# You Decide You Have to Leave Your Country. Where Do You Go and Why? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 31, 2025, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-decide-you-have-to-leave-your-country-where-do-you-go-and-why/1016395 "2025-03-31T12:46:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2025, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-decide-you-have-to-leave-your-country-where-do-you-go-and-why/1016395/21 "2025-03-31T19:59:17Z")
If I was much younger, it would be the USVI. I was in St. Thomas for several months in 1976 and met a lot of folks who had left mainland USA out of disgust and frustration. Most of them seemed pretty happy. I realize that a lot may have changed in the intervening decades, but back then it was very laid back and pretty stressless. And the rum was dirt cheap. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2025, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-decide-you-have-to-leave-your-country-where-do-you-go-and-why/1016395/22 "2025-03-31T20:05:55Z")
I’m in South Africa, and in order, it’d be New Zealand, Canada (B.C. or the Maritimes), the Netherlands or France. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2025, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-decide-you-have-to-leave-your-country-where-do-you-go-and-why/1016395/23 "2025-03-31T21:06:21Z")
Oh yeah! I totally forgot about that, ha! My bad! ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2025, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-decide-you-have-to-leave-your-country-where-do-you-go-and-why/1016395/24 "2025-03-31T22:20:21Z")
We’d be going to America, and in the opposite circumstances to most people here: only if Trump loses his influence (due to death or dementia) and politics there gets back to something resembling normal, and also if the decline here in Britain becomes intolerable. My father-in-law is a US citizen and offered to apply for family visas for us, which AIUI would not be assured, but we’d at least have a chance of getting. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2025, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-decide-you-have-to-leave-your-country-where-do-you-go-and-why/1016395/25 "2025-03-31T22:54:51Z")
Magicking away immigration rules, New Zealand, Australia, UK, Ireland, maybe Netherlands or one of the Scandinavian countries. I’m pretty monolingual. I’d do poorly anywhere English isn’t widely spoken. I love Canada, but if i have to flee the US, Canada is probably too close. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2025, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-decide-you-have-to-leave-your-country-where-do-you-go-and-why/1016395/26 "2025-03-31T23:24:45Z")
Knee-Jerk Nonsense answer is Switzerland, reality Be Damned! Smart-Ass answer is California. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2025, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-decide-you-have-to-leave-your-country-where-do-you-go-and-why/1016395/27 "2025-03-31T23:35:55Z")
Good point. If the USA goes kablooie, California has about the best chance to be an independent sovereign nation in its own right. I can’t predict whether they’d adopt birthright citizenship, but I was born there. So (my at least) hope springs eternal. CA FTW!! ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-decide-you-have-to-leave-your-country-where-do-you-go-and-why/1016395/28 "2025-04-01T01:20:43Z")
I’m originally from Aotearoa (New Zealand), I’ve been living in Australia since I was 30, for about 25 years, so if I had to leave here, I have my home country to return to. I don’t have any family or important obligations here, so the hassle of uprooting would be minimal. ---
**Author:** ![UDS1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e47774/32.png) [@UDS1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS1)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-decide-you-have-to-leave-your-country-where-do-you-go-and-why/1016395/29 "2025-04-01T06:33:23Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > I believe I could get a British passport. Not that I want to live in England, but it would/might make living elsewhere in Europe much easier. > [@PatrickLondon](#): > > Not since Brexit, it wouldn’t. A UK passport would still get elbows into Ireland. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-decide-you-have-to-leave-your-country-where-do-you-go-and-why/1016395/30 "2025-04-01T07:22:27Z")
Erm, Tasmania IS part of Australia. I’m there right now. It is physically lovely, but better to visit than live in IMO. If you have any inclination to city life then you want Melbourne or Sydney, basic. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-decide-you-have-to-leave-your-country-where-do-you-go-and-why/1016395/31 "2025-04-01T07:35:38Z")
I would love to move to Ireland, but it’s just too hard to find housing and make a living. So I pick New Zealand. I have some cousins there, so I wouldn’t be completely at sea. As it is, I don’t have the money to move that far so I’m looking at jobs in Canada. If I can find a job there it should be fairly easy to get a visa - at least while I’m working. I would definitely be hoping to get citizenship wherever I go though. The idea of living somewhere I’m not a citizen gives me the willies. It’s like sleeping without a blanket; you’re probably fine, but it just feels vulnerable and I’d never completely rest.. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-decide-you-have-to-leave-your-country-where-do-you-go-and-why/1016395/32 "2025-04-01T08:35:14Z")
Canada for sure. Most similar to the USA, much saner than the USA, same language, and already has a large Asian populace. ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-decide-you-have-to-leave-your-country-where-do-you-go-and-why/1016395/33 "2025-04-01T08:43:03Z")
Given the premise, “lost my country” that would mean my triple citizenship (UK, ZW, RSA) of the three countries I consider home.. Norway - I would culturally fit in, and know the basics of the language (read/hear, but not speak, yet) Malawi - yes, it is really undeveloped 3rd world, but the people are friendly, there is not a lot of political drama (at least, right now…), and Lake Malawi is incredible - freshwater tropical fish. Plus it would be affordable. Mozambique. Probably not the north, where there in an insurgency, but near Beira in the middle. Again, friendly locals, a great variety of seafood, interesting twists on Portugese culture. Portugal would be my fourth choice but hard to attain without at least my UK passport. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-decide-you-have-to-leave-your-country-where-do-you-go-and-why/1016395/34 "2025-04-01T09:01:01Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Given my IRL English-only limitations, it’s NZ or AU. > > There are plenty of other EU countries that are culturally attractive. But I will not live where it gets cold. As in below about 60F / 15C. So you’d prefer giant man-eating spiders to some beautiful Christmas frost? I just don’t understand some of you people. I’d rather be carrying Christmas presents through a snowstorm on Christmas Eve than be eaten by an alligator in a swamp, but maybe that’s just me. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-decide-you-have-to-leave-your-country-where-do-you-go-and-why/1016395/35 "2025-04-01T09:24:59Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I will not live where it gets cold. As in below about 60F / 15C. I have some bad news for you about New Zealand…even Auckland can get below that in winter. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-decide-you-have-to-leave-your-country-where-do-you-go-and-why/1016395/36 "2025-04-01T09:32:37Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > But I will not live where it gets cold. As in below about 60F / 15C. Yeah dude, in NZ 15°C is considered pleasantly warm. It’ll have to be Aus for you, either Brisbane or Perth, or if you’re really courageous, Darwin. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-decide-you-have-to-leave-your-country-where-do-you-go-and-why/1016395/37 "2025-04-01T09:34:24Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > or if you’re really courageous, Darwin I would express that as “courageous”. ---
**Author:** ![MacDoc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/macdoc/32/18696_2.png) [@MacDoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacDoc)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-decide-you-have-to-leave-your-country-where-do-you-go-and-why/1016395/38 "2025-04-01T10:16:06Z")
Mind the crocs mate. And the cyclones. > **[Cyclone Tracy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclone_Tracy)** > > Severe Tropical Cyclone Tracy was a very small, but extremely destructive tropical cyclone that devastated the city of Darwin, in the Northern Territory of Australia, in December 1974. The small, developing, easterly storm was originally expected to pass clear of the city, but it turned towards it early on 24 December. After 10:00 p.m. ACST, damage became severe, with wind gusts reaching 217 km/h (117 kn; 135 mph) before instruments failed. The anemometer in Darwin Airport control tower had it... ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-decide-you-have-to-leave-your-country-where-do-you-go-and-why/1016395/39 "2025-04-01T10:30:55Z")
Yeah, one cyclone over 50 years ago must be one’s primary concern! ---
**Author:** ![LouMa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/louma/32/19472_2.png) [@LouMa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouMa)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-decide-you-have-to-leave-your-country-where-do-you-go-and-why/1016395/40 "2025-04-01T10:37:48Z")
As a reminder to those who are considering emigrating to Europe: it is quite difficult to get a bank account as a US American at a European bank, Americans are usually rejected. This is due to the banking laws in Europe. Apart from that, you should definitely have a very good command of the language of the country you want to emigrate to, otherwise life there will not be a pleasure. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-decide-you-have-to-leave-your-country-where-do-you-go-and-why/1016395.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-decide-you-have-to-leave-your-country-where-do-you-go-and-why/1016395.md?page=3)