Exploring places to live for a few years

There are FB groups for any of these countries that are just for expats or for people wanting to move to those areas.
You biggest problem is getting a visa to stay and live there.

Perhaps narrow things down by those places where you can get a visa to remain for long periods.

I presume if you are smart enough to afford the idea, you are smart enough to figure out if you can get a visa.

If you want a place without a visa then the only two that I am familiar with are Armenia which is a 1 year limit, then leave for one full day, then you get another year. Or, Albania which is 12 months in and 3 months out, then repeat.

But dont trust me. Check it yourself.

Hungary? Impossible.

I haven't been everywhere, but it occurred to me that living in Ireland would be easy.

Stan,
I hear good things about Ireland but it would be a bit cold and damp for these old bones. Same thing about Belgium were I have family.

We just got back from 19 days in Valencia, Spain. We've spent similar amounts of time in a lot of other places in Europe. Valencia was the first place I've been to where I felt like I would be happy living there. So you might look into Valencia.

Ireland requires income of €100k for a couple, and an emergency lump fund that needs to be minimum the value of an average residential home in Ireland, which is currently €375k. The countries OP has listed have much lower requirements for their equivalent passive income visas. And the weather in Ireland is terrible

The Other Marty,
Thanks for the input. It's been a long while since I've been in Valencia, maybe 20 years, but I remember it being a lovely city. I was always fond of Barcelona and the surounding areas. It all be one of my top stops in my quest.

Phil

Portugal comes up in many online discussions.

I have lived in Saudi Arabia for five years and Germany for four years, working for the US Government. Also, have visited 80% of the countries in Europe and many more around the World.

At 78 years of age, I would NOT wish to live in a foreign country. Being away from children and grandchildren alone would be a huge problem. Also, my Spanish is weak after years of little use and don't wish to worry about a language barrier.
Of course, living in the UK, Ireland or even Scandinavia where English is either dominate or widely spoken would be an option. Still, I don't wish to live in a country with a colder climate than I have now in South Georgia.

Also, why live overseas when we still travel overseas? When we lived in Germany from 1987-91, we had the military's commissary and PX and didn't have to pay the high prices for food or essentials. Even when we purchased something expensive on the economy, we could get a tax refund for the VAT-tax.
Going to another country now would not have that protection. Also, what taxes would we have to pay in the country we picked.
I love Italy, but not sure I love it enough to live there all the time.

The other thing is that having visited a place like Italy or Spain (warm countries), we have already visited so many places, that only a few more are left.

Then we would have to deal with having to pay our mortgage on our current home, plus rent on a new place.