Personally, I would forget the whole idea of trying to cram the hours you think you need into a short space of time. I appreciate the exams deadline, but it's not a race, or at least it shouldn't be! I also seem to recall that the 2 year deadline applies to each exam individually, so you'd need to check that. The up side is that there will be plenty of time to re-sit any which have expired during the winter.
The average PPL student takes around 55 hours to qualify - and that's assuming that the training is uninterrupted. Eighteen months is a big break from flying for anyone, especially when you are low hours because you don't have the experience base to build on. I also get the impression (rightly or wrongly) that your previous training may have been spread out over a number of years, which would be a further factor to consider. You also don't mention whether you have completed the QXC, which would add further time to the equation.
Although it can be cost effective for ab initio or hours building, I can't see that training abroad would make much sense, what you spend on air fares and accommodation would be better spent on training nearer home. You would also miss out on training to cope with our very variable weather.
I would visit a few local FTOs to see what I thought of them, lay my cards on the table and if I liked them, I would suggest having a flight so that they can make an assessment. If I didn't like them, I would look further afield.
Good luck with the 'quest', let us know how you get on.