Want to live abroad in Europe but don’t want to commit to anything long-term? Well, why not spend a season living and thriving around this beautiful continent?
Whether you want to spend a summer living in Italy, work the winter season in Switzerland, or spend a couple of months roaming around the Baltic region, there are plenty of options to explore depending on your budget and working situation.
So, how can you live in Europe for three months? Keep reading and I’ll fill you in!
Using the Schengen Area
One of the easiest ways to travel around Europe and live there for up to 90 days is by taking advantage of the Schengen area. Essentially, it’s a collection of countries all over Europe that have an agreement when it comes to tourists from certain nations.
As many countries are in the EU, there is freedom of movement rules for their residents. This gets carried over temporarily for visitors.
So, you can stay 90 days within a 180-day period, which means you can live in Europe for three months without having to get a visa. It doesn’t have to be in the same country, you can move between the Schengen area countries and that’s all within the same 90-day period.
There are some countries that aren’t in the Schengen, like Albania, Ireland, the UK, and more. These all have their own rules regarding visa-less entries, but most of them are three months or 90 days, with the UK offering a massive six-month visa-less entry for US citizens.
The main thing to note is that legally you can’t work on a Schengen visa-less entry arrangement. So, if you need to work on the road, or get a temporary job while you’re living in Europe, you need an actual work visa first.
Budget
Whether you need to work on the road or not is going to depend on how much you’ve saved up beforehand. If you can roughly work out a budget per day and line it up with what you have saved up, you’ll be able to see if you need to get a job or work in exchange for accommodation along the way.
Getting a job in a hostel, working at a resort, or traveling using Workaway or Trusted Housesitters programs means that you can get paid in accommodation rather than cash. This is sometimes a workaround for getting a job abroad and not having a work visa.
There’s no payment going into your account or anything, so it’s difficult to trace. That being said, you should try to keep everything above board as much as possible.
Your budget is going to determine which countries you can afford to live in, how many excursions you can afford, and the level of accommodation you’ll be staying in.
Most places won’t offer three-month rental contracts, so you’re likely looking at long-term hostel or Airbnb stays if you’re staying in one place for the whole three months.
Temporary Jobs
Speaking of contracts, three months is not a long time to commit to a job, so you’ll be looking at temporary work. If you’re traveling during a peak season like summer in a beach town or winter in a ski resort, you’ll likely be able to pick up a seasonal gig in a store, bar, or cafe.
You can also contact temp agencies to see if there are any sponsored office jobs going. These are rare due to the length, but not impossible.
The other option is to apply for a digital nomad or remote worker visa. There are a ton of those cropping up all across Europe with most of them lasting up to a year.
This way you can legally work for a company outside of the one you’d currently be in from your laptop.
Whether you’re self-employed, a freelancer, or work for a remote-first company, it opens up a lot of options for flexibility. In the evenings and weekends, you can explore all the beautiful spots that Europe has to offer. It’s a win-win if you have to work while traveling.
You can freelance on sites like Fiverr or Upwork, which are great for writers, editors, photographers, graphic designers, devs, and more. If you have a marketable skill that people want to pay for, you can make a lot of money remotely.
Experience Living in Europe for 3 Months Now!
So, if you want to try living abroad, but don’t want to commit to a year or more straightaway, there are plenty of ways to live in Europe for three months.
From saving up and going visa-free to working a seasonal job that includes accommodation, to living the digital nomad dream with a specialist visa, the world is your temporary oyster!
