blackbeard

Hi
Who is living in Europe?
We would like to know about where you are living and what the country has to offer.
We are looking a safe environment, low cost of living and friendly people - preferably some English speaking.
So far we have travelled Europe for a year staying in Croatia, Hungary, Belgium and France.
We just cannot determine where we want to be.
Roger and myself (Gaye) could live anywhere but our family consisting of a daughter of 23 with her partner 24 and our son 21 with partner 24 and 7 month old daughter want to re-locate with us so we are really looking for a place to suit all.
We would prefer to be as near to the sea as possible but would consider any country where we could become self-sufficient.
Would prefer a temperate climate.
Can anybody out there give us some insight to where they are living?

jdr

Have you got plenty of money ?
Healthcare alone for 7 people will cost an arm and a leg. ;-)

Celtic Princess

We live in Sweden which is very safe and everyone speaks English. Property prices out in the countryside are very cheap. You can buy a whole farm for less than the cost of a house in England.

http://www.hemnet.se/

Azarel

You could try Romania, if you are feeling a little more adventurous.

Advantages:

- Property: You can buy a decent-sized smallholding with very little investment. 20-30'000 euro would get you a small cottage with a garden. 50-80'000 Euro would get you a largely-renovated house with several acres.
- Landscape: Mountains, sea, forests, historic cities, castles, rivers, skiing, mudbaths, the delta, caves, wilderness... you've got everything except desert. The coast isn't particularly fantastic though.
- Weather: People always have this idea that former Eastern block countries are constantly cold and snowy. The summer here is warm (30+), the spring is lovely, the winter can be harsh, but mostly only for a couple of months.
- Language: as it's a Latin-based language it's much easier to pick up quickly than other languages in the area. If you have some knowledge of French, Italian or Spanish, you'll be able to get by in Romanian very quickly. Many Romanians speak some English, although less so in the more isolated areas.
- Safety: Although you hear a lot of horror stories in the press about Eastern Europe, it's generally pretty safe. The biggest problem is petty crime but any violent crime you hear about tends to be alcohol-fueled domestic violence. Most of the thieves have moved to the west to steal now anyway.
- Cost of living: Naturally, this depends a lot on how you want to live. Upmarket products cost the same or more here than in western Europe, but you can also live very reasonably. If you wanted to downsize, taking water from the land is easy and free, you could harness solar power in most areas for large parts of the year, the climate is good for growing and many on cottages have wood burners. Even here in the capital my monthly bills (electricity, heating, gas, two net connections, land line, cable TV) only come to about 100 odd quid a month.

Disadvantages:

- Transport Infrastructure: Romania doesn't have a large network of motorways, and the trains are quite slow (especially through the mountains), so getting anywhere requires patience and time. If you want isolation, it's perfect though.
- Lifestyle: If you did go self-sufficient in the countryside don't expect like-minded neighbours, farmers markets, garden centres and that kind of thing. You would really be going authentic. Most people in the countryside are self-sufficient out of necessity rather than lifestyle choice. There is one organisation I've heard of in the north of Transylvania, something like 'Low-Impact Living' who seem to be trying to put together a network.
- Schooling and Healthcare: Not particularly up to much. There are private clinics in the main cities though, so if you have any serious problems you might have to be willing to travel to another country (which is what a lot of Romanians do). There are international schools, but again mostly only in the big cities/Bucharest.
- Friendliness: It's easy enough to find good people here, and you do only need to make a few good friends to make your life pleasant, but on the whole I wouldn't say the people here are particularly friendly. It tends to be better in Transylvania, where the people are more central-European in attitude.

Summary: It would be an adventurous move, but perhaps more rewarding for that, and possibly economically more viable. I know people who've come here and thrived, others who have hated it and moved on quite quickly. If you want to move to a place with a great infrastructure, established expat networks, excellent facilities and so on, then Romania probably isn't the right choice.

Best of luck!

dmu

hi,
jdr's comment is valid for France - even if one person out of each couple will be working and contributing to the French Health System, the top-up Mutuelle for 7 people will be phenomenal.
I would say it's impossible to be self-sufficient in France, especially with a baby, but a lot depends on what you mean by "self-sufficient"...
Cost of living is not low, a couple living frugally can survive on 900-1000€ per month, not counting rent or mortgage, but including food, average monthly utilities, property/habitation taxes, car expenses, internet, etc...
If you post on the France Forum, you may get more optimistic replies, but mine is realistic!