Off topic - whats on your mind?

@janemulberry

Thank you Jane and good luck.

May 2024 be the best year yet to come for all of us

Wishing u good health, happiness, peace, love and lots of blessings 🙌 💖

And the same to you! <3

I have learned the Bulgarian alphabet and how numbers work up to a trillion.

Probably took me about 5 hours and would need to be practised in Bulgaria to become familiar and not forgotten.

I'm guessing I could be fairly fluent in about 5 years of living there. Like with any language learning the vocabulary takes time and the different alphabet adds another layer of difficulty.

Like when I started to learn to read English age 4.

I was surprised how straightforward it was. The main obstacle being overcoming a wandering attention span that I probably didn't have at age 4.

In the summer in Bulgaria is it so hot that you avoid the outdoors until the late afternoon, or does the lower humidity than in the British isles make it feel more comfortable?

Do you get sunburnt there, does the sun feel comfortable on your skin?

From April to October are there many biting flying creatures in Bulgaria such as mosquitoes midges sand flies?

It varies from region to region. Where my house is, in the north east about an hour from the coast, it gets very hot and humid. It usually cools down overnight, so getting up at 5am or so to be out in the garden is refreshing, but by 9am it's usually getting too hot for comfort and it's time to go indoors. Rural Bulgarians have an afternoon nap to compensate for the early morning. The mountains would be likely to be cooler and less humid.

Sandflies and some sort of sand mite I believe can be a problem on the coast. Tiger mosquitoes have migrated into many areas including mine. They are worse than normal mozzies because as I discovered, they're out all day and into the night not just morning and evening, plus they bite through clothing! My neighbour told me it was the worst year for mosquitoes she'd experienced. Thankfully they were only around for about six weeks, then it was too dry for them to breed. The bites itched badly, but I actually reacted less to them than the mosquitoes where we live in the UK. There were also lots of small flies, and a few larger biting flies. Again, the insects would vary from region to region.

Sunburn - the fair skinned would be wise to use sunblock and cover up with hats and suitable clothing if out in the sun. It's very intense in summer. I have mixed Irish and Scottish blood - ginger hair and freckles. I already have some sun damage from growing up in Australia so I was very careful to cover up.

@European360

Compared to UK/Ireland, Bulgaria is noticeably dry and sunny all year round. This is very nice, and I don't miss the grey/drizzly/rainy weather of home.

Winters are very cold. And summers are VERY hot. The sun is quite strong all year round so you have to be careful. In the summer, I get up at 5 ish so I can do my morning walk while it's cooler, and I'd certainly try to avoid working in the garden or any kind of strenuous activity during the sunniest hours (11-14, say). We find the heat insufferable inside from June to-September, and so we have to run our ACs 24/7 for these months. (Fortunately we have insulation, and Bulgarian electricity is relatively inexpensive.)

Thanks.

In the Bulgarian villages and towns for that matter is it usually easy to get a landline based wired broadband / wired fibre broadband connection, or is WiFi often the main or only option because there are no landline telephones?

There does seem to be a world wide war on first public phone booths and now landlines these days!

Is there a lot of lead water piping?

I think in the British isles most lead pipes have been replaced with plastic and copper.

And in the villages do you get a rubbish and recycling bin for your individual house, or are there just big communal bins in the village that you have to take your rubbish to?

And is payment for refuse collection included in the council/ property tax, or payable by some other means?

Also,

Let's say the road surfaces in the UK are overall a 10 out of 10, LOL, obviously they're not.

But in comparison to UK roads being a 10, what score out of 10 overall would you give the road surfaces in Bulgaria?

The advantage of Bulgarian roads being substantially less vehicles on them.

@European360 , I'm not sure about landline broadband, as we haven't moved yet and I use mobile while I'm there.  I believe cities and larger villages have fibre.  My neighbours have broadband and TV, but I'm not sure whether it's ordinary landline or fibre.

No idea about water pipes. Our old pipes are ordinary galvanised iron as far as I know, copper and plastic for the new plumbing.

Different areas have different ways of doing rubbish collection. Many, like ours, have large communal bins dotted around, but some villages have single household bins. I'm not sure about payment. In our area it's included in the council tax, though it seems it's also possible in our village to make an additional payment for a one-off collection of building waste etc.

Re roads - it's very variable. The highways are usually good as there's been a lot of EU money for those. Roads between small towns and village can be anything for quite okay to more pothole than tarmac. Frost heave is tough on roads, our area is also agricultural so the roads have fewer cars than in the UK but a large traffic of heavy agricultural vehicles. The road from our village to the next town was in a very bad way due to that, made the drive take twice as long doing the slalom around huge potholes. They got a grant and it was repaired, but after a year the potholes are reappearing. With council tax so low, there's not a lot of money for road repairs. In our village, the main road through the village is kept in good repair. The rest of the village streets are dirt tracks with varying degrees of potholes and ruts.

@European360 up Vratsa way the main roads are a 10.

Thanks

A ppm parts per million meter is useful to show the purity of water. They cost about £3 on eBay.

My tap water is about 150 ppm.

4 litre all Stainless steel Water distillers on eBay cost about £75.

Distilled water is pure water and zero parts per million. And is mainly the only water I drink / make food with. Even without the charcoal sachet filter added to the nozzle to remove the volatile organic compounds, the distilled water produced is still zero ppm.

Compared to in the UK, how thorough and strict do you feel the annual vehicle MOT is in Bulgaria?

And in the villages and rural areas do you see a regular police presence, and police fire brigade and ambulance stations?

And with Bulgaria apparently being the poorest country in the EU, very hot in summer, very cold in winter, with lots of remote villages, do you see anything that suggests compulsory schooling there is perhaps a bit more voluntary actually than it is in Western European countries?

@European360

Yes, I intend to get a good quality water filter.

I can't speak for everywhere, but I expect most villages won't have police, ambulance, fire brigade. There are police in the next town, and an ambulance service that would come out to the village. I believe there is a fire brigade, too. but I'm not sure if they'd come out 19 km to a house fire.

Education is compulsory to the age of 16 and I believe it's enforced. I you want to know about how difficult it is to homeschool there, a search on the forum will bring up several discussions.

I have heard that the MOT used to be far more relaxed, but that may be changing to avoid falling foul of the EU.

I think Bulgaria is definitely a good place for British and Irish to resort to if they don't have kids and just want to relax and be left alone, don't have much of an income, value low population density. If they can hack the very hot June to September weather, the biting insects, the stray dogs etc. and are happy to learn the alphabet and a bit of the language.

30c in arid conditions is quite doable, but 30c when it's also quite humid, for 3 straight months, not so much.

The annual temperatures are comparable to north east USA, but with less rain.

There are days throughout the year when I just want cloud cover, but Bulgaria has significantly less cloudy days and rain.

I think if I was alone I'd be able to live very comfortably on 500 euros per month having bought a house outright, 1000 euro for a couple, assuming I grow a lot of my own fruit - which I'd want to do anyway, don't buy ready meals, don't want regular foreign travel as in I have bought a home somewhere I'm happy to be and not wanting regular escapes from, don't eat out much, or shop at the Bulgarian equivalent equivalent of Waitrose etc

As for the properties for sale that really want rebuilding from scratch, I look at the photos of the roof and ceilings, and if they are alright the rest often is. I certainly wouldn't want to be pulling ceilings down and replacing them. You get what you pay for to some extent. Though I've seen an 8 million euro mansion for sale in Sofia and wasn't very impressed with the valuation.

Sofia is very expensive and there aren't a lot of houses in the city, so they do seem to be priced way higher than one would expect simply because of scarcity.

The roof and ceilings are essential to check before buying. Replacing the roof is the biggest most costly repair, and if there are roof problems those must be fixed before anything else.

Hate to break it to you -- 30C is a pleasant summer's day. There were weeks of over 40C last summer!

https://www.weather2travel.com/weather- … re-weather

Very similar temperatures but the extra rain and rainy days in Manchester NH, and the cloud cover it brings will bring significant refreshment and rest from the sun versus in veliko tarnavo.

And although north of the Balkan mountains is slightly colder in winter and slightly cooler in summer there's not much in it.

Sofia and towards Varna are the coolest places in summer

I'm not sure how temperature versus humidity works as in at a certain temperature maybe 38c does it stop being humid, but know from experience 25c in an arid place is okay, but 25c in a humid place is not okay.

As for the homeschooling, most places in the EU it's frowned upon and bizarrely the UK and Ireland are probably the most accommodating for it, in terms of not controlling the syllabus. I'd say if the child has to follow the school syllabus when being homeschooled in a certain country, in most cases they would probably be better off just attending school.

https://weatherspark.com/compare/y/2635 … C5%ADrnovo

Or perhaps this is a better climate comparison website, it certainly has more towns than can be typed in.

In Bulgaria the council tax might be 50 euros, but if the public health insurance costs around 200 euros per year minimum per person, for a family of four, it soon adds up.

With the low minimum wage and pensions I'm amazed Bulgarians can afford to live in Bulgaria when the Lidl and kaufland still charge their western European prices for food as has been reported.

Fuel and utilities are significantly cheaper in Bulgaria than the UK, but not half the price or less, which is the case with Bulgarian salaries and pensions compared to UK.

So Bulgarians do really well to survive financially in their own country, just like Brits do in theirs I suppose.

It only mainly seems to be the ready for major refurbishment houses in villages significant distance from major towns that are very affordable in the very low price bracket, marketed towards expats. As per the 8 million euro Sofia mansion on a 1500 square metre plot.

And how many fairly remote villages particularly fairly high from sea level that have shrinking numbers of inhabitants now, will still be on the government map supplied with utilities 15 years from now?

These are unknowns.

The encouraging thing for the survival of the remaining Bulgarian villages that are shrinking but persisting, though some others have already been lost and removed from the map and utilities grid since communism "ended", as the people have been forced to move to the towns for work, Bulgaria is a relatively small country only about 30 percent bigger than Ireland, so has finite space, it's not like it's the size of the Ukraine or Alaska.

Compared to in the UK, how thorough and strict do you feel the annual vehicle MOT is in Bulgaria?

It used to be a joke: I quickly lost count of how many times a test station would ask me why I'd taken my car to be tested when I knew that they didn't actually do anything; the process was that you phoned them or popped in when you were passing and told them that your Pregled was due and gave them the details from your car's Talon, they told you what time to return to collect your new pass certificate.  Actually seeing the vehicle, let alone inspecting it, was totally unnecessary.  Nowadays, the test in videoed from start to finish and the Old Days are well and truly gone.

And in the villages and rural areas do you see a regular police presence, and police fire brigade and ambulance stations?

You occasionally see the Plod in our village (the real village, not our "village" Sofia suburb ) but they're usually just passing through - apart from the time our house was burgled, but that's a story for another day.  There aren't any fire brigade posts in any of the villages I've been to, and ambulances are mainly (or all?) private, often owned by the hospitals themselves.

And with Bulgaria apparently being the poorest country in the EU, very hot in summer, very cold in winter, with lots of remote villages, do you see anything that suggests compulsory schooling there is perhaps a bit more voluntary actually than it is in Western European countries?

School attendance here is compulsory; the only exception is for the minority population, for whom most laws are anyway optional,  This schooling arrangement usually works well: the vast majority see no benefit in their children being educated, their children feel the same - and the teachers prefer pupils who turn up every day, who aren't disruptive and who want to learn.   

In Bulgaria the council tax might be 50 euros, but if the public health insurance costs around 200 euros per year minimum per person, for a family of four, it soon adds up.

Council Tax might be 50 euros (or less in our village) in some parts of Bulgaria but certainly not everywhere; here in The Smoke ours is over 600 leva.

Fuel and utilities are significantly cheaper in Bulgaria than the UK, but not half the price or less, which is the case with Bulgarian salaries and pensions compared to UK.

Actually, electricity here costs on average 50% of the price in the UK. Anyone with any sense drives a car which uses LPG; LPG here costs c1.25BGN (55p) per litre, in the UK it's around £1.  So, yep - fuel and electricity ARE half the price here compared to the UK.


It only mainly seems to be the ready for major refurbishment houses in villages significant distance from major towns that are very affordable in the very low price bracket, marketed towards expats. As per the 8 million euro Sofia mansion on a 1500 square metre plot.

There aren't many 8 million euro mansions available to be bought - and quite a few people who can afford them; like the poor, the rich are always with us.  There is still property in  Sofia which is affordable if you are a couple with decent jobs and can therefore afford a mortgage, but, like in every capital city, it's still something of a struggle for young people with a family.  You have to cut your coat according to your cloth...

Basically 20c temperatures and blue skies can be expected for a good 7 months of the year in Bulgaria.

It tends to be a bit less humid than the UK due to less rain, which leads to more hours of sunshine, and the slightly lower humidity adds to the higher UV index, which can damage skin. Even though people might feel more comfortable in the sun there than in the UK - due to slightly less humidity which is most evident in July and August.

Okay for people with olive skin, but less okay for native white people from the British isles?

It amazes me that societies can function when they experience 30c+ weather for weeks on end with some humidity.

Eg. Moab Utah, in the desert/ canyons, very hot sunny and dry in summer, so can seem bearable due to low humidity.

@European360

I guess that you spend a lot of your time bemused in that case...

@European360

I think that might be a slightly over-optimistic view of the weather in many parts of Bulgaria, but you may find somewhere that fits.

Hi

Thanks to those here who have provided helpful and kind feedback.

We live in such a problematic world that we can all help make a little bit better by trying to be kind/ fair to our fellow man.

If I move to Bulgaria I will try to figure out most of the rest with my boots on the ground there. I know enough now to do so smoothly.

One can learn a lot about the climate people atmosphere and towns and cities in Bulgaria just by watching some of the walk videos on YouTube eg. Plovdiv vratsa.

Sure there are some quarters that are extremely impoverished, but Plovdiv and vratsa town centres look a lot nicer and safer than many in the UK. Not bad for "the poorest country in Europe", as is often said.

For any Brits who wants to live in Bulgaria / the EU but have no EU passport and can't get a D visa, it may be worth considering moving to Ireland for 5 continuous years and then applying for Irish citizenship as is allowed and gaining the lovely EU passport.

And perhaps you might like Ireland so much you decide to stay there, it's a nice place after all.

British citizens have the right to live and work in Ireland predating the EU.

All the best.

Been of irish decent, ireland is an expensive place to live and plenty of rain but still has that older feel of friendly welcoming people. I still get a 'welcome home' from relatives and their neighbours even though I have never lived there, just school holidays when young and 1-2 week visits now and then.

Weather in Varna...

Whilst the rest of Bulgaria can be experiencing very cold winters and, sometimes, deep snow, winters in Varna and the Black Sea coastline are relatively mild.  We rarely see any snow here in Varna and when we do, it's generally gone in a day.

Here's a monthly guide to Varna weather...

January : Cold, but mostly dry. Temp between minus 3°C and 10°C can be windy.

February : Pretty much the same as January, but with a little rain.   Temp 2°C to 12°C.

March:    Rain, interspersed by sunny days. First signs of blossoming on the trees. Temp 6°C to 23°C although it went to 26°C this year.

April:    Rain interspersed with sunny days. Blossoming trees, beautiful scents from the trees.  Nice breezes, Temp from 12°C to 24°C.

May :    Life gets hotter...   Sunny days, some cloud, little rain, nice breezes Temp 19°C to 26°C.

June :    Dry and hot, blue skies, little cloud, little it no rain at all, light breezes away from the centre of Varna. Temp: 24°C to 30°C.

July :     Hot hot hot and humid.  Sunny days along with cloudy hot days, Temp 27°C to 35°C.

August:  Hibernation time - too humid and hot for me. Temp 29°C to 42°C

September; 1st week like August. Then starts to lower temperatures plenty of sunny days, still humid. Temp 26°C to 33°C

October : sunny days with cloud, breezes. Intermittent humidity, little rain. Temp 22°C to 26°C

November: Some years winter arrives, some years it doesn't...  Have had sunny days up to 22°C, but it can turn cold, down to 3°C. Some rain. Windy.

December: as November but more wind. Temp minus 3°C to 10°C.

You definitely need heating for December, January, February, with possibly November.

You need cooling (if you're that way inclined) June, July, August, September.

But here's the thing...  If you use air-conditioning to heat and cool, Your heating /cooling bills vary, depending on how hard the air conditioners have to work.

Worst bill for us is August and January - three air cons working hard - August 230 Leva, January 220 Leva

Best months electricity bill is around 140 Leva - family of four and four cats, two bathrooms, cooking, washing, hot water,

Our place is modern double glazed, ceilings are lowish 8 feet (2.4m) wall insulation, so heat and cold stay in better, meaning less work for air conditioning.

We consider ourselves lucky, as the old rented apartment we used to live in, had old fashioned, wood double glazed windows, leaking air from numerous edges...  Need I say more.

Thanks cyber, that's hot!

Though sounds preferable to your prior London existence!

I Watched YouTube Varna vratsa vidin and Plovdiv walk videos all filmed in august and was surprised how green the grass in their parks still looked given the heat.

Though if light skin colour people can survive okay in Houston and Brisbane Bulgaria should be a doddle!

If I move to Bulgaria I will only buy one house. I don't want to be some buy to let or property renovation person.

The idea of me moving their would partly be to escape the need to be obsessed about money and profits. I can only live in one house at a time so may as well only buy one house and leave the rest spare for everyone else.

Not that I'll need it but does Bulgaria have a welfare state, offering a job seekers allowance benefit? And how long do EU citizens need to live there before they are able to claim JSA?

Is it right you can buy private healthcare policies for around 100 euros per adult per annum in Bulgaria and would this cover all medical costs?

If so why would someone bother getting the Bulgarian public NHS state medical cover instead of or in addition to the private cover?

People of working age are required to pay into the public healthcare system. Also, private health care is cheaper if you're also in the public system.

Bulgaria does have a benefits system, but the  payments in Bulgaria are very meagre, it would be hard to get by on the Bulgarian equivalent of the JSA. It's not a good back-up plan!

Re green parks - some areas are drier and hotter than others.  The region we'll be retiring too has 500mm rainfall a year, at best, less the past few years, and temps over 40 in summer. There wasn't a lot of green left by the end of summer, unless it was irrigated. My neighbours have am amazing lush, garden-of-Eden type garden. They also have a complicated watering system and use a lot of water!

@European360

Many folks get confused by the health insurance coverage required by immigration. You are correct that you can get a policy for Medical Insurance for Foreigners in Bulgaria for about 100 euros. (Note that Bulgarian immigration is quite flexible and will accept your EHIC instead.)

This is not true private health insurance. Rather, it addresses the concern that you should not be a burden on the Bulgarian state system if you should suddenly become incapacitated. It's a policy that covers accidents and medical emergencies and/or repatriation (this can be a sneaky option if they can pack you up on a Ryanair flight back to Ireland, rather than treating you). You'd have to read the small print to see exactly what it covers, but you should not rely on it for your healthcare needs. You should either get full private health coverage, or get yourself enrolled in the state system.

https://www.dzi.bg/en/individual-client … foreigners

I heartily recommend the public option. It's not expensive, and you get high-quality care. As @janemulberry rightly says, if you're fully covered in the public system, fancy private health insurance will cost substantially less than it otherwise would. This is because (most) private hospitals are affiliated with the public system and get a standardized payment for your treatment. You (or your insurer) will only pay the (small) difference for your private room and VIP treatment.

Social security contributions vary according to your income if you're employed or self-employed. We've registered as unemployed and pay 40 lv per month, per person. That's about 500 euros per year for the 2 of us. They also gave us an EHIC for use elsewhere in the EU (a very valuable bonus if you travel, or have residence elsewhere in the EU, as we do).

This week, I had a medical episode, so I can illustrate some costs. I am a bit puzzled how I did it, but I recently (last couple of weeks) managed to do my back in.

The pain was getting pretty bad this week, when I tried putting my shoes on, so on Wednesday, I just walked next door to Pulmed (very nice private hospital in Plovdiv) and went to their emergency room. Nobody was waiting so I walked straight it, and the duty doc (who spoke English) had a quick chat and poked my back... then sent me straight to the CT room next door for a lumbar scan. 3 people in front of me for the CT, so I had to wait 15 minutes, and the report/CD took 45 minutes. Turns out I have a herniated disk and a fractured vertebra, so no surprise that it hurts. :-) Doc thought it looked bad, and thought I should stay in overnight... and called the Neurology department. 30 minutes later a specialist arrived. He looked at the scan and recommended an immediate vertebroplasty (cement injection under general).

The cost was 220 leva for emergency room consultation and examination + lumbar CT scan + neurologist consultation. (Full cost, not with any discount for being in the system.) They had already checked my residence card to see if I was covered in the public system, so the vertebroplasty would be mostly covered by that. I'd have to pay some small surcharge (300 leva) plus whatever extras I requested (private room, rehab, medications, etc.).

Pulmed is very nice, but I doubt it's my best option, and I was a bit unhappy that the neurologist didn't speak English (and didn't have any colleagues who did). So on Thursday I went for a second opinion to Medline. This is another excellent private hospital in Plovdiv where my GP is based, and where I usually go for scans and consults. Turns out they don't have a neurology/spinal surgery department (makes sense, Plovdiv is quite small). But I managed to collar the Big Boss (who's also my orthopedic surgeon) and ask his opinion on spinal surgery options. He said he wouldn't personally do a spine op in Plovdiv, and recommended Sofia (the big city, makes sense) at Tokuda or St. Luke.

As I drove away from Medline, my natural laziness (and the pain in my back) made me think of heading back to Pulmed and get the op ASAP. But I thought that was a bit of dumb move, and Sofia wasn't that far. So, 2 hours later, I was in Tokuda hospital in central Sofia. It's a a very big private hospital and lots of its specialists speak English (I've been here before, and it seems pretty great to me). They charged me 130 leva for a specialist consultation with one of their neurologists. It was lunchtime, I hadn't made an appointment, and there were lots of patients there, so I think a 90-minute wait is pretty good.

He looked at my CT scan and gave me a pretty thorough examination. He was much more relaxed about the whole thing as I had no big pain when my back was prodded, and I was fit and healthy, and I'd managed to drive up to Sofia and walk into the hospital without any serious pain. He said he could fix it immediately with a vertebroplasty, and it would be mostly covered by the public system. But he said I was a good candidate for "conservative treatment" (doctor code for no ops) and he recommended this option. As long as I was OK with a back brace and a 6-8 weeks holiday (no swimming, biking, gym, or other exercise, no work, no lifting, no furniture assembly) and some anti-inflammatories. The Do-Nothing option always sounds good to me, so he gave me a prescription (back brace, Diclofenanac Duo slow-release NSAID). This was a bit expensive at the hospital pharmacy (300 lv), I'm sure I could have saved quite a lot at my local in Plovdiv. But I wanted to drive back in the brace (good decision, way more comfortable).

The moral of the story: be good to your back, and your back will be good to you. :-) And get yourself covered in the public system.

@European360 Yes, the grass is always green here, along with the trees.  I believe it's because the earth in North East Bulgaria is very fertile and rain in April can last the trees until the end of August.  I absolutely love spring, summer and autumn here, for the greeness and flowers.

My wife and I own two properties, both apartments. We live in the larger (maisonette) and rent the studio apartment on Airbnb.  We also have two garages and a parking space, all rented. All the properties are no more than 8 minutes away from our home.  So we make money out of our assets, whilst they go up in value - win win.

That said, we're debating on whether to buy a house with land, or just land on its own, whilst we don't want the hassle of visiting it and maintaining it, there is sense in having it, in this mad word of ours, in case we need to grow our own food and keep hens.

@cyberescue1

Well done, you! :-)

I can confirm village houses (and their gardens) are a right faff, once you get used to apartment living. And hens and food cultivation is a major faff compared to a quick walk to your local Lidl to buy some eggs and veg. :-) For folks that have a smaller nest egg, and are looking for a main home, they're a very attractive option: gardens can be a joy, and you get a lot more space inside for your money compared to a flat in a city.

I think spring and autumn are beautiful here, and the temperature is fairly moderated (usually with no heating or cooling required). But we've already hit 30 deg in Plovdiv this year, and it's only early April. The summer heat (June/July/August) is brutal, and there's no way we could cope without several AC units running all summer. However, early mornings (5am ish, say) walking up Youth Hill are still delightful.

@gwynj

Yeah, I hear where you're coming from, and by my reckoning you definitely need to be more or less living in a village house full time to keep on top of it.  The upkeep & maintenance side, can be hard work but also extremely satisfying, once you sit back & enjoy the fruits of your labour.

For me, nothing beats the space & freedom that our village house provides us with, and also the very low levels of noise & pollution.

I really enjoy keeping hens, and you can't compare their orange yolks or freshness with that of Lidls 😉. Just this morning I've collected eggs, picked asparagus ( that is shooting up on a daily basis! ) and rhubarb. My seedlings have all been checked & watered in & out of the greenhouse, and I'm hoping for another good crop this year, fingers crossed 🤞. For me, pottering around the gardens gives me so much pleasure & I get excited when I see life emerging from the seeds I planted, and it tastes so darn good straight out of your own garden. I walk a couple of miles each morning with the two dogs we rescued here, and they enjoy having so much freedom, and the odd hare to chase 😬. Having said that, I'm also realistic, and know that we won't always be able to manage the scale of what we have here, but while we can, we will. There will come a time when an apartment looks way more attractive for it's simplicity I'm sure, who knows what the future holds.

Ouch, Gwyn! An unwanted adventure there. I hope your back recovers fully.

Agreed, Jules. We hope for the same. But until I can move there full time, just staying on top of the weeds even in a smallish approximately 600 m2 area around the house with visits every month or so is a challenge.  I'm planting seeds and hoping they survive the STUN treatment (sheer, total, utter neglect). Not very successful so far, but hopefully I'll visit often enough this year to stay on top of the weeds so my helpful neighbours don't weed whack all of my wanted plants along with the weeds.

Our second half acre, in a different part of the village is completely wild. Good for foraging, but it would require an enormous amount of work to turn it back into a productive garden. And as Gwyn found with the burst pipe, even the best maintained village houses will get up to mischief when left empty. OTOH, as a back-up plan for an uncertain future, it's very satisfying to own land.

My wife and I have been living  in Southwest Bulgaria as "locals" for 3 weeks now.

Small town, nice , happy people, kids playing outside til late at night not supervised; not on their cell phones, biking, chatting , taking a stroll,  swimming ,playing like kids do.  ZERO crime. It's like a time warp back to the 70s. No rap music, just relaxing easy listening  music everywhere in the cafes and restaurants which are open til 12- 1 am.Lots of healing mineral springs, clean air, parks, river, Pirin mountain. The town is  super clean  - no trash, no graffiti; every morning tons of water is used to  wash the streets.Everybody  is nice, friendly , ready to offer help with anything even if you have never asked for it. Even the stray dogs are super friendly : we have called one Max.We meet him and play with him daily. It is fun! It is  really a surreal environment in comparison with the crime ridden California, homelessness, drugs... It feels like we have landed on another planet. The prices have gone up  in Bulgaria ( as everywhere else) but again  they are much lower compared to  the super expensive SF Bay area. There is a store called Metro ( bulk food  like the US Costco, highly recommended. Better prices than all supermarkets which rig the prices/make huge profit from selling small amount of products). If you are thinking to move to Bulgaria- do not think twice- do it. You will never regret it. We are living in paradise now, it really is......... BTW Happy 4th of July to all Americans in this forum! Please have a safe one!

Happy 4th of July to you, Tony! I'm so glad your experience of Bulgaria is positive.

Same here. Not overlooking the issues that do exist In Bulgaria, but there's so much good to appreciate. For me, the rural area we're intending to settle in feels to me like all the best things about the 1960s or 70s country Australia I grew up in, yet with good internet and other modern conveniences.

@janemulberry

Thank you! I thought you already moved to Bulgaria.When are you planning to finalize your move?

@TonyFF I'm so glad to hear you say all that Tony.  Yes, Bulgaria has a huge amount going for it and I endorse all your words.  As you know I came from London, which isn't much different from California now.

The two biggest plus points here for me, are independence and safety.

@TonyFF

Glad to hear you have joined us in the Bulgaria Fan Club! :-)

I had a similar experience when we rocked up for a few days in Plovdiv to get our residence permits. Nearly 7 years later, we are still here and still very happy with our decision.

    @janemulberryThank you! I thought you already moved to Bulgaria.When are you planning to finalize your move?        -@TonyFF

As soon as we can! The original intention was to wait until I reached retirement age and am receiving my pension, but that's not till 2027 which feels too far away!

I've emailed a few immigration lawyers about whether they can help us get TRO, which is probably our only option to move sooner. Unfortunately the one who did reply can't help with that unless we can provide the company, and the ones who might have ready-made companies with TRO seats available haven't yet replied.

@TonyFF

"ZERO crime", eh?  Would you care to share the name of this Bulgarian Shangri-la - I doubt there is ANYWHERE in all of Europe, let alone Bulgaria, with no crime...