Leaving The US -- Has Anybody Moved Or Are You Considering?

[Walelu Summerwind]

I am looking for a ride off this *****e show..  I'm so tired of the politics, human trafficking, gas prices.. yadda yadda yadda..😑

[Dafadilia Wayfarer]

I moved from the US to the UK a year ago next month. It was a move I had started planning around 2015 for many personal reasons. Mostly it has given me the capability of living my life free of fear for the first time in my entire life. I love it here. I feel like I finally made it home.

[Ayashe Ninetails]

3 hours ago, Dafadilia Wayfarer said:

I moved from the US to the UK a year ago next month. It was a move I had started planning around 2015 for many personal reasons. Mostly it has given me the capability of living my life free of fear for the first time in my entire life. I love it here. I feel like I finally made it home.

Congrats! It really is a unique feeling. I totally understand what you mean about feeling less fear, too. That happened to me as well when I moved to London, once I got settled in, though perhaps for different reasons. I let that lack of fear go straight to my head to where I felt way too confident and comfortable walking around in the middle of the night alone, lol. Barely anyone around on the streets but me, leaving the club on a Tuesday night or grabbing groceries, oh this is fiiiine off I go! Home isn't that far it's only a 25 minute walk I got thiiiiiiis! 😂 

I felt so free living in London, but it only intensified when I moved to Oxford. It was cheaper for me, it was very friendly, plus there were very affordable super comfy coach buses that ran between the two cities every other hour so I could make it back to London for classes. And yes, I still found myself taking walks to the grocery store at 1am. Old habits die hard I guess, lol.

I miss Oxford so much, but I'm not sure if I'll return. My brain is locked in "time to try something new" mode.

[Luna Bliss]

On 5/14/2022 at 3:57 PM, Ayashe Ninetails said:

Ghana basically reached out to Black Americans after the Floyd protests and said y'all need to get your butts over here 😂. They've done that before, too. That's likely why I'm seeing some recently written blog posts like screw it off we go! Though the number of Americans that actually settled over there is pretty small - around 3,000, last I saw. Still an interesting proposal, lol. I believe they've got a streamlined dual citizenship process, but again, I reallllllly haven't looked into it too deeply yet.

What a wonderful collaboration. I had no idea this existed.

[Luna Bliss]

13 hours ago, Dafadilia Wayfarer said:

I moved from the US to the UK a year ago next month. It was a move I had started planning around 2015 for many personal reasons. Mostly it has given me the capability of living my life free of fear for the first time in my entire life. I love it here. I feel like I finally made it home.

I'm glad the move worked out so well for you and that you're free of fear!

[Luna Bliss]

On 5/14/2022 at 3:13 PM, Rolig Loon said:

It's all about escaping and finding that you can't really hide, which is the subtext in a lot of this discussion.

Yeah this dynamic is good to point out -- people need to examine in depth why they want to move. It's so easy to romanticize any next step really, or mistakenly think the grass is greener elsewhere.  I've spent part of the day examining the down sides of Mexico, reading articles, watching videos -- there are some who wished they'd never moved.

In the end, the positives are going to have to outweigh the negatives.

[Ayashe Ninetails]

12 minutes ago, Luna Bliss said:

What a wonderful collaboration. I had no idea this existed.

It's definitely interesting! I have to look at what it entails, if indeed you can just hop on over or need some offer of employment first, how the visa process works, if there's really an offer of dual citizenship, etc. It's the first time I'm learning about it, too, even though they've been making that pitch over the last few decades, according to some articles. I likely did hear rumors of it during the protests, but my mind was genuinely so pre-occupied with my own thoughts during that time, I couldn't focus enough to pay close attention to anything going on around me, let alone what was happening around the world! I will say, having only done some very basic preliminary searches, Accra looks kinda cool! I'm digging the architecture. I have to sit my butt down and watch some videos on YouTube.

Oh funny aside - my brother emailed me last night and he told me he's ready to get up out of here, too. I mean, he's BEEN ready, but...after the events from yesterday, ahem, we both agreed that it's time to seriously buckle down and figure this stuff out. His wife's niece and nephew are both off in Europe now - her niece just left NYC very recently for Eastern Europe via a company job transfer (due to the Roe news), and her nephew has been quite happy in Berlin for a few years - just working on permanent residency now. I feel like there's been a slow exodus of people leaving around me for quite a bit now (my sister's close friend has been happily off in Ireland for a few years now, too).

Oh and re: Mexico - find personal blogs written by people who moved there and really read through their day-to-day lived experiences. Watch YouTube videos of people doing city/town/neighborhood walkthroughs (I love watching those!), research your face off, etc. Mexico can be great, but it can also be not great, depending on where you go. Like a lot of places, of course. Maybe it's worth it to visit a few times first, too, before heading over with all your stuffs. I'm in that same boat - I need to set up some trips before I let myself decide on a single thing because I know me - I've already done the "YOLO I'll find out when I find out!" jump on a plane thing and yeah that worked out once (mostly), but I'm not sure if I'd try that again, LOL.

[Lindal Kidd]

I'm a big fan of doing research first, myself...but no matter how much research you do, something always seems to bite you in the behind.

So do all your prep work and trial visits. But be aware that there is something lurking in the bushes that's gonna getcha. Just hope that whatever it is, it's not too serious.

[Ayashe Ninetails]

For some people, the things lurking in the bushes are right outside our homes, too. I wouldn't even attempt walking around in daytime, let alone at 1am to get some groceries. Hell, sitting in the car too long at a stop sign is a risk on some streets in this crazy town. Couldn't even convince me to answer the doorbell, honestly. 😂

There are never any guarantees of course, though, having numerous family members that have done a lot of moving and shifting around between various countries, I don't have any international relocation horror stories to tell beyond the occasional annoyance (and in my personal case, a minor college mishap). I do have plenty of horror stories about this neighborhood, town, county, and state, though. 🤷‍♀️

[SpiritSparrow Skydancer]

On 5/6/2022 at 2:12 PM, Ceka Cianci said:

My family didn't come this far just to watch me up and quit on them now!! \o/

hehehe

 

I feel this as well. My people did not cross an ocean and work for 10 years to get their freeman papers to piss all they worked for away. 

 What I would love to do is find a large piece of land in upper Washington state and build myself a compound and turn off the news. But then I would certainly miss all the idio--- I mean people--- in Florida.

[Ceka Cianci]

32 minutes ago, LittleSparrow Skydancer said:

I feel this as well. My people did not cross an ocean and work for 10 years to get their freeman papers to piss all they worked for away. 

 What I would love to do is find a large piece of land in upper Washington state and build myself a compound and turn off the news. But then I would certainly miss all the idio--- I mean people--- in Florida.

Life is so much better when a lot of that clutter was turned off.. The most reliable news today is the weather, and they're still working on getting that right, although they are getting better with radar nowadays..

We mostly pay attention to local news..some of that other stuff will get dribbled in there , but for the most part what's going on around us..

If something grabs my interest I'll usually look up unedited and as non bias information the best I can..Soon as I start hearing what sounds like sides manipulating things, I just keep looking else where until I find things that don't sound manipulating... hehehe

Edited May 16, 2022 by Ceka Cianci

[Silent Mistwalker]

41 minutes ago, LittleSparrow Skydancer said:

I feel this as well. My people did not cross an ocean and work for 10 years to get their freeman papers to piss all they worked for away. 

 What I would love to do is find a large piece of land in upper Washington state and build myself a compound and turn off the news. But then I would certainly miss all the idio--- I mean people--- in Florida.

When I finally got out of the south, I thought I would miss the people too. Now I know it's not the people I miss.

[Dafadilia Wayfarer]

17 hours ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

Congrats! It really is a unique feeling. I totally understand what you mean about feeling less fear, too. That happened to me as well when I moved to London, once I got settled in, though perhaps for different reasons. I let that lack of fear go straight to my head to where I felt way too confident and comfortable walking around in the middle of the night alone, lol. Barely anyone around on the streets but me, leaving the club on a Tuesday night or grabbing groceries, oh this is fiiiine off I go! Home isn't that far it's only a 25 minute walk I got thiiiiiiis! 😂 

I felt so free living in London, but it only intensified when I moved to Oxford. It was cheaper for me, it was very friendly, plus there were very affordable super comfy coach buses that ran between the two cities every other hour so I could make it back to London for classes. And yes, I still found myself taking walks to the grocery store at 1am. Old habits die hard I guess, lol.

I miss Oxford so much, but I'm not sure if I'll return. My brain is locked in "time to try something new" mode.

I'll just say that my birth family weren't the nicest people. They harassed my adopted family throughout my growing up years well into my adulthood. One in particular who was my abuser. After moving, changing names, and using all avenues open to me after my father passed on, both of my therapists, doctor and I all agreed relocating countries was the one way I could get some life back. I have enough health issues that really put my life on hold much of the time and my mental well-being was suffering. So I started doing research and making plans. The light in all of it was in 2019 I met my fiance who lived in the UK so it worked out even better than I could ever hope.

So distance was the answer at least for me. Everyone is different and I will say moving countries is extremely difficult. If a person feels it is something they need to do, I would just say do your research, go in with realistic expectations and realize problems with mental or physical health aren't going to disappear with the move. One of the first things I did when I got here was to sign up for a new therapist and doctor.

I'm glad you found happiness too.

 

 

Edited May 16, 2022 by Dafadilia Wayfarer

[Luna Bliss]

16 hours ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

Accra looks kinda cool! I'm digging the architecture. I have to sit my butt down and watch some videos on YouTube.

Oh funny aside - my brother emailed me last night and he told me he's ready to get up out of here, too. I mean, he's BEEN ready, but...after the events from yesterday, ahem, we both agreed that it's time to seriously buckle down and figure this stuff out.

I looked at some Accra videos...interesting place!  I'd love to plop those government people adhering to this 'fear of being replaced by Whites' theory the recent shooter in Buffalo did, right smack in the middle of downtown amidst all the Black people rushing around and watch them FREAK OUT!  lol

Yeah at least the intent of the Buffalo shooter could leave no doubt as to his motive -- he had the N-word written on his rifle, and the number 14, code for "We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white people".  These are not lone crazypeople as the media tends to portray such shooters -- they have a community who supports them -- there are members (and upcoming members) at the highest levels of government adhering to this philosophy known as "The Great Replacement":
 https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounders/the-great-replacement-an-explainer

A belief that "...native white Europeans are being replaced in their countries by non-white immigrants from Africa and the Middle East, and the end result will be the extinction of the white race".

And politicians use this belief to stoke excessive fear of immigrants at the southern border they believe are trying to replace White people too. 

[Luna Bliss]

13 hours ago, Lindal Kidd said:

I'm a big fan of doing research first, myself...but no matter how much research you do, something always seems to bite you in the behind.

So do all your prep work and trial visits. But be aware that there is something lurking in the bushes that's gonna getcha. Just hope that whatever it is, it's not too serious.

Good advice, as sometimes we can take a risk that proves to be too much in the end.

However, I see some autocracy lurking in the bushes round here   

[Luna Bliss]

12 hours ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

For some people, the things lurking in the bushes are right outside our homes, too. I wouldn't even attempt walking around in daytime, let alone at 1am to get some groceries. Hell, sitting in the car too long at a stop sign is a risk on some streets in this crazy town. Couldn't even convince me to answer the doorbell, honestly. 😂

I do have plenty of horror stories about this neighborhood, town, county, and state, though. 🤷‍♀️

But what about OPRAH!!!   🤣🤣🤣

[Luna Bliss]

16 hours ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

Oh and re: Mexico - find personal blogs written by people who moved there and really read through their day-to-day lived experiences. Watch YouTube videos of people doing city/town/neighborhood walkthroughs (I love watching those!), research your face off, etc. Mexico can be great, but it can also be not great, depending on where you go. Like a lot of places, of course. Maybe it's worth it to visit a few times first, too, before heading over with all your stuffs. I'm in that same boat - I need to set up some trips before I let myself decide on a single thing because I know me - I've already done the "YOLO I'll find out when I find out!" jump on a plane thing and yeah that worked out once (mostly), but I'm not sure if I'd try that again, LOL.

Yeah I'm certainly not that spontaneous!   Oh to be 18 again (maybe). I sure took a lot of trips in my youth.

I talked to some people at a women's center in the area I'd like to move to, and it's not as dangerous as I was imagining. I think I read too many stories about these unfortunate migrants coming from Central America, trekking through Mexico on the way to the US and getting murdered by drug cartels at various points along the way. I think I'd probably be okay if I avoid the places with a strong Cartel presence.

[Ayashe Ninetails]

6 hours ago, Luna Bliss said:

But what about OPRAH!!!   🤣🤣🤣

Wait, what about her? I know next to nothing about Oprah honestly.

 

6 hours ago, Luna Bliss said:

I talked to some people at a women's center in the area I'd like to move to, and it's not as dangerous as I was imagining. I think I read too many stories about these unfortunate migrants coming from Central America, trekking through Mexico on the way to the US and getting murdered by drug cartels at various points along the way. I think I'd probably be okay if I avoid the places with a strong Cartel presence.

If you have it drilled down to the city/town/neighborhood you want to live in, you could probably find videos on YouTube. I've done that before with India - watched a guy with a camera eat his way through an entire neighborhood over the course of a day. 😂 Some restaurant owners were nice enough to let him into the kitchen to vlog their entire cooking process. But some videos are more general - neighborhood walks, exploring x, days out in the city, walking around x in the rain, tours through markets/bazaars, everyday life in x, etc. You can find almost anything for anywhere.

When I'm really in veg-out mode, I might throw on some street food/food market videos around the world and watch people cooking and serving customers. Don't even ask - the sizzling is relaxing LOL. There are livestreams for this, too, so I can't be the only one who enjoys it.

[Luna Bliss]

12 hours ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

Wait, what about her? I know next to nothing about Oprah honestly.

In Social Work/therapy circles especially she is another example of a Black person achieving a position of power that caused some to think the racial strife in America must be over.  She was big on self-help and improvement, so some in those fields were more aware of her and overestimated her effect on society in terms of acceptance for POC.

[Luna Bliss]

12 hours ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

If you have it drilled down to the city/town/neighborhood you want to live in, you could probably find videos on YouTube. I've done that before with India - watched a guy with a camera eat his way through an entire neighborhood over the course of a day. 😂 Some restaurant owners were nice enough to let him into the kitchen to vlog their entire cooking process. But some videos are more general - neighborhood walks, exploring x, days out in the city, walking around x in the rain, tours through markets/bazaars, everyday life in x, etc. You can find almost anything for anywhere.

When I'm really in veg-out mode, I might throw on some street food/food market videos around the world and watch people cooking and serving customers. Don't even ask - the sizzling is relaxing LOL. There are livestreams for this, too, so I can't be the only one who enjoys it.

It is amazing how we can find such information now on just about any place!  I have it narrowed down to 2 towns -- one has more women's social work stuff going on (mainly dealing with abortion issues currently), and the other is more expensive with many more expats (which might be the best choice initially as I don't speak Spanish well at all). I might go to the place with more expats first and then move to the spot that meets my goals better after I'm more settled ( with social work stuff going on, less expensive, more of the 'old town' feel so appealing as I want Mexico and not a knock-off America environment).

lol the sizzling of the food is relaxing, but not good for my diet!  It makes me hungry..

[Katherine Heartsong]

On 5/12/2022 at 8:04 PM, Lysistrata Szapira said:

There seems to be a misconception of exactly how much higher taxes would be. People tend to forget about the fact that yes, taxes will be higher, but they will likely still have more money left in their pockets because most health insurance plans in the US SUCK.  Extremely high deductibles. High out of pocket maximums. Some studies have shown that people will be less out of pocket under universal healthcare despite the increase in taxes. 

This. Exactly this. US citizens pay *far* more than other Western countries with socialized (taxpayer funded) medical schemes.

And to a previous poster what's high taxes exactly? My net take home pay, from a well-paying senior manager-level job, after federal and provincial taxes in Canada here, is 71% of my gross. I pay 29% of my earnings to taxes. Is that too high?

Not to me it's not, knowing that if I break my arm or leg, have a heart attack, have some idiot driver injure me in a car accident, etc, that my hospital bill will be $0. Plus that 29% covers my neighbours healthcare, my roads, the police, fire, municipal services like parks I use, etc etc .. you know, the community I live in.

Then again, I'm a radical leftie. I think wealth should be taxed, as well as income, and you don't want to know what I think taxation rates should be on people earning far more than I am fortunate enough to earn. Let's just say it keeps going up with the amount of income/wealth you have, sort of how mass increases with velocity.

[Ayashe Ninetails]

1 hour ago, Luna Bliss said:

In Social Work/therapy circles especially she is another example of a Black person achieving a position of power that caused some to think the racial strife in America must be over.  She was big on self-help and improvement, so some in those fields were more aware of her and overestimated her effect on society in terms of acceptance for POC.

Oh lordt. To that I say - Sure, Jan.

Btw, the one thing I DO know about her is this incident, because it blew up when it happened. Granted, didn't happen in America, and it turned into a she said/she said so who even knows what really happened, but there are at least 20 celebrities with profiling stories (BET and some magazines have whole articles on that), so I guess wealth isn't the shield people think it is. - https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/08/10/210574193/why-didnt-the-store-just-let-oprah-buy-the-38-000-handbag

I could've sworn that happened to another celebrity in NYC, too, but I can't find it. Forest Whitaker got frisked in a deli in NYC, but the one I'm (maybe mis)remembering involved a clothing or jewelry store or something.

 

1 hour ago, Luna Bliss said:

It is amazing how we can find such information now on just about any place!  I have it narrowed down to 2 towns -- one has more women's social work stuff going on (mainly dealing with abortion issues currently), and the other is more expensive with many more expats (which might be the best choice initially as I don't speak Spanish well at all). I might go to the place with more expats first and then move to the spot that meets my goals better after I'm more settled ( with social work stuff going on, less expensive, more of the 'old town' feel so appealing as I want Mexico and not a knock-off America environment).

lol the sizzling of the food is relaxing, but not good for my diet!  It makes me hungry..

Yeah, you could go to the area with more expats and move around from there. Might be better to start off with a community that's full of people who have been through the moving process and can potentially assist with questions related to all that, for sure.

Oh gosh yeah, if you're on a diet, avoid some of those street food videos, LOL. I could build a whole vacation itinerary on those alone. I actually watched a bunch last night after I mentioned them to you - I watched someone wander around Singapore at night in a thunderstorm, which was weirdly relaxing (empty streets for the most part and the rain sounded good). I also watched a few videos on Mexico City, Dubai's City Walk at night, Cairo, Mumbai street food, Buenos Aires, etc. All in 4k, no real talking usually - just someone taking a walk with their camera out.

I love so much that these things exist - even for the smallest of travel questions like "what's good to wear in X in the summer?" - go watch someone walk around the city and you'll find out in no time, lol.

[Luna Bliss]

38 minutes ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

Oh lordt. To that I say - Sure, Jan.

Btw, the one thing I DO know about her is this incident, because it blew up when it happened. Granted, didn't happen in America, and it turned into a she said/she said so who even knows what really happened, but there are at least 20 celebrities with profiling stories (BET and some magazines have whole articles on that), so I guess wealth isn't the shield people think it is. - https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/08/10/210574193/why-didnt-the-store-just-let-oprah-buy-the-38-000-handbag

I could've sworn that happened to another celebrity in NYC, too, but I can't find it. Forest Whitaker got frisked in a deli in NYC, but the one I'm (maybe mis)remembering involved a clothing or jewelry store or something.

yeah, the racial profiling is annoying, the assumption that Black people are always poor or likely criminals.

Interesting stuff with Oprah...wasn't aware of these stories. Like you said, it's difficult to tell with the purse story what went on, but Oprah doesn't seem like a liar. She relates another incident there where she and her Black assistant weren't allowed into a store, with the excuse they had been robbed by 2 Black people recently.

 

[Luna Bliss]

45 minutes ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

I actually watched a bunch last night after I mentioned them to you - I watched someone wander around Singapore at night in a thunderstorm, which was weirdly relaxing (empty streets for the most part and the rain sounded good). I also watched a few videos on Mexico City, Dubai's City Walk at night, Cairo, Mumbai street food, Buenos Aires, etc. All in 4k, no real talking usually - just someone taking a walk with their camera out.

I love so much that these things exist - even for the smallest of travel questions like "what's good to wear in X in the summer?" - go watch someone walk around the city and you'll find out in no time, lol.

I'm going to have to check those out -- I love learning about other places even if I don't consider them as options for my escape from looming autocracy.

That has me wondering...would wearing Guatemalan clothes seem strange there?  I do love some of them when less intense, and even have a blouse and purse made there, kind of Boho-hippie style, but wouldn't want to offend. Some of the Mayans do sell them there.

[Luna Bliss]

1 hour ago, Katherine Heartsong said:

This. Exactly this. US citizens pay *far* more than other Western countries with socialized (taxpayer funded) medical schemes.

And to a previous poster what's high taxes exactly? My net take home pay, from a well-paying senior manager-level job, after federal and provincial taxes in Canada here, is 71% of my gross. I pay 29% of my earnings to taxes. Is that too high?

Not to me it's not, knowing that if I break my arm or leg, have a heart attack, have some idiot driver injure me in a car accident, etc, that my hospital bill will be $0. Plus that 29% covers my neighbours healthcare, my roads, the police, fire, municipal services like parks I use, etc etc .. you know, the community I live in.

Then again, I'm a radical leftie. I think wealth should be taxed, as well as income, and you don't want to know what I think taxation rates should be on people earning far more than I am fortunate enough to earn. Let's just say it keeps going up with the amount of income/wealth you have, sort of how mass increases with velocity.

Yeah it's just the strangest thing, how so many living in this country don't know they're being abused by the health care system here, and continue to vote for the very people who are the source of this abuse.

They are brainwashed by those who spread myths about other health care systems -- lies like there are such long lines in Canada with people waiting for care.  Well there's often lines here too. And the most important thing -- in Canada nobody is left out of the line as people are here, dying because they can't even get in any line.

Edited May 17, 2022 by Luna Bliss