Originally published at: Here are the reasons an American expat would never come back to the US | Boing Boing
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That covers pretty much all of my reasons for avoiding America, too.
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If I were an expat and I didn’t have to come back to the US that would be reason enough.
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I do often dream of going abroad to work/live but i have a hard time really entertaining it knowing my family would still be here and not being able to see them regularly. Especially with my parents, i am expecting my dad to retire within the next couple of years and i’d like to be around.
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No single-payer universal health insurance consistently tops the list of reasons from the American expats I know. Gun violence is usually second on the list (just like the amendment).
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Yup. The health insurance, sane labor laws, vacation time and things just work better in the Netherlands are all reasons not to go back. I think the kids are happier here too. And, I used to be hassled by the cops at least once every six months in the U.S. for utter bullshit - like walking instead of driving. After 17.5 years here I’ve never been hassled.
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I’d leave if I wasn’t payed as much (and nearly not enough as is) and can pay to be left alone.
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This is what really pisses me off.
We all know these things. We agree with it. These problems are identified and known to well over half the population.
I will say that this is the one thing about COVID that gives me hope: that the vast majority of people dying from it now are the Reich wing know-nothing Nazi idiots who are blocking any progress from moving our country out of the third world hellhole that we have dug for ourselves back (back? I begin to doubt that we were ever more than a third world hellhole of a country…) to the first world.
Some of us don’t have grandparents who can get us into Europe. Some of us can’t afford to buy our way into a different country. So we’re stuck here.
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Well, when you put it that way…
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Hmmmm maybe a good mexican food restaurant business opportunity.
Visited Toronto after the border opened up. It has been at least two years for me.
One thing that struck me (and I love love LOVE!) is the plethora of small mom n pop shops everywhere. Chief among them being all manner of foodstuffs: kabob, shawarma, caribbean, indian, asian, ca… hell, food from EVERYWHERE. ALL OVER THE PLACE. And precious few Starbucks. My local Safeway has a Starbucks inside: there is another Starbucks 50 yards away down the strip mall…
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That’s the big thing I miss about Toronto. Our last place there was within spitting distance of two Indian places, a Chinese food restaurant, a Mexican place (still one of the best we’ve had), an amazing little pizza place run by the most wonderful Eritrean woman, and several Ethiopian restaurants. And those are just the places we ate at.
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Yep, those are my top two, and in that order. I’m in the US for the holidays right now and all I want for Christmas is to avoid the need for medical care while I’m here (for me, gun violence is implicated in that). Until those things are both fixed, I can’t see myself entertaining the idea of coming back here for longer than it takes to visit my family.
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all true, especially the parts about family
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I’m just going to gripe that I kinda get annoyed by that term. Seems like it only ever gets used to describe a certain sub-group of people who are living and working outside of their native country…
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I often lament I could be a hell of a lot happier if I could run my own woodworking business. But alas since health insurance is so tied to employment here I am always going to have to work for someone else.
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Aaaaa-yep! Moved to New Zealand in 2005 with the other (former) Mr YankInNewZealand. We since split up but remain friends. Each year in early May (on the day we turned up in NZ) we send each other “Happy Anniversary” texts.
Yeah, he’s not moving back to the US anytime soon either.
Anyway, here’s a link to the NZ immigration website that list the ways to get residency in NZ:
Also, here is a link to the skill shortage list from the NZ immigration website.
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What do we olds (that aren’t ready to retire) do?
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Depends… how much money do you have:
Or how clever are you:
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Is there a trout fishing carve-out? Asking for a friend…
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