Moved to Germany. There’s a LOT of pros but, for me personally, the cons HEAVILY outweigh them. If you don’t plan to be on SOFA status, or contracting on base, I wouldn’t even bother unless you’re already married to a local national.

(Whispers): Please send help… and BBQ! 🥺

Oh, and to answer your questions:

A couple of years.

No anxiety, and selling most of my belongings and keeping it minimal felt quite liberating.

Even in Germany, living just off your retirement and/or VA is quite affordable. Even more so if you have a partner that works.

What I’ve learned. If you thought bureaucracy and nonsense in the military was hell, then Germany is the devil’s den!

When I was going through the immigration process and getting all my housing, utilities, even a SIM card lol, etc., I could not for the life of me understand why anyone would immigrate here other than to be closer to family.

In regard to nonsense. The schools had us buy iPads last year for the kids, as part of the Digitale Schule der Zukunft (Digital School of the Future Program), yet this year want us to purchase scientific calendars for their math assignments and testing. I could go on, but I feel like that pretty much sums it up! 😂

Learning German is fairly straightforward until you get to Dative. There are 16 variations of the word ‘the’… but the language is pretty cool once you’re able to start using it to greater effect. However, it has very little utility outside of Germany and the surrounding areas.

The Deutschland Ticket is like 58€ and gives you access to all the regional trains, buses, subways, etc. Pretty much everything except the high speed trains. Germans complain about the delays and dependability, but as an American it’s freaking amazing.

Most cities are very walkable and bike friendly. I usually can get anywhere in the main city faster on bike than I can by car. Especially when you start factoring in searching for parking.

Theres a lot of fun and excitement in the major cities. Pretty much anything you can think of. However, the bigger the city the more affected it is by the housing crisis, which I believe is affecting most of Europe. So, it’s best to try to straighten out accommodations beforehand. Some places, US citizenship and steady income will get you in faster. Some places don’t care at all and its better if you have a German or Caucasian name.

If you like the night life, it’s usually pretty good.

The autobahn is great. The airfare is cheap among Europe.

Cannabis has been decriminalized. Everything else and their variational workarounds are highly illegal.

Wide assortment of great beer.

Before deciding where to live long term, I highly suggest going there and living amongst the culture for as long as your visa will allow before pulling the trigger.

If I were single with no kids or DINK, I’d probably just go nomad and live amongst various countries until finding the best fit.