Thanks Casa
Yes, that was my understanding as well. I've only been in the UK for two years so I still have another three years to go before I can apply for citizenship but, as I intend to spend a fair bit of that time out the UK, I realise that I will not be able to start counting for a while yet. I have actually developed a spreadsheet which keeps track of my comings and goings and how I'm doing against the maximum times I'm allowed to be out of the country.
The other aspect of my question is the one that is concerning me most. On one hand I can see the formal requirement, i.e. no more than two years at any one time. On the other hand, you and others are suggesting that my planned travel could cause a problem. I'm struggling to bring these two views together. We
are settled in the UK and we're just taking longer holidays than most people are able to because our retirement allows us to do.
How am I expected to organise my life if I can't get any certainty about whether I am likely to be breaking any 'rule' or not? That is why I asked UKVI the question and received, what I believed, to be a fairly clear answer. But you suggest otherwise??