Thinking of moving overseas?

 Why would you go to live overseas? Either to escape from something bad or to go towards something good. Weather. Employment. Pension. Tax. Inheritance tax. Price or size of property. Where?

One of the travel companies for the over sixties found that there is a burst of long haul travel made by people in their sixties on retirement and whilst they still have health and energy and money from income or savings.

People in their seventies and eighties travel shorter distances. Older people also have more trouble getting travel insurance. 

Your retirement plans might involve being close to your home country, or children and grandchildren. you might look at a map and list countries with shorter travel times to your home base, or English speaking. We added French speaking. We wanted to be near a big city.

I said that in case of transport strikes, a city with both rail and train to the UK, or a port which also has sea travel. This also gives you a choice of travel times, journey lengths, and costs.

If you cannot drive, or roads are blocked, you still have the train, the airport, and the ferry or ship.

The next consideration is nearness to shops, restaurants, hospitals, and entertainment. 

You might need room for visitors, a study, wine fridges or a cellar.

time to practise baking bread.

Trevor with home made white loaf. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

If you have noise from renovation works, shut doors, move your desk, then find ways of blocking the sound. These include

1 Ear plugs from airlines - nowadays not supplied automatically, but on demand.

2 Noise cancelling headphones.

3 Play music.