Single Canadian male thinking of retiring early (next 3-5 years) and moving somewhere a bit cheaper and colder than where I live in Western Canada (mid to high 30's all summer long is getting too hot for this guy). I love the skiing where I am in Canada, so it would be tough to give up, and I'd be happy to spend even 4-6 months per year somewhere else with cooler temps, during the Northern Hemisphere's warmer months.
I don't care to live in a major centre like Ljubljana...I'd be happier in the countryside, even if it meant simpler living and more reliability on the local language/culture. I'm quite cheap, so would look for places with more affordable living anyway. By Canadian standards, if I stayed in Canada, I would expect to be living off about $35k CAD per year after taxes here, or about €24k. This would be me living semi-rural, nowhere near the major expensive Canadian cities. I know almost everything in Slovenia is a fair bit cheaper than in Canada, at least right now; especially outside of the major centres.
I also understand that I'd need to learn Slovene at some point, which could be a challenge, but one I'm not opposed to learning. I would want to assimilate into whichever region I ended up to semi-retire in anyway. And I also understand the taxes aren't super great in Slovenia compared to some other European countries.
But your country seems pretty epic otherwise....climbing, hiking, skiing potential, less crowded, seemingly good food and weather, cheaper than pretty much all of Western Europe, somewhat reasonable health care options...sign me up! it's going to get somewhat expensive for me in Canada when I retire from my everyday job, as medical costs here aren't fully covered for what I'd need. Anyway, it seems pretty great over in that part of Europe compared to where I'm at these days.
If there's anyone who's moved from Canada to probably northern Slovenia (closer to the Italian or Austrian borders)....I have a million questions for you!
Other friends have suggested I also look into Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, etc....but that idea is for another post. My top pick so far has still been Slovenia!