I retired June 2017 and my wife will work another 2-3 years. We’ve traveled a lot over the years and, during our travels, we always looked at places thinking about whether it might be a nice place to retire.
We keep finding our current home (in California, believe it or not) looks pretty good, so we never bought a retirement place.
We HAVE found that we both really like the Idaho panhandle - great conservative country (the last bastion, it seems), beautiful land, friendly people. It’s the “Inland Northwest” and the winters are not terrible and the weather is quite mild in summer. It does get smoke some summers from western wildfires and forest fires - last September was the worst in decades. But those are rare events. We’ve spent a few four or five day trips there and gotten to know the area well.
We debate all the time whether we should move or stay or maybe buy a second home somewhere. Our concern with a second home if the expenses and that would then preclude travel to other areas.
As you suggest, thinking ahead 10 - 20 years is a wise thing to do. At a minimum, it may make you realize your current home is the best place for you and might prevent the “If only I’d done this...” neuroses. The other thing to do is rent a place where you think you might like to live for some extended time. Maybe rent a month or two in the summer and another month or two in the winter. You’ll get a much better feel if the place is right for you in retirement.
All good advice for those still looking at 10 to 20 years before retiring.
The panhandle of Idaho was our second choice. It is drop dead gorgeous there. But the summers are short for growing many crops, which is essential if you’re trying to be self-sufficient. And unfortunately it is starting to be invaded. Lots of Spanish spoken in some of the areas around there. So you got to be careful.
Now if Trump can start the deportations, all this will be a moot point. But it was my number one criteria to get back to America And have it stay that way until I die.