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 ?

In laws go from mid Jan to late March each year. Brazil, Thailand, Australia so far. They rent self catering accommodation. MIL is retired and FIL is a taxi driver so just doesn’t work for that length of time.

My parents do a 3 month let from Jan -March each year. Usually in Portugal but not in tourist areas. Sure they get their lets off air b and b. They drive out so are able to stay in more remote places.

I worked for a number of years in Lunn Poly, we had LOTS of retirees that would spend at least a month abroad every winter. Usually the Costa Del Sol, Benidorm or Tenerife. Couldn’t fault them!

What do you do with the empty property while you are away ?

I find even a couple of weeks away I've come back to problems like tree branches down, squirrels moved into the attic and one time a section of fence blew down. I can't imagine what sort of mess it would be after a couple of months.

Do you pay for people to mow the lawn and check on it while you are away?

We’ve done a month March to April and another April to May, both in Spain. First one was in Conil de la Frontera which is a gorgeous stretch of coastline with Cadiz and Jerez within easy reach. The second one was Calella de Palafrugell (not to be confused with Calella), close to Girona and for this one we drove down.

DH is retired and I work part time remotely from anywhere so it has been really lovely for breaking up a long winter. I’ve just received my Irish passport so we can do longer if we want.

My DSis and her DH do. A month or more every winter, somewhere warm. If they need to be careful with budget they go to less touristy parts of S Africa or Thailand. If they are splashing out, to Australia. They are incredibly resourceful and just find accommodation when they get there, for a fraction of the cost if booked via an agent in UK.

Yes. We do 6 weeks in Honduras and 6 weeks in Thailand from Jan-March.

My OH would be go weekly to check my parents property.
Neighbours did the bins but my OH would mow the lawns, sort the post, clean & fill the bird feeders, water the plants etc.
My parents lived nearly 50-miles away so he would do as much as possible to make the journey worth while, sometimes I would go with him if we had a reason to be in the area.

thanks @Nourishinghandcream that's got to be unusual because most people's partners would be with them!
I was asking really for those with no one behind or nearby to look after a property for that length of time - what do you do to keep an eye on your empty house while you are away or just run the risk of wood boring insects moving in and the fence coming down?

I would love to do this when I retire. I dream of spending Jan and Feb in southern Spain and coming back to the UK in the Spring.

What always deters me are my pets. I don’t fancy the drive and not sure how they would fare on a long ferry journey or a plane. If anyone could share how they do it I’d love to know.

I drive down to Southern Spain, close to jerez with my dog.
I generally go to Santander and then drive for 4-6 hours. Take it easy and arrive 4 days later.im going again in November but will go from Calais. My dog doesn't enjoy the 28 hours on a boat in a kennel. I have never been lucky or early enough to get a pet friendly cabin. It will add another couple of days onto the journey (and €€€€) but he's worth it

"that's got to be unusual because most people's partners would be with them!."

My OH would go weekly to check on MY PARENTS house while THEY were away on one of their many 4-5 week holidays.
There was little point me going with him as it was a significant distance and he was doing things like the lawns etc and was out half the day. Not much for me to do there.

We go to southern Spain for 3-4 weeks, normally during February, stay in AirB&B. I just love the fact that less than 3 hours on the plane and you can go from freezing cold to T shirt weather. Makes it easier to get through January as we’ve got something to look forward to, and then hopefully signs of Soring when we get back.

DS pops round to check the post. We did find mould in the house a couple of years ago, I think due to the cold, so we left the thermostat on around 15/16 last year.

We did 4 weeks last year in Malaysia and Thailand to keep within the insurance guidelines. There was a combo of kids still in the house. I have also done SEA with a friend, similar amount of time. The huge benefit is the warmth, and it is super cheap accom, esp if you get one month AIRNB deal or even a week gets you some discount. It is brilliant to go away when it is freezing, miss most of the crap weather, and come back when spring is coming. Looking back, we moved about too much both times, treating it like an opportunity to see everything. I would have a slower pace in future. I think you have to have the right accommodation too with the right facilities, hotels do your nut in after a while. We had a nice little Airbnb in central Chiang Mai, two bedrooms, washing machine, rooftop pool for £40 a night (we were only there 5 nights), small lounge and kitchen area, a massive improvement on a hotel room, but think if I was there a month, more space, esp outdoor private space, would be needed, even if we were further out. Good TV and cooking facilities also become more important if there for longer term x