planes, trains and automobiles

Trying to figure it all out!
Booking a flight beyond a one year return date is pretty much impossible (even if one is willing to pay a premium price and/or make a sacrificial offering to the airlines)!!
How frustrating …. in all my years of travel (that would be 15 years to date with a few transitory years of hibernation in Canada), I have never come across such difficulty in booking the winged aspect of the journey. It looks as if I’ll have to purchase a return ticket now (entering a country with a one way ticket — speaking from experience when flying from Canada into the US — begs for difficulties on arrival/departure) and then when I’m ready to come back, buy another ticket home … makes for an expensive way to travel, especially when on such a tight budget!