We wanted to embrace another country, the culture and language and spend time in Italy, a country we both love. Our initial plan was to take time travelling to Italy and to rent a farmhouse property in Radicondoli, a pretty historical small commune in Tuscany. We applied for a 1-year Visa at the time of Brexit, in hindsight this was the wrong time! The Visa got refused and our plans subsequently had to change.
Following Brexit and the UK no longer being a part of Schengen (European free movement of 26 countries) this constrained our plans considerably, as you can only spend 90 days within 180 days period in the Schengen area.
Further complication is our dogs. You need a European health certificate which only covers for geographic Europe therefore if you go outside of Europe the dogs will need to quarantine coming back into Europe. This further restricts where you can go and for how long.
Plan B
Travel from the UK, through France to Italy and rent a property in Tuscany. From the time you cross the border the 90 days starts and we need to leave Schengen before our maximum of 90 days. We then plan to leave Schengen and go to Croatia (currently not in Schengen) and spend 90 days traveling around this beautiful country in our campervan. We will then re-enter the Schengen area and we have rented a Chalet in the Dolomites for 3 months. After this we have no definite plans ……
Travel adventures 