Moving out of country - USA to somewhere else?

Vinen

God is dead
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I just have zero interest in learning another language. I enjoy being a white american, and my wife is basically American and has no desire to move to Asia. Once we hit retirement capital in 10-12 years we'll probably just sell off our house and other non-liquid assets and just travel 100%. I wouldn't mind living in China for a year, Thailand for a year, Japan for a year. Maybe Copenhagen and Helsinki for a year. Definitely NYC and San Francisco for a year.

Haha, I'd be the same as you had I not met my wife.
It came up during our Wedding.
"Vinen" eat WHAT?

Thailand is pretty nice. You can watch all the nasty British and Arab dudes picking up hookers at all hours of the day.

What about your children

Mine will be bi/tri-lingual depending on whether you consider Mandarin and Shanghaiese separate languages. It will be up to them to decide where they live. They will get the choice of being a US or Chinese citizen. (My wife has opted to not be a US citizen)

T-4.5 months until my first is born...
 
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Cad

<Bronze Donator>
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Haha, I'd be the same as you had I not met my wife.
It came up during our Wedding.
"Vinen" eat WHAT?

Thailand is pretty nice. You can watch all the nasty British and Arab dudes picking up hookers at all hours of the day.

I'm going to treat our thing as more like extended travel rather than residing. Yea, we'll "live" there, but always with a mind of it being temporary and coming back to the U.S.

The sexpat thing doesn't bother me, it's not really my thing but with how cheap hookers are in those areas it doesn't surprise me at all.
 

Qerero

Golden Knight of the Realm
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The biggest hurdle is not any hard skill or red tape, it's your own openness and willingness to experience a different culture and way of life. I lived in Korea for ten years, and it became quickly apparent after living there that the happy expats are the ones who are expats by choice and open to the differences. The unhappy ones are those who came because they couldn't get a job at home, were running from something, or were deployed there (ie., not by choice) and so they wanted it to be as close to their home country as possible and were frustrated when it wasn't.

Personally I'm back now (Canada, but same diff) and coming back was the right decision but I still miss it. Being in another country/language/cultural environment makes the mundane acts of daily living - shopping, ordering in restaurants, banking - that little bit less mundane because there are challenges and differences associated with them. That can also make it irritating, which is why your attitude and approach to it are so important. It's definitely NOT something everyone should do, it depends on the person.
 

Lambourne

Ahn'Qiraj Raider
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There's huge cultural differences between European countries (and even within countries) and you should consider what would suit you best. There's also substantial differences in law, religion (or lack thereof), taxes etc.
Happy to give some insight if you can specify your needs & wants a bit.
 

kudos

<Banned>
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Haha, no guys, I'm white. So there wouldn't be as much of a problem there I suppose.

I never had the urge to live anywhere else in the world until I had kids. Having kids changes things I suppose. You want the best for them, and I'd prefer to be able to give them different perspectives. Of course, this could happen right here in the USA, but rarely does something bad happen when you push yourself out of your comfort zone. Always a learning experience.

What do you mean they love whites over there in China? I'm ignorant on any kind of demand, but they'd give me preference for a Network Tech job because I'm white? (well maybe not give preference officially, but would help me somehow?)

Maybe all of this is just a bug to travel? After staying put for so long, and then in the last 2 years I've moved a number of times, to 2 different cities, and so now I kind feel like I want to move more, and see what else is out there. I don't know.

Thanks for the replies guys, it's good conversation.
Studies have actually shown traveling makes people even more closed minded. It blew my mind when I first heard it but it makes sense the more you think about it.
 

Cad

<Bronze Donator>
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Studies have actually shown traveling makes people even more closed minded. It blew my mind when I first heard it but it makes sense the more you think about it.

It's true to a certain extent for Americans who have never been out of America and think people are nice elsewhere, and when you go overseas and most places outside of Europe and Japan are total shit holes that are totally unsafe, corrupt cops, etc then you come home and hear "black lives matter" it can be pretty jarring. Like people here just have no idea how good they have it.
 
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Jysin

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It's true to a certain extent for Americans who have never been out of America and think people are nice elsewhere, and when you go overseas and most places outside of Europe and Japan are total shit holes that are totally unsafe, corrupt cops, etc then you come home and hear "black lives matter" it can be pretty jarring. Like people here just have no idea how good they have it.

This. Oh, so much this..

When I hear people whining about "being poor" in the USA while owning the newest iFag device, playing Xbone/PS4, driving around with ANY car, let alone with dubs and other nonsense.. it all annoys the living fuck out of me. Bitch, go walk around for a day in India, Africa, most of Asia and then get back to me. Ship these fuckers off on a mandatory year's holiday for a bit of perspective.
 

Loser Araysar

Chief Russia Correspondent / Stock Pals CEO
<Gold Donor>
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In same boat as you are, working on moving back home to Europe

Been in US for 25 years, I feel like its time to change perspectives, locations, routines.
 

Haka

N00b
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I spent a couple years teaching English in Korea after I finished University, it was a great experience and I loved it. Great way to travel, decent pay, and really interesting to live in a place with such a different culture, where I was a minority.