Gave up my car and driving frequently. Fantabulous gift of freedom not having to deal with traffic and car management. Public transport is a gift, and taxis or very short term car rental programs are a fine fallback.
Gave up some income as salaries are annoying much lower and taxes are much higher. But quality of life, depending on where you go, is much higher.
Get rid of as much of your possessions as you can. You can re-buy what you really need, and with more great activities available (non-COVID times) you spend less time at home needing stuff. Also apartments are smaller, so you don’t want to be crowded with stuff.
My first 5 years were in Amsterdam area, and it’s really fun. So many great social options, including for nerds (lots of tech meetups, often with free pizza and beer :) ). Plenty of bars and clubs and restaurants. Most restaurants are underwhelming and overpriced, so that’s not the attraction… but it provides social options.
If you’re American, it’s incredibly easy to set up residence in Netherlands based on the DAFT agreement. Look it up.
Portugal and Malta have visa programs for freelancers and people who can show that they have reliable income from outside sources. Lisbon is pretty great with much better food on average than Amsterdam. And much better climate.