I've been thinking 6 months in Quebec and then 6 months in France. However, people are telling me that Portugal is beautiful, much less expensive, and most citizens speak English. I know that 6 months is the max you can stay in Canada and France/calendar year. Don't know about Portugal yet. How about you? Thoughts?
I've been thinking 6 months in Quebec and then 6 months in France. However, people are telling me that Portugal is beautiful, much less expensive, and most citizens speak English. I know that 6 months is the max you can stay in Canada and France/calendar year. Don't know about Portugal yet. How about you? Thoughts?
Just FYI, you can only be in the Schengen area of Europe for 90 days at a time, then you have to leave for 180 days and then you can come back for another 90 days. Europe is also becoming anti-immigrant as well as more right-wing governments are elected, so just take those into consideration. Moving away isn't easy, but I left in 2006 to South America and then Europe in 2018. Both were hard, but also super eye-opening.
Thanks for the update, Beatrice. The times are shorter than they were in the past. I know about the changes in some of the European countries wrt anti-immigration and nationalism, although not (yet) like the fascism that looms over our nation. Did you live in S. America from 2006 - 2018, and then move to Europe? Where in Europe do you/have you lived?
Yes - I lived in Argentina from 2006-2018 and then moved to the Netherlands with our family as hubby was recruited by a tech company. Our son is now growing up Dutch. :)
I LOVE your article!! There are so many things which resonated with me. One of your statements: "Dutch people donтАЩt see directness as confrontation", brought my entire childhood back to me. I grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan where that is the way people communicated. My parents decided to move to Chapel Hill, NC in 1963 when I was 10. My mother was from Virginia, and a Southerner in every sense of the word and therefore never at ease in the North. In the South, directness IS confrontation. The difference between the two worlds was stark, and, for a child, incomprehensible. Ironically, as life would have it, I've ended up in Charleston, SC for the past 42 years -- a city which has been voted "The Most Polite City" in the U.S. for almost all of the last 10? 20? years. It is now I who find the directness of Northerners to feel rude! So strange... (Vermeer is my favorite painter, so I like that part of what you wrote, too!) I spent some time in Saba -- and if you haven't been there, you haven't ever truly lived! I'm referring to the runway at their teeny airport. The people were all red-headed! My husband is a sherpa, from Nepal. I have had some adventures with him, but no desire to live in Nepal. You are a fascinating person, living a fascinating life!
Politeness is a killer. I grew up with British politeness and not rocking the boat, keeping those skeletons hidden, but that leads to shame and feeling isolated and keeping the status quo. Rock that boat! Ally Henny, a writer I follow on FB wrote: "You canтАЩt stand for justice but never rock the boat." Also as my mom says, "Timing and Dosage" - important to consider when giving medications and also in difficult conversations. https://www.facebook.com/allyhennypage/posts/pfbid02e43R2fB9bX7BAyYceemFgcPsAK2tz5EYuJ7kzqd2ryZv8KhT9yNn2h2zp1MLZcqel
I worry about Central and South America. (A friend moved with his Thai wife to Thailand, and is in love with the country and people. He says that the cost of living is much lower than here. As for me, I LOVE Thai food! :-) )
I've been thinking 6 months in Quebec and then 6 months in France. However, people are telling me that Portugal is beautiful, much less expensive, and most citizens speak English. I know that 6 months is the max you can stay in Canada and France/calendar year. Don't know about Portugal yet. How about you? Thoughts?
Just FYI, you can only be in the Schengen area of Europe for 90 days at a time, then you have to leave for 180 days and then you can come back for another 90 days. Europe is also becoming anti-immigrant as well as more right-wing governments are elected, so just take those into consideration. Moving away isn't easy, but I left in 2006 to South America and then Europe in 2018. Both were hard, but also super eye-opening.
Thanks for the update, Beatrice. The times are shorter than they were in the past. I know about the changes in some of the European countries wrt anti-immigration and nationalism, although not (yet) like the fascism that looms over our nation. Did you live in S. America from 2006 - 2018, and then move to Europe? Where in Europe do you/have you lived?
Yes - I lived in Argentina from 2006-2018 and then moved to the Netherlands with our family as hubby was recruited by a tech company. Our son is now growing up Dutch. :)
https://www.dutchnews.nl/2022/12/our-son-is-growing-up-dutch-he-has-all-the-dutch-traditions/
I LOVE your article!! There are so many things which resonated with me. One of your statements: "Dutch people donтАЩt see directness as confrontation", brought my entire childhood back to me. I grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan where that is the way people communicated. My parents decided to move to Chapel Hill, NC in 1963 when I was 10. My mother was from Virginia, and a Southerner in every sense of the word and therefore never at ease in the North. In the South, directness IS confrontation. The difference between the two worlds was stark, and, for a child, incomprehensible. Ironically, as life would have it, I've ended up in Charleston, SC for the past 42 years -- a city which has been voted "The Most Polite City" in the U.S. for almost all of the last 10? 20? years. It is now I who find the directness of Northerners to feel rude! So strange... (Vermeer is my favorite painter, so I like that part of what you wrote, too!) I spent some time in Saba -- and if you haven't been there, you haven't ever truly lived! I'm referring to the runway at their teeny airport. The people were all red-headed! My husband is a sherpa, from Nepal. I have had some adventures with him, but no desire to live in Nepal. You are a fascinating person, living a fascinating life!
So glad it resonated - it was a fun interview.
Politeness is a killer. I grew up with British politeness and not rocking the boat, keeping those skeletons hidden, but that leads to shame and feeling isolated and keeping the status quo. Rock that boat! Ally Henny, a writer I follow on FB wrote: "You canтАЩt stand for justice but never rock the boat." Also as my mom says, "Timing and Dosage" - important to consider when giving medications and also in difficult conversations. https://www.facebook.com/allyhennypage/posts/pfbid02e43R2fB9bX7BAyYceemFgcPsAK2tz5EYuJ7kzqd2ryZv8KhT9yNn2h2zp1MLZcqel
Fabulous quotes! I'm going to save them. I'm a retired psychiatrist and those hidden skeletons, hidden feelings are killers.
We love Portugal, Spain, love France but more exclusive of Americans. Ecuador was once our first choiceтАж wonder about politics there too.
Mexico has the ex-pat artist colony in the mts. We are not competing with Mexico for first place in number of con -artists. We win that!
I worry about Central and South America. (A friend moved with his Thai wife to Thailand, and is in love with the country and people. He says that the cost of living is much lower than here. As for me, I LOVE Thai food! :-) )