@aa2014 , whereas I applaud @TomD8 's complete and very informational response to your case, at the same time I do recognize that many Expats' desire to not have to pay state taxes, (with no active / passive income from a state ) to a state where they resided before and to whom they have a very tenuous connection. This is especially true for states taxing on world income and not recognizing even foreign tax credit. Many have tried various ways of creating new connections ( driver's license, bank account voter reg. , temporary rental etc. ) to states with no PIT ( such as TX, FL etc. etc. ). Fundamentally what one is trying to do is to create a "closer connection" to a new state. How successful these strategies are is a open question. There is nothing that prevents a person from doing this , especially if the Expat has no idea how long the foreign stay is going to be and whether he/she would even return to the same state at the conclusion of the foreign assignment. And for those Expats whom intend to be permanently abroad , this becomes even more important.
What I am trying to get across is that there is no good/ bad/ best answer to your question, it is not a tax question and you should do what you think meets your goals ( short or longer term ).
Hope this helps
pk
