An adventure overseas doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing endeavor. In plenty of great-value destinations you can trade the doldrums for a warmer, more cheerful winter. Take a month or two or three.

You can fully embrace an international life without abandoning your domestic one. Do it right, and you’ll spend less overseas than it would cost you to stay home. Most places on our beat will let you in on a tourist visa for 90 days, no fuss. In a short-term rental you can try a place on for size easily enough. And you’re flexible. You may fall in love with your little corner and return again and again, creating a real second home. Or test-drive a new spot each of the next few years.

Lots of the destinations we cover here at International Living make excellent short-term escapes. Not just because they’re beautiful, welcoming, and the weather is warm…but because in many of them a couple can live comfortably for as little as $1,200 a month including rent. In your issue this month, we turn our attention to several. See below for the articles.

If you’d rather read your March 2013 issue in PDF format, click here.