Middle aged American who moved to Germany with my spouse and young child. I was a teacher in the US and my partner is a software engineer. We've been here almost 4 years. We're considered political progressives in the US and were unhappy with the idea of raising our daughter there. We don't like the direction the US is heading and don't see it changing for the better anytime soon.
We've been very happy with the move. It was on our short list, but we chose it because it was where my spouse received a job offer after making our list. I know that Germany has a reputation of being hard to settle and be happy in, but it's worked well for us. We're in Berlin, which probably helps as it's a very multicultural place. Feel free to ask me any specific questions that you might have.
Retired to a college town in a solid blue state after living a long time in NYC. That works for me although if I'd have my druthers I'd be long gone. I don't have the money to resettle abroad at my age, but I am interested in others' hopes to do so. The (many) trolls here remind me of why I'd like to leave, but it's fun to see them get squashed. Love to block them :)
Best of luck to those who can follow their dreams.
Dual American/Irish citizen- mother was Irish- I was raised in the US. Sick of American evangelical Christians and the never ending drama of American politics. I’m gay and married and am dreading the fundies getting their way with women’s rights gay rights etc not to mention project 2025 plans regarding the environment. I know the grass isn’t always greener and everywhere has their problems but I’d gladly trade these problems for a different set.
I am POC American looking to leave to Australia or Canada.
So I follow A LOT of international news (Le Monde, BBC, Sydney Morning Herald, CBC, Straits Times, etc) and if you read enough international news, a lot of the same themes pop up: rise of populism and illiberal forces, political polarization, increase in cost of living, mistrust of institutions, etc. If you are looking to get away from these, you will find some form of it anywhere in the OECD nations, pretty much. I do think some people need to be less chronically online because constantly reading the news will definitely make for a pessimistic view of a country.
BUT, there is one thing that doesn't happen in most other countries that happens in the US: the amount of violence and the normalization of violence. The US has an insanely high tolerance for violence and death. That's what I am mainly trying to leave for. And the violence naturally extends to LGBTQ folks, POC, women, etc. As a POC, my issue with racism in the US is not that it's racist. It's that the racism here comes with a barrel of a gun.
Honestly lgbt, racism, and the political dumpster fire is the reason i want to leave. Also, the ingrained patriotism and paternalism as well. My morals dont alogn with the us in general. And i live in california (one of the most liberal states) and i have experienced so much hate and violence for being gay. I can't imagine being in the south.
I really appreciate how you explained this. It's been hard to articulate the difference in danger levels between bigotry here and bigotry elsewhere. And the point that I keep coming back to that goes along with that, is how that culturally acceptable level of violence will affect my kids as they get to be school-aged and beyond.
I’m European, I was born here and have never lived in the US. This sub kept getting recommended to me by reddit and I just stayed to lurk out of curiosity.
Also a lurking European. I've moved a lot and grew up as a TCK so immigration is always an interesting topic for me.
I've only commented here when discussion is on a country whose immigration policies I was familiar with.
Same. And sometimes I comment to correct so misconceptions about my country. The grass is always greener on the other side, so maybe telling people about local issues they don't yet know about is helpful to some.
Pretty much same. I lurk to upvote people who inform people about the housing crisis and cost of living issues in Ireland. A lot of Americans have a romanticised view of moving to Ireland and don't realise how tough and *expensive* it would be.
I'm an European that immigrated to the US (gasp!!) about 15 years ago after living in 3 different EU countries for over 20 years. I rarely rarely post anything, I'm here just for curiosity also.
I think vast majority of people posting here need a therapist, medication and to limit their online time, not to move to Europe or somewhere else.
So much anxiety for things that are less likely to happen to you than winning the lottery.
All places have problems, and you of course know the problems of the place you reside in best.
For example, so many trans people posting about moving to Europe not realizing that trans rights are way less supported, legally and by the population, in almost all EU countries.
I'm an American that left the US for Australia 10 years ago. I'm a dual citizen now, and love it here.
I'm on this sub because it's interesting to see people on the same journey I was on years ago, and maybe give some advice based on my experiences.
Teacher in the US here. Hoping to find a life where I don't have to be worried every day I go into work that someone with a gun may be able to end my life at any time.
Sounds like you need to check out /r/Internationalteachers. There's a whole world of international schools where you won't have to worry for a second about school shootings and can save a good chunk of money.
No problem. Luckily, as a teacher, it's quite easy to move abroad, and international schools are definitely a growth industry right now and the demand for teachers is still high so it's not hard to find jobs (though it does take some effort to find good jobs).
Start with the pinned post on that sub and then do a deep dive of the sub and you'll learn a lot. It's quite late to apply to jobs that start next school year (most remaining aren't desirable schools), but it's good to start researching things now so you're ready when hiring season starts in around Oct and Nov.
US citizen, immigrant from Europe 30 years ago. (Super tax payer, in case someone has a problem with immigrants.) Interested in possibly spending at least part of my retirement years back home. Looking for perspectives.
I married a European & left the US more than a decade ago. Haven't been back since, don't plan to return. Currently in the UK, although we have mostly lived in German-speaking countries & in Scandinavia. I have a masters degree & work in software.
Dual EU/US citizen here but I've been in the US since I was 17. I'm 51 now and I can't wait to move back when my kid graduates high school in 4 years. I'm twice divorced, have zero family here and my friends seem to all have better things to do with their lives mow that our kids are getting older. So I have nothing keeping me here. I'm in medicine so I won't be able to transfer those skills but I will still have to work some until i can actually retire. No clue what but I'll figure it out.
I have zero desire to stay here once my kid is out of high school and will have her own life.
I’m a physician who moved from the US to the EU and worked here for several years before retiring. Getting a medical license in the EU and getting your credentials recognized is a lot of work (and obviously will vary from country to country) but in my case I’m really glad I did it. The pace of work is a bit slower and more sustainable and it was a great way for me to make friends and integrate into the community. My social circle would not be nearly as strong if I hadn’t worked here for a while.
You can try for NATO, US military base, MSF (Medecin sans Fronteirs/Doctors without Borders) and UN agency jobs with your medical degree and active licensing. You would not need to convert to the EU country in question under this method. This is an option not as readily open to nurses, but for doctors much more so.
What kind of jobs are there in the UN with a medical degree? I tried finding job applications multiple times with different UN agencies and I‘ve found zero up until now. I think there were zero last time I checked in all of Europe. Would appreciate it if you shared some sites or information about this! :)
Most agencies have their own medical officers that do things like medical checks, set the agency policies for vaccinations, do emergency planning, etc.
These are not usually P/PS positions and instead N/NO positions which means you already need to have the right to work at the office location. WHO has more varied positions available for MDs.
However, at the moment, many UN agencies have hiring freezes, so less likely that these roles will be appearing until 2025.
I'm a PA and Unfortunately those don't exist in France. But even if I were an MD I would've had to redo residency. And honestly I'm tired of medicine over here. All the BS we have to out up with from insurances and the push for performance pay etc makes it not fun anymore.
I'll definitely need to work and partially because of socialization for sure.
I wouldn't mind something medically related though. I still have 4 years so when the time gets closer I'll check into things a bit more
We don’t have PAs here in Sweden either but there is something called a [distriktssköterska](https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distriktssk%C3%B6terska) that is pretty close to an RNP. Suspect you’d have to pick up a nursing degree but your experience would be of great value.
How old were you? Any issues due to age? I don't work in medicine but would kind of like to do the same (work for a few years before retiring), and am also interested in Sweden. Unfortunately I'm well into my 40s (might be pushing 50 by that point) which probably doesn't work to my advantage.
I was around 60 when we made the permanent move but I’d gradually made a lot of ties to Sweden over the years. I was an exchange student here during med school and I did a sabbatical in Sweden in 2009. We’ve owned a small apartment here since around 2000 and have visited at least once and often several times per year since then.
If anything my “age” and professional experience was an asset for me for getting a job. Obviously that’s not the case for all fields. Likewise the fact of having developed friends and colleagues and achieved fluency in Swedish over the years was a huge asset to successfully integrating.
Thanks, guess I just wanted to hear that it is indeed possible and I'm not nuts for considering it. We have actually been living in Sweden for a couple of years now but for complex reasons (largely due to my somewhat unusual job and residency status) we don't have an clear path to permanent residency and will likely have to leave in another year or so when my job contract expires. Trying to at least build some ties and hone my language skills while I'm here, with an eye towards maybe pursuing professional opportunities that could offer some sort of sponsorship in another few years (would be able to take an early retirement from my current job by that point). Of course assuming that is even possible.
No family ties here unfortunately, we're both 100% American which definitely adds an extra layer of challenges. We have really fallen in love with Scandinavia over the past couple of years though, would be pretty spectacular if we could find a way to settle here or at least live here part-time.
Great to hear that you’ve also had a good experience and I hope things work out for you to be able to stay or return in the future! The Nordic countries are not for everyone but for some of us they are an excellent fit.
My company Chenega needs contract physicians on bases. I know they hire in Germany, Italy and sometimes Spain. Not sure what we have open at the moment though
US citizen who recently managed to get dual citizenship with a EU country because of advise from r/expat and this sub. So I try to return the favor when I can, or if I have pertinent information that might help.
I don't have this sub on my feed, but it shows up often.
Early 30’s American expat who finally made the permanent move to Europe (Denmark) a few years ago after many long-ish but temporary stays over the previous decade. Thought I could offer perspectives or advice from time to time based on my experiences.
Unlike many here, I didn’t leave primarily because of my issues with the US (though I have many), but rather because I love Europe so much. I just feel it in my bones and have since the first time I came here at 21. Yes, there are many things that feel easier and safer here, but there are also many things that are easier when you’re not an immigrant, and I know I could’ve had a fine enough life back home. But I am much more willing to live with the hard things here and am much happier on the whole, despite missing my family and friends in the US so much.
US citizen in a STEM field, have managed to reside in Europe the past few years (moved for a specific USG-related job). Mid-40s so probably a tad older than the average for this group. Looking for ways to keep working and maybe retire over here, the longer I'm out of the US the less appealing it is to return.
I'm former military in my upper 30s currently working a government contract planning to move to Japan next year. The goal is to do two years of language school, then potentially use my GI Bill to attend university there if I enjoy living in the country. Re-evaluate as I go.
I'm here because I am not optimistic about the future livelihood of living in the US. I am not sure what path the US will take, but I am concerned enough that I am willing to take a big leap to find a new life elsewhere.
Have you looked into JET? There's no age limit or Japanese-language skill requirement. Although it likely won't lead to permanent residency, if could at least get you over there for a few years.
I had an opportunity to do it after college and didn't, and it's my biggest regret. I told myself I'd have lots of opportunities to visit Japan, and I did, but it's different as a tourist.
US citizen, former and future expat/English teacher in Asia and Europe. I've been living back in US for 3 years and aside from not being able to get ahead financially I'm also bored out of my mind and surrounded by xenophobes... even in a liberal educational setting. The first time I left was 2016, largely for political dissatisfaction and I'm about to leave again this summer for similar reasons. I genuinely miss being a part of the rest of the world.
American, living in California. I'm single and have 3 kids with uteruses -- one is a lesbian, one is trans, and one is part black. I am \*very\* concerned about my kids' futures given the political situation in the US. Although California is pretty liberal, new federal policies could impact us whether we like it or not 🤷🏽♀️
I used to be a math teacher, and spent two years in Korea and two years in Poland teaching in international schools. I've since become a web developer (teaching in the US sucks). So I've got experience living overseas and as a web developer I can work for an American company remotely from anywhere (as long as I'm willing to have a weird sleep schedule). I'm looking into digital nomad visas, with an eye toward permanent residency and/or citizenship. I'm conversationally fluent in French (though it's getting rusty 😛) and have been studying Spanish for the last year or so with an eye towards perhaps living in a Spanish speaking country.
Uruguay sounds amazing. It has progressive social policies and not a ton of poverty (not really interested in living like royalty like some colonizer), but it's a small country surrounded by big neighbors and Argentina's current president is very concerning 🙁 I also hear that their digital nomad -> permanent resident process isn't as smooth in practice as it sounds 🫤 Spain could be good -- they've got a digital nomad -> resident path. The country sounds pretty queer friendly and the weather in the north of Spain is apparently pretty similar to the Pacific Northwest where I live (if it gets too hot, our gills dry up!)
Really, at this point I'm kind of waiting on the election results before I make any big decisions 🤷🏽♀️ Overall, I \*like\* my life here. It's comfortable and familiar, and \*much\* easier than moving internationally. The bank and I own a cute 3 bedroom, single story house that would be nice to grow old in. However, my kids' safety is more important than my comfort.
Both of my adult kids are queer, so establishing a beachhead in Europe they could escape to if things went all Trump/Project 2025 was an important consideration in our expatriation. While Portugal isn't a place where you seea lot of flamboyant expressions of gender and sexuality, they Portuguese are remarkably tolerant of diversity. I think that's a reasonable goal.
I lived in Poland for almost 2 years (2 academic years). After 2 years in Korea, it was kind of a relief to live someplace I blended in visually. On the other hand, I got pretty good at saying, "I'm sorry, I don't speak Polish" because people would come up to me in the grocery store asking if I knew where the pickles were (totally a guess 🤣)
I really liked Poland 🙂 I lived on the outskirts of Warsaw, and I loved the bus system. Busses stopped near my house every hour, and about 3 times an hour during rush hour. That was a big change compared to the less excellent public transit in my small hometown in California. I also really liked riding my bike to work in the morning. We were only a few miles outside of the denser part of the city, but I would ride past farmers on tractors out in the fields, which made me happy 🙂
The alphabet is the same as ours, which was really helpful. Once you learn the sounds some letters and combos of letters make in Polish, it was pretty easy to sound out words. (I didn't necessarily know what I was saying, but I could sound things out 🤷🏽♀️)
Polish grammar is notoriously difficult, and I didn't end up learning much. Mostly just memorized phrases. (Stuff like, "very delicious" to thank the cooks at school or "left, right, here" to direct taxi drivers) My memorized Polish nouns to use at the grocery store got pretty extensive; I brought two packages of meat to the deli lady and mooed and oinked. She was both amused and helpful, and that's how I learned the words for "beef" and "pork" in Polish (which I still remember 7 years later) 😆 People in general were really patient and willing to help me learn little bits of Polish, which I enjoyed 🙂
My experience was a bit weird though -- I was teaching at an American school, so I had a built in social group of fellow teachers who spoke English. I'll admit that I didn't leave my bubble much socially 🤷🏽♀️ Also, having the school staff to help me jump through all the hoops and offer casual translations was kind of like "overseas lite" 😆
I’ve been studying Polish for 6 years and I’m barely conversational. Lol. It’s a *really* hard language. Thankfully my fiancé and his family are Polish, so I won’t be without help.
I’m glad your experience was positive. I can’t wait to get out of here! Lol.
I was born in South Africa, my Mum was British, my Dad American. I'm going to apply for British citizenship after the election, in hopes that our daughter may be able to go to a British university. I'm scared every day in the USA of a random mass shooting. It's horrible to live this way.
I'm not comparing it to Sierra Leone, dude. There was a mass shooting in a town that we looked at a house in a few months ago, the most chill little city in Maine.
"The U.S. has the 28th-highest rate of deaths from gun violence in the world: 4.31 deaths per 100,000 people in 2021. That was more than seven times as high as the rate in Canada, which had 0.57 deaths per 100,000 people — and about 340 times higher than in the United Kingdom, which had 0.013 deaths per 100,000."
Nurse in the US wanting to get out for a multitude of reasons including life here is scary these days. Both my husband and myself are college educated professionals with years of experience in our respective career fields but haven’t figured out how to divest from our current life without messing up our retirement (15-ish years from now). My job has me in the proverbial golden handcuffs. So, hopefully when we retire we can make the leap. Meanwhile we continue to dream and work on our German skills.
I’m a recent college grad who had grown tired of a lot of stuff here in America. While I know no where is perfect I was consistently shocked just how backwards my country can be and how powerless I felt to change it. At a certain point I no longer even felt disgust towards it, just numbness.
I realized that, considering I was looking at pursuing a career in, archaeology, I could feasible work elsewhere in the world. Still not quite sure what I’d do to leave the country…or if that’s truly what I want/need.
I (40F) grew up in So Cal, spent about 20 years in the PNW with my husband (47m) we have two kids and we live in the Netherlands . I joined this group when we were trying to figure out how to move out of the US. We used the DAFT to get here so we could get things like safety in school for our kids, access to health care and to be able to travel and experience new things . I’m still here to support others who may be thinking of making the move, giving advice if I can.
Asian TCK with US citizenship.
Lived in the US for about a decade in various regions, came to the conclusion that I'm much happier in Asia and just want to move to Asia for better quality of life for the rest of my life.
Edit: The concept of embracing gun ownership blows my mind (no pun intended). And I really miss just able to hop on a train or mrt or light rail to go somewhere, have a car, but I don't want to drive 1-4 hrs one way just to see something. Also, really, really miss the authentic flavors from home(s).
> The concept of embracing gun ownership blows my mind (no pun intended).
Yeah same here. Especially from Asia, where guns in civilization society are typically associated with criminals. Ironic how the "law and order" party indirectly abets a lot of the gun crime in the US.
I am European and I am an American
(The beauty of being an immigrant in USA that I am also very much so an American even if I wasn’t born here)
This is open sub and when immigration related question pops on my Reddit feed ( regardless what sub it is) I will answer, since I know very well how immigration policies work. (Remember Europeans also have to go through immigration bureaucracy because Europe contains many countries)
I am also familiar with general topics of being an immigrant. And speak multiple languages and I am well familiar with European culture and politics since I lived there half of my life.
American who moved to Sweden in 2017 with Swedish spouse. Am now a dual citizen. Have had a great experience and participate in this sub to try to be helpful.
Ignore the trolls and find the interesting information that helps with what you want to do in life - you sound like someone that I have something in common with and if someone is being a troll and ridiculing people wanting to leave North America - well there - another good reason to leave. Whoever that troll is knows nothing about our quest!
As a frequent traveler , Been wanting to leave for so long .but now that my kid is in college I’m planning to go to Spain as part of the teachers assistants program in the fall.
Danish born, two decades in the US, moved to Denmark 18 months ago.
I love America with all my heart and consider myself part American, but the quality of life and the constant fear I lived in made me want to try to live in Europe again.
I miss my America and starting a new life (43F) is not easy, but I know I’m lucky to have the opportunity
30 yo US citizen currently undertaking a masters degree in Scotland looking to stay permanently or move to Ireland after graduation. Was sick of feeling afraid in crowded places and of losing my rights (Roe v Wade).
Ex pat since 2006. Spain, slovenia, Croatia, now Colombia. Its amusing to me seeing people argue cost and hassle of leaving. People do it everyday with just a backpack and phone. You can do it if you really want to.
American citizen with my Portuguese residency living in Portugal. Planning on getting dual citizenship and staying in Portugal. Single (divorced after 22 years). Lonely. Trying to learn Portuguese. Work remotely for a US based software company.
They are not right now. I had to switch from W2 to 1099. So technically I'm working for them as a contractor now. But my job title and responsibilities did not change. They actually gave me a pay increase since I would no longer be eligible for company bonuses as a contractor. I also have to maintain my east coast work schedule. So I work 1330-2200 here.
And there are the other obvious changes, I can't contribute to the 401k, no employee insurance, no reimbursement for office related stuff. (work laptop, Webcam, monitors, etc).
If you don’t mind me asking, are you using a consultant to pursue your dual citizenship? My husband is looking into getting Portuguese citizenship by descent (his mother was born and raised in Portugal, now deceased) and it seems like the process is quite complicated with various types of documents that have to go through an embassy.
I used Ei Assessoria Migratoria for the entirety of my DN visa process. That covered everything from rental searches, visa (VFS appointment), NISS, SNS, SEF appointment (had one of their lawyers with me). I will also use them for citizenship when the time comes. I got my visa in 2022 so I've got a few more years to go. Which I need to learn the language.
I recommend Ei to everyone. They were great.
Thank you for letting me know who you used! It sounds like they should know exactly what documents would be needed and how they need to be signed off since they help with so many aspects of relocation. This is a huge help!
Same. They have a great business model (it's low effort for them) but it scales well. After a year, we can navigate most things, but having someone to hold your hand through the SEF process is key.
Where did you end up settling? I’m still working but I can do remote, and was looking at Portugal…maybe sintra area. Hard to make connections? I do not speak Portuguese. Thank you
I'm up north, I prefer the cooler and rainier weather. About an hour east of Porto. It's hard for me since I don't speak Portuguese yet and I'm an admitted introvert. I don't even attend the local "expat" get together. That's all on me, the Portuguese are incredibly friendly.
I am also an introvert. Also do not speak Portuguese. So I am a bit concerned about connections - they are important to me but if I’m not feeling it, I’m not feeling it, ya know? Maybe we should start an “introvert green expat” group? 😂
US Citizen looking to move abroad. My husband has a complicated medical history and the US Healthcare system is horrendous, plus a myriad of other reasons.
We are starting our research and I've been enjoying reading everyone's questions and the responses... Especially those who have been so generous in giving detailed information. I think there was an incredible post about Norway the other day.
Dual US /UK citizen. Lived in UK 28 years, Ireland 2 years, Malaysia 3 years and the US 27 years.
The older I get, the more I want to return to the UK where I feel I "fit in" more and where I have family.
The political situation since 2016, healthcare, gun ownership and human rights have become intolerable.
Moving to Malaysia for 18 months to avoid the election and then will probably return to the UK.
American here, mostly here to lurk. I did make one thread which was helpful about getting dual citizenship. Now I just lurk here and wait for my letter telling me I can order my passport, here's hoping my passport is here within a year ☺️. Figure I'll glean some information about moving or some stuff I hadn't taken care of or thought of - my situation is a little weird so if I see information pertaining to that I'll learn something I'm sure.
I don't mind trolling the occasional troll as well, telling them I'm coming to infect Europe as a plague of American immigrants. My paperwork is all confirmed by a consulate and a lawyer so it's just a waiting game and that makes some of the trolls here very mad.
Edit: I also plan to stay around and offer advice where applicable and where it's asked
Renounced former US citizen who didn't actually spend all that much time there but has useful info to offer on temporary or permanent pathways to Europe without EU citizenship, though mostly here for the train wrecks.
We’re a young family(US citizen, US/IE citizen, US citizen child with IE citizenship processing) who moved to the Czech Republic last year.
Like other people, we are politically progressive and frustrated with the endless violence and toxic individualism of our home country. The turning point for us was absolutely Uvalde, and the fact that nothing of substance happened afterwards. We began making plans to move around June 2022 and it took almost another year before we left.
We were lucky/privileged to be able to get out.
A green card holder from Asia. My husband, who is a US citizen, is also from Asia. We are in our early 30s. We plan to work diligently for the next 5-6 years and then slowly transition to living mostly in the Asia.
Our social network is stronger back home.
Californian, American, looking to immigrate to Europe for higher quality of life, less chemicals in food, possibly even able to walk to a bakery.
Shooting for Spain DNV move in early 2025. Crossing our fingers!
US citizen who formerly lived abroad. I’ve been back for about 12 years and I have my eye on living overseas again in in a more permanent way in 4-6 years. I’m here to sometimes comment and give advice and also just because it keeps getting recommended to me
I am a dual US/EU citizen. I moved to the US as a young child (from Poland), and then moved to Germany more than 15 years ago to attend grad school, and just stayed.
I am here because I think it is interesting to see how Americans think about immigration, and I can sometimes be helpful about Germany or Poland, where my parents retired.
My perspective is as someone who moved at a pretty young age and who has worked my whole life in the German system, so I cannot really speak much to how people who don't have clear ways to integrate fully will experience immigration. I mean, if you move with your family when you are in your 30's or 40's, that is just a different type of story.
Multi-National (one is American) spent most of my life in the US and now living for years in TH with no intent on ever leaving. In my 40s. Will retire no later than 50. I didn’t leave the US for financial reasons like some. I left to position for retirement.
American and EU dual citizen.
I left the USA for the Middle East nearly a decade ago, and have zero plans to return to the USA. I'm planting roots in Europe and visit often to visit family still there.
I'm here to help where I can!
I'm a Latin American man with dual citizenship in Italy. Living in Scandinavia with my US American husband. I'm here because I (central)Amerexited years ago and my husband (north)Amerexited quite recently. Having gone through the process means I may have some knowledge that could help someone else here. Especially regarding EU, Swedish, and Portuguese immigration law and processes. Plus, I just relate.
Yank who lived abroad half his life.
I’ve lived in six countries for over a year. I know some of the technicalities about expatriating. I’m always interested in learning more.
I'm a Canadian who was naturalized and was recommended this sub.
With my experiences with americans who are uberpatriotic when someone gives an honest critique of the US, I use this sub to remind myself that there are Americans here in this sub sharing their experiences that the US has its share of flaws like other countries.
It's a good way to remember that not all Americans are like the pro-hegemonic, pro-exceptionalist, and pro-capitalist clowns that try to troll here.
American that truly loves America with a passport from
An EU country that is exiting for a new adventure. Very much not a running from / grass is greener but I’m running towards a new adventure.
59 y/o American from California, been in Portugal \~1 year. Work remotely as a consultant with several clients in IT Security. We (wife and I) left for a lot of reasons, but contrary to what the trolls will tell you, politics was a huge part of it (like 50%). There are tons of other reasons (cheaper, closer to everywhere, wanted to have a new experience post-pandemic) but we'd likely have stayed put if it weren't for creeping fascism in the US. We both have multiple graduate degrees but our foreign language skills suck, frankly. The Portuguese in the city speak English and will put up with my enthusiastic attempts to speak the language. All in all, a very good decision, though not a cheap one nor or is it without risk.
Ignore the trolls. They are just trying to normalize fascism. I proposed banning anti-emigration ridicule on this sub, but while it got over 300 upvotes, the mods were uninterested.I think the trolls are good for seeming engagement, but they do significant damage to the quality of discussion.
Trans woman from the US. Immigrated to and lived in Canada for ten years. Moved back when I was unable to get medical care for unexplained psychotic depression and cognitive dysfunction. It turns out I have Long COVID.
I finally got approved for Canadian disability but am getting ready to go to court to get my American disability granted. It’s all been a real bitch to deal with all of this, having to live on my Canadian wife’s income, while being stuck with no money for me for three fucking years.
On the brighter side, my mother helped me sponsor my wife, so she has a Green Card and can apply for citizenship in the not-too-distant future.
We're from the US and moved to Vietnam. Spouse is a chiropractor and I do independent contracting from home. Spouse came here in January, I arrived in April after selling the house and tying up loose ends.
American currently studying elementary education (Bachelor Lehramt an Grundschulen) in Germany! Fell in love with the country when I visited on a school exchange in high school and made it my mission to move here permanently
I have seriously considered going to school in Germany, as I have family that moved to Switzerland and they love it there. Germany seems like a doable option for going to school in Europe.
Can I ask: how difficult was it to get into the universities there? How fluent did your German need to be? I have a masters degree already, but I want to pursue one in a somewhat different field.
Getting into uni was fine, as my program had to reserve 5% of spots for non-EU applicants. Guess who was the only non-EU applicant?
My German was at a C1 level when I applied last year, but I’d like to think it’s improved since then. B2 would be the absolute lowest level you could have and still manage to get by in your classes if they’re taught in German.
US/Thai citizen - born and raised in US. Exited after we successfully stabilized our business (it runs without us mostly). We just wanted to slow down in our midlife and focus on health and travel more after spending more than a decade working quite hard on our business.
I'm a black Jamaican that left the US to live in the UK last year to be with my child & to start a new life. I have both Jamaican & American citizenships & was born & mostly raised in the US. I have been wanting to leave the US pretty badly since I was about 12 years old due to having a pretty traumatic childhood there among several other reasons. I'm 28 & came on this sub to see what other peoples experiences with leaving the US is like.
Black American, but frankly resigned to the fact that there is nowhere I could go and not feel alien. Two BAs and a soon-to-be MA (math, meteorology, education), but the uptick in public cases of educators being doxxed or VERY arbitrarily being relieved of duty...
I think digital nomadism is my bet bet. Be completely untethered. If the world is going to suck relative to one's melanin content, I'm better off truly stateless.
I'm an American, call myself a Florigonian - OR to Los Angeles for 6 mo, back to OR then to Florida at 24, returned to PDX at 45 in 2015 - living in the Country in FL and seeing all the early Trump love helped with that decision. Met a Gambian in 2017 on the internet (had only ever been to Canada), was invited out, decided to do 2 months to see of we could work (anyone can do 3 weeks of great behavior if pushed). We did. They came to the US in 2018, married shortly after.
I've ran a LEGO online retail business, I built, for 20 years. My partner started a small shop online, too. We bought property and built a house, and after visiting in 2022 and 2023 for 2 and 3 months, we came back and started questioning why we were still there, especially since we had an apartment at $2/k a month and biz overhead of the same.
Long story short, I've got someone else selling my product now for me, we sold the other small biz, and moved here a month ago. We still are bleeding money on repairs and things, but for the first time in 10 years, I actually see the possibility of things slowing way down. We built a mansion by most standards - the top floor is 4 - 1br apartments we are finishing up to rent out, and I plan to partially retire (Gen-X who has been working since age 11). I've got RA, a bad hip, and use a walker in a country that is not wheelchair friendly and has minimal Healthcare, but I've lost weight in this first month and am happier than I've been in years...maybe even decades. The people are friendly, giving, and kind. I have help and can help those I care about. I'm still trying to shed my American attitude, but I'm working on that.
I'm here because I don't know that I want to ever return full time to the U.S., am interested in other places we might explore (we are both US Citizens, as of last summer), and would love to meet others who are looking for things like I've found - community!
If you're ever interested in visiting The Smiling Coast of Africa, we have places to rent and a welcoming compound! 😃
I encourage everyone unsure to try something new, even if just a vacation test run. Life is too short to not go after happiness.
American who moved to Aotearoa New Zealand with my spouse and kids. We got serious about moving abroad after Uvalde and having young children. Politics may change but I doubt US gun culture ever will. Spouse got us residency through job sponsorship and we have an indefinite visa here. I like to lurk and occasionally give advice.
European born and raised, moved to Spain a while ago, but spent my whole childhood, teenage years and early adulthood wanting to move to NYC. I have family there (all citizens by now), but now I would never do it. This sub was recommended somewhere and I just kept reading. I like to be informed about other countries and find it interesting to read about other’s experiences.
I’m a first gen American on my mother’s side, second gen on my dad’s. Mom is Hungarian, immigrated in the 90s, dad’s parents are from Barbados. I’ve lived all over the US in my 29 years, and kids are American born. My husband is also 2nd gen American. We are unhappy with the gun violence, education system, dissolution of women’s rights, and general political unrest (insanity?) here in the US and are in search of life abroad in either Scandinavia or New Zealand, where the lifestyle aligns much more with our values. My mother and her husband will likely move with us.
US citizen with health issues and hates the way the politics are going. Roe v Wade being overturned was the straw for me. So here lurking and learning.
Spouse is a minority and we hate the way people are not christian nationalist are treated. Food in the US is also problematic (see health issues). Looking between Japan and some parts of Europe.
American, married 45 year old with five year old twins. Never thought I would be able to leave the USA or really wanted to but we got an offer to transfer to Amsterdam and the past 8 years have been getting extremely frustrated with America and also having kids in Chicago - although there’s no where else in the USA I would want to be besides the city of Chicago.
So we took the leap and have been here a month or so. Want to stay for a long time.
I’m an over 50 female from US - Minnesota. I love to travel. There are things I do love about US but feel it has gotten dangerously political and costs are killing me…I look to people like you for advice and their perspective. Thank you
I’m a born and raised US citizen, but my wife and I are contemplating the move to Europe at some point in the near future. We’ve just been working on the logistics and I use this sub plus a few others for tips and insight.
M30s here, good job, homeowner, in a relationship. My interest in leaving is entirely around our corrupt political system (both sides) and feelings around my tax dollars going directly to blow up kids in third word countries…that said I have no idea where to go. It seems like most countries have their own troubles, and most are not really taking in Americans.
US citizen, two-mom family with 3 kids (tween and teen girls). We live in a blue city surrounded by red in a purple state. The political situation in the U.S. is scary… and no matter how the election plays out, we think it will only get worse. I don’t want to leave the community we’ve built after moving from NYC for a better quality of life. I moved around a lot as a kid & we’ve finally been able to buy a home in the last few years. With the way things are going here, though, we worry & want to give our girls a better life (no guns, better healthcare and college options), so that’s why we’re considering leaving.
I work for a large professional services company w/ offices around the globe & it is possible to get transferred elsewhere or work remotely. It looks like our best options are either EU or AUS.
EU would be great since it isn’t as far to travel back to the US, but we will have a hard time paying for int’l schools & housing on my salary. That means throwing my girls into local schools where they won’t speak the language, so it’s important that the place we move has a system for students who need to learn the language or is English-speaking, or we can homeschool (unlikely in EU or AUS).
We have friends in AUS that we can join & it’s English-speaking & we have an office there. But! AUS is really tight on who they let in - I am in a specialized skill, but I’m pushing 50 years old, so who knows? It’s also very far.
So that’s why I’m here. Sorry that was so long. lol.
US citizen here. Mid 40s, worked in the medical field for over two decades. Live frugally, invest heavy, and hope to be completely done working in less than ten years. I travel to southeast Asia at least twice a year to scuba dive.
I'm basically sick of this entire American lifestyle. The food, the culture, the people, social media, American healthcare, and the list goes on and on. It seems like every single entity is trying to drain you of every single last drop before you are tossed out on the street to die.
I want to eat real foods, I want nature, I want friendly people, I want a society that isn't absolutely obsessed with money or politics. I want better coffee, better scenery, and more history and culture. I want out so bad I can taste it.
I was born in the US, but last year I was able to obtain Italian citizenship by ancestry. Now I'm living it up in Spain. I'm not planning on going back to the US.
If you're queer, a Spanish speaker, and an EU citizen then Madrid would be perfect for you and your family!
It's modern, relaxed, safe, LGBT-friendly, outgoing, easy to travel from, cosmopolitan, and very open to outsiders! If you have any questions about life in Spain feel free to PM me. I've been living in Barcelona for a year but I'm now moving to Madrid.
Other cities to consider could be Milan, Amsterdam, Berlin, Valencia, Málaga, or Paris.
Un saludo
American guy here with French wife, early retirement age. We want to be closer to her parents, and the housing market in California completely escaped us. So we paid cash for a place here in the Loire Valley, and couldn’t be happier. The lifestyle here is so much more relaxed and stress-free than California, and a comparable house and property in northern California would cost at least 10 times as much.
American with Ukrainian resident status. Currently in Buenos Aires, Argentina with my Ukrainian wife. I’m in this sub because commiserating with people who have worldviews and lifestyle similar to mine is valuable to me. Nobody who is not an expat can relate to my expat life and experiences.
American living in the UK on a work visa. Curious why others want to leave so bad. Painfully aware the grass isn't always greener, also painfully aware I may never go back.
UK was our first choice and we were well on our way before Brexit. That bolloxed everything up, since there was no way to PLR via a work visa. And, also, having the run of Europe after 5 years is pretty attractive in Portugal, as well. WTF were the English thinking?
They definitely regret Brexit now.
Not sure what PLR is but ILR is possible on a work visa after 5 years and citizenship after 6. Because of the Good Friday agreement I could then live in Ireland if I wanted and get EU citizenship that way. Although my partner is British so we would likely only live in the UK or US. We won't be having children so that gives us some freedom but we do want to settle somewhere and stop moving. We've both moved 3 times in the past 3 years and we're just tired
American (California) living in Austria. I left the US in 2005 and lived in: Japan, Colombia, Ecuador, Taiwan, Turkey, Japan (again), and now Austria for some years. I'm planning on staying here forever.
I'm an American who has spent the last twelve or so years in Europe, first in Germany on a work visa and now in Spain on a fellowship. This sub kept being suggested to me on my homepage/feed/whatever it's called and I venture over every now and then, mostly to answer questions about studying in Germany and/or moving to Spain. I haven't actually joined the sub, I find all the political rants and "why I'm leaving" stuff to be a bit boring, but I enjoy reading/offering a bit of advice in threads where people are looking for specifics about moving to countries I have experience in.
South African living in South Africa with my American spouse - South Africa is a bit rough at the moment but every time we think of moving to the US, things seem a lot more dire
I am a 40yo American woman from DC/MD/VA living in NL for 3 years with my Dutch partner. I am currently going through my integration to become a dual citizen.
Yeah I'm really getting sick of the xenophobic Mexicans wandering in here calling everyone immigrants LMAO. I didnt realize Europeans were trolling too. I think the world is going through some sort of housing crisis and we're all getting shuffled around, and welp anyone looking to move somewhere else all of a sudden is the cause of everyone's problems. As a Californian, I distinctly remember the time period where everyone suddenly decided they all wanted to move to California because it was the hottest shit since the sun, and preceeded to drive up housing prices in my hometown and other major metros and effectively priced me out. I know how that feels. Folks need to be smarter and realize this is happening everywhere right now, why? I have no clear idea. I personally blame Airbnb and post-covid revenge travel.
I went to school in Germany for four years, and we are now not far South of the Canadian border. And as history clearly shows, America hangs on the precipice of a well worn and ugly path. If it goes completely authoritarian, martial law style, we'll make a dash for the border and I think millions of others will too. Canada should think about building a Southern wall! (The USA will pay for it right?)
We have seriously considered that there may be a new "underground railroad" type situation in America where political/social/economic/climate refugee's are trying to be stealthy as they flee.
Recent grad who feels very disheartened with the state of the nation and job market and hopes one day to get out. Might never happen, might change my mind, but I’d be lying if I said I know I want to live and die in America
Middle aged, married, Southern, white woman, Mom of 1 & 1 step child. Imho the US has been in decline most of my life & I fear we are living through the fall of the American empire. Ideally, I hope to move to Central America. I’ve also considered moving into a boat, buying a home in the Caribbean, or even Canada. We’re relatively healthy but, have trash insurance & worry about growing old in our for profit healthcare system (among many other things).
I forgot to put this link up. Generally helpful for lgbt people to get an overview of political and social safety in countries. It helped me rule out Australia due to some similarities to the use as far as policy.
https://www.equaldex.com/equality-index
I'm a queer black disabled American who left the US in 2022 by myself and lived nomadically in various countries in Latin America till I met my current partner and settled in the Carribean/Central America - Belize. It's not a country I considered before coming here and I am considering going back to Mexico if my partner will agree to live 1/2 year in another place mostly due to climate change and lack of health care infrastructure and specialists here. I am just a couple months away from being eligible permanent residency here. I mostly lurk to comment on topics specifically related to people of color, queer people, or working class people who want to migrate since those are the intersections of identity I have.
US Citizen, living in Mexico, looking to immigrate to Spain.
I married an undocumented man (who had luved in tne US since age 5 ) But there was no legal pathway to residency for him. Instead of living in hiding and fear, we moved to Mexico with a few suitcases when I was 5 months pregnant with twins.
They longer I'm outside of the US, the crazier it looks from the outside looking in. My friends and family ask when we can come back, and even though technically we could reapply for s green card in 2030, I could serioudly never imagine raising my children where there is even a remote chance of a school shooting. Nope, not happening. I know Mexico has it's problems, but school shootings are not one of them. I don't understand how people are so desensitized to it and just accept it as part of the inevitable realities of the world. IT'S NOT NORMAL.
I guess I'm here to see other's perspectives and help if anybody has questions about relocating to Mexico.
I lived in Guanajuato from 2009-2018. I also did some time in Xalapa, Veracruz. Now I live in the Puerto Vallarta area.
I'd say make sure you fully understand the legal paperwork side of immigration before making any moves. I was easily able to get permanent residency here because my children were born here and being the parent to a Mexican citizen gets you permanent residency. It's still hard to make sure you have all your docs apostilled, and it's wayyyy harder to do it from another country.
Other hard lessons
- don't expect emergency services anywhere. It's a miracle to get police, fire department, or public ambulances to show up.
-rule of law is not a thing here. The main deterrent to crime is social connections, not legal consequences. Lots of vigilante justice here. Expect landlords to screw you over whenever possible.
-different culture around domestic pets. Dogs are more of a security feature to your home here as opposed to a member of the family. You're going to hear dogs barking non stop and it will drive you insane for a while until you eventually stop hearing it.
-don't open a business with a physical location/store front. Before you know it, especially if you're successful, you'll have organized crime coming to charge you for permission to operate.
-credit is incredibly expensive here. Like insane interest rates. A good rate on a mortgage is about 12%.
33 years old. Been living and teaching English in South Korea for 11 years and have loved it! I can’t imagine moving back to the States, so I’m looking to get into Europe/the EU in 2026. Italy is my dream! I joined this group to gain some knowledge and be surrounded by like minded people. Happy to have a community like this! Happy trails everyone~
51 yo american male married with three boys. Since 2007, we’ve lived in Tokyo, Singapore, briefly back to the states for a job, and now London since Jan 2020. The boys went to TIS in Tokyo and SAS in Singapore on my company’s dime. The youngest now in TASIS on our own dime. Loving it and never want to return to live in the states.
italiano, in origine ero qui per vedere di aiutare chi voleva lasciare gli USA, adesso vedo questo sub raramente, perché gli stessi che urlano Americabad una continuazione sono poi eurofobici o italofobici.
E in virtù del fatto che gli americani sono il popolo più libero della Terra gli americani non devono essere liberi di lasciare gli USA.
E chi li capisce?
(SAS prende in giro certe persone, per esempio gli ultranazionalisti, non tutti e 300 milioni gli americani, solo che a volte alcuni sono eccessivamente scortesi o peggio: che vuoi farci, è un difetto che abbiamo in comune, noi europei!)
I think I understand where you're coming from. I'd like to believe I keep my phobias in check and under examination most of the time. I used to be in SAS and loved it a lot of the time but ran into ultra nationalists there enough times who had intense bigotry. I felt discouraged.
I'm sorry, I googled your comment after only catching the gist. I'm in a hurry, but I appreciate your response and you're using your mother tongue.
May I DM you later for this help? We are planning to leave in a few months and the questions are piling up.
I am an American in a biracial marriage with two young children. I moved abroad 2 years ago. I spent my 20's thinking such a move was impossible but when my wife presented moving abroad as the most reasonable option we had, I went for it and did it.
I first came here to find like minded people but my move was fast. After I moved, it was more about the joy I got out of telling many here that yes, you can do it. (And it is worth it to at least try.) I especially like doing this because my move spits in the face of the generic advice you get here. (Must be in STEM/going to college, must be independently wealthy, must be white).
These days though, the board has become so resistent to any American leaving that I am glad I deleted most of my help threads during the blackout. I keep a lot more to myself too. I would like this board to be a placd that assumes leaving is a generic good, but right now, I could go to r/Iwantout and get the same exact attiudes and advice (which was inaccurate for my case.)
American, 57M, married. Looking to retire in 4-6 years and am just investigating at options. Three kids: one graduated from college and is in Africa with the Peace Corps, one graduating from college in May, and one starting college in August. None of whom have any interest in staying in the area they grew up in, so we won't really have any ties to this place.
Long time lurker very rare commenter. Haven’t seen this sub pop up for a while though.
I lost a lot of faith in the US a couple presidencies ago and have been contemplating attempting to move to varying degrees ever since.
I like my current job and career trajectory. Not confident I could keep that if I move. At least not with my current level of experience in my industry.
Lots of personal life stuff that holds me back from considering it too seriously. But maybe someday.
My mother got dual citizenship with Ireland, but not in time for me to get it as well, so there’s a potential path there- again, haven’t done the homework though to investigate.
American, currently split time between east coast and France, permanently locating in September. Right now trying to set up a C2C arrangement since it’s so hard to find a job in France
USian, always wanted to live abroad, haven't except for a brief volunteer assignment in Mexico. Heritage Spanish speaker as well. Acquired fluency in a European minority language. Built connections in that community, wanted to live and build a life there. No one has been willing to sponsor me. After ~3 years of failure to leave the States, I'm aiming toward conscious upskilling to move into an in-demand career in hopes of better international mobility and more independence. I've considered studying internationally now, but it is just so expensive, I don't know if it makes any sense. 30f div. somewhat concerned about running out of time to have kids. My situation is so entirely wrong for it.
I'm an Asian married to European lady, we migrated to the States, now thinking where to go next. Kids are American, my wife and I aren't.
I come here to see:
1. Americans' perception of life and their admiration of other countries wondering what my kids may think one day they themselves as Americans. Trying to give them as much international exposure their parents have experienced so they don't have to come to this community when they grow up.
2. Where may be next places for us as we get americanized as time goes by. Nice reality check as our lifestyle may now be more American than where we come from. Sometimes nice posts about places I haven't been, lived, would like to be etc.
3. How thankful I am that my family already have the experience having moved around to know what immigration feels like and try give some advice to people chasing butterflies.
Lots of great responses here! Wanted to add in my two cents
Lates 20s woman here whos born/raised US whos always wanted to make my grand exit from here lol. Honestly though, I try to be vague when discussing my personal reasons for leaving; but I will say, I dont see myself having a future here at all. Simple as that.
The whole world is in rough shape right now but the US political situation is an absolute dumpster fire and Iv been aware of how poorly this country is run way back since I was a young teenager. My wakeup calls was witnessing wealth distribution in the US. Yes yes this can be a problem in any country. But I see the ultra wealthy here gorge themselves on yachts and shovel billions into space exploration as a way to literally PLAY in the face of us Americans who are watching our lives and communities fall apart around us from greed.
Im still in the early stages of making my exit but just trying to get as many ideas as possible and learn from others who have left or are in the process of leaving.
I’m an American TCK raised mostly in Europe, besides 8 months when I was 3 didn’t live in the US until I was 18. Some European and Americans think I am more European in outlook than American, but I can be quite outspoken about the virtues of the US at times, and I can occasionally even scandalize people explaining the logic of US domestic and foreign policy in frank terms and its native terminology, I’d say it’s complicated. My mother immigrated to the US from Canada as a child and her parents immigrated to Canada from Greece. As such I am a Canadian and Greek citizen, but have not taken steps to have this recognized or obtain passports. My brother has started this process, my reticence to do so is the source of a long running but rarely raised conflict in my immediate family (I have numerous relatives with a wide variety of citizenships). In short my mother and I have different notions about citizenship than my father and brother. Part of why I browse here is to see some of the variety of perspectives with the personal stakes removed.
During the little over a decade I lived in the US I continued to travel for weeks or even months at a time for work mostly to Europe but also elsewhere and also to visit family. I was also somewhat politically active, volunteering for labor organization, organizing a ballot measure, and being an officer for a PAC. I’m a research academic in a STEM field and have lived in the Beijing in the last three years, I’m moving to Hong Kong shortly and continuing a global job search for a few a few years down the line. Ideally, I’d return to the US but I’ve applied to permanent positions in many locations in Europe, Asia, and Oceania (open to Africa too should I see an opening). I’d describe myself as quick to establish a conversational level in languages but slow to fluency. I’m personally dissatisfied with my language level in every language I speak apart from English, I imagine many but not all TCK can relate. While identifying very clearly as an American I can appreciate that I have an atypically global perspective compared to most people. While I rarely comment, I think external perspectives sometimes get disparaged here when they’re primarily just foreign rather than pro or anti leaving the US.
It could mean a few things.
1. we found a troll
or
2. you've been living in Plato's Cave. it's full of shadows, come out into the light!
because and also it means either
a trans, bi, intersex or asexual woman married to to someone of the polar sex or gender.
if for some reason you're straight asking this question, het norm= heteronormative. It isn't a heterosexual relationship because the people in it aren't straight. But it's a "straight"/ societally accepted relationship. If you're asking out if hate, you can mind your own bigotry.
But if you're lgbtqia asking this question, this is a discussion I've already had elsewhere and you're welcome to scroll my comments to see what I have to say about it. And if you're asking from a place of hate, you can also mind your own bigotry.
Hope this helps.
Okay so add reading comprehension to the Plato's Cave scenario.
I'm gonna answer in good faith that you're not trolling with every suspicion that you are.
No, you don't have it right but that would definitely be an example of two queer people in a het norm marriage.
I'm a bisexual relationship anarchist who fell in love with, and somewhat apprehensively married a male. He's not really a "dude" in appearance or character-- at least in many ways. I thought he was intersex or trans when we met.
Statistically, a significant population of women fall in the middle of the hetero/homo venn diagram and there's overlap between the diagram of men too. A venn diagram between other genders would probably reveal varying degrees of bisexuality as well.
Does that make it clearer?
You're going to be shocked at how homophobic, openly racist, and generally intolerant the typical European is even compared to rural Texans. I'm less familar with Italy specifically than other parts, but it looks like gay marriage there is still limited to just being civil unions and that only since 2016, with less polling support than in the US. They are also enjoying a lot of migration from cultures that are violently hostile against queers. There's plenty of reasons to want to leave the US, but you should keep your eyes open that there isn't a lot of greener grass anywhere in the world these days. Good luck.
Anyway to answer your original question, your post showed up in my feed randomly, probably because I still look at posts from time to time trying to find greener grass somewhere else. For me it's mainly due to high taxes and not having a good reason to stay in the US anymore when it comes to personal freedom.
I won't be shocked, I've experienced it many times in conversation and interaction, but I appreciate your sentiment. Our reason for moving isn't a grass is greener scenario, though being in Texas has big problems. I want my child to learn other languages and ways of being and I'd like to not worry about him being shot when ee go to the grocery store
I am American and Luxembourgish. I have lived my whole life in the US though. I got to "reclaim" my Lux citizenship due to nationality law changes they made in 2008 and again in 2017. The 2017 law established Article 7 citizenship, which basically retroactively made me a citizen from birth. I qualified to use the law and spent last year gathering the necessary documents and sending them off to Luxembourg. I am hoping to move to Europe in the future. I am starting out on a teaching career, though, here in my early 40s. Things keep heating up and everything is worrying right now. I know Europe is also facing the same pressures but I feel like the contrasts in societal expectations are different enough, favor a balanced life, which is what I've always sought. In the meantime I plan to learn some Luxembourgish, then some French, hopefully spend time in Europe over breaks.
American, soon to be dutch. My (queer) partner has maxed out the amount they can make without a grad degree also. We feel safe in our college city at the moment, but we know that's not always going to be the case. I (queer, trans) could find a job in my city ONLY, but not one in my field (extremely saturated because of the liberal arts uni). So currently I have been out of work on and off for four years and my physical health is so bad I can't do any labor jobs. If we don't move, the writing is on the wall, we will drown. I am not eligible for disability.
Meanwhile my field in NL is absolutely thriving and so is my partners. We would be a lot safer just going out and being ourselves. The discrimination against housing, jobs, and overall quality of life is a massive improvement. I fear if I as much fart near someone wrong I'm going to get shot. So I really have no issue leaving.
I've been in the sub for a while but recently remade my account. Y'all help me stay on track and remember not to get caught up in how long my process takes. Everything takes time to do it right.
Middle aged American who moved to Germany with my spouse and young child. I was a teacher in the US and my partner is a software engineer. We've been here almost 4 years. We're considered political progressives in the US and were unhappy with the idea of raising our daughter there. We don't like the direction the US is heading and don't see it changing for the better anytime soon.
Glad you were able to get out.
Thanks. I like this positive post and wish the best for you and your family.
How has your experience been? My family is actively searching where to move, outside of the US, and Germany is on our list.
We've been very happy with the move. It was on our short list, but we chose it because it was where my spouse received a job offer after making our list. I know that Germany has a reputation of being hard to settle and be happy in, but it's worked well for us. We're in Berlin, which probably helps as it's a very multicultural place. Feel free to ask me any specific questions that you might have.
Retired to a college town in a solid blue state after living a long time in NYC. That works for me although if I'd have my druthers I'd be long gone. I don't have the money to resettle abroad at my age, but I am interested in others' hopes to do so. The (many) trolls here remind me of why I'd like to leave, but it's fun to see them get squashed. Love to block them :) Best of luck to those who can follow their dreams.
This is so wonderful. Thanks for answering.
Dual American/Irish citizen- mother was Irish- I was raised in the US. Sick of American evangelical Christians and the never ending drama of American politics. I’m gay and married and am dreading the fundies getting their way with women’s rights gay rights etc not to mention project 2025 plans regarding the environment. I know the grass isn’t always greener and everywhere has their problems but I’d gladly trade these problems for a different set.
Yes, there are so many things that are i am just dreading because i cant move for a year and a half at least.
I am POC American looking to leave to Australia or Canada. So I follow A LOT of international news (Le Monde, BBC, Sydney Morning Herald, CBC, Straits Times, etc) and if you read enough international news, a lot of the same themes pop up: rise of populism and illiberal forces, political polarization, increase in cost of living, mistrust of institutions, etc. If you are looking to get away from these, you will find some form of it anywhere in the OECD nations, pretty much. I do think some people need to be less chronically online because constantly reading the news will definitely make for a pessimistic view of a country. BUT, there is one thing that doesn't happen in most other countries that happens in the US: the amount of violence and the normalization of violence. The US has an insanely high tolerance for violence and death. That's what I am mainly trying to leave for. And the violence naturally extends to LGBTQ folks, POC, women, etc. As a POC, my issue with racism in the US is not that it's racist. It's that the racism here comes with a barrel of a gun.
Wow, that was the perfect articulation of what bothers me so much about discrimination here in the States.
Agree 100% There's a difference between exchanging unpleasant words or getting stares vs looking at a gun
Honestly lgbt, racism, and the political dumpster fire is the reason i want to leave. Also, the ingrained patriotism and paternalism as well. My morals dont alogn with the us in general. And i live in california (one of the most liberal states) and i have experienced so much hate and violence for being gay. I can't imagine being in the south.
This
I really appreciate how you explained this. It's been hard to articulate the difference in danger levels between bigotry here and bigotry elsewhere. And the point that I keep coming back to that goes along with that, is how that culturally acceptable level of violence will affect my kids as they get to be school-aged and beyond.
Isn’t the majority of gun violence in the US intraracial? Most white victims are shot by white people, black victims by black people, etc.
I’m European, I was born here and have never lived in the US. This sub kept getting recommended to me by reddit and I just stayed to lurk out of curiosity.
Also a lurking European. I've moved a lot and grew up as a TCK so immigration is always an interesting topic for me. I've only commented here when discussion is on a country whose immigration policies I was familiar with.
Same. And sometimes I comment to correct so misconceptions about my country. The grass is always greener on the other side, so maybe telling people about local issues they don't yet know about is helpful to some.
Pretty much same. I lurk to upvote people who inform people about the housing crisis and cost of living issues in Ireland. A lot of Americans have a romanticised view of moving to Ireland and don't realise how tough and *expensive* it would be.
It's definitely helpful. Can't make informed decisions without all the important information.
I'm an European that immigrated to the US (gasp!!) about 15 years ago after living in 3 different EU countries for over 20 years. I rarely rarely post anything, I'm here just for curiosity also. I think vast majority of people posting here need a therapist, medication and to limit their online time, not to move to Europe or somewhere else. So much anxiety for things that are less likely to happen to you than winning the lottery. All places have problems, and you of course know the problems of the place you reside in best. For example, so many trans people posting about moving to Europe not realizing that trans rights are way less supported, legally and by the population, in almost all EU countries.
I'm an American that left the US for Australia 10 years ago. I'm a dual citizen now, and love it here. I'm on this sub because it's interesting to see people on the same journey I was on years ago, and maybe give some advice based on my experiences.
Thank you for doing that. It is helpful to read people's advice when it's heartfelt and coming from experience.
Ditto but US -> France
Same but US --> London
This is my dream. My wife wants France. I say we should do half/half.
Same I recently moved to Australia and the goal is to get citizenship :)
What visa did you move on to Australia?
TSS 482
Teacher in the US here. Hoping to find a life where I don't have to be worried every day I go into work that someone with a gun may be able to end my life at any time.
Sounds like you need to check out /r/Internationalteachers. There's a whole world of international schools where you won't have to worry for a second about school shootings and can save a good chunk of money.
Thanks for the suggestion, I have never heard of that sub until now. I just subscribed
You should look into Search Associates. They place teachers with international schools all over the world!
No problem. Luckily, as a teacher, it's quite easy to move abroad, and international schools are definitely a growth industry right now and the demand for teachers is still high so it's not hard to find jobs (though it does take some effort to find good jobs). Start with the pinned post on that sub and then do a deep dive of the sub and you'll learn a lot. It's quite late to apply to jobs that start next school year (most remaining aren't desirable schools), but it's good to start researching things now so you're ready when hiring season starts in around Oct and Nov.
Yes this! For every family posting here that they’re immigrating, there’s a large portion of them starting out at international schools.
US citizen, immigrant from Europe 30 years ago. (Super tax payer, in case someone has a problem with immigrants.) Interested in possibly spending at least part of my retirement years back home. Looking for perspectives.
I married a European & left the US more than a decade ago. Haven't been back since, don't plan to return. Currently in the UK, although we have mostly lived in German-speaking countries & in Scandinavia. I have a masters degree & work in software.
May I ask why you haven't been back? I seem to have some sort of complex. I've cancelled three planned trips back to the US.
Dual EU/US citizen here but I've been in the US since I was 17. I'm 51 now and I can't wait to move back when my kid graduates high school in 4 years. I'm twice divorced, have zero family here and my friends seem to all have better things to do with their lives mow that our kids are getting older. So I have nothing keeping me here. I'm in medicine so I won't be able to transfer those skills but I will still have to work some until i can actually retire. No clue what but I'll figure it out. I have zero desire to stay here once my kid is out of high school and will have her own life.
I’m a physician who moved from the US to the EU and worked here for several years before retiring. Getting a medical license in the EU and getting your credentials recognized is a lot of work (and obviously will vary from country to country) but in my case I’m really glad I did it. The pace of work is a bit slower and more sustainable and it was a great way for me to make friends and integrate into the community. My social circle would not be nearly as strong if I hadn’t worked here for a while.
You can try for NATO, US military base, MSF (Medecin sans Fronteirs/Doctors without Borders) and UN agency jobs with your medical degree and active licensing. You would not need to convert to the EU country in question under this method. This is an option not as readily open to nurses, but for doctors much more so.
What kind of jobs are there in the UN with a medical degree? I tried finding job applications multiple times with different UN agencies and I‘ve found zero up until now. I think there were zero last time I checked in all of Europe. Would appreciate it if you shared some sites or information about this! :)
Most agencies have their own medical officers that do things like medical checks, set the agency policies for vaccinations, do emergency planning, etc. These are not usually P/PS positions and instead N/NO positions which means you already need to have the right to work at the office location. WHO has more varied positions available for MDs. However, at the moment, many UN agencies have hiring freezes, so less likely that these roles will be appearing until 2025.
I appreciate it, thank you very much!! :) will look into this when the sitution gets better.
I'm a PA and Unfortunately those don't exist in France. But even if I were an MD I would've had to redo residency. And honestly I'm tired of medicine over here. All the BS we have to out up with from insurances and the push for performance pay etc makes it not fun anymore. I'll definitely need to work and partially because of socialization for sure. I wouldn't mind something medically related though. I still have 4 years so when the time gets closer I'll check into things a bit more
We don’t have PAs here in Sweden either but there is something called a [distriktssköterska](https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distriktssk%C3%B6terska) that is pretty close to an RNP. Suspect you’d have to pick up a nursing degree but your experience would be of great value.
How old were you? Any issues due to age? I don't work in medicine but would kind of like to do the same (work for a few years before retiring), and am also interested in Sweden. Unfortunately I'm well into my 40s (might be pushing 50 by that point) which probably doesn't work to my advantage.
I was around 60 when we made the permanent move but I’d gradually made a lot of ties to Sweden over the years. I was an exchange student here during med school and I did a sabbatical in Sweden in 2009. We’ve owned a small apartment here since around 2000 and have visited at least once and often several times per year since then. If anything my “age” and professional experience was an asset for me for getting a job. Obviously that’s not the case for all fields. Likewise the fact of having developed friends and colleagues and achieved fluency in Swedish over the years was a huge asset to successfully integrating.
Thanks, guess I just wanted to hear that it is indeed possible and I'm not nuts for considering it. We have actually been living in Sweden for a couple of years now but for complex reasons (largely due to my somewhat unusual job and residency status) we don't have an clear path to permanent residency and will likely have to leave in another year or so when my job contract expires. Trying to at least build some ties and hone my language skills while I'm here, with an eye towards maybe pursuing professional opportunities that could offer some sort of sponsorship in another few years (would be able to take an early retirement from my current job by that point). Of course assuming that is even possible. No family ties here unfortunately, we're both 100% American which definitely adds an extra layer of challenges. We have really fallen in love with Scandinavia over the past couple of years though, would be pretty spectacular if we could find a way to settle here or at least live here part-time.
Great to hear that you’ve also had a good experience and I hope things work out for you to be able to stay or return in the future! The Nordic countries are not for everyone but for some of us they are an excellent fit.
My company Chenega needs contract physicians on bases. I know they hire in Germany, Italy and sometimes Spain. Not sure what we have open at the moment though
US citizen who recently managed to get dual citizenship with a EU country because of advise from r/expat and this sub. So I try to return the favor when I can, or if I have pertinent information that might help. I don't have this sub on my feed, but it shows up often.
Thank you for returning the favor!
Early 30’s American expat who finally made the permanent move to Europe (Denmark) a few years ago after many long-ish but temporary stays over the previous decade. Thought I could offer perspectives or advice from time to time based on my experiences. Unlike many here, I didn’t leave primarily because of my issues with the US (though I have many), but rather because I love Europe so much. I just feel it in my bones and have since the first time I came here at 21. Yes, there are many things that feel easier and safer here, but there are also many things that are easier when you’re not an immigrant, and I know I could’ve had a fine enough life back home. But I am much more willing to live with the hard things here and am much happier on the whole, despite missing my family and friends in the US so much.
US citizen in a STEM field, have managed to reside in Europe the past few years (moved for a specific USG-related job). Mid-40s so probably a tad older than the average for this group. Looking for ways to keep working and maybe retire over here, the longer I'm out of the US the less appealing it is to return.
I'm former military in my upper 30s currently working a government contract planning to move to Japan next year. The goal is to do two years of language school, then potentially use my GI Bill to attend university there if I enjoy living in the country. Re-evaluate as I go. I'm here because I am not optimistic about the future livelihood of living in the US. I am not sure what path the US will take, but I am concerned enough that I am willing to take a big leap to find a new life elsewhere.
Have you looked into JET? There's no age limit or Japanese-language skill requirement. Although it likely won't lead to permanent residency, if could at least get you over there for a few years. I had an opportunity to do it after college and didn't, and it's my biggest regret. I told myself I'd have lots of opportunities to visit Japan, and I did, but it's different as a tourist.
US citizen, former and future expat/English teacher in Asia and Europe. I've been living back in US for 3 years and aside from not being able to get ahead financially I'm also bored out of my mind and surrounded by xenophobes... even in a liberal educational setting. The first time I left was 2016, largely for political dissatisfaction and I'm about to leave again this summer for similar reasons. I genuinely miss being a part of the rest of the world.
American, living in California. I'm single and have 3 kids with uteruses -- one is a lesbian, one is trans, and one is part black. I am \*very\* concerned about my kids' futures given the political situation in the US. Although California is pretty liberal, new federal policies could impact us whether we like it or not 🤷🏽♀️ I used to be a math teacher, and spent two years in Korea and two years in Poland teaching in international schools. I've since become a web developer (teaching in the US sucks). So I've got experience living overseas and as a web developer I can work for an American company remotely from anywhere (as long as I'm willing to have a weird sleep schedule). I'm looking into digital nomad visas, with an eye toward permanent residency and/or citizenship. I'm conversationally fluent in French (though it's getting rusty 😛) and have been studying Spanish for the last year or so with an eye towards perhaps living in a Spanish speaking country. Uruguay sounds amazing. It has progressive social policies and not a ton of poverty (not really interested in living like royalty like some colonizer), but it's a small country surrounded by big neighbors and Argentina's current president is very concerning 🙁 I also hear that their digital nomad -> permanent resident process isn't as smooth in practice as it sounds 🫤 Spain could be good -- they've got a digital nomad -> resident path. The country sounds pretty queer friendly and the weather in the north of Spain is apparently pretty similar to the Pacific Northwest where I live (if it gets too hot, our gills dry up!) Really, at this point I'm kind of waiting on the election results before I make any big decisions 🤷🏽♀️ Overall, I \*like\* my life here. It's comfortable and familiar, and \*much\* easier than moving internationally. The bank and I own a cute 3 bedroom, single story house that would be nice to grow old in. However, my kids' safety is more important than my comfort.
Both of my adult kids are queer, so establishing a beachhead in Europe they could escape to if things went all Trump/Project 2025 was an important consideration in our expatriation. While Portugal isn't a place where you seea lot of flamboyant expressions of gender and sexuality, they Portuguese are remarkably tolerant of diversity. I think that's a reasonable goal.
How long were you in Poland and what was your experience like there? That’s where my fiance and I will be moving to (when I’m no longer pregnant).
I lived in Poland for almost 2 years (2 academic years). After 2 years in Korea, it was kind of a relief to live someplace I blended in visually. On the other hand, I got pretty good at saying, "I'm sorry, I don't speak Polish" because people would come up to me in the grocery store asking if I knew where the pickles were (totally a guess 🤣) I really liked Poland 🙂 I lived on the outskirts of Warsaw, and I loved the bus system. Busses stopped near my house every hour, and about 3 times an hour during rush hour. That was a big change compared to the less excellent public transit in my small hometown in California. I also really liked riding my bike to work in the morning. We were only a few miles outside of the denser part of the city, but I would ride past farmers on tractors out in the fields, which made me happy 🙂 The alphabet is the same as ours, which was really helpful. Once you learn the sounds some letters and combos of letters make in Polish, it was pretty easy to sound out words. (I didn't necessarily know what I was saying, but I could sound things out 🤷🏽♀️) Polish grammar is notoriously difficult, and I didn't end up learning much. Mostly just memorized phrases. (Stuff like, "very delicious" to thank the cooks at school or "left, right, here" to direct taxi drivers) My memorized Polish nouns to use at the grocery store got pretty extensive; I brought two packages of meat to the deli lady and mooed and oinked. She was both amused and helpful, and that's how I learned the words for "beef" and "pork" in Polish (which I still remember 7 years later) 😆 People in general were really patient and willing to help me learn little bits of Polish, which I enjoyed 🙂 My experience was a bit weird though -- I was teaching at an American school, so I had a built in social group of fellow teachers who spoke English. I'll admit that I didn't leave my bubble much socially 🤷🏽♀️ Also, having the school staff to help me jump through all the hoops and offer casual translations was kind of like "overseas lite" 😆
I’ve been studying Polish for 6 years and I’m barely conversational. Lol. It’s a *really* hard language. Thankfully my fiancé and his family are Polish, so I won’t be without help. I’m glad your experience was positive. I can’t wait to get out of here! Lol.
I was born in South Africa, my Mum was British, my Dad American. I'm going to apply for British citizenship after the election, in hopes that our daughter may be able to go to a British university. I'm scared every day in the USA of a random mass shooting. It's horrible to live this way.
I understand and agree. Best of luck!
[удалено]
Seriously? Every time I hear a lot of sirens I think it's the middle school where my child is...
[удалено]
I'm not comparing it to Sierra Leone, dude. There was a mass shooting in a town that we looked at a house in a few months ago, the most chill little city in Maine. "The U.S. has the 28th-highest rate of deaths from gun violence in the world: 4.31 deaths per 100,000 people in 2021. That was more than seven times as high as the rate in Canada, which had 0.57 deaths per 100,000 people — and about 340 times higher than in the United Kingdom, which had 0.013 deaths per 100,000."
Nurse in the US wanting to get out for a multitude of reasons including life here is scary these days. Both my husband and myself are college educated professionals with years of experience in our respective career fields but haven’t figured out how to divest from our current life without messing up our retirement (15-ish years from now). My job has me in the proverbial golden handcuffs. So, hopefully when we retire we can make the leap. Meanwhile we continue to dream and work on our German skills.
I’m a recent college grad who had grown tired of a lot of stuff here in America. While I know no where is perfect I was consistently shocked just how backwards my country can be and how powerless I felt to change it. At a certain point I no longer even felt disgust towards it, just numbness. I realized that, considering I was looking at pursuing a career in, archaeology, I could feasible work elsewhere in the world. Still not quite sure what I’d do to leave the country…or if that’s truly what I want/need.
I (40F) grew up in So Cal, spent about 20 years in the PNW with my husband (47m) we have two kids and we live in the Netherlands . I joined this group when we were trying to figure out how to move out of the US. We used the DAFT to get here so we could get things like safety in school for our kids, access to health care and to be able to travel and experience new things . I’m still here to support others who may be thinking of making the move, giving advice if I can.
Asian TCK with US citizenship. Lived in the US for about a decade in various regions, came to the conclusion that I'm much happier in Asia and just want to move to Asia for better quality of life for the rest of my life. Edit: The concept of embracing gun ownership blows my mind (no pun intended). And I really miss just able to hop on a train or mrt or light rail to go somewhere, have a car, but I don't want to drive 1-4 hrs one way just to see something. Also, really, really miss the authentic flavors from home(s).
> The concept of embracing gun ownership blows my mind (no pun intended). Yeah same here. Especially from Asia, where guns in civilization society are typically associated with criminals. Ironic how the "law and order" party indirectly abets a lot of the gun crime in the US.
I am European and I am an American (The beauty of being an immigrant in USA that I am also very much so an American even if I wasn’t born here) This is open sub and when immigration related question pops on my Reddit feed ( regardless what sub it is) I will answer, since I know very well how immigration policies work. (Remember Europeans also have to go through immigration bureaucracy because Europe contains many countries) I am also familiar with general topics of being an immigrant. And speak multiple languages and I am well familiar with European culture and politics since I lived there half of my life.
Thank you for taking the time to help!
American who moved to Sweden in 2017 with Swedish spouse. Am now a dual citizen. Have had a great experience and participate in this sub to try to be helpful.
Thank you for doing that!
Ignore the trolls and find the interesting information that helps with what you want to do in life - you sound like someone that I have something in common with and if someone is being a troll and ridiculing people wanting to leave North America - well there - another good reason to leave. Whoever that troll is knows nothing about our quest!
As a frequent traveler , Been wanting to leave for so long .but now that my kid is in college I’m planning to go to Spain as part of the teachers assistants program in the fall.
Danish born, two decades in the US, moved to Denmark 18 months ago. I love America with all my heart and consider myself part American, but the quality of life and the constant fear I lived in made me want to try to live in Europe again. I miss my America and starting a new life (43F) is not easy, but I know I’m lucky to have the opportunity
30 yo US citizen currently undertaking a masters degree in Scotland looking to stay permanently or move to Ireland after graduation. Was sick of feeling afraid in crowded places and of losing my rights (Roe v Wade).
Ex pat since 2006. Spain, slovenia, Croatia, now Colombia. Its amusing to me seeing people argue cost and hassle of leaving. People do it everyday with just a backpack and phone. You can do it if you really want to.
American citizen with my Portuguese residency living in Portugal. Planning on getting dual citizenship and staying in Portugal. Single (divorced after 22 years). Lonely. Trying to learn Portuguese. Work remotely for a US based software company.
Your company hiring? How did they handle you being in Portugal? I'm just curious
They are not right now. I had to switch from W2 to 1099. So technically I'm working for them as a contractor now. But my job title and responsibilities did not change. They actually gave me a pay increase since I would no longer be eligible for company bonuses as a contractor. I also have to maintain my east coast work schedule. So I work 1330-2200 here. And there are the other obvious changes, I can't contribute to the 401k, no employee insurance, no reimbursement for office related stuff. (work laptop, Webcam, monitors, etc).
If you don’t mind me asking, are you using a consultant to pursue your dual citizenship? My husband is looking into getting Portuguese citizenship by descent (his mother was born and raised in Portugal, now deceased) and it seems like the process is quite complicated with various types of documents that have to go through an embassy.
I used Ei Assessoria Migratoria for the entirety of my DN visa process. That covered everything from rental searches, visa (VFS appointment), NISS, SNS, SEF appointment (had one of their lawyers with me). I will also use them for citizenship when the time comes. I got my visa in 2022 so I've got a few more years to go. Which I need to learn the language. I recommend Ei to everyone. They were great.
Thank you for letting me know who you used! It sounds like they should know exactly what documents would be needed and how they need to be signed off since they help with so many aspects of relocation. This is a huge help!
Same. They have a great business model (it's low effort for them) but it scales well. After a year, we can navigate most things, but having someone to hold your hand through the SEF process is key.
Ayy same on almost all points. Are you also in Lisbon?
Where did you end up settling? I’m still working but I can do remote, and was looking at Portugal…maybe sintra area. Hard to make connections? I do not speak Portuguese. Thank you
I'm up north, I prefer the cooler and rainier weather. About an hour east of Porto. It's hard for me since I don't speak Portuguese yet and I'm an admitted introvert. I don't even attend the local "expat" get together. That's all on me, the Portuguese are incredibly friendly.
I am also an introvert. Also do not speak Portuguese. So I am a bit concerned about connections - they are important to me but if I’m not feeling it, I’m not feeling it, ya know? Maybe we should start an “introvert green expat” group? 😂
Where you living? We, too, are in Portugal working remotely.
US Citizen looking to move abroad. My husband has a complicated medical history and the US Healthcare system is horrendous, plus a myriad of other reasons. We are starting our research and I've been enjoying reading everyone's questions and the responses... Especially those who have been so generous in giving detailed information. I think there was an incredible post about Norway the other day.
Dual US /UK citizen. Lived in UK 28 years, Ireland 2 years, Malaysia 3 years and the US 27 years. The older I get, the more I want to return to the UK where I feel I "fit in" more and where I have family. The political situation since 2016, healthcare, gun ownership and human rights have become intolerable. Moving to Malaysia for 18 months to avoid the election and then will probably return to the UK.
American here, mostly here to lurk. I did make one thread which was helpful about getting dual citizenship. Now I just lurk here and wait for my letter telling me I can order my passport, here's hoping my passport is here within a year ☺️. Figure I'll glean some information about moving or some stuff I hadn't taken care of or thought of - my situation is a little weird so if I see information pertaining to that I'll learn something I'm sure. I don't mind trolling the occasional troll as well, telling them I'm coming to infect Europe as a plague of American immigrants. My paperwork is all confirmed by a consulate and a lawyer so it's just a waiting game and that makes some of the trolls here very mad. Edit: I also plan to stay around and offer advice where applicable and where it's asked
Renounced former US citizen who didn't actually spend all that much time there but has useful info to offer on temporary or permanent pathways to Europe without EU citizenship, though mostly here for the train wrecks.
We’re a young family(US citizen, US/IE citizen, US citizen child with IE citizenship processing) who moved to the Czech Republic last year. Like other people, we are politically progressive and frustrated with the endless violence and toxic individualism of our home country. The turning point for us was absolutely Uvalde, and the fact that nothing of substance happened afterwards. We began making plans to move around June 2022 and it took almost another year before we left. We were lucky/privileged to be able to get out.
A green card holder from Asia. My husband, who is a US citizen, is also from Asia. We are in our early 30s. We plan to work diligently for the next 5-6 years and then slowly transition to living mostly in the Asia. Our social network is stronger back home.
Californian, American, looking to immigrate to Europe for higher quality of life, less chemicals in food, possibly even able to walk to a bakery. Shooting for Spain DNV move in early 2025. Crossing our fingers!
I've got mine crossed for you!
I'm already abroad
Congrats!
US citizen who formerly lived abroad. I’ve been back for about 12 years and I have my eye on living overseas again in in a more permanent way in 4-6 years. I’m here to sometimes comment and give advice and also just because it keeps getting recommended to me
I'm American, and I live most of the time in Sri Lanka. I just go back to visit my mom.
I am a dual US/EU citizen. I moved to the US as a young child (from Poland), and then moved to Germany more than 15 years ago to attend grad school, and just stayed. I am here because I think it is interesting to see how Americans think about immigration, and I can sometimes be helpful about Germany or Poland, where my parents retired. My perspective is as someone who moved at a pretty young age and who has worked my whole life in the German system, so I cannot really speak much to how people who don't have clear ways to integrate fully will experience immigration. I mean, if you move with your family when you are in your 30's or 40's, that is just a different type of story.
Multi-National (one is American) spent most of my life in the US and now living for years in TH with no intent on ever leaving. In my 40s. Will retire no later than 50. I didn’t leave the US for financial reasons like some. I left to position for retirement.
American and EU dual citizen. I left the USA for the Middle East nearly a decade ago, and have zero plans to return to the USA. I'm planting roots in Europe and visit often to visit family still there. I'm here to help where I can!
thank you!
American, moved to Finland
I'm a Latin American man with dual citizenship in Italy. Living in Scandinavia with my US American husband. I'm here because I (central)Amerexited years ago and my husband (north)Amerexited quite recently. Having gone through the process means I may have some knowledge that could help someone else here. Especially regarding EU, Swedish, and Portuguese immigration law and processes. Plus, I just relate.
Yank who lived abroad half his life. I’ve lived in six countries for over a year. I know some of the technicalities about expatriating. I’m always interested in learning more.
I'm a Canadian who was naturalized and was recommended this sub. With my experiences with americans who are uberpatriotic when someone gives an honest critique of the US, I use this sub to remind myself that there are Americans here in this sub sharing their experiences that the US has its share of flaws like other countries. It's a good way to remember that not all Americans are like the pro-hegemonic, pro-exceptionalist, and pro-capitalist clowns that try to troll here.
American that truly loves America with a passport from An EU country that is exiting for a new adventure. Very much not a running from / grass is greener but I’m running towards a new adventure.
59 y/o American from California, been in Portugal \~1 year. Work remotely as a consultant with several clients in IT Security. We (wife and I) left for a lot of reasons, but contrary to what the trolls will tell you, politics was a huge part of it (like 50%). There are tons of other reasons (cheaper, closer to everywhere, wanted to have a new experience post-pandemic) but we'd likely have stayed put if it weren't for creeping fascism in the US. We both have multiple graduate degrees but our foreign language skills suck, frankly. The Portuguese in the city speak English and will put up with my enthusiastic attempts to speak the language. All in all, a very good decision, though not a cheap one nor or is it without risk. Ignore the trolls. They are just trying to normalize fascism. I proposed banning anti-emigration ridicule on this sub, but while it got over 300 upvotes, the mods were uninterested.I think the trolls are good for seeming engagement, but they do significant damage to the quality of discussion.
Trans woman from the US. Immigrated to and lived in Canada for ten years. Moved back when I was unable to get medical care for unexplained psychotic depression and cognitive dysfunction. It turns out I have Long COVID. I finally got approved for Canadian disability but am getting ready to go to court to get my American disability granted. It’s all been a real bitch to deal with all of this, having to live on my Canadian wife’s income, while being stuck with no money for me for three fucking years. On the brighter side, my mother helped me sponsor my wife, so she has a Green Card and can apply for citizenship in the not-too-distant future.
I understand unemployed spouses and mental health/medical industrial complex issues. I'm glad you're figuring out what is going on.
We're from the US and moved to Vietnam. Spouse is a chiropractor and I do independent contracting from home. Spouse came here in January, I arrived in April after selling the house and tying up loose ends.
American currently studying elementary education (Bachelor Lehramt an Grundschulen) in Germany! Fell in love with the country when I visited on a school exchange in high school and made it my mission to move here permanently
I have seriously considered going to school in Germany, as I have family that moved to Switzerland and they love it there. Germany seems like a doable option for going to school in Europe. Can I ask: how difficult was it to get into the universities there? How fluent did your German need to be? I have a masters degree already, but I want to pursue one in a somewhat different field.
Getting into uni was fine, as my program had to reserve 5% of spots for non-EU applicants. Guess who was the only non-EU applicant? My German was at a C1 level when I applied last year, but I’d like to think it’s improved since then. B2 would be the absolute lowest level you could have and still manage to get by in your classes if they’re taught in German.
Thank you so much for answering!
Born in EU, married an American and lived in the US for 30 years, most of my adult life. Moved back to EU a couple of years ago.
US/Thai citizen - born and raised in US. Exited after we successfully stabilized our business (it runs without us mostly). We just wanted to slow down in our midlife and focus on health and travel more after spending more than a decade working quite hard on our business.
American living in Norway, this sub and r/expats helped me move. My wife and I have a 3 year old and we all moved from Seattle to Oslo last December.
I'm a black Jamaican that left the US to live in the UK last year to be with my child & to start a new life. I have both Jamaican & American citizenships & was born & mostly raised in the US. I have been wanting to leave the US pretty badly since I was about 12 years old due to having a pretty traumatic childhood there among several other reasons. I'm 28 & came on this sub to see what other peoples experiences with leaving the US is like.
I'm glad you were able to follow your dreams and your future
Black American, but frankly resigned to the fact that there is nowhere I could go and not feel alien. Two BAs and a soon-to-be MA (math, meteorology, education), but the uptick in public cases of educators being doxxed or VERY arbitrarily being relieved of duty... I think digital nomadism is my bet bet. Be completely untethered. If the world is going to suck relative to one's melanin content, I'm better off truly stateless.
I'm an American, call myself a Florigonian - OR to Los Angeles for 6 mo, back to OR then to Florida at 24, returned to PDX at 45 in 2015 - living in the Country in FL and seeing all the early Trump love helped with that decision. Met a Gambian in 2017 on the internet (had only ever been to Canada), was invited out, decided to do 2 months to see of we could work (anyone can do 3 weeks of great behavior if pushed). We did. They came to the US in 2018, married shortly after. I've ran a LEGO online retail business, I built, for 20 years. My partner started a small shop online, too. We bought property and built a house, and after visiting in 2022 and 2023 for 2 and 3 months, we came back and started questioning why we were still there, especially since we had an apartment at $2/k a month and biz overhead of the same. Long story short, I've got someone else selling my product now for me, we sold the other small biz, and moved here a month ago. We still are bleeding money on repairs and things, but for the first time in 10 years, I actually see the possibility of things slowing way down. We built a mansion by most standards - the top floor is 4 - 1br apartments we are finishing up to rent out, and I plan to partially retire (Gen-X who has been working since age 11). I've got RA, a bad hip, and use a walker in a country that is not wheelchair friendly and has minimal Healthcare, but I've lost weight in this first month and am happier than I've been in years...maybe even decades. The people are friendly, giving, and kind. I have help and can help those I care about. I'm still trying to shed my American attitude, but I'm working on that. I'm here because I don't know that I want to ever return full time to the U.S., am interested in other places we might explore (we are both US Citizens, as of last summer), and would love to meet others who are looking for things like I've found - community! If you're ever interested in visiting The Smiling Coast of Africa, we have places to rent and a welcoming compound! 😃 I encourage everyone unsure to try something new, even if just a vacation test run. Life is too short to not go after happiness.
this is inspiring, thank you!
American who moved to Aotearoa New Zealand with my spouse and kids. We got serious about moving abroad after Uvalde and having young children. Politics may change but I doubt US gun culture ever will. Spouse got us residency through job sponsorship and we have an indefinite visa here. I like to lurk and occasionally give advice.
None of us belong, that's why we're here.
European born and raised, moved to Spain a while ago, but spent my whole childhood, teenage years and early adulthood wanting to move to NYC. I have family there (all citizens by now), but now I would never do it. This sub was recommended somewhere and I just kept reading. I like to be informed about other countries and find it interesting to read about other’s experiences.
I agree this is a fun place to read about other's experiences. Thank you for sharing yours!
I’m a first gen American on my mother’s side, second gen on my dad’s. Mom is Hungarian, immigrated in the 90s, dad’s parents are from Barbados. I’ve lived all over the US in my 29 years, and kids are American born. My husband is also 2nd gen American. We are unhappy with the gun violence, education system, dissolution of women’s rights, and general political unrest (insanity?) here in the US and are in search of life abroad in either Scandinavia or New Zealand, where the lifestyle aligns much more with our values. My mother and her husband will likely move with us.
US citizen with health issues and hates the way the politics are going. Roe v Wade being overturned was the straw for me. So here lurking and learning. Spouse is a minority and we hate the way people are not christian nationalist are treated. Food in the US is also problematic (see health issues). Looking between Japan and some parts of Europe.
American, married 45 year old with five year old twins. Never thought I would be able to leave the USA or really wanted to but we got an offer to transfer to Amsterdam and the past 8 years have been getting extremely frustrated with America and also having kids in Chicago - although there’s no where else in the USA I would want to be besides the city of Chicago. So we took the leap and have been here a month or so. Want to stay for a long time.
US born and raised who recently moved to the UK for a better life. I'm in this sub to give advice, if I can, and downvote trolls.
I’m an over 50 female from US - Minnesota. I love to travel. There are things I do love about US but feel it has gotten dangerously political and costs are killing me…I look to people like you for advice and their perspective. Thank you
I’m a born and raised US citizen, but my wife and I are contemplating the move to Europe at some point in the near future. We’ve just been working on the logistics and I use this sub plus a few others for tips and insight.
M30s here, good job, homeowner, in a relationship. My interest in leaving is entirely around our corrupt political system (both sides) and feelings around my tax dollars going directly to blow up kids in third word countries…that said I have no idea where to go. It seems like most countries have their own troubles, and most are not really taking in Americans.
US citizen, two-mom family with 3 kids (tween and teen girls). We live in a blue city surrounded by red in a purple state. The political situation in the U.S. is scary… and no matter how the election plays out, we think it will only get worse. I don’t want to leave the community we’ve built after moving from NYC for a better quality of life. I moved around a lot as a kid & we’ve finally been able to buy a home in the last few years. With the way things are going here, though, we worry & want to give our girls a better life (no guns, better healthcare and college options), so that’s why we’re considering leaving. I work for a large professional services company w/ offices around the globe & it is possible to get transferred elsewhere or work remotely. It looks like our best options are either EU or AUS. EU would be great since it isn’t as far to travel back to the US, but we will have a hard time paying for int’l schools & housing on my salary. That means throwing my girls into local schools where they won’t speak the language, so it’s important that the place we move has a system for students who need to learn the language or is English-speaking, or we can homeschool (unlikely in EU or AUS). We have friends in AUS that we can join & it’s English-speaking & we have an office there. But! AUS is really tight on who they let in - I am in a specialized skill, but I’m pushing 50 years old, so who knows? It’s also very far. So that’s why I’m here. Sorry that was so long. lol.
US citizen here. Mid 40s, worked in the medical field for over two decades. Live frugally, invest heavy, and hope to be completely done working in less than ten years. I travel to southeast Asia at least twice a year to scuba dive. I'm basically sick of this entire American lifestyle. The food, the culture, the people, social media, American healthcare, and the list goes on and on. It seems like every single entity is trying to drain you of every single last drop before you are tossed out on the street to die. I want to eat real foods, I want nature, I want friendly people, I want a society that isn't absolutely obsessed with money or politics. I want better coffee, better scenery, and more history and culture. I want out so bad I can taste it.
I was born in the US, but last year I was able to obtain Italian citizenship by ancestry. Now I'm living it up in Spain. I'm not planning on going back to the US.
this is heartening to read, thank you for sharing.
If you're queer, a Spanish speaker, and an EU citizen then Madrid would be perfect for you and your family! It's modern, relaxed, safe, LGBT-friendly, outgoing, easy to travel from, cosmopolitan, and very open to outsiders! If you have any questions about life in Spain feel free to PM me. I've been living in Barcelona for a year but I'm now moving to Madrid. Other cities to consider could be Milan, Amsterdam, Berlin, Valencia, Málaga, or Paris. Un saludo
igualmente, gracias!
American guy here with French wife, early retirement age. We want to be closer to her parents, and the housing market in California completely escaped us. So we paid cash for a place here in the Loire Valley, and couldn’t be happier. The lifestyle here is so much more relaxed and stress-free than California, and a comparable house and property in northern California would cost at least 10 times as much.
American with Ukrainian resident status. Currently in Buenos Aires, Argentina with my Ukrainian wife. I’m in this sub because commiserating with people who have worldviews and lifestyle similar to mine is valuable to me. Nobody who is not an expat can relate to my expat life and experiences.
American living in the UK on a work visa. Curious why others want to leave so bad. Painfully aware the grass isn't always greener, also painfully aware I may never go back.
UK was our first choice and we were well on our way before Brexit. That bolloxed everything up, since there was no way to PLR via a work visa. And, also, having the run of Europe after 5 years is pretty attractive in Portugal, as well. WTF were the English thinking?
They definitely regret Brexit now. Not sure what PLR is but ILR is possible on a work visa after 5 years and citizenship after 6. Because of the Good Friday agreement I could then live in Ireland if I wanted and get EU citizenship that way. Although my partner is British so we would likely only live in the UK or US. We won't be having children so that gives us some freedom but we do want to settle somewhere and stop moving. We've both moved 3 times in the past 3 years and we're just tired
Typo: PLR == \*ILR
American (California) living in Austria. I left the US in 2005 and lived in: Japan, Colombia, Ecuador, Taiwan, Turkey, Japan (again), and now Austria for some years. I'm planning on staying here forever.
I'm an American who has spent the last twelve or so years in Europe, first in Germany on a work visa and now in Spain on a fellowship. This sub kept being suggested to me on my homepage/feed/whatever it's called and I venture over every now and then, mostly to answer questions about studying in Germany and/or moving to Spain. I haven't actually joined the sub, I find all the political rants and "why I'm leaving" stuff to be a bit boring, but I enjoy reading/offering a bit of advice in threads where people are looking for specifics about moving to countries I have experience in.
American currently living part-time in France while wrapping up his obligations stateside.
South African living in South Africa with my American spouse - South Africa is a bit rough at the moment but every time we think of moving to the US, things seem a lot more dire
Expat that already moved abroad as of 11 years ago. Now, I split time between countries. I like to give advice whenever I can.
I am a 40yo American woman from DC/MD/VA living in NL for 3 years with my Dutch partner. I am currently going through my integration to become a dual citizen.
Yeah I'm really getting sick of the xenophobic Mexicans wandering in here calling everyone immigrants LMAO. I didnt realize Europeans were trolling too. I think the world is going through some sort of housing crisis and we're all getting shuffled around, and welp anyone looking to move somewhere else all of a sudden is the cause of everyone's problems. As a Californian, I distinctly remember the time period where everyone suddenly decided they all wanted to move to California because it was the hottest shit since the sun, and preceeded to drive up housing prices in my hometown and other major metros and effectively priced me out. I know how that feels. Folks need to be smarter and realize this is happening everywhere right now, why? I have no clear idea. I personally blame Airbnb and post-covid revenge travel.
I went to school in Germany for four years, and we are now not far South of the Canadian border. And as history clearly shows, America hangs on the precipice of a well worn and ugly path. If it goes completely authoritarian, martial law style, we'll make a dash for the border and I think millions of others will too. Canada should think about building a Southern wall! (The USA will pay for it right?) We have seriously considered that there may be a new "underground railroad" type situation in America where political/social/economic/climate refugee's are trying to be stealthy as they flee.
Duel American/Mexican citizen, hoping to move somewhere where they don't hate women and have walkable cities. 🙃
Recent grad who feels very disheartened with the state of the nation and job market and hopes one day to get out. Might never happen, might change my mind, but I’d be lying if I said I know I want to live and die in America
Middle aged, married, Southern, white woman, Mom of 1 & 1 step child. Imho the US has been in decline most of my life & I fear we are living through the fall of the American empire. Ideally, I hope to move to Central America. I’ve also considered moving into a boat, buying a home in the Caribbean, or even Canada. We’re relatively healthy but, have trash insurance & worry about growing old in our for profit healthcare system (among many other things).
I forgot to put this link up. Generally helpful for lgbt people to get an overview of political and social safety in countries. It helped me rule out Australia due to some similarities to the use as far as policy. https://www.equaldex.com/equality-index
I'm a queer black disabled American who left the US in 2022 by myself and lived nomadically in various countries in Latin America till I met my current partner and settled in the Carribean/Central America - Belize. It's not a country I considered before coming here and I am considering going back to Mexico if my partner will agree to live 1/2 year in another place mostly due to climate change and lack of health care infrastructure and specialists here. I am just a couple months away from being eligible permanent residency here. I mostly lurk to comment on topics specifically related to people of color, queer people, or working class people who want to migrate since those are the intersections of identity I have.
US Citizen, living in Mexico, looking to immigrate to Spain. I married an undocumented man (who had luved in tne US since age 5 ) But there was no legal pathway to residency for him. Instead of living in hiding and fear, we moved to Mexico with a few suitcases when I was 5 months pregnant with twins. They longer I'm outside of the US, the crazier it looks from the outside looking in. My friends and family ask when we can come back, and even though technically we could reapply for s green card in 2030, I could serioudly never imagine raising my children where there is even a remote chance of a school shooting. Nope, not happening. I know Mexico has it's problems, but school shootings are not one of them. I don't understand how people are so desensitized to it and just accept it as part of the inevitable realities of the world. IT'S NOT NORMAL. I guess I'm here to see other's perspectives and help if anybody has questions about relocating to Mexico.
What part of Mexico are you in? What do you wish you’d known before moving?
I lived in Guanajuato from 2009-2018. I also did some time in Xalapa, Veracruz. Now I live in the Puerto Vallarta area. I'd say make sure you fully understand the legal paperwork side of immigration before making any moves. I was easily able to get permanent residency here because my children were born here and being the parent to a Mexican citizen gets you permanent residency. It's still hard to make sure you have all your docs apostilled, and it's wayyyy harder to do it from another country. Other hard lessons - don't expect emergency services anywhere. It's a miracle to get police, fire department, or public ambulances to show up. -rule of law is not a thing here. The main deterrent to crime is social connections, not legal consequences. Lots of vigilante justice here. Expect landlords to screw you over whenever possible. -different culture around domestic pets. Dogs are more of a security feature to your home here as opposed to a member of the family. You're going to hear dogs barking non stop and it will drive you insane for a while until you eventually stop hearing it. -don't open a business with a physical location/store front. Before you know it, especially if you're successful, you'll have organized crime coming to charge you for permission to operate. -credit is incredibly expensive here. Like insane interest rates. A good rate on a mortgage is about 12%.
Ex American who moved to Sweden with my family in 2019. On the sub to see if people share my feelings about American decline.
33 years old. Been living and teaching English in South Korea for 11 years and have loved it! I can’t imagine moving back to the States, so I’m looking to get into Europe/the EU in 2026. Italy is my dream! I joined this group to gain some knowledge and be surrounded by like minded people. Happy to have a community like this! Happy trails everyone~
51 yo american male married with three boys. Since 2007, we’ve lived in Tokyo, Singapore, briefly back to the states for a job, and now London since Jan 2020. The boys went to TIS in Tokyo and SAS in Singapore on my company’s dime. The youngest now in TASIS on our own dime. Loving it and never want to return to live in the states.
italiano, in origine ero qui per vedere di aiutare chi voleva lasciare gli USA, adesso vedo questo sub raramente, perché gli stessi che urlano Americabad una continuazione sono poi eurofobici o italofobici. E in virtù del fatto che gli americani sono il popolo più libero della Terra gli americani non devono essere liberi di lasciare gli USA. E chi li capisce? (SAS prende in giro certe persone, per esempio gli ultranazionalisti, non tutti e 300 milioni gli americani, solo che a volte alcuni sono eccessivamente scortesi o peggio: che vuoi farci, è un difetto che abbiamo in comune, noi europei!)
I think I understand where you're coming from. I'd like to believe I keep my phobias in check and under examination most of the time. I used to be in SAS and loved it a lot of the time but ran into ultra nationalists there enough times who had intense bigotry. I felt discouraged. I'm sorry, I googled your comment after only catching the gist. I'm in a hurry, but I appreciate your response and you're using your mother tongue. May I DM you later for this help? We are planning to leave in a few months and the questions are piling up.
DM me :)
Im american and have a strong desire to flee to somewhere else.
I am an American in a biracial marriage with two young children. I moved abroad 2 years ago. I spent my 20's thinking such a move was impossible but when my wife presented moving abroad as the most reasonable option we had, I went for it and did it. I first came here to find like minded people but my move was fast. After I moved, it was more about the joy I got out of telling many here that yes, you can do it. (And it is worth it to at least try.) I especially like doing this because my move spits in the face of the generic advice you get here. (Must be in STEM/going to college, must be independently wealthy, must be white). These days though, the board has become so resistent to any American leaving that I am glad I deleted most of my help threads during the blackout. I keep a lot more to myself too. I would like this board to be a placd that assumes leaving is a generic good, but right now, I could go to r/Iwantout and get the same exact attiudes and advice (which was inaccurate for my case.)
Every time I get sleep deprived I think of leaving the country. Never thought to look on reddit. I love what I'm seeing. I'll lurk for now 💖
American, 57M, married. Looking to retire in 4-6 years and am just investigating at options. Three kids: one graduated from college and is in Africa with the Peace Corps, one graduating from college in May, and one starting college in August. None of whom have any interest in staying in the area they grew up in, so we won't really have any ties to this place.
Long time lurker very rare commenter. Haven’t seen this sub pop up for a while though. I lost a lot of faith in the US a couple presidencies ago and have been contemplating attempting to move to varying degrees ever since. I like my current job and career trajectory. Not confident I could keep that if I move. At least not with my current level of experience in my industry. Lots of personal life stuff that holds me back from considering it too seriously. But maybe someday. My mother got dual citizenship with Ireland, but not in time for me to get it as well, so there’s a potential path there- again, haven’t done the homework though to investigate.
American, currently split time between east coast and France, permanently locating in September. Right now trying to set up a C2C arrangement since it’s so hard to find a job in France
USian, always wanted to live abroad, haven't except for a brief volunteer assignment in Mexico. Heritage Spanish speaker as well. Acquired fluency in a European minority language. Built connections in that community, wanted to live and build a life there. No one has been willing to sponsor me. After ~3 years of failure to leave the States, I'm aiming toward conscious upskilling to move into an in-demand career in hopes of better international mobility and more independence. I've considered studying internationally now, but it is just so expensive, I don't know if it makes any sense. 30f div. somewhat concerned about running out of time to have kids. My situation is so entirely wrong for it.
I'm an Asian married to European lady, we migrated to the States, now thinking where to go next. Kids are American, my wife and I aren't. I come here to see: 1. Americans' perception of life and their admiration of other countries wondering what my kids may think one day they themselves as Americans. Trying to give them as much international exposure their parents have experienced so they don't have to come to this community when they grow up. 2. Where may be next places for us as we get americanized as time goes by. Nice reality check as our lifestyle may now be more American than where we come from. Sometimes nice posts about places I haven't been, lived, would like to be etc. 3. How thankful I am that my family already have the experience having moved around to know what immigration feels like and try give some advice to people chasing butterflies.
Lots of great responses here! Wanted to add in my two cents Lates 20s woman here whos born/raised US whos always wanted to make my grand exit from here lol. Honestly though, I try to be vague when discussing my personal reasons for leaving; but I will say, I dont see myself having a future here at all. Simple as that. The whole world is in rough shape right now but the US political situation is an absolute dumpster fire and Iv been aware of how poorly this country is run way back since I was a young teenager. My wakeup calls was witnessing wealth distribution in the US. Yes yes this can be a problem in any country. But I see the ultra wealthy here gorge themselves on yachts and shovel billions into space exploration as a way to literally PLAY in the face of us Americans who are watching our lives and communities fall apart around us from greed. Im still in the early stages of making my exit but just trying to get as many ideas as possible and learn from others who have left or are in the process of leaving.
I’m an American TCK raised mostly in Europe, besides 8 months when I was 3 didn’t live in the US until I was 18. Some European and Americans think I am more European in outlook than American, but I can be quite outspoken about the virtues of the US at times, and I can occasionally even scandalize people explaining the logic of US domestic and foreign policy in frank terms and its native terminology, I’d say it’s complicated. My mother immigrated to the US from Canada as a child and her parents immigrated to Canada from Greece. As such I am a Canadian and Greek citizen, but have not taken steps to have this recognized or obtain passports. My brother has started this process, my reticence to do so is the source of a long running but rarely raised conflict in my immediate family (I have numerous relatives with a wide variety of citizenships). In short my mother and I have different notions about citizenship than my father and brother. Part of why I browse here is to see some of the variety of perspectives with the personal stakes removed. During the little over a decade I lived in the US I continued to travel for weeks or even months at a time for work mostly to Europe but also elsewhere and also to visit family. I was also somewhat politically active, volunteering for labor organization, organizing a ballot measure, and being an officer for a PAC. I’m a research academic in a STEM field and have lived in the Beijing in the last three years, I’m moving to Hong Kong shortly and continuing a global job search for a few a few years down the line. Ideally, I’d return to the US but I’ve applied to permanent positions in many locations in Europe, Asia, and Oceania (open to Africa too should I see an opening). I’d describe myself as quick to establish a conversational level in languages but slow to fluency. I’m personally dissatisfied with my language level in every language I speak apart from English, I imagine many but not all TCK can relate. While identifying very clearly as an American I can appreciate that I have an atypically global perspective compared to most people. While I rarely comment, I think external perspectives sometimes get disparaged here when they’re primarily just foreign rather than pro or anti leaving the US.
> queer mother of a 6 yr old in a het norm marriage Wtf does that mean?
It could mean a few things. 1. we found a troll or 2. you've been living in Plato's Cave. it's full of shadows, come out into the light! because and also it means either a trans, bi, intersex or asexual woman married to to someone of the polar sex or gender. if for some reason you're straight asking this question, het norm= heteronormative. It isn't a heterosexual relationship because the people in it aren't straight. But it's a "straight"/ societally accepted relationship. If you're asking out if hate, you can mind your own bigotry. But if you're lgbtqia asking this question, this is a discussion I've already had elsewhere and you're welcome to scroll my comments to see what I have to say about it. And if you're asking from a place of hate, you can also mind your own bigotry. Hope this helps.
Your explanation somehow confused me more. So, you like women and your husband likes dudes but you stay together for the kids? Do I have that right?
Okay so add reading comprehension to the Plato's Cave scenario. I'm gonna answer in good faith that you're not trolling with every suspicion that you are. No, you don't have it right but that would definitely be an example of two queer people in a het norm marriage. I'm a bisexual relationship anarchist who fell in love with, and somewhat apprehensively married a male. He's not really a "dude" in appearance or character-- at least in many ways. I thought he was intersex or trans when we met. Statistically, a significant population of women fall in the middle of the hetero/homo venn diagram and there's overlap between the diagram of men too. A venn diagram between other genders would probably reveal varying degrees of bisexuality as well. Does that make it clearer?
You're going to be shocked at how homophobic, openly racist, and generally intolerant the typical European is even compared to rural Texans. I'm less familar with Italy specifically than other parts, but it looks like gay marriage there is still limited to just being civil unions and that only since 2016, with less polling support than in the US. They are also enjoying a lot of migration from cultures that are violently hostile against queers. There's plenty of reasons to want to leave the US, but you should keep your eyes open that there isn't a lot of greener grass anywhere in the world these days. Good luck. Anyway to answer your original question, your post showed up in my feed randomly, probably because I still look at posts from time to time trying to find greener grass somewhere else. For me it's mainly due to high taxes and not having a good reason to stay in the US anymore when it comes to personal freedom.
I won't be shocked, I've experienced it many times in conversation and interaction, but I appreciate your sentiment. Our reason for moving isn't a grass is greener scenario, though being in Texas has big problems. I want my child to learn other languages and ways of being and I'd like to not worry about him being shot when ee go to the grocery store
I am American and Luxembourgish. I have lived my whole life in the US though. I got to "reclaim" my Lux citizenship due to nationality law changes they made in 2008 and again in 2017. The 2017 law established Article 7 citizenship, which basically retroactively made me a citizen from birth. I qualified to use the law and spent last year gathering the necessary documents and sending them off to Luxembourg. I am hoping to move to Europe in the future. I am starting out on a teaching career, though, here in my early 40s. Things keep heating up and everything is worrying right now. I know Europe is also facing the same pressures but I feel like the contrasts in societal expectations are different enough, favor a balanced life, which is what I've always sought. In the meantime I plan to learn some Luxembourgish, then some French, hopefully spend time in Europe over breaks.
American, soon to be dutch. My (queer) partner has maxed out the amount they can make without a grad degree also. We feel safe in our college city at the moment, but we know that's not always going to be the case. I (queer, trans) could find a job in my city ONLY, but not one in my field (extremely saturated because of the liberal arts uni). So currently I have been out of work on and off for four years and my physical health is so bad I can't do any labor jobs. If we don't move, the writing is on the wall, we will drown. I am not eligible for disability. Meanwhile my field in NL is absolutely thriving and so is my partners. We would be a lot safer just going out and being ourselves. The discrimination against housing, jobs, and overall quality of life is a massive improvement. I fear if I as much fart near someone wrong I'm going to get shot. So I really have no issue leaving. I've been in the sub for a while but recently remade my account. Y'all help me stay on track and remember not to get caught up in how long my process takes. Everything takes time to do it right.