I am retiring the end of July and plan to do a scouting trip to Portugal for 2 months in Feb. 2025. Also going to the Costa del Sol region of Spain, the Canary Islands, and Malta - these trips will be April through June. All trips for the purpose of making a truly informed decision that best fits me. By the way, you're not crazy. Have a back up plan so if you don't like it after 6 months to a year, you can always return to the US. That's one of my back up plans. The other is that I can try each country for a few months and then decide. Since the Shengren area has a limit on how long you can stay in any of its nations, hoping over to the UK is a great option. That way, you're still close enough to the EU to return without flying back to the US.