenza is cheaper but there are few to none English speakers. Even in Potenza dinner for two would still be $60.
It would take some research to find a cheaper cost of living city with English speakers.
Which city in Italy has the most English speaking people?
Quote:
Aviano (US air base)
Vicenza (US Army base - super big). I was there for a year.
Piza/Livorno (US Base)
Perugia (3 Universities and Schools with American and British students.)
Naples (US Navy Base…and NATO base ..also English speaking).
Florence…because many ENG students and Tourists.
I only know about Italy - It may be different in Germany or Spain which seems to have more English speakers.
Quote:
One way to eat cheap in Europe is take advantage of full service delis that more and more modern supermarkets have. Pre-made salads, rotisserie chickens, sandwiches/wraps, soups, selection of locals dishes sold by the kilo, etc. It's easy to get a meal for under five euros each, and some even have a small area to dine in.
Sure and you can eat cheap in the USA at McDonald's, deli's and supermarket rotisserie chickens. Personally, I love Wendy's salads. However, sooner or later, it becomes unhealthy and rather depressing.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kavm
With respect - it is a poor idea to buy car during a less than 3 month stay in the country.
Poster was asking about staying a term of 10 yrs in Europe.
Public transit is fine if you are OK with being in cities, but poster was also asking for 'econo' / budget ideas.
Of course living like a local is the best 'budget idea'. but... it touring around much rurally to scenically for 10 yrs you might be limited by using Public transportation and Renting a car is really expensive if done very frequently.
I have a USA coworker who keeps a spare car in Europe (for last 6 yrs). Garaged / registered at a Europe addy. Another couple on a RV blog sent their German made RV from USA to Europe over 10 yrs ago and they fly back and forth to use it in Europe. A poster on the travel forum bought a used camper van in Europe and and used it there for 3 yrs.
Point is... $500 / month for Europe Transportation Costs (for 2) is very light from my experience. (if traveling much).
A rental camper will be 4-6x that much.
Rental car + insurance may be $500 / week. (+ tolls and fuel ($100 / day if traveling very far))
Bicycle travel in inexpensive (if you ship your USA Bikes to Europe)
Public buses and local train fares will be next least expensive. (if living in a city).
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