If money was not an issue, would you move to an entirely different state or country?
If money was not an issue, would you move to an entirely different state or country?
If yes, where would you move to?
If no, why not?
I ask this as someone who has moved around a lot (5 states) for better working opportunities. I often hear people say they wish they could leave their current city/state/country, but money is often (understandably) an issue.
I did this.
I used to live in Seattle. It's a pretty progressive city but the police are very bad there. Outside the pocket of liberals and progressives, once you start driving east or even west across the sound, things then to be more... Homogenous.... and even a bit racist. Plus the gun culture/violence is just too much for my family.
We moved to Taiwan during the height of the pandemic and during chap or whatever thing that the Seattle police was doing to the local people. We had enough and put everything in storage and left .
Living in Taiwan feels like how America used to be. Being a very young democracy, people here are hyper focused on freedoms. The government here is super focused on social programs that help people.
Things like, expecting mothers and families with kids under 6 have special parking in all malls and public parking. Breast feeding rooms everywhere. You get financial support for having kids, not just a tax break. Just a straight direct deposit into your account.
Universal health care. The medicine is highly subsidized(usually free)Ambulance rides are free. Shoot once you get to a certain age, the government helps pay for your stay at home nurse.
Things like this reminds me of the American 40-50s. When freedoms matter and people matter.
Obviously there are some drawbacks living here, but it's overall positive.
Nah, California is pretty great. I'd say it would be the place I'd move to if money weren't an issue. As long as you can afford it, CA is an amazing place to live with widely varied culture, fantastic weather, and an incredible number of things to explore and experience.
You can find every biome across the state, and you can literally go surfing in the morning, drive up the Pacific Coast Highway and through beautiful, lush valleys, in perfect 72 and sunny weather, on your way to snowboard in the mountains for the afternoon, into a nice chilly overnight at the lodge, and back down the coast the next day, because the weather is perfect again.
That's just one of the countless things to do in California. You'll also get clean air, a comprehensive interstate highway system, better public services, a near infinite variety of food, and generally better quality of life than many other places.
CA isn't perfect, but I can't think of anywhere else that could ever match it for me.
In a heartbeat. I'd take almost anywhere in Europe with a proper democracy than the corrupt and authoritarian hole I'm in right.
As an American, fuck yes, absolutely, 100%.
As a Texan, fuck yes, absolutely, 1000%.
The wife and I are already considering leaving the state. Prices for everything are rising to ridiculous levels.
An apartment I could have afforded on my own a decade ago would require three incomes, and the neighborhoods are no less violent and crime ridden. Food deserts, lack of health care options, lack of gainful employment in that geographic area, all deterrents to paying more than I do now for a mortgage.
If I thought I had the skills and wherewithal to strike out and homestead I would. Alas, I do not.
I long to leave "the grid," but require medication to function as a normal human being. As such, I am beholden to the system. I must cooperate against my better interest to attain medication to live. I am, for lack of a better term, a slave to it.
Before anyone comes in calling a race card play, or any other shit, I am a cis het white male. In theory, I am the problem, and yet I suffer the same.
I decided at the age of seven that life, as we know it, was not worth living. 30 some odd years later, that has not changed.
100% I don't want to live in the USA my whole life, big world out there.
Yes. I live in Texas, and the heat makes me sick. I'm literally planning on being too sick to work or anything three days next week because its going to be unseasonably warm, and the central AC hasn't been kicked on yet.
Also, whatever the fuck is wrong with our state government. We made abortion illegal BEFORE Roe was overturned.
I had great privilege in having a father who owns his own custom home building company. My then-wife and I bought a house from him at cost, meaning we had over $20k in equity right after signing the papers. We lived in the house for 10 years before separating, sold it, and took a very nice chunk of change from the sale that allowed us to become debt free. Even paid off my student loans.
I am right now preparing to move halfway across the country this summer. Texas is a dumpster fire of willful ignorance, sheer xenophobia, and unapologetic bigotry; after having lived her for over 40 years, it is my sincere pleasure to put this motherfucking state in my rear view mirror for the sake of my kids, one of whom is wanting to transition. The state I'm moving to is much more progressive and has gender identity protections written into law. Plus, the governor there isn't doing as Greg Abbott is doing by siccing Child Protective Services on parents of trans kids, so that's nice. #DIAFABBOTT
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I wouldn't move to a different state.
I would move to a different area in the state.
In general, I like where I live. However, when I moved here about 5 years ago, it was a peaceful quiet area. my back yard was a couple acres of minimally touched nature (little cluster of trees, massive green field of mice, spiders, gophers, grasshoppers, and the occasional deer).
I loved it. Then the city decided to turn half of that field into a community center whose entire side facing my house was glass, leaving me to feel like a zoo exhibit.
That wasn't good enough though.
The city claimed the remainder of the field, bulldozed and chemically treated it, and put in annex parking for the community center right up against my fence. Mind you, my backyard is TINY. Maybe 40x20 ft. Slightly more than you would expect from an apartment. They literally paved paradise and put up a parking lot.
In between the annex parking and the community center, they put in a playground. Now my once peaceful, zen, soul charging slice of heaven is constant mobs of screeching children and idling cars during the day and rotating groups of 16-23 year olds drinking, doing drugs, selling drugs, and all around loudly and aggressively delinquenting by night.
If I could, I would just like to live somewhere quiet and private again.
I'd love to leave the US. It's truly a steaming shitshow and I don't see it improving anytime soon. I'd be interested in checking out Belgium or Luxembourg, or maybe Norway. However, my parents and in-laws are aging and it wouldn't be right to leave them knowing they're going to need increased help over the next 10-15 years. So we're staying put for now.
Most probably yes. I live in Russia and when the war started i was really thinking about getting as far away as possible. And then it's just... Too complex? Looking for a place to live when rent is up 250% due to lot of people immigrating, being unable to move your savings out of the country, and only having barely enough to support myself. Having unlimited budget probably would have changed everything. As to where - no idea to be honest.
Yes. My wife has dual citizenship. We joked about it at first, but now it's no longer funny with all the crazy shit going on in the US. And our state is becoming massively overpopulated thanks to the horrible economy. The only real thing keeping us back is family but it seems like we're all so busy I never see them anyway.
I'm from Switzerland and i would only consider moving to Iceland or taiwan (I like the climate and the political society). But even then I actually think I'd rather stay here.
I've reconnected with extended family in Norway. I'm in the U.S.
Norway is difficult to immigrate.
I looked into it. I personally would like to continue working as a Paramedic and I've actually been on a Norway ambulance for a ride along.
In order for me to work I would be required to do all of these things:
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Pass a language test
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Pass 3 separate medical exams that are all in the Norwegian language.
Unfortunately, I'm not motivated enough for all of that.
Luckily, I'm in one of the best states in the U.S. and see zero reason to relocate for the remainder of my time on Earth. Which, climate change may make it just a few more years. Or, even possibly WW3.
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For me, money isn't necessarily the issue. It's family. I don't want to live somewhere they're not.
I did 4 years ago. Moved to the US for work, so technically money wasn't an issue because my relocation was paid for by my employer. Move to a different state though? Probably yes as well. I couldn't choose where in the country I was moving to, so while it's been generally fine, there are better places probably.
If money was not an issue, I’d buy an island & live on it.
If I had enough money, I am pretty sure I wouldn't live anywhere. Just travel, in style, rent whatever house or hotel room to stay in different places long enough to really experience them. So not quite like tourism, but not like moving.
And if I had magic instead, I'd stay right where I am and get all the racist conservative northerners who moved down here in the past few years to leave, and all the people who left because they were pushed out by those fuckers could come back. Make Florida freaky and purple again.
I think I'd move just about anywhere if money wasn't an issue there.
Yes. I live in Dallas and some medical issues make me sick any time the temperature gets above ~80.
The only reason to live here is the cost of living, which has risen quickly enough that other alternatives like Chicago are starting to look good.
Also, our state government is completely nanners.
I’d love to spend a few months at a time living in many different states/countries. I think that’d be awesome.
Absolutely!
I'd have a swanky apartment in a cool city and a beachside open concept home to flee to when I felt even the slightest bit chilly.
All my friends would live within 15 min walking distance and I'd have a rooftop garden where I grow some of the nicest tomatoes and peppers you've ever had.
Fuck yeah! I don't even live in Florida or Texas but I would give anything to be even farther away from their braindead approach to governance.
As a radical leftist who lives in rural Kentucky, if I truly had so much money that it was not an issue, I would stay and try to affect change.
It's tempting of course to move somewhere more sympathetic to my views and my desired lifestyle, but I don't want to abandon my politically uninformed family and friends. I would rather use my wealth to organize mutual aid, fund libraries, and instill class consciousness here in my home, in the hopes of creating a community that aligns with my views and desired lifestyle.
Considering that money is power under our current economic system, this is really a question of if you received power would you use it selfishly to help only yourself or try to help others.
Yes. Emphatically.
I dont know where I'd move to, cause I'm a broke poor and find it depressing to focus on unachievable details, but if my bank account had 9 zeros added to the end of it tomorrow? I'd find some place, spend a year or two hiring tutors for language and manners, then move the fuck there.
I'd love to get out of this city. It's a car addicted hellscape with a lot of personal baggage in it. A fresh start would do me so much good. I dream of living somewhere not so fucking car brained.
But if it's just enough money to move, then no. I moved states when I was younger and I can't live again knowing if anything goes wrong I might be homeless with no local support network. At least here I have some family. If I was rich, sure, but not if I have to work to keep a roof over my head.
I've been trying to convince my wife that we should move out of the USA for 4 years.
I feel like being closer to my aging parents is going to start being more important, and we’re starting to get together a good medical team for my stepdaughter who has some challenging medical issues. Rebuilding that team in another state could be challenging and would take time, to say nothing of other countries that have nationalized health care that don’t even believe the disease exists.
PNW, forests are pretty. I've long fantasized about dropping my life in Kansas and just moving to Tacoma like I'm a 19th century con artist trying to escape my past
I've travelled, not EXTENSIVELY, but I've been to other places. Honolulu, Seattle, San Francisco, San Mateo, Cupertino, Los Angeles, San Diego, Las Vegas, Chicago, Memphis. I got as far as the airports in Salt Lake City, Denver, and Atlanta.
I keep coming home to Portland because no matter where I've been... nothing compares to Powell's.
I was recently on a group hike with a university club, and an Austrian exchange student kept talking about how good life in Austria is. He attends university for free, lives in a vibrant city with great public transit, and with affordable housing.
My city has unaffordable housing, shit transit, and an inept local government. We are staking our future on oil prices constantly going up. The last time oil prices dipped was catastrophic, with mass layoffs and unemployment in nearly every sector.
On top of this we are being hit extra hard by climate change. Last summer I couldn't go outside because of wildfire smoke, and this year is going to be even worse. Every year there's less and less water, to the point where year round drought seems like an inevitability. Our politicians are climate change deniers. The people who elect them couldn't care less, and cry about any measures taken to mitigate it's effects.
I don't want to be stuck paying $2000 a month for a studio apartment as the climate around me slowly degrades, and my politicians try their best to turn us into America.
A sizeable fraction of the students I've talked to about this has or is playing around with the idea of leaving. Austria is just the first country that came to mind, but I would take almost any EU country if the opportunity was offered.
Maybe. I have been to a few countries outside of my own and wouldn't want to live in any of them more than where I already do. I've also been to almost all 50 states (haven't been to Alaska, Hawaii or Maine) and I havent wanted to live in any other than the one I already do.
I wanna check out Japan and the whole Scandinavian region. All those countries sound cool as fuck, but I've never been to 'em to know how they really are.
Would probably stay in the same state, maybe in the same city, but not in the same apartment.
No. I don't like where I live (because it's a big city) but I'm living near my family.
If not for that, I would probably be back in New Hampshire. I used to live there alone with a 100% work-from-home job and I would go weeks without speaking to another human being face-to-face. I left because it wasn't great for my mental health but for some reason I still really want to go back.
Absolutely. I’d probably go to Ireland or Scotland.
I'd travel by land. Possibly with a bicycle, if foldable, cause I like to walk on foot too.
Not alone, I think, and with radio (other things aside, catching cold or getting food poisoning in the middle of nowhere can result in death, and of course more extreme things like breaking a bone).
Not intentionally in some wilderness.
EDIT: Why the downvotes, I think nomadic lifestyle is one way to answer this question.
I think if money were not an issue, probably I would either move to some sort of unpopulated island in the pacific, a space station, the moon, really anywhere I could sufficiently threaten geopolitical interests while being kind of isolated. Maybe even just the top of a new york high rise, lex luthor style.
More realistically, everyone's saying scandinavian countries, nordic countries, and these are popular for a reason. I could probably acquiesce, because I'm white and can speak english, but I also would pretty much be fine with any EU citizenship. I feel like there's a lot of different strengths and weaknesses that would be interesting to learn about from each and see which one I like the best, because I don't think it'd be a high level idea to judge any of them from the outside looking in. Likewise, I've also seen some taiwan suggestions, and that's kind of an interesting proposal as well.
I dunno. If money wasn't an issue, I think I might as well just stay where I am, and use it to do some cool stuff where I currently live. It's not really in the spirit of the question, but I think the main object, main limiter, in my life, probably in most people's lives, is gonna be money. I don't know if the context matters much, but then maybe thinking along those lines, I'd rather be homeless in a nordic country, so I might as well just kind of default to one of them because the consequences of financial failure there seem maybe less dire than in lots of other places. So maybe my answer is still the same as everyone else's, nordic countries.
Australia, new zealand or the parts of canada near a large body of water to moderate temperatures
I'd want to head for the Canadian Rockies, somewhere near Banff. Not just for the cool name, but also because I like the cold and snow, I love the mountains, and it's going to be one of few places on Earth that will be habitable even with the worst of climate change.
Though now that nuclear war is back on the table I'm thinking Patagonia.
I would happily move from the US south to Ireland. My wife and I went for our 10 year anniversary and it was the most magical place I've ever been. Freezing cold temperatures at times during our visit and still, the hills were still lush emerald green, the loughs glistened in the sunlight, we walked some incredible river trails and crossed stone bridges, walked and lived amongst the ancient history of castles and forts all across the north and through the center of Ireland. We spent 4ish hours a day driving from castle hotel to castle hotel, I never expected the drive to be one of my favorite parts of the trip. Deep forest to tall swaying grassland; sheer cliffs, hills, and mountains; rivers, lakes, and the sea. Just utterly, unbelievably beautiful. I think we'd sell our house and all our worldly possessions to live in a shack, if we could emigrate tomorrow.
Toss in there the benefit of living in the EU, but in reach of the British and Scottish countryside... Leave behind hidden US sales taxes for clearly defined pricing with VAT, ditch the nightmare of the US system for the EU healthcare system, there's so much else to love.
It's very telling how many Texans are in this thread with affirmative responses.
As someone who lives in Texas, I agree. I'm not from here, military transplant, but I did set it to my "permanent state" specifically so I could vote here. If I'm being forced to live here, might as well do my part to try and change the fuckery going on.
However, the absolute second that the ink on my DD214 is dry, I will NEVER set foot in this state again. Not purposefully anyhow.
It sucks, because Austin, SATX, and my personal favey fave: Houston, are all fucking awesome cities. But they're not worth it. Not worth it to see how much Texans with money prioritize the dehumanization of immigrants, women, and the LGBTQ+ community.
If money was no object, I've always been smitten with the idea of Canada. I like much cooler weather than Texas provides, and I want nation-wide socialized Healthcare. Surprisingly difficult to immigrate too from what I've seen on a cursory glance though.
Absolutely, I moved away from a city I liked because of money. I would go back there in a heartbeat, although I'm about to move to another place, if I like it there I would prefer to bring my family over because even though the main reason was the money, there are other issues with the city I used to live.
I'm in the process of finishing up my PhD in Italy and moving somewhere much less pleasant where pay is much better. So I guess it's rather the opposite in my case: Had money not been an issue I would have stayed where I am.
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I'd move back to the UK. It's where I spent my childhood. I genuinely love Shakespeare, theatre and all that crap. Small studio in London, volunteer/work in the arts/cultural sector, go to the theatre or a tv recording during the weekend.
Unfortunately life is shit in the UK if you're not rich. I once calculated that I'd be better off staying unemployed where I live, than finding suitable employment in London. I have a couple of degrees, but starting wages were abysmal when you factored in cost of living (rent, etc.). A lot of money would also mean I can get another degree and get a visa. Also: private health insurance. The NHS ain't what it used to be.
Of course, if I was really rich I could also just stay where I am (low capital gain taxes), build a fully self-sufficient eco house (energy, water) then fly/drive/take the train to London, Berlin, Paris, Prague, Amsterdam for the weekend. Hell, buy a nice car, go for a drive.
I've moved because of money. So much higher salaries & lower taxes elsewhere... Greetings from Malaysia!
I did it. US -> Japan. I decided in the early 2010s I was going to do it, came for a bit, failed to get a visa, saved money, finished uni, and came again. It was surreal watching the 2016 election and everything thereafter. I've visited the US (I don't know that I'd call it 'home' anymore) twice since I've been here, and probably won't be going back again unless it's to take care of family or a funeral.
Were I to do it all over again, I may have chosen Norway or Finland instead. I already have some knowledge of Germanic languages so the former wouldn't be hard to learn. For Finnish, I think the case system is the only hurdle I'd have. That said, in my mid-40s and having just bought a house, I don't think I'm going anywhere. If we ever get out of farming (or can take a year off before we get livestock on top of crops), My wife and I might live in Canada, Australia, or some combination of the two for some number of months.
I really enjoyed my time in both the Netherlands and Hawaii and would happily live in either.
I probably check out Australia, New Zealand, or Costa Rica.
My old answer would have been to check out a Nordic country, but I think trying to force my kids into Nordic languages would not be the best idea. A couple of my coworkers moved to Sweden. The one with older children seem to get along pretty well the one with younger children not so much.
Uh money is an issue and I'm still getting out of this trash belt state. Even if I have to crawl on my hands and knees.
Probably not. I live in the midwest of the US. it's quiet, good school system, small town, within arms reach of several larger cities. Plenty of music venues, arenas close by. With one or two complaints about my state's laws, I am content.
If I had unlimited funds, I might look around out of curiosity, but I doubt I'd go anywhere.
Move there? Not sure yet.
I would like to be able to visit and explore several other places before having to make the choice to move there.
Maybe. Always wanted to see Ireland.
I'd be tempted to move to a Scandinavian nation for fear of Christian Nationalist movement in the US, also a northern migration from the California Central Valley may become necessary as the earth warms.
Curiously I may actually have (remote) family, but that would be a far reach into the eye of the wind.
I do, every month.
Would totally move to a different state, meet new people, different country tho? Not now at least
I already did that. Here I am.
Trying to move to Senegal against all financial odds.
Probably wouldn't hesitate as long as I knew I could occasionally return to visit. Was in the military and stationed over seas. Would love to live in Germany again, have a friend that lives in Netherlands and frankly looks like a great place to live. Another friend lives on the coast in Japan and is raising a family there. Would if I could but lack the income to make it viable.
The three things that stop me moving to another country are money (or ability to get a job for the money I need), family (I have an elderly mum who I need to be around for) and residency issues (thanks Brexit). I guess if I was super rich I would be able to get residency more easily, but in the absence of a teletransporter it wouldn't fix the family issue.
I won't..
1000% the only reason I haven't left where I am is because of funds. Moving out of country is expensive. As to where, a few options are on the table if I could go but would take more understanding the positives and negatives of each location a little more.
If I had infinite money I would've moved to Japan, if I had like hundreds of thousands or millions I'd moved to Taiwan, if I had only the money to move and get settled (i.e. stable job and and a roof) I'd moved to one of the Scandinavian countries, Finland or Netherlands. I guess Canada and the UK would also be fine by me just for cultural and lingual reasons.
Probably not. The only thing I don't like about the place I'm living in now is having to deal with winter and snow but if money is not an issue I could come up with ways to deal with that better aswell. I don't think I would appreciate summer to the extent I do now if I didn't also have to suffer thru winter.
If money was no object I'd move a lot of other people out of my current state and I'd stay here. Geography and climate are fine for me, but there's too many fucking Republicans. Money no object, every last one would be relocated to a holding urn in low orbit of Venus.
If money were* not an issue
When using be in an if clause for an unreal conditional sentence, always conjugate it as were, no matter what the subject is. Even if the subject is first-person singular (I) or third-person singular (he, she, or it), still use were with an if clause in unreal conditional sentences.
https://www.grammarly.com/blog/conditional-sentences-was-instead-of-were/