One of the most frequent questions we get from our followers revolves around how we choose where to go. Believe it or not, that is both a simple and a complex question to answer. The simple part is to say..."We go wherever our interests lay" ... sort of. The complex part is with the logistics. Because we have minimal clothing to bring (i.e. no winter stuff), we try to follow the sun. With that being said, there are some complications affecting those plans.
If somewhere in Europe is our goal, we have to remain aware of a "little thing" known as the Shengen Treaty. In 1987, thirty countries of the European Union signed a treaty (The Shengen) creating just one border for travelers and one currency-the Euro. The problem for us, being non-citizens of any of the Shengen countries, is that we are limited to staying a maximum of 90 days, out of any 180 days, in any part of the Shengen zone [You can Google "The Shengen" for a list of included countries]. Then you have to leave for 90 days, or face a fine and/or being banned from visiting again. Since we like to spend a month in each destination in order to thoroughly get to know it well, this limits us to just three locations within this 90 day time period, before we have to leave for three months. Therefore, we have to plan our travels carefully so that we can easily move out of the Shengen. While this has proved somewhat of a hassle for us, it has also provided us with the opportunity to visit some countries we did not consider in the beginning (e.g. Turkey, Thailand, and Croatia - although Croatia is now part of the Shengen).
Part of our logistical planning involves trying to minimize travel between destinations in order to keep costs down. We tend to consider larger cities that have easy airport access. That is not a hard and fast rule, if more expedient train systems between smaller locations is a better option (e.g. Between Bath, England and Stratford-Upon-Avon). Because there are so many places we want to explore, our goal is to not repeat any city we've already visited. The exception to this is if we feel that a city has so much to offer, one month is not enough - e.g. Rome. We don't mind repeating a country if there are enough interesting areas to explore.
Once we've identified a destination we feel might be worth visiting, we'll look to see if there are enough interesting attractions there for us to spend a month. If that passes our litmus test, we then begin looking for furnished apartments. Vacation Rentals By Owners (VRBO), Homeaway, and/or Airbnb are our usual sites. Our criteria for choosing an apartment include a number of hard and fast "requirements". They MUST have Wifi, so we can stay in touch with family. They MUST have a clothes washer (and preferably a dryer as well) because we have so few clothes, we need to keep washing and wearing. And, they need to be sufficiently close to attractions and grocery stores, so that we can walk to them (or, at least be on a reliable public transportation line so we can get around easily). Sometimes these are studio apartments and other times they are one bedroom apartments.
Once we've identified a destination we feel might be worth visiting, we'll look to see if there are enough interesting attractions there for us to spend a month. If that passes our litmus test, we then begin looking for furnished apartments. Vacation Rentals By Owners (VRBO), Homeaway, and/or Airbnb are our usual sites. Our criteria for choosing an apartment include a number of hard and fast "requirements". They MUST have Wifi, so we can stay in touch with family. They MUST have a clothes washer (and preferably a dryer as well) because we have so few clothes, we need to keep washing and wearing. And, they need to be sufficiently close to attractions and grocery stores, so that we can walk to them (or, at least be on a reliable public transportation line so we can get around easily). Sometimes these are studio apartments and other times they are one bedroom apartments.
Our personal goal is to have at least two months of planning locked up ahead of our current location. While most of the time that is easy to do, occasionally it has proven to be a challenge (during one point last year, we were looking at five different countries at once, trying to find apartments that were available). The final requirement is that the rental has to fit within our budget. We set a goal to live just within our pensions, and not go into our savings at all. In the two plus years we've been traveling, we've only gone over our monthly budget once - thT was Cuba. We knew that visiting this Caribbean island would be expensive because, as Americans, we could only go there on an educational tour (although that is now just beginning to change). Every other month, we have been able to stay below our pension levels and have even saved money.
The bottom line of all of this is that, with some planning, anyone can do what we're doing. It is neither expensive, nor difficult. You just have to make the decision to do it. We hope that this answers your questions.
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