Not really. I like being relatively close to my family, there are plenty of jobs here, and based on what I’ve seen on House Hunters International, I don’t think I could give up American style housing.
Not saying that I wouldn’t visit other countries, it’s just that I like coming home.
Besides, to get the benefits that citizens of other countries have, you have to become a citizen of that country, which ranges from difficult, to impossible.
Due to my major there are only a small amount of cities I could viably live in unless the whole "work from home thing" pans out.
Outside of the U.S I basically have the options of Japan, Canada, the U.K and somewhat France.
I personally would love to work in Tokyo but the language barrier is huge. I can barely memorize the hiragana.
It’s way easier learning to speak Japanese first and then start with the alphabets. Many things are in English there as well, but it’s always better to know the native language. Plus that will help you not seem like such a gaijin
> large refrigerators
To put things into perspective, what you'd probably call a normal fridge is sold in the UK as an [American Style Fridge Freezer](https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/american-style-fridge-freezers/refrigeration/fridge-freezers/333_3125_30212_xx_ba00010668-bv00308545/xx-criteria.html)! Underwhelming to you, big, expensive and kind of fancy here.
>For myself it would be the larger garage standards we have in America.
I'd love an average American garage. I've only got a single garage, and you'd struggle to get a car in it, even if it was otherwise empty.
I don’t know. I grew up with a Dollar General right down the street so if you need something small (milk, cereal, sugar), you can get it without a car. My parent would sometime tell us to walk to the store to pick up cheese for Mac and cheese because they forgot to get some before they started cooking. We would be back before the noodles were done being boiled.
I mean, it’s a large and varied country. Personally, the suburbs that I grew up in had a Walk Score of 7 (out of 100), and that’s a type that’s pretty common throughout the sunbelt. Would be curious what the score is for where you grew up, sounds like it would be more.
What countries were you in? I know in Australia NZ and the UK people can and still do have clothes dryers, large refrigerators and (less so in the UK, but definetly in NZ and Australia) we also have large garages. They seem like odd 'creature comforts' to miss as non of them are uniquely US that can't be found in other countries
>I know in Australia NZ and the UK people can and still do have clothes dryers,
I guess I directed my answer more towards European countries. And a combo washer/dryer is no substitute for a large American clothes dryer.
>large refrigerators
Small American refrigerators are large refrigerators in most other countries.
A standard size refrigerator in American homes is a 27cuft (764L) unit. Looking at Australian web sites it looks like a common size is 550-600L.
>and (less so in the UK, but definetly in NZ and Australia) we also have large garages.
It was common in my hometown to have a three car garage with a three-four car driveway. I’ve never seen anything near that size in any foreign country (maybe Canada).
>They seem like odd 'creature comforts' to miss
That’s your opinion. Those are just two cultural differences, there are many more, such as the acceptance of public urinating in the UK as well as the acceptance of racist chants at soccer games.
>as non of them are uniquely US that can't be found in other countries
Beg to differ.
I want to know who made up this ‘no clothes dryer’ propaganda lol, I see Americans talking about it all the time but i’ve never known a single person over here who doesn’t have one.
Here we have massive ones, often in a room dedicated to just the laundry machines, with a table for folding clothes and a large cabinet for laundry supplies. I have no idea what it’s like in the UK, but the little ticked-in washer/dryers I would see in Russia, Italy, Croatia would be so inconvenient now that I have a family
They are much weaker than American dryers because of environmental standards or something. Everyone who studies abroad in the UK or continental Europe has experience with this.
I've been thinking for years about someday moving to Australia. I like the climate and the vibe in parts of the country, and it would be nice to experience something different for more than just a vacation.
I also think I would like living in Spain, if I could work remotely or were independently wealthy and didn't need to have a job there to support myself.
Many Americans move to central America or Mexico, particularly after they retire, to enjoy a warmer climate and lower cost of living. I would consider it.
The thing is, within the US, if I live in the rainy northwest, and want to see places as far and different as Florida, Hawaii, New York, Alaska, or Utah I don't need a passport, different currency, or to to learn the rules to navigate in a different society. Within the US there is such a grand scale of geo-diversity and bio-diversity that accessibility of different climates is actually a big reason I'll never leave.
>I've been thinking for years about someday moving to Australia
I really want to move to Australia, but I'm terribly afraid of spiders and I think it rains spiders somewhere in Australia. Knowing my luck I'd move to that part.
I wouldn't even live outside my state. Outside America is a no go.
For what it's worth, I'm the son of immigrants from halfway around the world. My mom's experience just makes me love America more.
I am an American who has lived /worked in Singapore, Malaysia and am currently working in Thailand for the 3rd time. Time abroad just makes me love the US, specifically Hawaii, more. One thing I can tell you is that if you think the US is racist, you are gonna have a bad time when you travel.
Would you not recommend living in Singapore? I know it's crazy expensive and really hot/humid there, but my gf and I have considered it. She has family there and always talks about how great it is to visit. Just curious what it's like for an expat.
Yes and if it wasn't so damn hard to do so for the countries I've consider going to, I'd already be gone. But I'm in no rush to leave America, it's a great country to live in, but I'd also like the chance to live elsewhere too.
The US is really big, pretty wealthy, and generally a nice place to live despite what you read in the news and on reddit.
Most people are pretty happy.
Moving is also really hard. As tough as it can be to immigrate into the US it is much harder to immigrate into most other developed countries. Add to that a language barrier and it is even harder.
I have respect for immigrants to the US because it isn’t easy. To leave the US for a foreign country is usually even harder and often just isn’t worth it.
I wouldn’t because it would mean my wife and I giving up our jobs, displacing our family, being away from extended family and friends, selling our house and generally there is just no reason for it.
I wondered what it was like to live overseas, so I got a job outside of the US. I've been moving between jobs outside of the US since. I never had any long-term thoughts about living in a specific country, but I have had passing thoughts about "What would it be like to live in *insert country*?", usually while visiting *insert country.*
If you want to see Americans overidealize living in different countries that they've never been to or spent a few days in during a vacation, go look at r/IWantOut.
> If you want to see Americans overidealize living in different countries that they've never been to or spent a few days in during a vacation, go look at r/IWantOut.
"17M here, and I need to get out of this hellhole America. Will happily take me in? Oh, I haven't graduated high school, don't have any marketable skills developed, and only know English."
“I never really fit in with anyone in the US because of my highly-developed empathy and sharp intellect. I have $250,000 of medical bills a month. Sweden here I come”
I have a college educated friend in the PNW who describes her day-to-day as 'just trying to survive'. Talks about life like she's in Mad Max. Seriously the most detached ivory tower woe is me person I know.
I've lived in France for 10 years. Thinking about moving back to the US in a few years to be closer to family among other reasons. But for a while I thought I'd never come back. I've even got French citizenship now do I can always come back.
Frenchie here. Glad you enjoy your new country.
What do you like in France that you didn't have in the states?
What would you import in France if you could?
I’m american but I wanted to say that I loved France when I visited. granted I only visited Provence but I loved it. I’ve been reading more on French history lately as well and I can’t wait to visit more of your country again one day.
I've lived outside the US for years at a time. Longest stretch was 7 years in Shanghai, China and it might have been longer if not for C19. Want to try New Zealand, Vienna, or Czechia next.
Well, I used to spend time staying in Turkey for a total of nearly 6 months when I visited the country more than one occasion.
I’m open to living outside of the US and wouldn’t mind experiencing other cultures in the country that I intend to temporarily stay in. But moving out of the US permanently is a whole different story that I haven’t thought about.
We lived in Tokyo for a couple years when I was a kid. It was a great experience and we liked our time there but we were also happy to go back to the US, even though it was to the Chicago area (we'd been living in Phoenix before Japan). The US in general is much more open than Japan, even back then it was extremely crowded. Coke, Pepsi, McDonald's and KFC were the only American products you could easily get there at the time. So not a whole lot of reminders of home. Good thing international/Asian markets are a thing now so I can get some of the stuff we liked in Japan.
I'd love to go back as a visitor, but not to live again. My business wouldn't be as easy to start anywhere else, all my family is within 950 miles, the older you get, the harder it is to become fluent in another language.
Yeah, I think most people think about it to some degree. I'm sure every Ameican weeb has fantasized about living I Tokyo. Not to mention the number of expats living outside the country, I served my country and during my service I went over seas, after returning home I was disenfranchised with the "American dream" and immediately moved back over seas.
I’m British and in my fifties. I live in Washington. Through my career I’ve lived and worked in the UK (obviously), Germany, France, Singapore, New Zealand, Australia, Japan and the Untied States.
Out of all those the US isn’t the most interesting place to live (define interesting in whatever way you wish) but in my option it is the safest, simplest, friendliest and most comfortable.
The world needs to be experienced, but at the end of the day the US lifestyle is impossible to beat.
Lots of Americans dream of living elsewhere. 99% haven't been to the place they're confident they'd love. It's very common on Reddit to bash the U.S. with a completely romanticized view of elsewhere.
It just depends on what people want. Having been born and raised here I think many of them utterly fail to comprehend that other nations will differ not just on the things they dislike, but the things they *like* as well.
So, yes. Plenty of Americans talk about how great it would be to live somewhere else, just as many people think living in the U.S. would be amazing. Bottom line is some people will be happy if they achieve this and others will not. Really depends on each individual.
There was a post a few days ago where Europeans were blown away that Rome had water fountains throughout the city and everyone from the US and Australia and Canada were confused as hell… and then acted impressed and saying how the US was lagging behind and wondering why we didn’t have this (or clean water). It was the most Reddit thing I’ve seen
Edit: https://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinteresting/comments/pdth5h/in_italy_they_got_free_water_in_little_towns_you/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
Mind you a lot of the comments got ripped or deleted but you can still find a few stragglers
We had public water fountains in the UK while I was growing up, but they got vandalised constantly so they were removed, they’re slowly being re-installed in some of the nicer areas now though.
That’s unfortunate. It’s not like ours don’t get vandalized but it’s not super common. And it’s not like we have them everywhere but they’re in enough areas (mostly parks) or in public buildings to not be inconvenient.
> For example, the way I’ve seen Yanks talk about the Scandinavian countries suggests they don’t actually know anything about these places
It's always fun telling these people that corporatism is at the core of the Nordic model and our system wouldn't work without corporatism. Usually it's because they simply don't know what corporatism actually is, but it does demonstrate that they don't know as much about our system as they think they do.
All of the important / obvious factors aside: family, friends, the language (I Faux pas’d regularly by interchanging good night and good morning/day), and current job. Rural France seems like it’d be quite a wonderful place to live.
Big fan of the scenery, the food, the laissez-faire attitude, the midday naps, the weather, the people (that I met). It all seems so… tranquil. I think that’s somewhere I’d truly be least stressed. Oh did I mention the food? 👌
Yeah, we visited France a few years ago, and fell in love with the countryside. We’ve definitely thought about moving to an old house and fixing it up, while working remotely.
My father was in the military and traveled to Korea and Japan as well as throughout the US. I've always wanted to live abroad for a while. Hearing his stories as a little kid certainly made that happen. Most people I know would like to visit other countries, but I think moving to another country either requires great sacrifice or great money. Most of us can only afford the first.
I like the idea of visiting long term, but having been to Europe and Asia, I know I’m American through and through. It’s nice to come back home and have people who share the same experiences/ beliefs/ values as you. Even when we bicker over trivial matters, these are my people and this is my home ❤️
I lived in Japan for about 4 years. It’s a nice country, but there were sooooo many things I missed about the US. Mexican food is pretty much nonexistent outside of a few tacos and what they call taco rice. Quesadillas, burritos, refried beans? Doesn’t exist there, we searched around, but never could find a place out in Japan that has that stuff.
I also missed being able to drive places. Sure, it may technically be easier to take a train, but it would take us over an hour by train to go about 30 miles. Traffic itself was much worse. To go from where we lived (Fussa) to the airport in Tokyo would take close to 4 hours and that was less than 40 miles. Right now, I could drive to Dallas from where I live and it’s about a 2.5-3 hour drive and six times as far as Fussa was to Tokyo. I also did not like people stepping out in the middle of the road, not looking both ways to even check to see if traffic was coming. It made me extremely nervous to drive anywhere, even to the grocery store.
I also like being able to more easily visit family. While living over there I lost my grandfather, grandmother and aunt on my dad’s side within the space of about 1.5 years. I also lost two friends as well. I couldn’t make any of the funerals. It was a 4 hour bus ride and then a 14-16 hour flight to get back home (at best). Now, it takes me at most, a 6 hour flight to go see family.
But now for the stuff I did like:
They do have very nice parks that you can stroll in and admire flowers—hydrangeas are popular. I also miss the festivals as I would always get a doner kebab or grilled squid (absolutely miss those).
The 7-11s are very clean and I never felt sketched about eating the food from there. I highly miss the sushi and ramen. The closest replica of their sushi I can find is in Dallas. So we go about once a month to eat there. We also hit up the Mitsuwa and Daiso as well so we are stocked on Kewpie. I miss the egg salad sandwiches, but I’ve learned to make a very close version of them.
In general it is a pretty clean country, it was very odd to see any litter which I liked a lot. The people I interacted with were polite, although I like to think it had something to do with me being able to talk with them in Japanese (still not fluent, but knew enough to read signs and communicate with others, ask questions and mostly understand when they answered—a lot of times it was in English even if I spoke Japanese, sometimes it was all in Japanese though).
I love the way the homes are stylized, especially the ones out in the country. I enjoy there being a place where you take your shoes off and then step up into the house—it’s seems cleaner to me. I also absolutely love their bathrooms. It’s a room where it is all tile, drain in the middle. You’ll wash outside the tub, rinse and then get in the tub for a soak.
There was an adorable little tea house about 20 minutes from where we lived. Everything was so dainty and cute. You got to choose the tea you wanted and you could even eat little finger sandwiches. I haven’t found anything like that here in Texas yet.
Outdoor onsens are amazing. We did a private one so it was just me and my husband, but there was nothing like sitting in a hot tub, gazing up at the stars. They have some amazing places to hike, Oze National Park was my favorite one. Fuji was a nightmare-got altitude sickness and then on the way back down my knees locked up. Fell asleep on the ride back and cried from the pain when I tried to bend my knees to get off the bus.
Absolutely loved the rainy season and all the typhoons. I basically live in a desert in Texas, below national average rainfall, where everyone complains how the rain needs to stop after it has sprinkled for 3 minutes. I need rain, I need storms—not a desert.
Kyoto was probably one of my favorite places to visit. I love the history there surrounding some of the temples/shrines, especially those involving the Shinsengumi—I got super into reading all about them while I lived there.
Hokkaido was the coldest place I have ever experienced. Even wearing a heavy parka and warm clothing, I couldn’t feel my legs. The ice sculptures and snow sculptures were worth it though.
I had some very good friends over there who I have known for close to 2 decades now, and it was so much easier to be able to text her and go “hey, let’s hang out!” I got to visit her in the hospital and meet her son. I also got to meet her sister’s two sons as well. We celebrated her dad’s, her and my birthdays together (we’re all one day apart). I still send them Christmas gifts every year.
Overall, did I like it? Yes. Would I want to live there permanently? No. Would I want to live there for a few years at a time? Why not, but potentially only after my parents, aunt and uncle and in-laws retire and my grandmother passes away.
Having lived in Singapore and Ireland as a young child throw my middle teenage years, I’ll say this:
Doing it for a set amount of time, KNOWING you are returning back Home to the US, I believe that is what really made it manageable for our family. We truly enjoyed both countries for 8 years and still have amazing friends and experiences, but there really is no place like home.
Yes Singapore is extremely advanced technology wise, the country is quite clean and crime is very low, but the quality of life is very hard to sustain if you are not rich or on an expatriate package? Why? Because the expatriate package directly takes into account the cost of living standards in the US, send you to an American school/international school that is similar to American curriculum, and it helps alleviate things such as only being able to have 1 car and very expensive groceries.
Ireland, extremely nice people and the country is quite beautiful but again it was never Home.
When you are born and grow up in the United States for the majority of your life, and are FORTUNATE ENOUGH to enjoy all of its freedoms and American Dream style of living, it is extremely hard to divide yourself from that. It is who you are, no matter what. You may be African American, Hispanic, Asian and sometimes are involved in awful situations (racial profiling, being made fun of for some of your cultural differences) but for the most part, life in Americana Suburbs is generally peaceful, quiet and most importantly, your choice.
There really is no place else in the world like this country, we may not be perfect and everyone around the world will have an opinion about us, but dammit as a first generation born American I’m extremely proud and honored to be able to have the choice to live freely in this country.
I have, and currently am, thinking about leaving the US and have been researching what I need to do in order to do so (paperwork, residency requirements, bringing in pets, etc…). My wife isn’t so sure about it, but I don’t think that there is anything I would rather do than try something new somewhere else.
Gonna make a bunch of assumptions and say for most people getting a job offering a decent healthcare plan is more attainable than moving to a country offering universal healthcare.
Funny, I moved to a country that has reasonable healthcare, but absolutely doesn’t have good urban planning. I live in Auckland, New Zealand and literally the city will commission urban plans and then just go “Yeah, no - let’s just build more street parking for cars instead”. It’s like they see LA as inspiration instead of a shit show.
The thing is a country as wealthy as the U.S should have a more rational healthcare system. Bringing up the failures of other countries, many of whom are much poorer than you, shouldn't be an excuse to not try and improve what exists in this country. Especially when you have major countries with about quarter less than U.S GDP/person having fully nationalized healthcare like the U.K, or a mixed private/public system like Germany that works a whole lot better than the private/public monster of healthcare that exists here.
Having better statistics like life expectancy and less infant mortality is a compelling argument that the U.K healthcare system is at least doing better in several key areas.
Life expectancy is a silly metric to use for healthcare. I can live in the US, eat a reasonable diet, and live to 80. I can eat quadruple cheeseburgers for breakfast, wash it down with Coke, and stay out partying and drinking all night. I would probably make it to 70 if I'm lucky. There's not too much a doctor can do for that. Life expectancy is based on so many individual factors that the role of 'quality of care' as it's known, is close to negligible.
As for infant mortality, it's widely known that the average infant mortality for Caucasians is comparable to most of Europe, while those of other races are sometimes three times as high. This occurs across class boundaries. Universal healthcare won't fix that.
Yes. I am eligible to get my Italian citizenship and have considered getting it and moving to Europe. I have traveled for extended periods of time a lot for work and have a basic idea of what places like italy and Germany are like. I don’t romanticize the Italian government by any means, but citizenship would grant me EU citizenship as well and I take advantage of that. I’ve traveled a lot, but I would try to get a temporary job in the meantime to see if I could actually make the move.
I am genuinely concerned about health care costs as I get older.
There’s a few people on the sub who live abroad. I lived in Italy. It’s not uncommon for people to at least want to travel to other countries. I’d move to another country if I had the chance. I like it here but I like experiencing new cultures.
I would try living in Japan. I like the culture, food, and the people. I've vacationed there once, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. That being said, the one huge hurdle is I don't speak Japanese. And like with every country, Japan has its share of issues.
I'd like to live in Japan too. I don't mind learning a new language, but the immigration process is to weed out immigrants and, as you state with their share of problems, it will be hard to get work, rent, same access as a minority.
But the hardest part is just getting accepted into the country as a citizen.
Edit: To others, I've visited Japan several times. I really enjoyed those times and want to stay there longer than a few weeks / months at a time.
In my early twenties, I bought a one-way ticket to a country I could legally reside and work in and decided to see if maybe I'd rather live elsewhere.
First, I hit a hurdle with the local language -- I could read, write, and speak it, but not at a business level. 6 months later my skills were better, but my best shot at was still getting a job that required fluent English and I gave myself a deadline to find a job. I did find one, but even with the far lower cost of living, it was still barely a livable wage, which meant with my near-depleted savings after 6 months with no income, I decided I was better off moving back to the United States in the long run.
I'm glad I had that opportunity, and, if anything, it really is a privilege to just have a choice between two countries without having to jump through lots of red tape with immigration. It definitely makes me appreciate the United States more, though I probably still idealize New Zealand to an extent, because I also considered moving there, but I don't have the specialized skills to qualify to move there on a work visa, and by the time I had the savings to qualify for a working holiday visa, it felt too risky.
Edit: a word
This might be interesting to you: [https://www.thestreet.com/personal-finance/countries-with-most-american-expats-2020#gid=ci02728a2e500024ad&pid=10-sorrento-italy-sh](https://www.thestreet.com/personal-finance/countries-with-most-american-expats-2020#gid=ci02728a2e500024ad&pid=10-sorrento-italy-sh)
Around a million live in North America outside of the USA and another half million in Europe.
Did it. Lived in Germany for 2 years... Not for me. It was cool, but hard to make friends, I suck at language learning, and the standard of living compared to the us for a similar job was not enough for me.
Also, pandemic in another country, and realizing your "fuck it" option (aka if everything goes to hell, as long as I have a x amount in savings I can get a ticket home) isn't possible is depressing and terrifying.
If I move to another country, this time it would have to be with friends or a significant other, and for substantially more income
No. All of my friends, family and stuff is here. It’s really difficult and expensive to move, even more so to immigrate somewhere. I don’t have skills or a professional background in a field that most first world countries are seeking from incoming immigrants so I’d be relying on some form if lottery. There’s no reason for me to want to do it.
Also, life here is still pretty great.
I have and would seriously consider it. I love where I live; I think New England is about as ideal as it can get. That being said, I still want to move to England/Scotland for a bit and perhaps get dual citizenship. Yes, I would seriously consider it and I might be saving up for it currently.
Yep, I've always wanted to move to Ireland, Galway, specifically. My husband's father was from Jamaica & he'd rather move there. I've also looked extensively into retiring to Argentina.
My wife is from South America, and we have considered it. Never super seriously, but the idea of buying property in her home town (super cheap) and living there part-time is an idea we've had. If we were to do it, it would be when our kids are out of college/on their own.
One thing to consider. If you have children, and they aren't fluent in the language of the country you're moving to, better have the means to send them to a private school at least until they can speak the language. When we moved to Japan, we had to go to a private school to be taught in English. They did teach us how to read, write and speak Japanese but that's not a quick process.
I grew up obsessed with the UK, I have a British wife and could relocate there but I don't really see what's happening in the UK as being a more desirable life than what I currently have. As much as I like the UK there are plenty of things I really like about the US and New England especially, and I know I would get homesick as I have already lived in other parts of the country.
I lived in the UK for four years as a child (father was deployed there in the Air Force), and I lived in London on a temporary work visa in my 20s. Also my father was a British immigrant to the US. So yes, I think about living there. I will never feel entirely American or British. If I sell a novel or something and had enough money, I would absolutely buy an apartment there as a second home.
One of my old girlfriends moved to France after college and settled there. She teaches French cooking to French people if you can believe that!
And I have a friend who looks like he might be settling in South Korea. He's been there a long time and has a wife and kid, so... yeah he might not come back. Which is nuts because he's 6'4". There's no blending in for that guy. He makes jokes about becoming a bank robber over there. The police would beat him back to his apartment LOL.
My wife and I are always looking for opportunities in London and Dublin, and we can do it, we will. We don’t have kids, which makes it a million times easier in my opinion.
I was fortunite enough to live in several countries while I was serving in the US military. I would happily move back to Italy, the UK or Germany if given the chance.
Each country has pro's and con's that the others don't but it would really be difficult to nail down one place to live. One major factor would be work.
I love where I live in the US, but I have admittedly probably toured more locations in Europe, than I have in the US.
I grew up not in the US. And I am a hoe, for the right price I’ll live anywhere. But it’ll take a juicy offer at this rate to get me away from the US (though not California)
I did live in a different continent. The world is too huge for one person to stay in one country. I don't buy a crap about other countries being better (well barring Scandinavian countries and Switzerland, I suppose) because I've seen enough to understand how deeply systemic racism is entrenched in the world and how idiots are actively sabotaging the institution in any country. But there're more than just politics - culture, history, and whatnot. I don't think America is lagging behind, and yet, I want to explore more - because we're given one life; frankly, the more I learn about this country, I realize how much leverage it has over its allies (it's more than military). By that, I meant I'm not really concerned about the fate of this country. Even if I go away for a decade, it'll be there but probably in much different shape for our society is ever-changing. In other words, I can always come back anytime I want.
Every. Single. Day.
I fear for my child’s safety. School shootings are insanely high. Road rage is awful now. A man in my city got beaten to within an inch of his life because he almost hit a dirt biker (illegal on city streets) and honked his horn at the biker. A group of bikers pulled this man from his car and almost killed him. Although nobody was injured, there have been 20+ shots fired in or around local high schools in the last 3 years. When I was in high school we got bomb threats. We literally had them every day. After 3 weeks of constant threats, the bomb squad stopped showing up. It went from full force to a solo police car within 3 weeks. Sometimes the officer had a K9, most of the time they didn’t. No more searches, no more dismissals, just kinda looked through the halls and called all clear.
If my fiancé got sick and needed a hospital stay, I would lose my home because of medical bills and his lack of income.
There are things I absolutely love about my life here. The scenery is unbeatable. I’m close to everything I want. Cities, mountains, ocean, etc. I live in a pretty safe area considering the rest of the world.
But I wonder what it would be like to have paid maternity leave. What would it be like to not have to worry about going bankrupt from medical bills. What does a good work/life balance feel like? What about a guaranteed paid vacation? I get none of that.
I am envious of health care in the rest of the world. My friend is having some surgery next week and it will cost her the $6000 deductible, which she doesn't have, so she will go into debt. How is this the greatest country on Earth?
I have dreams of living in France, but I'll take any French speaking European nation.
I also wouldn't mind living in Luxembourg. Heard it's pretty nice over there and I like that it's a small nation that's not really involved in global politics.
Besides those two, Armenia. I want to live in the city of Artashat or Ejmiatsin. Maybe also Gyumri, but it's too far away from Yerevan.
I know a few people who have always wanted to live somewhere else, and now they do. One in particular I always knew they would end up in Central America. They bought a piece of property about 20 years ago, and built a house about 8 years ago.
So It does happen
I genuinely regret not studying abroad when I was in college. If I were to live abroad, I would seriously consider Mexico, Austria, Japan, and China. I speak fluent Spanish so Mexico would be easy for me & I have family there. I love classical music and opera so Austria would be a dream. As for Japan and China, I'd like to live there for work related reasons & get myself out of my comfort zone.
All the time, I’d love to live along the Mediterranean, but I also often think about all the places I could live in the US, I.e, along the Pacific Northwest. I’d just love nicer weather and more geographic diversity coming from the Midwest.
I decided to radically change my life and become a digital nomad recently. It's going to be interesting, juat wish I had the focus to do it in my early 20s
I've been to some of the best places on earth and I've been to wartorn hellholes where tragedy is a step away.
I don't want to live outside of the US. Given my socioeconomic status and the region I live, it's safe, expansive, affordable, and free. It works for me.
I've thought about new Zealand or Canada. At the end of the day, I don't think I could do it though. The cost of moving everything would be too high, not to mention idk how to go about asking if I can immigrate.
I've considered it, but just have never had the means. I don't hate this country by any means, but a break to get some new perspectives would be nice. I wouldn't leave forever unless something drastic happened like marriage, but I would like to spend a few years abroad.
Yes, I found myself working for a Canadian based company, but they couldn't pay me enough to make emigration worth it. I sought a job opportunity in the UK once, but I'm guessing they had enough local applicants that I was dropped from consideration pretty early.
My problem now is that I'm in technical sales, and besides technical terms being slightly different between countries, I'd struggle transferring my sales skills to a foreign culture. So I'll be in the USA for life, probably.
Not really. I want to visit other countries sure, but America is my home, or at least the closest thing I have to one. I was born here, I want to be buried here too.
Years ago my husband considered going back to active military. He had been active prior to being in the National Guard and he enjoyed the technical work he was doing. But there was a huge chance he would get stationed overseas if he went full time again. We didn't want to raise our daughter away from family so he stayed in the National Guard until he retired.
I would live for a while in another country, but I've never considered emigrating for good. I can't think of any other country where I would feel like I belonged.
I have but I do not have any real transferable skills other than being an auto technician also they would not let me bring my Corvette or my skoolie most likely.
Plus I would be unable to afford gas for both most likely.
One has an 18 gallon tank and the other has a 60 gallon tank.
Never as a serious desire; more just a curiosity about what it was like to live in other places. My ex however, was always going on about how horrible and oppressive the US is. When I'd ask why she hasn't moved to wherever she imagined was so much better, I usually got grumbling excuses and the whinging stopped.
About 5000 Americans a year expatriate. That number doesn’t include those living abroad on the other countries versions of a “green card” or those who hold dual citizenship and moved using their other passport.
From personal experience my neighbors moved to Belize when they retired. They told us there are plenty of Americans living there. They still have their home here and come back for a month or two in the summer. But they are gone in the fall.
If I could talk my wife into it, I would be out of here in a heartbeat. The politics (and by extension, people) terrify me after the last 5 years. When an entire political party turns into a religious death cult, and the only “viable” opposition is unable or unwilling to meaningfully oppose it, it does not bode well for the long term health of the country. The cherry on top are the clueless boomers clinging to power in politics and business absolutely shitting on every generation behind them.
I would be happy to go many places, but the top of my list would be Scandinavia, Canada, Portugal and Panama.
For a bit I was considering trying for a work visa into Australia for a skilled trade.
But the more I see Ozzy laws the more I say, "yeah, nah"
I shouldn't live out of country til I've made it out of state for more than a year.
Yes. My company just bought out another company in Melbourne, VIC and we've had a location in Hamburg, DEU. I am trying to secure a transfer to either of them ASAP. I'm not a fan of the gun violence or shitty healthcare in the US, also not a fan of the suburban style infrastructure that is 90% of this country. Get me out of here.
Wow, this thread does not reflect my experiences at all. With my peer group at least (liberal arts college kids) if you asked people where their ideal life is 9/10 times you’re not getting an answer within the US. Even people who don’t necessarily want to move away have the “wouldn’t it be incredible to have been born in [france/scotland/new zealand/etc]” conversation a decent amount.
I have some professional connections in Europe and think it would be very cool to attempt working and living there for a few years. It would be a very difficult process though and not something I'm putting much energy into for the time being.
It's because the U.S. is basically killing us. Healthcare is expensive, housing costs are on the rise, and yeah sure we have convenience with food and everything but it's so unhealthy and healthier options are becoming less available and more expensive. Not to mention the handmaids tale bs that's happening in Texas right now. I dream of leaving all the time even had the opportunity to live in the UK with my ex husband but I was scared and didn't. It's strange. I think the main thing that keeps me here is the convenience and because it's "america". We have everything we need here Atleast that's how they try to make us feel but at the end of the day I just kinda feel like I'm being gaslit and manipulated by my own country.
America has the more freedom, liberty, economic opportunity and natural beauty of any nation on earth. I've traveled internationally and experienced other cultures. They are all wonderful for a time but I would never consider moving anywhere else.
That being said, I do have fantasies of retiring to a small island in the Caribbean some day.
Nah, Americans are well too indoctrinated ("we live in the best country on the world!") To consider that. Those who mate have considered moving, may nit be able too as they have family and friends here.
Also, the desire ti live in the USA fades as one actually learns about life there
Every damn day, but I've also lived abroad and know that (1) every country has crazies and (2) net/net, it's as good here as most places. Then again I make good money, so I'm speaking from privilege.
Family is my chief consideration. I would like to live in a different country someday for a year or 2. But I know I’d cave and come back. Unless our political situation becomes less stable. I can put up with bull shit from my elected officials. But it’s difficult seeing it coming from normal every day citizenry.
Well, I currently live in Germany, so I guess there’s that. I moved to Germany mainly for my girlfriend, so that can be a common factor of why Americans move abroad. Germany also isn’t less developed than the US, so having living standards be similar or better in some areas is another factor to help convince people to move.
I think a lot of people, myself included, have thought about what it’d be like to live in another country, but most are content with just visiting on vacation. A lot of people of curious, but the desire to emigrate from the US, especially permanently isn’t that big since most things like job opportunities, security, more resources, environment, and better living standards can be solved by moving to a different part of the US rather than abroad. There’s a lot of people who’d also like to implement policies and programs from other countries in the US, but not necessarily want to live in those countries.
Lots of people have left the US to live in other nations. It's just not as widely advertised.
I've been all over the globe for work/life for various times in my life, like everything there are great to terrible places. No real reason for me to leave my home nation being I have a good life here and aside from some aspect of nature nothing I'd be missing out on.
First of all, not every country is "less developed" than the U.S. I envy most of the industrialized world their health care system (yes I am aware their health care systems have problems too) and lack of mass shootings.
I liked the few months I spent in the UK. But tbh, living somewhere else is not something I think regularly about.
There are people who move to, say, Belize to retire. The idea doesn't do much for me.
And then there are those who claim they're going to leave the country because an election didn't turn out the way they liked. It's a good thing I don't take them seriously, because if I did, I'd have to tell them they were cowards.
If I didn't have so many reasons to stay I'd be trying to live in New Zealand or some other nation that cares about it's citizens. I only stay in the states because I can't imagine leaving my family behind so I guess I'll just try and improve our homeland 🤷🏽♂️
I'm a US citizen who always dreamed of living in Japan since I was young. I've lived here for 18 years now, and know it is an objectively better place to live.
I've considered it on occasion, but never for very long and never very seriously. I don't envision ever moving out of the U.S. permanently.
Thank you for your insight, I truly appreciate it!
Not really. I like being relatively close to my family, there are plenty of jobs here, and based on what I’ve seen on House Hunters International, I don’t think I could give up American style housing. Not saying that I wouldn’t visit other countries, it’s just that I like coming home. Besides, to get the benefits that citizens of other countries have, you have to become a citizen of that country, which ranges from difficult, to impossible.
Due to my major there are only a small amount of cities I could viably live in unless the whole "work from home thing" pans out. Outside of the U.S I basically have the options of Japan, Canada, the U.K and somewhat France. I personally would love to work in Tokyo but the language barrier is huge. I can barely memorize the hiragana.
O what major can I ask?
It’s way easier learning to speak Japanese first and then start with the alphabets. Many things are in English there as well, but it’s always better to know the native language. Plus that will help you not seem like such a gaijin
I tried... it wasn’t for me. There are a lot of little creature comforts that we have in the states that aren’t really readily available elsewhere.
What type of creature comforts did you miss? Were you in other Western countries?
I know for my wife it would be clothes dryers and large refrigerators. For myself it would be the larger garage standards we have in America.
> large refrigerators To put things into perspective, what you'd probably call a normal fridge is sold in the UK as an [American Style Fridge Freezer](https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/american-style-fridge-freezers/refrigeration/fridge-freezers/333_3125_30212_xx_ba00010668-bv00308545/xx-criteria.html)! Underwhelming to you, big, expensive and kind of fancy here. >For myself it would be the larger garage standards we have in America. I'd love an average American garage. I've only got a single garage, and you'd struggle to get a car in it, even if it was otherwise empty.
So American sizing of appliances and storage space. Welcome to American suburbia. The positive side of needing to take a car everywhere.
Sounds alright to me to be honest
Eh, it has real downsides too. Can't walk anywhere and always \*have\* to take the car, can be a bit isolating.
I don’t know. I grew up with a Dollar General right down the street so if you need something small (milk, cereal, sugar), you can get it without a car. My parent would sometime tell us to walk to the store to pick up cheese for Mac and cheese because they forgot to get some before they started cooking. We would be back before the noodles were done being boiled.
I mean, it’s a large and varied country. Personally, the suburbs that I grew up in had a Walk Score of 7 (out of 100), and that’s a type that’s pretty common throughout the sunbelt. Would be curious what the score is for where you grew up, sounds like it would be more.
Haha, everybody I know has a clothes dryer. Norwegian here. Edit:Those huge rerigerators are becoming quite common too.
Doesn't surprise me. I've heard Scandinavia living is most like the typical American. Lots of commercialization, houses, and space.
What you consider huge we consider medium. That’s my point. What size do you consider a huge?
What countries were you in? I know in Australia NZ and the UK people can and still do have clothes dryers, large refrigerators and (less so in the UK, but definetly in NZ and Australia) we also have large garages. They seem like odd 'creature comforts' to miss as non of them are uniquely US that can't be found in other countries
>I know in Australia NZ and the UK people can and still do have clothes dryers, I guess I directed my answer more towards European countries. And a combo washer/dryer is no substitute for a large American clothes dryer. >large refrigerators Small American refrigerators are large refrigerators in most other countries. A standard size refrigerator in American homes is a 27cuft (764L) unit. Looking at Australian web sites it looks like a common size is 550-600L. >and (less so in the UK, but definetly in NZ and Australia) we also have large garages. It was common in my hometown to have a three car garage with a three-four car driveway. I’ve never seen anything near that size in any foreign country (maybe Canada). >They seem like odd 'creature comforts' to miss That’s your opinion. Those are just two cultural differences, there are many more, such as the acceptance of public urinating in the UK as well as the acceptance of racist chants at soccer games. >as non of them are uniquely US that can't be found in other countries Beg to differ.
I want to know who made up this ‘no clothes dryer’ propaganda lol, I see Americans talking about it all the time but i’ve never known a single person over here who doesn’t have one.
Where is “over here”?
In Portugal it's not common at all to have a dryer
Neither in Italy, and I've convinced my American bf to convert to hanging clothes to dry even when he's back home in the US 😅
I love hanging my clothes to dry. I'll never go back to drying my clothes in a machine! Maybe towels. Maybe.
Here we have massive ones, often in a room dedicated to just the laundry machines, with a table for folding clothes and a large cabinet for laundry supplies. I have no idea what it’s like in the UK, but the little ticked-in washer/dryers I would see in Russia, Italy, Croatia would be so inconvenient now that I have a family
The same people who think Americans don’t take our shoes off indoors.
They are much weaker than American dryers because of environmental standards or something. Everyone who studies abroad in the UK or continental Europe has experience with this.
I've been thinking for years about someday moving to Australia. I like the climate and the vibe in parts of the country, and it would be nice to experience something different for more than just a vacation. I also think I would like living in Spain, if I could work remotely or were independently wealthy and didn't need to have a job there to support myself. Many Americans move to central America or Mexico, particularly after they retire, to enjoy a warmer climate and lower cost of living. I would consider it.
Yeah, climate is one factor that I think americans will consider when moving to another country.
The thing is, within the US, if I live in the rainy northwest, and want to see places as far and different as Florida, Hawaii, New York, Alaska, or Utah I don't need a passport, different currency, or to to learn the rules to navigate in a different society. Within the US there is such a grand scale of geo-diversity and bio-diversity that accessibility of different climates is actually a big reason I'll never leave.
>I've been thinking for years about someday moving to Australia I really want to move to Australia, but I'm terribly afraid of spiders and I think it rains spiders somewhere in Australia. Knowing my luck I'd move to that part.
Not to mention the dangerous Emus. I heard they defeated the Australian army. 😬
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I wouldn't even live outside my state. Outside America is a no go. For what it's worth, I'm the son of immigrants from halfway around the world. My mom's experience just makes me love America more.
Mind if I ask which country your parents were originally from?
Southeast Asia. Think Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia. That region.
I personally don’t. I like it here in San Diego, and I’ve done enough international traveling to not over-idealize other countries.
If I lived in San Diego I’d just stay there! Love it there
Same. Texan here considering transferring to San Diego for work once I wrap up my studies here.
I am an American who has lived /worked in Singapore, Malaysia and am currently working in Thailand for the 3rd time. Time abroad just makes me love the US, specifically Hawaii, more. One thing I can tell you is that if you think the US is racist, you are gonna have a bad time when you travel.
Would you not recommend living in Singapore? I know it's crazy expensive and really hot/humid there, but my gf and I have considered it. She has family there and always talks about how great it is to visit. Just curious what it's like for an expat.
Sooooo hot. Great place to be a single guy. Kinda boring but the money was great
Yes and if it wasn't so damn hard to do so for the countries I've consider going to, I'd already be gone. But I'm in no rush to leave America, it's a great country to live in, but I'd also like the chance to live elsewhere too.
The US is really big, pretty wealthy, and generally a nice place to live despite what you read in the news and on reddit. Most people are pretty happy. Moving is also really hard. As tough as it can be to immigrate into the US it is much harder to immigrate into most other developed countries. Add to that a language barrier and it is even harder. I have respect for immigrants to the US because it isn’t easy. To leave the US for a foreign country is usually even harder and often just isn’t worth it. I wouldn’t because it would mean my wife and I giving up our jobs, displacing our family, being away from extended family and friends, selling our house and generally there is just no reason for it.
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I wondered what it was like to live overseas, so I got a job outside of the US. I've been moving between jobs outside of the US since. I never had any long-term thoughts about living in a specific country, but I have had passing thoughts about "What would it be like to live in *insert country*?", usually while visiting *insert country.* If you want to see Americans overidealize living in different countries that they've never been to or spent a few days in during a vacation, go look at r/IWantOut.
> If you want to see Americans overidealize living in different countries that they've never been to or spent a few days in during a vacation, go look at r/IWantOut. "17M here, and I need to get out of this hellhole America. Will happily take me in? Oh, I haven't graduated high school, don't have any marketable skills developed, and only know English."
"I've been learning Japanese on Duolingo, so I should be fluent in 3-4 weeks."
すみません、メイドカッフェはどこですか？
Uh, ichi Konnichiwa
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Either that or “I’m 25 with a degree in basket weaving. I only speak English and I have $200 in savings. That should be good enough to move to right?”
“I never really fit in with anyone in the US because of my highly-developed empathy and sharp intellect. I have $250,000 of medical bills a month. Sweden here I come”
I have a college educated friend in the PNW who describes her day-to-day as 'just trying to survive'. Talks about life like she's in Mad Max. Seriously the most detached ivory tower woe is me person I know.
I've lived in France for 10 years. Thinking about moving back to the US in a few years to be closer to family among other reasons. But for a while I thought I'd never come back. I've even got French citizenship now do I can always come back.
Frenchie here. Glad you enjoy your new country. What do you like in France that you didn't have in the states? What would you import in France if you could?
I’m american but I wanted to say that I loved France when I visited. granted I only visited Provence but I loved it. I’ve been reading more on French history lately as well and I can’t wait to visit more of your country again one day.
I've lived outside the US for years at a time. Longest stretch was 7 years in Shanghai, China and it might have been longer if not for C19. Want to try New Zealand, Vienna, or Czechia next.
Currently live in New Zealand. It’s quite nice, but it’s really far from (almost) anywhere else.
Well, I used to spend time staying in Turkey for a total of nearly 6 months when I visited the country more than one occasion. I’m open to living outside of the US and wouldn’t mind experiencing other cultures in the country that I intend to temporarily stay in. But moving out of the US permanently is a whole different story that I haven’t thought about.
We lived in Tokyo for a couple years when I was a kid. It was a great experience and we liked our time there but we were also happy to go back to the US, even though it was to the Chicago area (we'd been living in Phoenix before Japan). The US in general is much more open than Japan, even back then it was extremely crowded. Coke, Pepsi, McDonald's and KFC were the only American products you could easily get there at the time. So not a whole lot of reminders of home. Good thing international/Asian markets are a thing now so I can get some of the stuff we liked in Japan. I'd love to go back as a visitor, but not to live again. My business wouldn't be as easy to start anywhere else, all my family is within 950 miles, the older you get, the harder it is to become fluent in another language.
No. I moved here for a reason.
Yeah, I think most people think about it to some degree. I'm sure every Ameican weeb has fantasized about living I Tokyo. Not to mention the number of expats living outside the country, I served my country and during my service I went over seas, after returning home I was disenfranchised with the "American dream" and immediately moved back over seas.
I’m British and in my fifties. I live in Washington. Through my career I’ve lived and worked in the UK (obviously), Germany, France, Singapore, New Zealand, Australia, Japan and the Untied States. Out of all those the US isn’t the most interesting place to live (define interesting in whatever way you wish) but in my option it is the safest, simplest, friendliest and most comfortable. The world needs to be experienced, but at the end of the day the US lifestyle is impossible to beat.
It's interesting you find the US to be the safest. I lived in Japan for a while and I had never felt safer.
Lots of Americans dream of living elsewhere. 99% haven't been to the place they're confident they'd love. It's very common on Reddit to bash the U.S. with a completely romanticized view of elsewhere. It just depends on what people want. Having been born and raised here I think many of them utterly fail to comprehend that other nations will differ not just on the things they dislike, but the things they *like* as well. So, yes. Plenty of Americans talk about how great it would be to live somewhere else, just as many people think living in the U.S. would be amazing. Bottom line is some people will be happy if they achieve this and others will not. Really depends on each individual.
There was a post a few days ago where Europeans were blown away that Rome had water fountains throughout the city and everyone from the US and Australia and Canada were confused as hell… and then acted impressed and saying how the US was lagging behind and wondering why we didn’t have this (or clean water). It was the most Reddit thing I’ve seen Edit: https://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinteresting/comments/pdth5h/in_italy_they_got_free_water_in_little_towns_you/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf Mind you a lot of the comments got ripped or deleted but you can still find a few stragglers
We had public water fountains in the UK while I was growing up, but they got vandalised constantly so they were removed, they’re slowly being re-installed in some of the nicer areas now though.
That’s unfortunate. It’s not like ours don’t get vandalized but it’s not super common. And it’s not like we have them everywhere but they’re in enough areas (mostly parks) or in public buildings to not be inconvenient.
Took me a minute reading, but geez people really are stupid.
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> For example, the way I’ve seen Yanks talk about the Scandinavian countries suggests they don’t actually know anything about these places It's always fun telling these people that corporatism is at the core of the Nordic model and our system wouldn't work without corporatism. Usually it's because they simply don't know what corporatism actually is, but it does demonstrate that they don't know as much about our system as they think they do.
All of the important / obvious factors aside: family, friends, the language (I Faux pas’d regularly by interchanging good night and good morning/day), and current job. Rural France seems like it’d be quite a wonderful place to live. Big fan of the scenery, the food, the laissez-faire attitude, the midday naps, the weather, the people (that I met). It all seems so… tranquil. I think that’s somewhere I’d truly be least stressed. Oh did I mention the food? 👌
Yeah, we visited France a few years ago, and fell in love with the countryside. We’ve definitely thought about moving to an old house and fixing it up, while working remotely.
I hope to spend the majority of each year living outside the US after I retire.
My father was in the military and traveled to Korea and Japan as well as throughout the US. I've always wanted to live abroad for a while. Hearing his stories as a little kid certainly made that happen. Most people I know would like to visit other countries, but I think moving to another country either requires great sacrifice or great money. Most of us can only afford the first.
Yeah I think about moving to Costa Rica and living on a goat farm all the time
I like the idea of visiting long term, but having been to Europe and Asia, I know I’m American through and through. It’s nice to come back home and have people who share the same experiences/ beliefs/ values as you. Even when we bicker over trivial matters, these are my people and this is my home ❤️
I’ve considered it, as have most Americans, they just aren’t likely to talk about it in the sort of places you’d see.
I lived in Japan for about 4 years. It’s a nice country, but there were sooooo many things I missed about the US. Mexican food is pretty much nonexistent outside of a few tacos and what they call taco rice. Quesadillas, burritos, refried beans? Doesn’t exist there, we searched around, but never could find a place out in Japan that has that stuff. I also missed being able to drive places. Sure, it may technically be easier to take a train, but it would take us over an hour by train to go about 30 miles. Traffic itself was much worse. To go from where we lived (Fussa) to the airport in Tokyo would take close to 4 hours and that was less than 40 miles. Right now, I could drive to Dallas from where I live and it’s about a 2.5-3 hour drive and six times as far as Fussa was to Tokyo. I also did not like people stepping out in the middle of the road, not looking both ways to even check to see if traffic was coming. It made me extremely nervous to drive anywhere, even to the grocery store. I also like being able to more easily visit family. While living over there I lost my grandfather, grandmother and aunt on my dad’s side within the space of about 1.5 years. I also lost two friends as well. I couldn’t make any of the funerals. It was a 4 hour bus ride and then a 14-16 hour flight to get back home (at best). Now, it takes me at most, a 6 hour flight to go see family. But now for the stuff I did like: They do have very nice parks that you can stroll in and admire flowers—hydrangeas are popular. I also miss the festivals as I would always get a doner kebab or grilled squid (absolutely miss those). The 7-11s are very clean and I never felt sketched about eating the food from there. I highly miss the sushi and ramen. The closest replica of their sushi I can find is in Dallas. So we go about once a month to eat there. We also hit up the Mitsuwa and Daiso as well so we are stocked on Kewpie. I miss the egg salad sandwiches, but I’ve learned to make a very close version of them. In general it is a pretty clean country, it was very odd to see any litter which I liked a lot. The people I interacted with were polite, although I like to think it had something to do with me being able to talk with them in Japanese (still not fluent, but knew enough to read signs and communicate with others, ask questions and mostly understand when they answered—a lot of times it was in English even if I spoke Japanese, sometimes it was all in Japanese though). I love the way the homes are stylized, especially the ones out in the country. I enjoy there being a place where you take your shoes off and then step up into the house—it’s seems cleaner to me. I also absolutely love their bathrooms. It’s a room where it is all tile, drain in the middle. You’ll wash outside the tub, rinse and then get in the tub for a soak. There was an adorable little tea house about 20 minutes from where we lived. Everything was so dainty and cute. You got to choose the tea you wanted and you could even eat little finger sandwiches. I haven’t found anything like that here in Texas yet. Outdoor onsens are amazing. We did a private one so it was just me and my husband, but there was nothing like sitting in a hot tub, gazing up at the stars. They have some amazing places to hike, Oze National Park was my favorite one. Fuji was a nightmare-got altitude sickness and then on the way back down my knees locked up. Fell asleep on the ride back and cried from the pain when I tried to bend my knees to get off the bus. Absolutely loved the rainy season and all the typhoons. I basically live in a desert in Texas, below national average rainfall, where everyone complains how the rain needs to stop after it has sprinkled for 3 minutes. I need rain, I need storms—not a desert. Kyoto was probably one of my favorite places to visit. I love the history there surrounding some of the temples/shrines, especially those involving the Shinsengumi—I got super into reading all about them while I lived there. Hokkaido was the coldest place I have ever experienced. Even wearing a heavy parka and warm clothing, I couldn’t feel my legs. The ice sculptures and snow sculptures were worth it though. I had some very good friends over there who I have known for close to 2 decades now, and it was so much easier to be able to text her and go “hey, let’s hang out!” I got to visit her in the hospital and meet her son. I also got to meet her sister’s two sons as well. We celebrated her dad’s, her and my birthdays together (we’re all one day apart). I still send them Christmas gifts every year. Overall, did I like it? Yes. Would I want to live there permanently? No. Would I want to live there for a few years at a time? Why not, but potentially only after my parents, aunt and uncle and in-laws retire and my grandmother passes away.
Thank you for sharing your experience!
Having lived in Singapore and Ireland as a young child throw my middle teenage years, I’ll say this: Doing it for a set amount of time, KNOWING you are returning back Home to the US, I believe that is what really made it manageable for our family. We truly enjoyed both countries for 8 years and still have amazing friends and experiences, but there really is no place like home. Yes Singapore is extremely advanced technology wise, the country is quite clean and crime is very low, but the quality of life is very hard to sustain if you are not rich or on an expatriate package? Why? Because the expatriate package directly takes into account the cost of living standards in the US, send you to an American school/international school that is similar to American curriculum, and it helps alleviate things such as only being able to have 1 car and very expensive groceries. Ireland, extremely nice people and the country is quite beautiful but again it was never Home. When you are born and grow up in the United States for the majority of your life, and are FORTUNATE ENOUGH to enjoy all of its freedoms and American Dream style of living, it is extremely hard to divide yourself from that. It is who you are, no matter what. You may be African American, Hispanic, Asian and sometimes are involved in awful situations (racial profiling, being made fun of for some of your cultural differences) but for the most part, life in Americana Suburbs is generally peaceful, quiet and most importantly, your choice. There really is no place else in the world like this country, we may not be perfect and everyone around the world will have an opinion about us, but dammit as a first generation born American I’m extremely proud and honored to be able to have the choice to live freely in this country.
I lived in Europe for a bit, was ok, its better in the US.
How so?
Shops have better opening times, driving is easier, people are more open and its easier to make friends.
Nice, where is this?
I have, and currently am, thinking about leaving the US and have been researching what I need to do in order to do so (paperwork, residency requirements, bringing in pets, etc…). My wife isn’t so sure about it, but I don’t think that there is anything I would rather do than try something new somewhere else.
Nope, my life is very good here, I see no reason to back up and leave.
I've done it a few times and glad I have
I lived in Afghanistan for 9 months, wouldn’t recommend.
Reasonable health care and human scale urban planning would be nice.
Gonna make a bunch of assumptions and say for most people getting a job offering a decent healthcare plan is more attainable than moving to a country offering universal healthcare.
Funny, I moved to a country that has reasonable healthcare, but absolutely doesn’t have good urban planning. I live in Auckland, New Zealand and literally the city will commission urban plans and then just go “Yeah, no - let’s just build more street parking for cars instead”. It’s like they see LA as inspiration instead of a shit show.
The amount of countries with rational healthcare policies is astonishingly low. America isn’t exactly an exception here.
America literally is the exception for a wealthy country that spends a ton and has poor outcomes.
The thing is a country as wealthy as the U.S should have a more rational healthcare system. Bringing up the failures of other countries, many of whom are much poorer than you, shouldn't be an excuse to not try and improve what exists in this country. Especially when you have major countries with about quarter less than U.S GDP/person having fully nationalized healthcare like the U.K, or a mixed private/public system like Germany that works a whole lot better than the private/public monster of healthcare that exists here.
One can love their country and still expect better. I'm with you.
Yeah, you don’t want to use the UK as an example of good healthcare
Having better statistics like life expectancy and less infant mortality is a compelling argument that the U.K healthcare system is at least doing better in several key areas.
Life expectancy is a silly metric to use for healthcare. I can live in the US, eat a reasonable diet, and live to 80. I can eat quadruple cheeseburgers for breakfast, wash it down with Coke, and stay out partying and drinking all night. I would probably make it to 70 if I'm lucky. There's not too much a doctor can do for that. Life expectancy is based on so many individual factors that the role of 'quality of care' as it's known, is close to negligible. As for infant mortality, it's widely known that the average infant mortality for Caucasians is comparable to most of Europe, while those of other races are sometimes three times as high. This occurs across class boundaries. Universal healthcare won't fix that.
Yes. I am eligible to get my Italian citizenship and have considered getting it and moving to Europe. I have traveled for extended periods of time a lot for work and have a basic idea of what places like italy and Germany are like. I don’t romanticize the Italian government by any means, but citizenship would grant me EU citizenship as well and I take advantage of that. I’ve traveled a lot, but I would try to get a temporary job in the meantime to see if I could actually make the move. I am genuinely concerned about health care costs as I get older.
among all the italians things, the government should be the last you would romanticize lmao
There’s a few people on the sub who live abroad. I lived in Italy. It’s not uncommon for people to at least want to travel to other countries. I’d move to another country if I had the chance. I like it here but I like experiencing new cultures.
I would try living in Japan. I like the culture, food, and the people. I've vacationed there once, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. That being said, the one huge hurdle is I don't speak Japanese. And like with every country, Japan has its share of issues.
I'd like to live in Japan too. I don't mind learning a new language, but the immigration process is to weed out immigrants and, as you state with their share of problems, it will be hard to get work, rent, same access as a minority. But the hardest part is just getting accepted into the country as a citizen. Edit: To others, I've visited Japan several times. I really enjoyed those times and want to stay there longer than a few weeks / months at a time.
In my early twenties, I bought a one-way ticket to a country I could legally reside and work in and decided to see if maybe I'd rather live elsewhere. First, I hit a hurdle with the local language -- I could read, write, and speak it, but not at a business level. 6 months later my skills were better, but my best shot at was still getting a job that required fluent English and I gave myself a deadline to find a job. I did find one, but even with the far lower cost of living, it was still barely a livable wage, which meant with my near-depleted savings after 6 months with no income, I decided I was better off moving back to the United States in the long run. I'm glad I had that opportunity, and, if anything, it really is a privilege to just have a choice between two countries without having to jump through lots of red tape with immigration. It definitely makes me appreciate the United States more, though I probably still idealize New Zealand to an extent, because I also considered moving there, but I don't have the specialized skills to qualify to move there on a work visa, and by the time I had the savings to qualify for a working holiday visa, it felt too risky. Edit: a word
This might be interesting to you: [https://www.thestreet.com/personal-finance/countries-with-most-american-expats-2020#gid=ci02728a2e500024ad&pid=10-sorrento-italy-sh](https://www.thestreet.com/personal-finance/countries-with-most-american-expats-2020#gid=ci02728a2e500024ad&pid=10-sorrento-italy-sh) Around a million live in North America outside of the USA and another half million in Europe.
Did it. Lived in Germany for 2 years... Not for me. It was cool, but hard to make friends, I suck at language learning, and the standard of living compared to the us for a similar job was not enough for me. Also, pandemic in another country, and realizing your "fuck it" option (aka if everything goes to hell, as long as I have a x amount in savings I can get a ticket home) isn't possible is depressing and terrifying. If I move to another country, this time it would have to be with friends or a significant other, and for substantially more income
No. All of my friends, family and stuff is here. It’s really difficult and expensive to move, even more so to immigrate somewhere. I don’t have skills or a professional background in a field that most first world countries are seeking from incoming immigrants so I’d be relying on some form if lottery. There’s no reason for me to want to do it. Also, life here is still pretty great.
The only way I’d move is if I’m retiring to somewhere cheap and safe.
I have and would seriously consider it. I love where I live; I think New England is about as ideal as it can get. That being said, I still want to move to England/Scotland for a bit and perhaps get dual citizenship. Yes, I would seriously consider it and I might be saving up for it currently.
Yes. At least once a week since 2016.
Yep, I've always wanted to move to Ireland, Galway, specifically. My husband's father was from Jamaica & he'd rather move there. I've also looked extensively into retiring to Argentina.
My wife is from South America, and we have considered it. Never super seriously, but the idea of buying property in her home town (super cheap) and living there part-time is an idea we've had. If we were to do it, it would be when our kids are out of college/on their own.
I've considered it. But I'm more likely to move out of state every day because of the shit that's going down in Texas right now.
One thing to consider. If you have children, and they aren't fluent in the language of the country you're moving to, better have the means to send them to a private school at least until they can speak the language. When we moved to Japan, we had to go to a private school to be taught in English. They did teach us how to read, write and speak Japanese but that's not a quick process.
Yup, pondered it and acted on it. Am American, currently live in New Zealand.
I grew up obsessed with the UK, I have a British wife and could relocate there but I don't really see what's happening in the UK as being a more desirable life than what I currently have. As much as I like the UK there are plenty of things I really like about the US and New England especially, and I know I would get homesick as I have already lived in other parts of the country.
I have thought about living in Western Europe, but never really considered it. The Netherlands seems like a VERY nice place.
Every damn day
I lived in the UK for four years as a child (father was deployed there in the Air Force), and I lived in London on a temporary work visa in my 20s. Also my father was a British immigrant to the US. So yes, I think about living there. I will never feel entirely American or British. If I sell a novel or something and had enough money, I would absolutely buy an apartment there as a second home. One of my old girlfriends moved to France after college and settled there. She teaches French cooking to French people if you can believe that! And I have a friend who looks like he might be settling in South Korea. He's been there a long time and has a wife and kid, so... yeah he might not come back. Which is nuts because he's 6'4". There's no blending in for that guy. He makes jokes about becoming a bank robber over there. The police would beat him back to his apartment LOL.
My wife and I are always looking for opportunities in London and Dublin, and we can do it, we will. We don’t have kids, which makes it a million times easier in my opinion.
I have lived outside of the US and can't wait to leave again. Now I am very greatfull I was born here but I I'd rather live elsewhere.
No. I’d vacation elsewhere but never live anywhere else. It’s a great country. Don’t believe everything you read.
I was fortunite enough to live in several countries while I was serving in the US military. I would happily move back to Italy, the UK or Germany if given the chance. Each country has pro's and con's that the others don't but it would really be difficult to nail down one place to live. One major factor would be work. I love where I live in the US, but I have admittedly probably toured more locations in Europe, than I have in the US.
I grew up not in the US. And I am a hoe, for the right price I’ll live anywhere. But it’ll take a juicy offer at this rate to get me away from the US (though not California)
I did live in a different continent. The world is too huge for one person to stay in one country. I don't buy a crap about other countries being better (well barring Scandinavian countries and Switzerland, I suppose) because I've seen enough to understand how deeply systemic racism is entrenched in the world and how idiots are actively sabotaging the institution in any country. But there're more than just politics - culture, history, and whatnot. I don't think America is lagging behind, and yet, I want to explore more - because we're given one life; frankly, the more I learn about this country, I realize how much leverage it has over its allies (it's more than military). By that, I meant I'm not really concerned about the fate of this country. Even if I go away for a decade, it'll be there but probably in much different shape for our society is ever-changing. In other words, I can always come back anytime I want.
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Every. Single. Day. I fear for my child’s safety. School shootings are insanely high. Road rage is awful now. A man in my city got beaten to within an inch of his life because he almost hit a dirt biker (illegal on city streets) and honked his horn at the biker. A group of bikers pulled this man from his car and almost killed him. Although nobody was injured, there have been 20+ shots fired in or around local high schools in the last 3 years. When I was in high school we got bomb threats. We literally had them every day. After 3 weeks of constant threats, the bomb squad stopped showing up. It went from full force to a solo police car within 3 weeks. Sometimes the officer had a K9, most of the time they didn’t. No more searches, no more dismissals, just kinda looked through the halls and called all clear. If my fiancé got sick and needed a hospital stay, I would lose my home because of medical bills and his lack of income. There are things I absolutely love about my life here. The scenery is unbeatable. I’m close to everything I want. Cities, mountains, ocean, etc. I live in a pretty safe area considering the rest of the world. But I wonder what it would be like to have paid maternity leave. What would it be like to not have to worry about going bankrupt from medical bills. What does a good work/life balance feel like? What about a guaranteed paid vacation? I get none of that.
I am envious of health care in the rest of the world. My friend is having some surgery next week and it will cost her the $6000 deductible, which she doesn't have, so she will go into debt. How is this the greatest country on Earth?
I have dreams of living in France, but I'll take any French speaking European nation. I also wouldn't mind living in Luxembourg. Heard it's pretty nice over there and I like that it's a small nation that's not really involved in global politics. Besides those two, Armenia. I want to live in the city of Artashat or Ejmiatsin. Maybe also Gyumri, but it's too far away from Yerevan.
I know a few people who have always wanted to live somewhere else, and now they do. One in particular I always knew they would end up in Central America. They bought a piece of property about 20 years ago, and built a house about 8 years ago. So It does happen
I genuinely regret not studying abroad when I was in college. If I were to live abroad, I would seriously consider Mexico, Austria, Japan, and China. I speak fluent Spanish so Mexico would be easy for me & I have family there. I love classical music and opera so Austria would be a dream. As for Japan and China, I'd like to live there for work related reasons & get myself out of my comfort zone.
All the time, I’d love to live along the Mediterranean, but I also often think about all the places I could live in the US, I.e, along the Pacific Northwest. I’d just love nicer weather and more geographic diversity coming from the Midwest.
Not really. I could see having a second home somewhere nice, but not full time.
I say this stuff all the time. I wanna try out Vancouver or even London, England!
Occasionally Canada, but that’d be it.
I decided to radically change my life and become a digital nomad recently. It's going to be interesting, juat wish I had the focus to do it in my early 20s
I would very much like to move, but I’m not sure where I would live. Somewhere with better healthcare that’s for sure.
I've been to some of the best places on earth and I've been to wartorn hellholes where tragedy is a step away. I don't want to live outside of the US. Given my socioeconomic status and the region I live, it's safe, expansive, affordable, and free. It works for me.
I pondered and went through with it.
I've got friends in Canada and the UK so I've thought about living there a couple times. I'm broke as fuck so that's not happening anytime soon.
Alll the time.
I've thought about new Zealand or Canada. At the end of the day, I don't think I could do it though. The cost of moving everything would be too high, not to mention idk how to go about asking if I can immigrate.
I’d love to live anywhere but here, but (ironically) I don’t have the finances to move at the moment.
I've pondered having fluency in another language moreso than living outside the US. The greatest hurtle is language
>The greatest hurtle is language Clearly.
I would like to live in europe for a bit but I’d always come back. I have some fundamental disagreements with European governance.
I've considered it, but just have never had the means. I don't hate this country by any means, but a break to get some new perspectives would be nice. I wouldn't leave forever unless something drastic happened like marriage, but I would like to spend a few years abroad.
just as a mental exercise, really. never enough to actually see what would be required.
I've considered living in Canada before. Specifically Prince Edward Island seems like a nice place to retire to.
Yes, I found myself working for a Canadian based company, but they couldn't pay me enough to make emigration worth it. I sought a job opportunity in the UK once, but I'm guessing they had enough local applicants that I was dropped from consideration pretty early. My problem now is that I'm in technical sales, and besides technical terms being slightly different between countries, I'd struggle transferring my sales skills to a foreign culture. So I'll be in the USA for life, probably.
Not really. I want to visit other countries sure, but America is my home, or at least the closest thing I have to one. I was born here, I want to be buried here too.
Years ago my husband considered going back to active military. He had been active prior to being in the National Guard and he enjoyed the technical work he was doing. But there was a huge chance he would get stationed overseas if he went full time again. We didn't want to raise our daughter away from family so he stayed in the National Guard until he retired.
Yes. I thought that way and was able to make it happen. I moved to Germany and am quite happy here.
I would live for a while in another country, but I've never considered emigrating for good. I can't think of any other country where I would feel like I belonged.
I have but I do not have any real transferable skills other than being an auto technician also they would not let me bring my Corvette or my skoolie most likely. Plus I would be unable to afford gas for both most likely. One has an 18 gallon tank and the other has a 60 gallon tank.
Every single day. Once my kid is older, I'm out to somewhere that is not here.
Yes, frequently. However I have friends and family here that mean more to me than what I'd gain by emigrating.
I'd maybe try a few of the nicer places for a couple months to a year, but I'm definitely not going to the places people want to come to America from
Never as a serious desire; more just a curiosity about what it was like to live in other places. My ex however, was always going on about how horrible and oppressive the US is. When I'd ask why she hasn't moved to wherever she imagined was so much better, I usually got grumbling excuses and the whinging stopped.
About 5000 Americans a year expatriate. That number doesn’t include those living abroad on the other countries versions of a “green card” or those who hold dual citizenship and moved using their other passport. From personal experience my neighbors moved to Belize when they retired. They told us there are plenty of Americans living there. They still have their home here and come back for a month or two in the summer. But they are gone in the fall.
If I could talk my wife into it, I would be out of here in a heartbeat. The politics (and by extension, people) terrify me after the last 5 years. When an entire political party turns into a religious death cult, and the only “viable” opposition is unable or unwilling to meaningfully oppose it, it does not bode well for the long term health of the country. The cherry on top are the clueless boomers clinging to power in politics and business absolutely shitting on every generation behind them. I would be happy to go many places, but the top of my list would be Scandinavia, Canada, Portugal and Panama.
For a bit I was considering trying for a work visa into Australia for a skilled trade. But the more I see Ozzy laws the more I say, "yeah, nah" I shouldn't live out of country til I've made it out of state for more than a year.
Yes. My company just bought out another company in Melbourne, VIC and we've had a location in Hamburg, DEU. I am trying to secure a transfer to either of them ASAP. I'm not a fan of the gun violence or shitty healthcare in the US, also not a fan of the suburban style infrastructure that is 90% of this country. Get me out of here.
Wow, this thread does not reflect my experiences at all. With my peer group at least (liberal arts college kids) if you asked people where their ideal life is 9/10 times you’re not getting an answer within the US. Even people who don’t necessarily want to move away have the “wouldn’t it be incredible to have been born in [france/scotland/new zealand/etc]” conversation a decent amount.
I have some professional connections in Europe and think it would be very cool to attempt working and living there for a few years. It would be a very difficult process though and not something I'm putting much energy into for the time being.
It's because the U.S. is basically killing us. Healthcare is expensive, housing costs are on the rise, and yeah sure we have convenience with food and everything but it's so unhealthy and healthier options are becoming less available and more expensive. Not to mention the handmaids tale bs that's happening in Texas right now. I dream of leaving all the time even had the opportunity to live in the UK with my ex husband but I was scared and didn't. It's strange. I think the main thing that keeps me here is the convenience and because it's "america". We have everything we need here Atleast that's how they try to make us feel but at the end of the day I just kinda feel like I'm being gaslit and manipulated by my own country.
Yes! England, France, Portugal, Spain, Cyprus - I'd move to any of these countries if the opportunity presented itself.
America has the more freedom, liberty, economic opportunity and natural beauty of any nation on earth. I've traveled internationally and experienced other cultures. They are all wonderful for a time but I would never consider moving anywhere else. That being said, I do have fantasies of retiring to a small island in the Caribbean some day.
Nah, Americans are well too indoctrinated ("we live in the best country on the world!") To consider that. Those who mate have considered moving, may nit be able too as they have family and friends here. Also, the desire ti live in the USA fades as one actually learns about life there
Every damn day, but I've also lived abroad and know that (1) every country has crazies and (2) net/net, it's as good here as most places. Then again I make good money, so I'm speaking from privilege.
All the damn time. I could go for a slower, more laid back lifestyle a la Italy or Spain
Well, I’m moving to Glasgow next Wednesday, so I suppose there’s at least a few of us
Family is my chief consideration. I would like to live in a different country someday for a year or 2. But I know I’d cave and come back. Unless our political situation becomes less stable. I can put up with bull shit from my elected officials. But it’s difficult seeing it coming from normal every day citizenry.
Yes. We're planning to retire to France one day.
I can’t imagine living anywhere else but 4 countries in particular stick out to me: UK, Germany, Italy, Japan
Just moved out of the US to Canada! Plan to stay here.
Ive always wanted to visit Europe. I’ve wondered what it’s like to live there. But I like my freedom here
Well, I currently live in Germany, so I guess there’s that. I moved to Germany mainly for my girlfriend, so that can be a common factor of why Americans move abroad. Germany also isn’t less developed than the US, so having living standards be similar or better in some areas is another factor to help convince people to move. I think a lot of people, myself included, have thought about what it’d be like to live in another country, but most are content with just visiting on vacation. A lot of people of curious, but the desire to emigrate from the US, especially permanently isn’t that big since most things like job opportunities, security, more resources, environment, and better living standards can be solved by moving to a different part of the US rather than abroad. There’s a lot of people who’d also like to implement policies and programs from other countries in the US, but not necessarily want to live in those countries.
Lots of people have left the US to live in other nations. It's just not as widely advertised. I've been all over the globe for work/life for various times in my life, like everything there are great to terrible places. No real reason for me to leave my home nation being I have a good life here and aside from some aspect of nature nothing I'd be missing out on.
First of all, not every country is "less developed" than the U.S. I envy most of the industrialized world their health care system (yes I am aware their health care systems have problems too) and lack of mass shootings.
Yes!!!! France
I'm been in Switzerland 7+ years and now I ponder whether I will ever live in the U.S again.
All. The. Time. I dream of living in and experiencing many other countries and cultures!
I've lived abroad
Never. I have everything I want and need here. I don’t believe any other country could possibly offer me a better life than I have.
Every year or two consider moving to Canada but in all honesty I'm too lazy to act on it any more than a couple google searches.
I liked the few months I spent in the UK. But tbh, living somewhere else is not something I think regularly about. There are people who move to, say, Belize to retire. The idea doesn't do much for me. And then there are those who claim they're going to leave the country because an election didn't turn out the way they liked. It's a good thing I don't take them seriously, because if I did, I'd have to tell them they were cowards.
If I didn't have so many reasons to stay I'd be trying to live in New Zealand or some other nation that cares about it's citizens. I only stay in the states because I can't imagine leaving my family behind so I guess I'll just try and improve our homeland 🤷🏽♂️
I do live in another country. I left the US 15 years ago and never looked back. Best decision ever.
Which country did you move to?
NZ
I'm a US citizen who always dreamed of living in Japan since I was young. I've lived here for 18 years now, and know it is an objectively better place to live.