[adsman]

Dude,

There's one very easy way to get around the Schengen thing - just jump across to Switzerland every three months for a few days. Problem sorted. At least that's what all of my mates in the same boat did back in the day.

Interestingly enough I've lived in all your unsure about countries. I'm Australian, I've lived in Barcelona for a brief period and I live in Italy now. They're all good, they all have different things to offer. But in my experience, living in different places is mostly the same. You have to sort the same stuff out, eat, live, party, etc. So it comes down to you identifying why you're making the move and what you want out of it. Once you have that sorted your preferred destination becomes fairly clear.