A year in Europe with kids... where would you go?

[tang]

Yeah, "weird" is uh... weird. Must be french, maybe swiss-french

[GravityDT]

Actually did this back in the mid 80s - whole family packed up and left VT and moved to Norway for a year. I was in middle school at the time and sis was in elementary. Pops was on sabbatical from UVM and we ended up in a small college town outside of Oslo where me and my sis were in the local public schools. Thankfully my classmates had a few years of English in school so they were eager to practice - my sis on the other hand had it a bit rougher but within a month she was conversing and damn near fluent in norwegian. We had tons of local nordic opportunities and the alpine resorts that were scattered around were small ski hills although we did take a few trips to Hemsedal and Lillehammer. To this date it was one of the coolest life experiences I've had - so greatfull my folks made the call to not enroll us in the 'american/english' schools in Oslo. One of the years highlights was spending the last 2 months abroad car-camping all over EU....

[enlosandes]

Italy has a new digital nomad program that might be your easiest/cheapest way to stay more than 90 days every 6 months.

[MakersTeleMark]

Italy has a new digital nomad program that might be your easiest/cheapest way to stay more than 90 days every 6 months.

Where are you at these days? Did you ever sell that bar in Cali?

[MyNameIsAugustWest]

I was going to mention this. You can't send your kids to DoDEA schools unless you are working for the military or, in some cases, the embassy.

Did some research and figured out I was wrong. DoDEA schools in Germany are now allowing non-mil kids to attend for a tuition. Was not this way when I lived in Germany decades ago. My bad.

Now try to figure out the work visa situation before you spend too much time and energy researching where you want to go.

[enlosandes]

Where are you at these days? Did you ever sell that bar in Cali?

Hey Old Buddy, I relocated to the Italian Alps and yes I sold the bar in Cali.

[vendul]

Cool! Where about?


Inviato dal mio iPhone utilizzando TGR Forums

[Hicks]

Just my 2 cts: If you intend to restrict your kids to an English language school then this is pretty much a deal breaker for any true mountain resort, no matter which size and where. In that case the larger metropolitan areas close to the mountains (Grenoble, Geneva, Lausanne, Innsbruck etc.) or areas with a large expat population like the Swiss Zurich or Zug Cantons are the way to go, cost be damned. Even if not check beforehand whether local schools at your destination will accept alien kids for your duration of stay, not all of them likely do. There are private multi-language school programs in some Alpine villages however not for elementary school aged kids from what I saw.

As many others already pointed out correctly remote work alone does not make you legally generating your income at the place chosen. You very likely have to register and will be subject to taxation (which in return you usually can fully offset on your income tax declaration back home according to situs principle regulations among western world countries). It can make a big difference though whether you remain employed with a US based business or do business on your own (freelancer o.e.) for the duration of your stay, carefully check with local tax bureaucracy. Besides giving information of which type of visa you need embassies provide free tax advice or tell you where to obtain such from.

In case you can pull it off somehow my personal vote goes out in favor of Martigny at the entrance of Val de Bagnes with reasonable access to Verbier, Bruson and other 4 Vallee resorts as well as Cham via train or Col de Forclaz. Have fun! !!

[twat]

How about 3month in Rumania (no Schengen) and 3month Switzerland. Get a Rumanian teacher for homeschooling and then take her with you to Switzerland to homeschool the kids there.

6month Winter Saison you can stay where you want. Don’t need to deal with legislation taxes etc. schools.

You could also put Georgia in consideration if you have your own teacher who is willing to travel.

You could actually take a us skibum/gap year/student with you to teach your kids. ???

[The SnowShow]

How does the cost of living in Geneva compare to, say, Denver? What about a ski town compared to Denver?

[banzai]

Rumour has it Bulgaria and Romania are to join land Schengen in Q1 2025. Technically we are already in, but only for air travel. Kind of a clown show imo, but anyway. Georgia sounds nice though, and together with Turkey, are getting pummeled so far this season. Nice Black Sea circular cyclones.

[twat]

Rumour has it Bulgaria and Romania are to join land Schengen in Q1 2025. Technically we are already in, but only for air travel. Kind of a clown show imo, but anyway. Georgia sounds nice though, and together with Turkey, are getting pummeled so far this season. Nice Black Sea circular cyclones.

Tourism is struggling to find employees in Tirol. Guess Austria’s veto is obsolete after the elections.

[banzai]

Funny that, meanwhile a lot of workers from Nepal and India have been filling in empty positions (probably vacated by locals who went to work in Austria for better pay) in hotels and restaurants in winter mountain resorts and summer spots along the Black Sea coast.

[stealurface831]

You could actually take a us skibum/gap year/student with you to teach your kids. ???

i'll throw my hat in the ring.

[twat]

Funny that, meanwhile a lot of workers from Nepal and India have been filling in empty positions (probably vacated by locals who went to work in Austria for better pay) in hotels and restaurants in winter mountain resorts and summer spots along the Black Sea coast.

Globalisation is such a weird thing!
Funny how it works! But with English becoming a global language it will have benefits! Is see great improvement with English language skills in Eastern European countries. Like young people in Poland and Romania are fluent. 20years ago not so.

[banzai]

Yeah, my kids often switch to English and have meaningful conversations among themselves, which blows my mind. And I try to sensibly limit youtube and all. Then again, I was surprised at how many young people didn't speak English in Hokkaido. Mind you, that was 2017.

[toast2266]

How does the cost of living in Geneva compare to, say, Denver? What about a ski town compared to Denver?

I've only spent a couple days in Geneva, so maybe my view is a bit skewed, but it seems roughly comparable to Denver. Geneva's quite a bit smaller than Denver, and it's easier to get around on public transportation. I would imagine owning a car there might add some expense. But lodging, food, etc. all seem roughly comparable to Denver, or possibly a bit cheaper.

For ski towns, that varies significantly from town to town. The expensive ones are quite a bit more expensive than Denver, the cheap ones are quite a bit less.

[PNWbrit]

How does the cost of living in Geneva compare to, say, Denver? What about a ski town compared to Denver?

Much higher in Geneva.