Robbie: They do! Actually one particular town in northern spain (Austras?) had an international airport. It wouldn't take much to get me licensed by the EU to work on commercial aircraft there. The language barrier is something I'd have to work on before hand, plus finding a way to apply for the position (read: finding the contract houses in the area. Assuming they have a maintenance facility there).
PHeller: We had some difficulty in Hungary even finding volunteer opportunities for her. There was a local women's shelter run by a British organization but even THEY wouldn't let her do anything with the women there. She ended up as a general handy-man (handy woman?) and wasn't really happy about it. She spent most of her time painting rooms, pouring cement, etc. I'm sure she'll have some of the same difficulty wherever we go overseas, but I'm sure she'll find something. Right now the plan is to rely on just my income with hers being supplemental (she'll work somewhere. She goes crazy when she's stuck in the house)
Datsun: The kids are an issue and kind of limits the places we can go. If the town is too small then there wont be an international school for the kids to attend. But the bigger cities negate most of the reasons we want to move. It's quite the double edged sword. One option was home schooling (which we aren't completely opposed to) but it doesn't fix the social life that the kids would be missing out on. For instance, there is a town called Veliko Tarnovo in the mountains of Bulgaria with some of the most beautiful views (castles too!) we've ever seen. Houses there run in the neighborhood of 20,000eu (I think we could get that much money together by selling both our cars). But medical and educational facilities are next to nill
Mezzanine: Its kind of funny how the time difference could be a drawback as well as a benefit. On one hand I can allow a small place to be more productive by making use of their off hours to get work done (this is the strength I worked to when I had to do group projects while pursuing my degree online). On the other hand, I'm not as available as I need to be during the on hours. I'm not sure how that one's going to turn out. I get the feeling that the jobs that are going to want the most "on hours interaction" are going to pay the most, and the jobs that allow me to work off hours may be closer to peanuts or just plain scams.
As I browse a few of the usual job listing websites I really don't see much that strikes me as 100% remote work. I'm thinking that finding a job that will hire me remotely, and allow me to work remotely 100% of the time is going to be a huge hurdle. And with only the information available to me via the googles, how do I separate the junk jobs from the juicy ones... All in good time I guess.
Really though, if I can land there while working remotely I'd have that safety net while I applied for a local work permit, and found a local job. But then again I spent four years in Hungary and have no idea what their hiring process is like.
Having the ability to work and change positions remotely though would allow me to keep an American income and American benefits (read: cha-ching!) and would go a long way to ensure our continued existence in this utopia we're imagining. For compare and contrasting purposes, a fireman in Hungary makes $400 a month. So lots of benefits to remote work, even if I'm not working for the most prestigious organization Another consideration I'm late in thinking of: If I work for an American company and live overseas I may be liable for taxes in both countries...
Scardeal: I'm printing your post and saving it. Thanks!