Anyone thought about relo outside of United States?

[GoingDown]

I would never move from here. Family is the most important thing in the world to me and mine are all here. I have great neighbors who are like family, we still have cookouts every major holiday and my family will all gather for Christmas eve, that will never change. And yes, kids play outside where I live!



I sometimes think the reason so many people are unhappy (putting the economy aside) is that there is to much value placed on material things and they forget the simple values of life. Family, friends and good health should be the most important things. Without those, we have nothing.
.

This is so true!

If we can't find happiness and enjoyment in the simplest things in life, we will spend most of our time being very unhappy.

Just sitting around talking to my friends and family is what brings me the greatest enjoyment in my life.

[shark66]

This is the fourth country I've lived in - third by my own choice.

What I find depressing is that the erosion of liberties has become acceptable, and that the Constitution is being walked all over on daily basis.

People here - on average - work much harder than in Western Europe IMHO. I'm not necessarily certain that the standard of living in this country justifies the aforementioned fact.

If an opportunity presented itself, I'd have no problem moving someplace else again. But I do understand that my family might have a huge issue with that. Should such a moment arrive, everything will be weighed accordingly.

Until then we're here.

My $0.02 only...

[nomoneynomore]

We have discussed how we could move to Belize. If we had the means, we would be there already. We don't have alot of family ties besides our own children who would be going with us of course.

[debee]

O Western Wind
When Wilt Thou Blow?
That the small rain down can rain
Christ if my love were in my arms
And I in my bed again!

That's the poem I thought of nightly when I had malaria for the third time and was crying myself to sleep in a bug-infested room in Africa. It took a long while before I got into a redefined version of 'comfortable' there. After a year I came home and to this day I am mindful of the difference in living standards and thankful for hot water and a good bed. I want my kids to have a developing nation experience once they're old enough to benefit.

I'd definitely consider retiring (or long term visiting) another country so long as the kids could fly over and there was good/affordable medical care. And no malaria. A person can always change their mind and come back to the US if they don't like it.

[jacko]

We may work harder, but we have nothing to show for it. And what thou liberties en erosion you speak?

This is the fourth country I've lived in - third by my own choice.

What I find depressing is that the erosion of liberties has become acceptable, and that the Constitution is being walked all over on daily basis.

People here - on average - work much harder than in Western Europe IMHO. I'm not necessarily certain that the standard of living in this country justifies the aforementioned fact.

If an opportunity presented itself, I'd have no problem moving someplace else again. But I do understand that my family might have a huge issue with that. Should such a moment arrive, everything will be weighed accordingly.

Until then we're here.

My $0.02 only...

[shark66]

We may work harder, but we have nothing to show for it. And what thou liberties en erosion you speak?

While I haven't been around when the Consitution was written, I'm fairly certain that most of the framers roll in their graves because of stuff like Patriot Act...and that's just the tip of the iceberg...

I could rant for the next five pages, but that's really not the scope of this thread.

The sad thing being, quite a few other places once known for their respect of privacy - most notably UK - have gone in the same totalitarian direction...

Good luck to us all.

[IamOld]

Agreed Shark!!!!!

[tobee43]

i really like when you take a nice bite shark. always such good thoughts!!

[Drazil65]

My husband and I have traveled to many countries including St. Petersburg, RU (amazing city) and one of our favorites is London. We talk about the possiblity of living abroad (through one of our workplaces perhaps as my company has an office in London and Berlin) for at least a year. Our son would get an amazing education on culture and people in general. I am originally from upstate NY and left there 11 years ago to live in another state (followed my best friend at the time). My entire family still lives there but now that I am remarried and have a child and live in the south (much warmer here) I get alot of company. Your family is still your family no matter where you live and if nothing else it gives you somewhere to travel to. If I had not left my home state I would have never met my current husband and had the incredible journey we have had with each other.

[kornellred]

The rest of the world has no use for United States citizens - even the very few countries that will actually allow you to live there. All of the other English speaking countries have their own social and economic upheavals going on, so unless you have some valuable skill to offer, you might just as well stay in the United States, because you will do no better elsewhere.

[shark66]

The rest of the world has no use for United States citizens - even the very few countries that will actually allow you to live there.

No reason to be prejudiced against the rest of the world.

First of all, your statement about "very few countries" is completely off base. If one has proper paperwork, they can live anywhere or just about. I've been roaming for the past three decades and can't say that I've experinced a shortage of Americans living elsewehere in the civilized world.

We would have to agree on what "do better" actually means, since it represents different things for different people.

Make more money? Unlikely for most people.

Have more services provided at the government's (aka taxpayer's) expense? Absolutely.

Retain the standard of living they're used to? Not a problem.

With all of that being said, an average American lacks the education of his/hers European counterpart in most cases and that could become a big issue...unless one is young and/or willing to learn fast...

One and only thing that is guaranteed is a culture shock.

Good luck to us all.

[kornellred]

I am not prejudiced against the rest of the world - the rest of the world is definitely prejudiced against United States citizens. You can live anywhere it is actually possible to travel to if you have the proper paperwork, but I am referring to immigration, not work visas. The implication behind work visas is that the situation is temporary.
And it's a lead pipe cinch that folks on this forum are not likely to do any better running away from their problems in the USA.

[banca rotta]

I think when the major economic collapse finally does arrive it will be global and the USA will suffer the least.

For this reason I am staying put for now.

I say this because we are a huge importing nation and pretty much all other countries depend on exports and they export their stuff to us more then anyone else.

Once the dollar collapses imports (including and especially oil) will cost 3 to 4 times what it does now. The good news is this collapse will make all US goods cheaper to Americans. The bad news is we will pay more for oil, gas and food since we won't be able to buy oil with our debached currency. (another reason I wish Obama didn't recently raid our oil reserves)

Unless China builds up their middle class to buy all of their junk they will be in a violent mega depression since they are so dependent on us.

It's going to happen whether very slowly or very quickly since Europe, Japan and the US have racked up debt that will never be paid ever.

Again because of this I am staying put for now. My only fear in the above is as Shark mentioned I don't want to lose any more liberty in the name of fixing the coming mess. I think our leaders have done enough damage as it is.

[IamOld]

For what my humble opinion is worth, I think your analysis about China is astute indeed! However, I do think that - the frankly - more "socialistic" more egalitarian economies of Continental Europe and Japan will likely weather the winds better.

I think when the major economic collapse finally does arrive it will be global and the USA will suffer the least.

For this reason I am staying put for now.

I say this because we are a huge importing nation and pretty much all other countries depend on exports and they export their stuff to us more then anyone else.

Once the dollar collapses imports (including and especially oil) will cost 3 to 4 times what it does now. The good news is this collapse will make all US goods cheaper to Americans. The bad news is we will pay more for oil, gas and food since we won't be able to buy oil with our debached currency. (another reason I wish Obama didn't recently raid our oil reserves)

Unless China builds up their middle class to buy all of their junk they will be in a violent mega depression since they are so dependent on us.

It's going to happen whether very slowly or very quickly since Europe, Japan and the US have racked up debt that will never be paid ever.

Again because of this I am staying put for now. My only fear in the above is as Shark mentioned I don't want to lose any more liberty in the name of fixing the coming mess. I think our leaders have done enough damage as it is.

[banca rotta]

For what my humble opinion is worth, I think your analysis about China is astute indeed! However, I do think that - the frankly - more "socialistic" more egalitarian economies of Continental Europe and Japan will likely weather the winds better.

Japan and Germany export almost everything they build. Without the US consumer buying BMW's and Toyota's I don't see how they will weather it better.

Their citizens save most of their money which is loaned to their Governments which will likely default.

They won't have a currency crisis however like we will since their debts are all internal while our debts are mostly external due to our low savings rate.