Hello everyone,

Lately I’ve been thinking about where to go for the next ~8 months. After the new year, I have two conference events (not work related) coming up in Europe (Germany in January and Portugal in August). I am from the US, but I would like to stay in Europe for those 8 months so that I do not have to fly back and forth from the US in between my events. My plan would be to return to the US in August after my event in Portugal. I have a remote job that allows me to work internationally.

How can I do this legally? I have been looking into the Malta digital nomad program, as it seems like the fastest visa in Europe that could be approved. However, I am not sure if it is worth applying for a digital nomad visa anyways, since I would not be there for very long.

A few lawyers suggested I just enter the Schengen area as a tourist, then leave the Schengen area before the 90 days, and then go back in after spending a few months outside of it. So one plan could be: go Germany for my event in January, spend until sometime in March traveling around the Schengen area, then travel for 3 months around of it in Ireland and the UK for example (I’m open to other suggestions here too - I’ve heard Romania and Bulgaria are nice to visit and overall safe for women too, but I haven’t researched much yet), and then I could go back to the Schengen sometime in June and stay until my event in Portugal in August.

In my situation, would you all apply for a digital nomad visa somewhere, or would you just “travel around” for 8 months? If anyone has any suggestions on what to do or where to go, I would appreciate it! I am pretty flexible with where I go, but I would prefer to stay within the European continent for those 8 months. I do need to be back in the US by mid august for some family events, so staying longer isn’t an option at the moment unfortunately.

Thanks!!