I left for Sweden with my family in 2019. What is happening now is what I feared and more. My heart is breaking but I am also hugely relieved that we got out. It is so much better here.
Yes, let's hope so. America seems to be in self destruct mode at the moment. The people who voted for Trump will probably be the ones who suffer the worst when prices rise and health care becomes even less accessible.
I've lived in Italy for three years now, and I find it funny how often people ask me, 'So do you have an Italian passport now?'—as if European countries are just handing out citizenship left and right just because we're American. Italy, like any other country in Europe, has an immigration process that is long, tedious, and filled with bureaucratic rollercoasters. I just find it amusing that many Americans assume it's easier or less meaningful to immigrate anywhere else—except when people are moving to the U.S., because, of course, that's the best place in the world (sarcasm).
Currently emeshed in the process to have my Italian citizenship recognized via descent, I certainly don’t think it’s easy or convenient! Also, should we chose to move to Italy and become residents, we are certainly going to do our best to assimilate and contribute. Is part of the reason we’re looking to leave the U.S. a better quality of life? Yes! But equally it is because we’re just plain done with this dystopia, and it’s only just kicked into overdrive. The next four years will be scary here.
A change of scenery and environment helps realign your perspective on life, not just serve as an escape, as many people might think. It’s an opportunity to reevaluate life entirely as you know it, which can be scary but also very beautiful!
Great read! 💯 Truth. As a nomad out here testing the waters to live outside the States currently, I talk to everyone who will talk back to me. I hear what you write about,time and time again. There's guilt and shame to share we're American now.
Watching the dystopian disconnect between what we were taught America was and the reality of what America is caused a significant number of is to do more than talk about leaving the US.
I have not regretted that decision for one moment. The poison that infects much of the American character will not be cured, if indeed it can be cured, in my lifetime. For those who choose not to vote or who voted for a vicious demagogue without character or morality; and who will suffer deportation of loved ones they believed would never be targets, who lose their jobs, who lose all vestiges of a social safety net, who cannot feed themselves or their families, who lose their homes…. You broke it, you bought it. I will save my sympathy and aid for those who still believed in the American myth and tried to preserve it.
Just reading g this now, a few weeks after the election, and, as moved as I was, when I realized you were writing this pre-election, I thought, “Oh no. They have no idea it’s going to get much worse.”
First, I'm sorry your family had to endure that tragic violence and I'm glad they are alive. America is a scary place and we never know what will happen next!
There are so many great thoughts here that I agree with and relate to. For example, my grandparents, mother, and her siblings also left the Netherlands in October 1950 aboard a ship to emigrate to Australia, before coming to America in the 1960s. My grandfather served the Queen and spent the war years serving her in the resistance. How my family survived is a miracle. They left for the same reason your parents did.
They always talked about the American Dream, how they loved their freedom, and always gave gratitude to the soldiers who liberated them. Their idea of this country is based on that past experience and those who are still alive have mostly become blinded to the events today. They falsely believe this is the greatest place to live despite all the evidence showing this isn't true.
I have been to the Netherlands numerous times and considered moving there or to Spain or Portugal. Europe is not perfect by any means but I think the lifestyle is way better than here. My wife and continue to explore the options.
Thanks so much. A lot of synchronicity between your family and mine. I think it's good that Americans like you are considering leaving. Even if it never happens, it's a lot better than that knee jerk obeisance to an ideal of America that is seldom realised nowadays.
Yes we have a common thread. I would love to know more about your family and what they also endured during that time. Where were you from? My grandparents moved from Itteren to Den Haag before the war, then Wejhe and Veghel during the war, before moving back to Den Haag after they were liberated.
I have family and friends in the Netherlands. They have invited us to come and live there. The only reason we haven't made the full leap is because of our aging mothers, but we don't really want to be here anymore other than for them and our kids.
My father spent the war in Germany. As I was growing up we were told that he was a prisoner, but he wasn't really. He went there voluntarily before the war in search of work, as about 40,000 Dutch men did. Then, when the war came he wasn't allowed back and Holland was occupied anyway. My mother was a midwife. She delivered babies in the middle of the night because male doctors were too afraid of the curfew. The love of her life was shot by the Germans when they were doing a sweep for the labour camps. She confessed that never a day passed when she didn't think of him. But, if not for that random murder, I would never have been born. I'll be writing about this in a future piece, so stay tuned
Dank je for sharing. Those were horrible times for sure and so many people witnessed those kind of brutal murders daily. One of my friends’s grandather was captured and escaped the prison labor camps three times. He too started off looking for work.
What a wonderful story. Thank you. I'm jealous of the memories and material you have been able to collect. My parents were very tight lipped when it came to the war in part because of the controversy of my dad being in Germany. I know so little. Keep in touch, Jerry
I find it interesting that the change in government seems to be an articulation point among those contemplating or fantasising about emigrating. The trajectory that has led to where were are now has formed over several decades. Indeed before the passage of the A.C.A. the issue of not being able to obtain health insurance cover was an existential issue for many, including my family.
But the A.C.A. did not really address the cost issues, and the financial abuses have now become the existential threat--both with regard to securing practical healthcare/medications and maintaining personal financial solvency. I expect that when even the affluent middle class perceives real threats to their well-being or existence, the tide toward emigration will turn.
Thanks for this. It will be interesting to see how the rise in prescription costs will affect this situation. Sadly, I fear that only the upper middle class will be able to consider leaving.
Agreed. I also expect that pressures felt internationally around the issue of immigration, together with shifting popular sentiment, will make emigration more challenging. Those affluent Americans who settle elsewhere drive up property costs and seen by some as taking advantage of generous social welfare programmes without having contributed to their support.
Every nation I've investigated for immigration requires a substantial investment to achieve citizenship with all the perks. I'm more concerned about being a former American and therefore hated.
My son and his wife, ages 46 and 53 just got digital nomad visa and moved to Italy , where we now live! Its thrilling for us. They are very much middle class, not upper middle class and they made it happen. Didn’t use attorney, didn’t ship any furniture. Starting fresh. Just smart enough to snd courageous enough to do it! We weren’t savvy enough to do it without an attorney !
Living on social security and Medicare doesn’t amount to enough for relocating. I visited Portugal to check it out. I’m leaning towards Spain now. South America has too many bugs. 🐛
I was just speaking to my mother yesterday who is in the States. I left last September to live in the UAE and mu quality of life has significantly improved. I mentioned to her that I'm grateful for the access and privileges that I had growing up that manual don't however, I never believed in the exceptionalism of America and knew that it was all propaganda. Look at education, Healthcare, and safety and you know America isn't getting any stars on the report card. No wonder our Happiness Index is very very low.
I moved and I hope to be an example to my nieces and nephews back home that if something isn't serving you, fight for it if needed, but dont fight forever. Peace and sanity are more important.
The U.S. is a failed state. We have demonstrated that we are unable to attend to basic human rights and dignity. Capitalism is a religion here, such that basic social schemes that every other developed country (and some developing countries!) takes for granted, are heresy. If it can be fixed, I doubt it will be in my lifetime and I have no plans to subject my daughters to this disaster of a country any longer, so yeah, we are leaving. Many, many people have immigrated.
Women are worried about more than how far the pro-life backlash will extend; we’re worried about dying. Being forced to carry a rapist’s baby. Our eleven year old daughters being forced to carry a rapist’s baby. And having to deliver a child that can’t live and either watching it die in our arms — or having it forcibly removed by the medical team for painful procedures to minimally prolong that life. It’s more than “backlash.”
I moved to Portugal, which does not require a Golden Visa - there are D7 and D8 visas for people who are retired or working remotely. It hasn't always been easy but then again, neither was living in the USA always easy. The most important thing about moving abroad is to realize it will not fix what ails you - wherever you go there you are. I have been very happy and never looked back - but to say it hasn't been stressful at times would be a lie. Good food and weather are great, but building community is critical for long term happiness. That requires not just learning the language and the customs, but embracing them as your own.
I agree with all of this, Sandra. It’s wonderful to live abroad, and I’m a big fan of your adopted country of Portugal, but it’s difficult to emigrate, and it helps to know that going in.
I left for Sweden with my family in 2019. What is happening now is what I feared and more. My heart is breaking but I am also hugely relieved that we got out. It is so much better here.
Yes, it breaks my heart
Yes, let's hope so. America seems to be in self destruct mode at the moment. The people who voted for Trump will probably be the ones who suffer the worst when prices rise and health care becomes even less accessible.
I've lived in Italy for three years now, and I find it funny how often people ask me, 'So do you have an Italian passport now?'—as if European countries are just handing out citizenship left and right just because we're American. Italy, like any other country in Europe, has an immigration process that is long, tedious, and filled with bureaucratic rollercoasters. I just find it amusing that many Americans assume it's easier or less meaningful to immigrate anywhere else—except when people are moving to the U.S., because, of course, that's the best place in the world (sarcasm).
Exactly.
Same with France! We've lived in the South of France for 6 years. Applying for citizenship is like a year's worth of graduate school.
Hah, I can imagine! Don’t think it’s easy anywhere 🤷🏻♀️
Currently emeshed in the process to have my Italian citizenship recognized via descent, I certainly don’t think it’s easy or convenient! Also, should we chose to move to Italy and become residents, we are certainly going to do our best to assimilate and contribute. Is part of the reason we’re looking to leave the U.S. a better quality of life? Yes! But equally it is because we’re just plain done with this dystopia, and it’s only just kicked into overdrive. The next four years will be scary here.
A change of scenery and environment helps realign your perspective on life, not just serve as an escape, as many people might think. It’s an opportunity to reevaluate life entirely as you know it, which can be scary but also very beautiful!
Great read! 💯 Truth. As a nomad out here testing the waters to live outside the States currently, I talk to everyone who will talk back to me. I hear what you write about,time and time again. There's guilt and shame to share we're American now.
Watching the dystopian disconnect between what we were taught America was and the reality of what America is caused a significant number of is to do more than talk about leaving the US.
I have not regretted that decision for one moment. The poison that infects much of the American character will not be cured, if indeed it can be cured, in my lifetime. For those who choose not to vote or who voted for a vicious demagogue without character or morality; and who will suffer deportation of loved ones they believed would never be targets, who lose their jobs, who lose all vestiges of a social safety net, who cannot feed themselves or their families, who lose their homes…. You broke it, you bought it. I will save my sympathy and aid for those who still believed in the American myth and tried to preserve it.
We have friends (a college student of mine) who are finding us a house to buy near Strasbourg.
We’re sick of this place.
If I were younger I’d leave in a NY minute. I keep pushing my son and daughter-in-law to leave, but they won’t.
Just reading g this now, a few weeks after the election, and, as moved as I was, when I realized you were writing this pre-election, I thought, “Oh no. They have no idea it’s going to get much worse.”
First, I'm sorry your family had to endure that tragic violence and I'm glad they are alive. America is a scary place and we never know what will happen next!
There are so many great thoughts here that I agree with and relate to. For example, my grandparents, mother, and her siblings also left the Netherlands in October 1950 aboard a ship to emigrate to Australia, before coming to America in the 1960s. My grandfather served the Queen and spent the war years serving her in the resistance. How my family survived is a miracle. They left for the same reason your parents did.
They always talked about the American Dream, how they loved their freedom, and always gave gratitude to the soldiers who liberated them. Their idea of this country is based on that past experience and those who are still alive have mostly become blinded to the events today. They falsely believe this is the greatest place to live despite all the evidence showing this isn't true.
I have been to the Netherlands numerous times and considered moving there or to Spain or Portugal. Europe is not perfect by any means but I think the lifestyle is way better than here. My wife and continue to explore the options.
Well done on this post. Thank you for sharing!
Thanks so much. A lot of synchronicity between your family and mine. I think it's good that Americans like you are considering leaving. Even if it never happens, it's a lot better than that knee jerk obeisance to an ideal of America that is seldom realised nowadays.
Yes we have a common thread. I would love to know more about your family and what they also endured during that time. Where were you from? My grandparents moved from Itteren to Den Haag before the war, then Wejhe and Veghel during the war, before moving back to Den Haag after they were liberated.
I have family and friends in the Netherlands. They have invited us to come and live there. The only reason we haven't made the full leap is because of our aging mothers, but we don't really want to be here anymore other than for them and our kids.
My father spent the war in Germany. As I was growing up we were told that he was a prisoner, but he wasn't really. He went there voluntarily before the war in search of work, as about 40,000 Dutch men did. Then, when the war came he wasn't allowed back and Holland was occupied anyway. My mother was a midwife. She delivered babies in the middle of the night because male doctors were too afraid of the curfew. The love of her life was shot by the Germans when they were doing a sweep for the labour camps. She confessed that never a day passed when she didn't think of him. But, if not for that random murder, I would never have been born. I'll be writing about this in a future piece, so stay tuned
Dank je for sharing. Those were horrible times for sure and so many people witnessed those kind of brutal murders daily. One of my friends’s grandather was captured and escaped the prison labor camps three times. He too started off looking for work.
Here’s an article about my family: https://open.substack.com/pub/101stairbornedivision/p/a-tribute-to-harry-and-maria-gulikers
I look forward to reading more of your work!
What a wonderful story. Thank you. I'm jealous of the memories and material you have been able to collect. My parents were very tight lipped when it came to the war in part because of the controversy of my dad being in Germany. I know so little. Keep in touch, Jerry
I find it interesting that the change in government seems to be an articulation point among those contemplating or fantasising about emigrating. The trajectory that has led to where were are now has formed over several decades. Indeed before the passage of the A.C.A. the issue of not being able to obtain health insurance cover was an existential issue for many, including my family.
But the A.C.A. did not really address the cost issues, and the financial abuses have now become the existential threat--both with regard to securing practical healthcare/medications and maintaining personal financial solvency. I expect that when even the affluent middle class perceives real threats to their well-being or existence, the tide toward emigration will turn.
Thanks for this. It will be interesting to see how the rise in prescription costs will affect this situation. Sadly, I fear that only the upper middle class will be able to consider leaving.
Agreed. I also expect that pressures felt internationally around the issue of immigration, together with shifting popular sentiment, will make emigration more challenging. Those affluent Americans who settle elsewhere drive up property costs and seen by some as taking advantage of generous social welfare programmes without having contributed to their support.
Every nation I've investigated for immigration requires a substantial investment to achieve citizenship with all the perks. I'm more concerned about being a former American and therefore hated.
My son and his wife, ages 46 and 53 just got digital nomad visa and moved to Italy , where we now live! Its thrilling for us. They are very much middle class, not upper middle class and they made it happen. Didn’t use attorney, didn’t ship any furniture. Starting fresh. Just smart enough to snd courageous enough to do it! We weren’t savvy enough to do it without an attorney !
Living on social security and Medicare doesn’t amount to enough for relocating. I visited Portugal to check it out. I’m leaning towards Spain now. South America has too many bugs. 🐛
Loved this ❤️.
I was just speaking to my mother yesterday who is in the States. I left last September to live in the UAE and mu quality of life has significantly improved. I mentioned to her that I'm grateful for the access and privileges that I had growing up that manual don't however, I never believed in the exceptionalism of America and knew that it was all propaganda. Look at education, Healthcare, and safety and you know America isn't getting any stars on the report card. No wonder our Happiness Index is very very low.
I moved and I hope to be an example to my nieces and nephews back home that if something isn't serving you, fight for it if needed, but dont fight forever. Peace and sanity are more important.
I’ve researched heavily and wished I could
PS, I have had dozens of people over the years ask for advice on how to move to Europe. Only one person who asked me for this advice actually did it.
Europe's a museum now. Asia is the present and future and where I would target for emigration.
I happen to love a good museum. And I also happen to be born with a Western mind. Not an easy swap to enter the Eastern mind. But each to their own!
The U.S. is a failed state. We have demonstrated that we are unable to attend to basic human rights and dignity. Capitalism is a religion here, such that basic social schemes that every other developed country (and some developing countries!) takes for granted, are heresy. If it can be fixed, I doubt it will be in my lifetime and I have no plans to subject my daughters to this disaster of a country any longer, so yeah, we are leaving. Many, many people have immigrated.
Women are worried about more than how far the pro-life backlash will extend; we’re worried about dying. Being forced to carry a rapist’s baby. Our eleven year old daughters being forced to carry a rapist’s baby. And having to deliver a child that can’t live and either watching it die in our arms — or having it forcibly removed by the medical team for painful procedures to minimally prolong that life. It’s more than “backlash.”
I moved to Portugal, which does not require a Golden Visa - there are D7 and D8 visas for people who are retired or working remotely. It hasn't always been easy but then again, neither was living in the USA always easy. The most important thing about moving abroad is to realize it will not fix what ails you - wherever you go there you are. I have been very happy and never looked back - but to say it hasn't been stressful at times would be a lie. Good food and weather are great, but building community is critical for long term happiness. That requires not just learning the language and the customs, but embracing them as your own.
I agree with all of this, Sandra. It’s wonderful to live abroad, and I’m a big fan of your adopted country of Portugal, but it’s difficult to emigrate, and it helps to know that going in.