Ask Lemmy

Someplace in the Anglosphere. I don't think I have it in me to learn a new language just to get by in day-to-day life. New Zealand, maybe.

Unfortunately, my immensely low income and numerous medical issues means that I'm not much of a candidate for emigration.

Also, ideally, a region without a lot of insects.

In any case, though, I'm probably going to die here, stubbornly. If these fascist fucks want me dead bad enough to see it through, I'm at least going to inconvenience them with getting rid of my body.

France because I’m A2 in French, Spain if I could pick anywhere.

The kind of american that usually comes to Mexico is very nice, very welcome. Maybe the exceptions are the very loud and self absorbed ones that go to resort locations and act like they're better than everyone there.

As long as people want to integrate and cooperate they are more than welcome.

Now, the sad part is the gentrification that comes with a lot of people moving and outpaying rent vs the locals. Now the average cost of living in Mexico city is about 50% higher than the average salary, and about 100% higher than the median salary. Another very negative thing is that now a lot of locals have to communicate in english because American people will come and not learn spanish over multiple years living here. There are zones where everything is in english now. It's okay speaking english, it's not okay expecting english from everyone.

So a few pointers:

1. Integrate, pay taxes, consume locally
2. Try and move into already gentrified places, avoid displacing more people
3. Push for social policy, increased affordable living spaces, invest in the country where you move into to improve the locals' life

Be friendly, but that's always

Don't come to Ireland. I've lived in the US for nearly two decades, made lots of friends and even helped some to immigrate here. The harsh reality is, however, that we're going through a really bad housing crisis, with our own homeless numbers growing every month, and house prices and rents exploding (a recent statistic showed that our growth in rents is four times the EU average). So, please, for our sake and yours, try a different country.

Germany. I might be able to claim ancestry rights. Ironic that my great grandmother fled fascism in Germany but I'd flee America to return to the motherland.

Somewhere it only snows a handful of times a year. I'm not about the cold life.

Honestly the Netherlands seems pretty great.

As a member of the CAF, if the US Armed Forces are getting rid of LGBTQ folks, I would be proud to welcome them as my comrades in arms.

I’m taking Spanish right now, both to better support immigrants in my community and to possibly move to Oaxaca Mexico if necessary. I plan to visit a few more times in the next year or so, just to figure out things just in case. I don’t feel like it’s the time to leave yet - I have a pretty good intuitive sense for disasters.

I LEANfired at 44 so I can’t really go somewhere that requires a work visa, and I’m not rich enough for a golden ticket in many places.

France is actually a possibility because I’m fluent, I lived there briefly- but I prefer the art and culture in Mexico, and generally people are easier to get to know.

I’m also visiting my friends off grid in Montana, and may discuss with them rolling my tiny house up there someday. I know there’s a lot of crazy people up there but where they are is a bit away from that.

My grandfather was Finnish, so that seems like a natural choice, but I would probably say Uruguay because it seems like a nice relatively affordable place and I could improve my (terrible) Spanish (i don't speak any Finnish).

I was going to say Italy but they seem to be going fash again so... north sentinel island?

Narnia

Here in Canada we're trying to catch America's brain drain. We especially need doctors quite desperately.

So, it's not just theoretical for me. I left the US earlier this year and moved to Iceland. Planning started almost a year before that. It is hard for Americans to move to a lot of European countries, and Iceland isn't an exception.

I hired an immigration attorney in Iceland to help make sure I did everything correctly. That cost about $10k as a retainer. It was worth every penny. If you're taking notes, that's pretty much the only one you need. Every country has different rules and laws regarding Americans moving to their country. And just like in America, if you have an issue with the law, you need to hire an attorney. They will help you understand every relevant law that exists that applies to you that may very well not be available in English. Hire a local expert.

I'm not very young, so I paid to move my stuff here. I also paid to move my electric vehicle because gas costs the equivalent of about $10 per gallon, plus there are some serious CO2 taxes here. That cost about another $20k. About two thirds moving the stuff, and one third moving the car.

In retrospect, moving the stuff was a good idea. I have lots of things that are just incredibly hard to get here, or take forever to get if you want them. And I saved enough money to be worth it. If you look at something like a KitchenAid mixer, it costs the equivalent of $1k here. If I sold my old one for used price and bought a new one here, I'd lose most of a thousand bucks. So you only need to do that a few times to make moving your stuff worth it.

I also saved money on importing my car over just buying a new one, but it was such a fucking hassle that if I were to do it again, I'd have just bought one here. I didn't save enough to make it worth it.

I'm not sure how useful my experience will be now. When I started talking to my immigration attorney, I explained that it seemed likely to me that after trump was reelected that Americans were going to panic and rush for the exits. I felt that it was likely that the countries would respond by doing exactly what America does: freak out about having too many immigrants and change the rules to make it harder to get in.

Based on a recent conversation with my attorney, it seems that I was right. The rules have changed enough that the path that we used for residency has now been more more seriously restricted. The attorney's office was inundated with requests from Americans and they were working 12+ hour days for a few months just trying to respond to all the requests.

I know some folks have strong feelings that people should stay and fight. But I feel like we have fought the good fight for a long time. That went all the way from starting non-profits, to being involved locally, and all the way to running for public office. I'm not interested in identifying myself too much, but I will say that that the person we lost that election to was openly known to have been fired previously for having embezzled money, but voters didn't care because they got to vote for team (R) in our red state.

So from my perspective, there is a cancer that is eating America. I've tried hard to remove it. I've tried hard to treat it. Ultimately, it seems to have metastisized to the point that it is incurable. You can either keep up with the radiation and chemo and be miserable until you die, or you can stop treatment and do your best to enjoy the time that is left.

For me, moving to Iceland is my version of stopping treatment to enjoy what life I have left. And if you want to fight to the bitter end, or if you want to search for a better life in another country, I wish each and every one of you the very best on your journey.