Hi
@ziggy_w I'm retired and I like to spend as much of the winter as I can somewhere warm and sunny. I will be away for 12 weeks this year, though back for 4 weeks in December.
I am thinking of staying for 16 weeks over next Winter, but getting a visa for more than 60 days seems quite complicated. I will look into it more next Spring.
Hi
@Prem51,
Sounds like a great plan to spend this time of the year where it is sunny and warm. It is not always easy to live through the cold winters in Northern Europe and especially the darkness. Maybe you can post some photos?
I have spent 18 years in hotter climates (including Southern Texas, South Carolina and Egypt) and do sometimes miss the sunshine. My hubby describes the weather in Germany as 8 months of winter and 4 months of not-summer.
Hi Ziggy you sound like my brother and his wife they live in Germany and spend a lot of time on holidays, I'm waiting for my hubby to retire so we can do same,I've been waiting for last 7 years already but hopefully he may retire early in 2 years. So I'm also a little jealous but in a nice way you deserve this time when you retire,not your fault I married a toy boy!! Haha!K
Hi
@Granny_grump_,
I am sure you are looking forward to the time when you and your husband are free to travel. Have you already made specific plans?
Personally, I haven't travelled very much in the last twenty years, just lived in different places. We have a cat and we don't want to leave her for longer than a couple of days. (Since everyone is sharing photos of their pets, I am attaching a photo of her when we first found her in Egypt -- she has grown into her ears by now.)
I also have another 13 years to go until retirement -- unless of course they decide to up retirement age to 70 -- which is a distinct possibility given the low birth rate in Germany. I can't really complain, though, we have very generous vacation time in Germany plus a lot of public holidays.
its a very sad world we live in when people have no regard for other peoples lives 
