ever think of moving to another country?

i've been thinking of it, although with my severely dysfunctional family it would be difficult..


looking at iceland, france and netherlands.

to be allowed to stay. Living in Alaska is like living in
another country. Or on the moon.

I'm interested in NZ myself.

you can't be a drain on the system. You have to be employable
or bring something to the country that is useful.

RV, whose relatives lived in Auckland and ChristChurch for
years.

I'd go to Canada in a minute if I knew there was a job there.

Cuba? From what I hear, Canadians have made it their number 1 destination hot spot.

this one is the best, in my opinon.

Canada :) I love Toronto..

Chile, Spain, or the UK. I speak English and Spanish so a few places I like wouldn't make too much sense.

I only hope that waiting until the results of the 2004 elections won't be too late. Of course, now that my daughter is probably buying my next door neighbors house, it may not be a realistic option anyway. Damn it, I should be able to be thrilled that she will be so close.

Canada is looking better and better!

Ireland or Holland would be nice too.

I did it what seems an eternity ago to the UK. Then you discover that wherever you go, immigrants are lower class... and that whatever qualifications you have, are not respected in the local economy... so best to be prepared for additional education after arrival. Then in that country, you will be a small minority FUCKING AMERICAN.

Best if you have both a professional skill and a trade skill... sort of like say "school teacher" and "plumber"... Though all professions only have "local" qualifications, trade skills are more common, and easier to use when finding work and cash. Professional arts skills are great if you have them.. as they travel where yo do and don't require work permits. Best to design one's career for being multi-cultural... as it takes consideration.

Shift your finances abroad and operate a canadian bank account. This will make it easier when you beat feet.

I'd prefer to try to make my own country a better place.

See http://www.standonguard.com/

For Canada's plan for world domination!

If anyone has any questions...

For those with parents from the Netherlands who emmigrated, there are new laws in place for kids to get passports.

I got mine!

Heck, if I have to live in a "homeland" might as well go for the original.

Because, unfortunately, what happens in this country has a decisive effect on the entire planet's survivability. Kinda like the passengers on the hijacked 9/11 planes.

a new country.

I'm a college student, so I'd like to explore the world a bit when I'm in my 20's, but I could never settle down outside of America because it truly is all around the best country in the world. Is it perfect? God no. But I'd rather try and help bring a great healthcare system to it, abolish the death penalty and curb the violent attitude. And it can be done, because this truly is the land of opportunity.

where?

Well it's better than
Japan: where the kids are made into lab-rats at school.
Netherlands: despite great drug laws, you have to pay over 60% of your income in taxes. same goes for the socialist countries in europe
Canada: It's cold!!
Thrid world: very poor
Middle East, russia, china: suppressed human rights like we've never seen

in most EU countries.

Edit:
And that's the worst case scenario. The mean is between 35%(Spain) and 45%(France).

And don't pay 60 percent taxes. Life is good here. Anyways, I come from the school of thought that when you have a system with free university education, cheap and thorough healthcare (I pay 40 euros a month for full medical and dental), streets are clean, parks a beautiful, power is cheap and reliable, etc, etc, etc...

Then it's worth it to pay taxes. It works here.

Sure some people pay more, but here in Holland people are pretty modest and consider the flaunting of wealth to be distasteful, unlike North Americans and many other Europeans. There are over 200,000 millionaires in a country of 17 million so that is not too bad either.

but I also feel that it's my patriotic duty to work within the belly of the monster to effect positive change. But on many days I just want to live somewhere more sane.

Canada accepts more legal immigrants relative to its population than any country on Earth.

In the past two years, almost half a million immigrants arrived, a shade less than half of them in one city alone -- Toronto. The largest numbers for the country as a whole, amounting to almost 40 per cent of the total, came from China, India, Pakistan and the Philippines.

The federal government, responsible for immigration targets, heralds these waves on humanitarian and economic grounds, the argument being that immigration shows Canada as a caring country whose new arrivals will fuel future economic growth.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/index.html

I am getting sick of the right wingers in this country.

Progressive, temperate, beautiful.

I haven't been there in 5 years, so there is a possibility (probability) of anti-American sentiment since bush*/republicans started their War of World Domination!

and loved it...but, health concerns would make it impossible now (asthma, bronchitis, since cured by living in NM without the DAMP!)

However, I do have a plan!! I've investigated just north of the border in Alberta and BC....you can go to stay in Canada for 6 months, no hassle and buy property. Pets OK. So, I figure, 6 months during the summer, then return to NM for the wonderful, mild winters. Only 50 miles from Mexico if I really want to get away for a short time to some of the beach areas, about 8 hours drive.

I looked into Costa Rica, Panama etc. but I don't speak Spanish and the humidity and heat could be terrible. So, opting north about 75 across the border so I can go back to get medical care seems a better option...

I chose the damp athsma path, though my heart loves new mexico and the four corners high desert plateau.

It is harder to culturally integrate in the UK, as island culture is very japanese-like... local, complex and subtle. My athsma doctor and medication treatment are proper for the first time in my life though... as i could never afford athsma treatment in the US. The people are less violent, though certainly there is the arrogance about all immigrants... we all must be slaves of unequal status.. disenfranchisement of a different sort.... though they try hard in the rules and legal system to be just and fair.

I am a lover of the ocean, and in the UK, i can be by the lovely ocean sunset... even with the damp. My warm house is california warm inside, but the wind is very strong these parts. 100mph + at the cliffs. This part of the Uk is most like mount haleakala on Maui... a very sacred place... it is like living on the face of a gemstone. Sky, water and ancient earth. It inspires a deep cold dark sea ice feeling that is very still and sublime. I stand in the grass as it waves by the ocean and myself am a wave in the wind on that grass.

I bow to you and your new mexico desert sunset.

Ottawa or Montreal.

(I could even give up the anglais)

Is it true you can't work for a year though?

but not until I finish work unfortunately...

"I TAKE MY COUNTRY BACK".

If you simply move to another country that's not going to do much to lighten any baggage you're carrying around (you'll still be you, life in Iceland or France isn't vastly different, and anyway you'll be an outsider, an immigrant, if there's a language barrier this could take years to overcome, and unless you have a special skill you might have a tough time making ends meet).

The Peace Corps, on the other hand, is a fantastic way to expand your mental horizons. The US government trains you and get to learn a lot about the world (including places where tourists never go, the real rest of the world). If you're under 30 and feel like you're spinning your wheels I'd strongly recommend looking into this.

And after two years then you can decide. It might be that after this kind of experience you'll find that the US is more to your liking and you'll be hungry to make a difference here. You'll also meet a lot of people from around the world (the best way to move to another country, wink wink, is to fall in love with and marry someone who lives there).

I have thought about what I will do if we lose the 2004 election, and I briefly thought about leaving the country, but I realized that I could never do it. I am an American, I love my country, and I do not think I could ever leave. Leaving would be giving up, allowing the right wing to get the best of me and giving up on my dream of a better America. It is because I love my country so much that I am so disturbed by how much this president is screwing it up. So leaving would be pointless - it would be capitulation to the right.

i really don't feel any national pride whatsoever..

it's like all the BS after the 9/11 attacks.. and how "american values" prevailed and we banded together.. it's the human condition to help people in need, and arrogant to think we have some sort of monopoly on being valiant in times of crisis. in no way am i trying to downplay what our citizens did on 9/11, i'm just stating that had this happened in canada, or belgium or wherever, i seriously doubt people would just be like.. "oh well, let em die, i'm going to get something to eat"..


perhaps i'm defeatist, since i've worked mostly in trades/construction/service industries, i'm used to people being willfully blind to what goes on in the world. i'd like to think that a difference could be made, but it's hard to fight city hall when monsanto owns it and you're out looking for a job all day.

I am what some people call a "flag-waving liberal." I love my country and am deeply patriotic, and it is because I love this country so much that I am so devastated to see this administration destroy so much of what makes it great. I wave the flag proudly and feel strongly about the need for liberals to take back the flag by displaying it rather than burning it or shying away from it because they feel like it is a right wing symbol, because when we do that we allow it to become a right wing symbol.

and have enjoyed the more serious appoach to issues and politics in other countries, though each has its drawbacks IMHO. I'm really too American to really seriously contemplating living abroad "permanently".