Since so many of you have mentioned living part time in Italy here is a good link to Italian visitor/visa regulations. http://www.traveldocs.com/it/vr.htm. The "Travel Document Systems" website is a great resource to find out everything you need to know about official documents needed for travel just about everywhere. You will see that an American can stay in Shengen countries for a total of only 3 months as a tourist. With the exception of Portugal, Shengen countries are all wildy expensive.

There is a vast difference between being a tourist and living part or full time in another country. When you move beyond the normal tourist stay you find that there begin to be a host of visa problems, tax issues, residency restrictions, work permit problems, and health care eligibility prohibitions and restrictions. Many types of American (usually employer provided) health insurance policies have strict limitations outside of the US, including nullification of the policy. It is also worth nothing that American Medicare is only good in the US. Once you're outside the country Medicare no longer covers you.

Also the idea of taking a camper or other vehicle and traveling Europe is again, a very expensive one. Gas throughout most of Europe is going to run you a couple of Euro per litre(!) Currently the Euro is about $1.25 and one gallon is 3.3 litres. Do the math and you'll see that gas in Europe is 6-8 dollars a gallon. Then there is maintenance and repair for the vehicle (in a foreign language), foreign road signs, foreign driving habits, foreign road laws which vary from country to country, vehicle insurance....etc.

Moving overseas is possible and can be done, but should be carefully researched before any whimsical decision is made.