Does anyone retired spend a month or so abroad

[cleo333]

Hi me and my partner are looking to downsize and spend some of the winter abroad , when we retire. Does anyone do this ? Where do you go ? Do you know people there ?

My parents are retired and they often travel for longer periods of time. About once a year, they take an apartment somewhere and move there for 4 - 6 weeks, usually cities like Paris or New York. They like to be places where there’s plenty to do.

Yes, last winter did 11 weeks in Australia and 8 weeks in Tenerife. Am away for at least 3 months each winter.

What places do you like to? Do you rent ?

Yes, after DH died, I spend 3 or 4 weeks away at key points of the year.
Just back from 3 weeks in Kefalonia, DH died in September, so I always go away, and I spend 3 or 4 weeks in Lanzarote every May, just because I like it!
I will also spend 4 weeks, taking in Xmas and New Year in Malta, as I have friends I can meet up with there😁

I book flights and accommodation separately and it's really affordable 🙂

Ohh, just realised that might not be long enough for you😁

We usually do 3/3.5 weeks in the winter. I would like to do 4 or more but we look after the grandchildren sometimes. I think we will manage to get away for longer in a couple of years. We go away mid February and when we get back spring is on the way.
We have been to: New Zealand, Malaysia including Borneo, quite a few counties in South America and South Africa. All places that will be hot. I have absolutely no desire to do a cruise.

If going away for over a month check with house insurers if there’s any stipulations like house needs to be checked/visited every so many days. Travel insurance might be dearer as most policies only cover upto 28 days away especially if you have an annual policy so make sure to check.

Good advice thanks

Barbados for 4 - 5 weeks every year. Makes a great break to the darkness and cold of the UK winter

My sis and bil have an apartment in Southern Spain. They have kids and grandkids, we don't so it's always free around Christmas. We are very lucky to be able to use it, so at least four weeks there every year, two before, during and after Christmas. More if it's free to use. Our annual travel insurance has a six week limit so that dictates how long to stay!

Before anyone asks, yes we pay all the utilities/cleaner and leave a freezer full of food for their next visit down.

The best bit is avoiding Christmas at home, that and longer days and a different ambience is great that time of year. We don't bother with Christmas and New Year much and it is very low key anyway where we go, apart from 6th January which is the day of the Kings and for the kids. It's lovely to watch the parades then, the kids are so excited!

I am retired and DH is self employed and his work allows him to work from anywhere at certain points in the year. We try and escape the Aussie Winter so are just back from 10 weeks in France. Previously we have done two month long trips a year to Bali, partly to see if we would like to live there at some point (we decided not). We have two adult kids at home so they look after the house and dog so we don’t have to worry about that. Travel insurance isn’t a problem for a month long trip but insurance for our French trip was expensive. Not sure where we will go next year but we will definitely go somewhere. You really need to get on though and like each other’s company. We also have multiple passports that increase our options for long stays if we wanted.

Myself and DH are giving this a go this xmas, we’re heading to two different countries in SE Asia for 6 weeks, this is the first time we’ve done something like this. If we really like it, we might do it again next year. We’re both retired and do help with GC but us doing this trip isn’t an issue for anyone.
We will check out our house and travel insurance but we have a wonderful neighbour who has offered to check on our house during our time away
We’re staying in air BnB’s apart from a couple of fairly short stays in hotels at the beginning and end of our trip. Accommodation, eating out etc is very cheap, the weather will be much warmer and the culture is amazing, we can’t wait!

Tui and I think jet2 do good value extended breaks in winter.

I can't wait to be able to do this when I retire so am watching with interest - only a decade or so to go and will hopefully have sufficient health and wealth to do so 🤞🏼

In the meantime, we always make sure to spend 2-3 weeks in warmer climates in January. It really does make a difference to my wellbeing being able to escape after the New Year.

I know someone who does this. Usually heads to southern Spain (somewhere near Malaga) in early January and stays in a hotel for about a month (with a lot of other retired Brits doing the same).

We will be going to Spain for about 10 weeks in January.

What accommodation do you stay in, assuming you are paying for it?

We don't but my late parents would travel Europe in their Moho for 4-5 weeks at a time, 3-4 times a year. They always had the wanderlust but in retirement they made the most of it.
South & West coast of France was their favourite but they would go further afield depending on where their fancy took them. Wild camping was their choice but they would make use of the aires when available.
They did this right into their late 80's, their independence & willingness to roam caused us a bit of concern at the time but even moreso when they stopped going and they finally came clean about all their mishaps, hospital visits etc.😱

I think it made them feel alive.
Very telling that telling that my Ddad died a couple of weeks after finally getting rid of the MoHo after deciding he was perhaps getting a bit old for galavanting across Europe!☹️

Afraid our own Moho adventures are tame in comparison.😆

We spend 6 weeks in Ireland in summer as it’s much cooler than where we live, and when I’m completely retired, we hope to spend 6 weeks somewhere warm in the winter. tbd!

Portugal for 6 weeks in January and France for 4/6 weeks in August and September

use booking dot com to find places longer term to stay

I work, but I try to get away for 3 weeks in December/January to escape the winter.

With the various bank holidays, it’s about 12 days of annual leave.

Last year I went to Thailand for 6 weeks. It's cheap and sunny. I have retired friends who rent an apartment in Benalmedena in Spain in Feb for 2 months every year. It's nice, warm, cheaper than the UK. Lots of pp do it, if you can afford it, why not?

My parents friends used to fly out to the Turkish side of Cyprus the week before Christmas & come home at the beginning of March every year. They had no family so they preferred to get away from all the Christmas stuff.

My mum does this, she lives in Portugal so no awful winters to escape. She sometimes rents airbnbs, but she also does quite a bit of house sitting. She’s visiting us at the moment, but after that she has a four week house sit in southern Italy.

We have a flat in southern Spain.
I took my dog over for 3 months earlier this year and will be driving down again in November.
Im on a zero hours contract and recently obtained a 5 year visa.
Can't wait to move permanently next year