If you are forced to leave the country, where will you go and why?

[Jilly_in_VA]

I think we've all thought about where we might go if it absolutely came down to it...if things got so bad we'd just have to leave this country and go somewhere else. I know I started thinking about it the minute TFG was elected and I still think about it. I may, at my age, just have to go down swinging, though. Husband and I are getting up there where emigration may not be entirely feasible. However, these are possibilities we discussed then and since, pros and cons (copied from an earlier post). I'd love to see yours.

Ireland--good tech climate, but the weather and cost of living were a deterrent
Uruguay--decent climate, language barrier, far from family
Costa Rica--good weather, lots of expats, language barrier
Fiji--fabulous weather except for cyclones, some political instability, far from family
One of the Caribbean nations--same as Fiji for weather
And the surprise entry--Botswana--most stable nation in Africa, booming tech economy, decent weather, but surrounded by unstable nations and very far from family.

Husband doesn't speak Spanish but I have enough tucked away that I could pick it up very quickly. He has been to Fiji and several of the Caribbean countries as a tagalong with a former partner who was a dive enthusiast (don't ask). He is also a tech lord and could probably find IT employment easily in an English speaking country. Age is a deterrent however.

Why not Canada? Two things. Age restrictions, for one, although a friend who lives in Alberta says she would sponsor us. Otherwise most of it is too cold for too long, and I just don't do winter. I would consider Vancouver Island (not the city) though.

[COL Mustard]

1. If I Felt Like I Had To Leave

I'd go to Ireland or a Caribbean island. One of the ones Jimmy Buffett used to write about.

I don't plan on leaving.

[getagrip_already]

2. my family has it easy... they are dual citizens....

I on the other hand, will go down fighting. Though at my age there isn't much left to fight with, they will have to plant me to stop me.

[kirkuchiyo]

3. Two words, one answer. New Zealand. nt

[zuul]

4. Why should we leave?

The repubes are the ones threatening to secede. Let them leave the country if they hate it so much.

[SoCalDavidS]

5. My 2 Top Choices Are Denmark & New Zealand nt

[leftieNanner]

6. I have had these thoughts as well

I could see living in Ireland. I have Irish roots on my Dad's side and it's a beautiful place.

My problem is that I wouldn't want to be an ocean away from my two daughters.

So we stay and fight.

[XanaDUer2]

7. Republic of Ireland

bc I can get dual citizenship

[rickyhall]

8. I like Ireland. Weather is nice compared to Texas, a lot like Arkansas, but the sea surrounds it.

I'd love to retire there but....

[pamdb]

9. where to go?

Canada. It's only 3 hours from us by the Blue Water Bridge.

Problems is, I'm 70 and my husband is 69.

Both retired.

Both on Medicare. Which doesn't travel on a permanent basis.

I'm trying to get a copy of my grandmothers birth certificate (Ontario) because, if you were
born before 2009, you can use a grandparent. Having a hard time finding anything. Still don't
know if I could get citizenship. Probably not. We really don't have anything to contribute to the
economy of Canada.

We can buy a place in Canada (although it is more expensive) but we can only live there for 6 months before we have to come back to states. And really can't afford two homes.

And ditto winter climate. Although in Michigan, I'm not sure there is really that much difference between Michigan and Ontario.

[Jilly_in_VA]

13. I am told

by friends who live there that the Niagara Valley is pretty temperate.

[wnylib]

20. Southern Ontario - Niagara Falls, Toronto area -

is the same as any moderate climate in northern US.

[RainCaster]

10. Three sane governments

New Zealand, Norway, or Sweden

[BlueTsunami2018]

11. I'd love to go to Norway.

But financial considerations would make that impossible. I’d love to be able to just up and leave but most people don’t have that option. I’m sure I’d find a way to adapt and survive here no matter what happens. I’d like to think I’d be a part of some kind of resistance movement if it came to it.

[greatauntoftriplets]

12. Luxembourg.

I have scads of family there who I know. Some of said cousins have offered to take me in if I wanted to live there, and say they could work things out for me.

If I had unlimited money (ha ha), I've love to spend winters on a small Caribbean island and summers in Ireland.

[sanatanadharma]

14. Better to go expat as a tourist than as a refuge

My wife and I made a decision that we could pull it off and, many decisions later, arrived as tourists in 2018 with all our needed documentation for residency. We remained legally.
In 2019 our permanent residency was granted.

So many considerations when considering expatriation.
So many cities, lots of not-city, numerous countries, customs, cultures, lots of ways to be foolish.
Climates, do I like cold? Hot? Rain? Worse?
Will they try to kill me?
Will they accept expats? Do I meet their requirements?
How to produce income? How to to reproduce new sounds?
Health care? Age issues? Gender issues?

We were benefited by our elderly-ness and no family responsibilities, no house or vast accumulations to divest.
Our interactions with the national bureaucracy, while pleasant, presented many opportunities for ego re-calibration.
Our experiences were pre-pandemic and thus clearly our knowledge is of no use to anyone now.

[multigraincracker]

15. If it weren't for sea sickness, I'd

just get a sail boat and keep on the move. I love to travel. Every place has good and bad points.

[rickford66]

16. New Zealand

My late British wife was raised there and most of my living in-laws live there and said I'd be welcome. I've spent many months there while in the Navy and have visited six times since. Just learn the driving rules and you fit right in. They are extremely friendly and highly educated.

[Skittles]

17. I would never abandon my country to fascists

nope

[Claire Oh Nette]

18. Most Costa Ricans speak English

Other countries recognize the value of bilingualism.

If I had my druthers, the right wingers will flee to Somolia or some other libertarian paradise....

[DFW]

19. I wasn't forced but I left (sorta) years ago

Last edited Sat Jul 17, 2021, 02:03 AM - Edit history (1)

My work is mostly in Europe, and my wife is German. The Germans granted me a residence permit in record time (2 months—unheard-of to our knowledge). But I had been married to a German citizen for decades, had a steady job for (at the time) 30 years, had my own health insurance, and promised I’d never ask them for welfare or social Security. I asked them if I needed to take a German language proficiency test, and they laughed

Our daughters are duals, and one lives in the USA where the other lives in Germany. If I had to leave Germany it would be due to Enteignung issues, and we‘d have no problem relocating to neighboring Switzerland or Holland. I already speak Dutch, German, Swiss German, French and Italian, so I‘d have no language issues, and my wife understands Dutch, since the part of Germany she‘s from is right on the border. I‘d even consider relocating to Barcelona, since I speak Castilian and Catalan, but my wife speaks neither, so she‘d probably nix that.

[Tikki]

21. My husband discovered he has a tiny bit of Sardinia Italy DNA and would like to visit that Island.

We keep on looking at photos of the area around Faro, Algarve region, Portugal.
Beautiful, overlooking the Ocean.

Jurien Bay on the Western Coast of Australia
is, also, beautiful.

Tikki

[Floyd R. Turbo]

22. The city!

[area51]

23. Ireland,

so healthcare would be a basic right instead of a luxury as it is here. Have an ancestor from there, but I think I'm a little too late to claim a right to move there.