Changing my thinking from shot trip to a longer one to escape some of the rainy season.

Trying to be a frugal traveler to which Schengen country did you go and got good value for your money?

Portugal was great fun for us, as was Spain.

Portugal or Greece....maybe Lithuania or Latvia...Bulgaria or my favourite would be Turkey...not in the EU of course and consequently much cheaper.

France had suspended Shengen ..........better check wherever you go

Cyprus (Turkish side) is very, very nice and fairly cheap.

Yermanee :jap:

Come to Samui, no rain until November.

Without needing a Shengen, try Turkey or Morroco.. south of Turkey is very nice, Marmarus and Bodrum, also Agadir in Morroco is pretty cool.. and loads of places to travel to, including Canary Islands, although you may need a visa for the Canaries.. Both are quite reasonably priced..

France had suspended Shengen ..........better check wherever you go

France has not suspended Shengen, France has enquired whether it is possible to do so... and only for the issue of them, not accepting travellers with Shengen issued from other countries.. Get your facts right..!!

I originally wanted to spend six months in either Germany or Holland and then six months in Thailand but was told in no uncertain terms that I could not do six months in either of those Euro countries, the max being 90 days due to my US passport

Unfortunately I could never find out if going to a non euro country (like Switzerland) for a day or two would break the 90 day limit and start the clock running again (European border run )

I do know that the major stumbling block was the inability to get a "residency permit", want to rent an apartment, show your residency permit, want to get any utilities, show your residency permit, and on and on

France had suspended Shengen ..........better check wherever you go

That's interessting, wasn't aware of that. So a THai would need seperate visa again? Hard to believe.

I remember Turkish Cyprus well, had a wonderful time in Famagusta, this was 3 years ago.

Thanks for the other tips, makes my mouth watering and wishing unlimited resources.

I guess Italy is on the expensive side, want to show my lady some European culture.