Well? What would have to happen in your country of birth for you to consider living abroad?
For US dopers…would it be invading Iran? Nuking another country?
Legalizing Marijuana? [sup]just kidding[/sup]
What would seriously need to happen for you to leave permanently?
Anyone else thought about it? Where are you from and why would you leave?
Why can we only decide to live abroad out of some hatred of our home country?
I’d live abroad if I could find a decent job. Doesn’t mean I harbor some grudge against the US.
I must admit, if America wasn’t the schweet deal it is (or was) I wouldn’t have any loyalty to her simply because I was born here. I think love for one’s nation is earned by all of us and our government. So if things go south and if my life would be better somewhere else, I’d leave. I’d be sad to see the dream die, but it certainly wouldn’t be enough to make me stay. I’m not sure exactly what it would take for me to bail.
I’d never leave. I’d stay and fight the good fight, hopefully going down swinging. Unless New Zealand offered me three times the money for half the work, of course. I’m idealistic, not stupid! 
I don’t know if I exactly fit into your category, but I’m pretty much done with America. I’ve spent about 2.5 years in Iraq and I’ve recently come to the conclusion that I don’t want anything to do with the US. I think what the US has done in Iraq is deeply shameful and when I come home I find the nation obsessed that Anna Nicole Smith dropped dead, for me it’s clear that the US and I have parted ways. It’s sad because I was a pretty patriotic guy, but the country has slid so far into the abyss and what’s worse, doesn’t seem to realize the depths of its problems. We are simultaneously losing two wars and it barely makes a dent into people’s thoughts.
I’m trying to find a job overseas, but I won’t go through any immigration process. I’ll just try to limit my time in the states and I’ve decided that I don’t think I’ll ever vote again. All I want from America is to be left alone by it.
Living in a democracy hopefully means you can vote the bstrds out.
Here in the UK, we have had mass protests against Thatcher and the visit of Bush.
So that’s all right then.
If I lived in the US, Guantanamo Bay would have made me sick of the system.
Lifetime imprisonment without trial - what sort of country is that?
Ex-patriate, or ex-patriot? 
I can imagine being quite patriotic to my country while living abroad, for instance.
Nitpick: expatriate, not expatriot. You can leave your country and still love it. I once was an expat (which I suppose makes me a repat), and I would have stayed if I just plain liked it better there; I know many who did. I just got homesick.
I already am. I was born in India.
And I’d move to another country now, if I had the money, and if my SO was more inclined. I become more and more of a global mindset as I grow older and don’t feel leaving this country is in any way a betrayal…I just want to experience more of the world. It’s all one planet.
A great personality, long legs and good in bed?
From Colorado, now in Prague.
-Tcat
(10-year wedding Anniversary coming up to be soon followed by 10-year-expat anniversary)
A legal job offer. I’m easy.
WOULD A MOD BE SO KIND AS TO FIX THE THREAD TITLE? Thanks i am a terible spelr as mst kan cee.
In my case, it was the 38 years of living at or below the poverty line in Canada versus the offer of lifetime companionship and the opportunity to start over, in a place where it never snows in the winter. It was no contest, and the best decision I ever made.
We’ve talked about moving to Canada, mostly because of the legal gay marriages. The big drawback would be the weather as we’ve gotten very spoiled here in SoCal.
If the money is right, I’ll move abroad. I’ve talked about it with my wife. If it weren’t for the fact that I don’t think my career would transfer me overseas, I would be actively considering it.
I would leave for work, and I have before for five years. I’m more than happy to live outside the US, as I am perfectly content with living in the US. For equal money, I’d live abroad in a heartbeat. Right now, however, there is more opportunity for me here, as well as personal and family relationships. My ultimate scenario would be to spend 6 months in the US and 6 months abroad out of every year. There’s just too much I like about Europe and beyond that I would voluntarily confine restrict myself to only considering the US as home. Honestly, I bear no allegiance to any country or nation as a whole–only people and places I love in particular.
If I had the wherewithal, I’d consider living overseas. For a while, at least. Not out of “hatred” of the USA–I’d still vote absentee. And I’d try to contribute to my “temporary” homeland (Ireland?). I don’t see myself as cliched expatriate, sitting inside the cafe in a cloud of nostalgia for The Old Country.
But I’m too old to start over & too young to retire.
I cannot imagine any set of circumstances which would make me become an expatriate. I’m willing to move within the U.S. pretty freely, but I have no interest in moving elsewhere and trying to adapt to their culture and deal with the complications of being not just hundreds of miles and a dozen hours of driving from my family, but also across international borders.
I don’t think I’m any more patriotic than some of the posters upthread, just less adventurous.
Nothing at all. That is, I would (and did) leave even if nothing happened. Why is it a “default” situation to live in the same country your entire life anyway?
Back in high school, the foreign exchange students always got the girls; they were exotic, and they came with a guaranteed expiration date that gave the relationships a no-fault escape clause.
So I always wanted to go to a reciprical country where White Midwestern Americans are viewed as exotic and suave and all the women will want to find out for themselves if “what they always say about White Midwestern American guys” is true.
Fat fucking chance of there being any such place as that.