If you’re just joining us feel free to check out Part 1 first for some additional context on how I became a full time traveler <3
In this post, I wanted to talk more about the logistics of being able to move/travel to Europe rather than just my personal experience. When I planned my trip the first roadblock I- and most American travelers- experienced was the Schengen Visa limitations. Let’s go over the basics.
The Schengen zone visa rule dictates that you can only be within Schengen countries for 90 days (3 months) in any 180-day (6 months) period. Additionally, once you’ve surpassed 90 days within the Schengen zone, you cannot return until an additional 90 days have passed. This can be a little confusing so let’s go over the following scenario with a graphic I created.
Let’s say I land in a Schengen country on May 1st, this is indicated by the green shading on our calendar. I will be able to move between Schengen countries within the allotted 90 days. I will need to leave the Schengen zone by July 30th if I stay there for 90 days consecutively, as indicated by the red shading. I would then not be allowed to return to the Schengen zone until October 30th.
Some countries are more strict than others however I would not risk overstaying your visa. The penalty for overstaying in the Schengen zone can range from fines to being imprisoned, deported, and banned from re-entering for a specified amount of time. During my first 6 months of travel, I needed to adhere to these rules but didn’t want to fly back to the States so I instead took advantage of non-Schengen countries to extend my trip in Europe.
Here is a graphic on the current Non-Schengen& Schengen European countries as of August 2023.
It doesn’t take a genius to see that if you want to live or even travel for more than 3 months within the Schengen zone this rule SUCKS to adhere to. A lot of my ability to travel so much must be credited to my family. My parents are first generation immigrants from Poland and Morocco, and had me fly back to visit every summer. Thanks to close ties with my family living abroad I was able to rely on them when I needed a break, some support, or help with visas. I spent nearly 2 months with cousins in Morocco and another 5 weeks with my Babcia in Poland.
Use your background to get citizenship & become a full-time traveler
As the child of a Polish citizen I was elligible for ‘Citizenship by Descent’ or ‘Citienship through Ancestry’. This visa scheme can be utilized for those up to 3 generations removed in some countries. Here are the Schengen countries that have this stipulation:
- Hungary
- Italy
- Poland
- Croatia
- Lithuania
- Latvia
- Luxembourg
- Slovakia
- Greece
I wish both my parents had gotten me their respective citizenships as a child because it becomes much more complex after the age of 18. My family in Poland started the process shortly before I arrived and in total it took about 6 weeks to get my citizenship. If I didn’t have family living in Poland that spoke fluently and were able to assist me I have no doubt it would’ve easily taken double the amount of time. Once I got my citizenship it was an absolute game-changer for me because I was now allowed to reside anywhere in the EU without a time limit! Here is a helpful link if you think your situation may be applicable.
Unfortunately, gaining citizenship in a Schengen country without any heritage will be significantly harder. I would instead recommend one of the following options:
1. Digital Nomad Visas
Choose a Schengen country you would like to spend most of your time in and applying for a visa there. Most remote working visas permit a year-long stay however you will need to spend most of your time in that country. Each country has very different regulations but here is a short list of some EU/Schengen countries with remote working visas:
- Albania
- Croatia
- Czech Republic
- Estonia
- Greece
- Hungary
- Latvia
- Malta
- Spain
2. Non-Schengen Travel
Use not having a visa as an opportunity to move every 3 months to a different part of the world. If you only feel comfortable traveling within Europe for the moment I would highly recommend moving to one of the Non-Schengen countries while waiting for the ability to re-enter the zone again.
Ensuring you’re abiding by all necessary rules while becoming a full-time traveler can be tricky. Thanks for joining on part two and let me know your experience with the Schengen-zone visa in the comments!
