No Stupid Questions

I realized the right is going to win the next elections. Poland was already very conservative. Religion was everywhere, no same sex marriage or civil unions, widespread homophobia, limited access to abortion, complicated divorce process, no living will laws and so on. And from the polls it was clear that not only nothing will change but it will get worse. I moved to one of the most progressive countries in EU (Spain) and for the next 10 years things in Poland did get worse so I was 100% right about that.

Overall I think relocating is complicated. Your values and perspective change over time, places change over time. The grass is always greener on the other side kind of thing. On one hand it's definitely nice to live in a country I'm not disgusted by. My governments is one of the most vocal supporters of Palestine, progressive policies are passed all the time. Not to mention I prefer the weather, nature, culture and general vibe of the place. The "but" is that future looks pretty bleak everywhere so who knows what will happen in the next 10-20 years. But I guess I can always move back if necessary and having more options is also a good thing.

I knew I felt completely done with the town I grew up in at the point where I graduated high school. Through some funny circumstances, I then spent an additional 3 years there attending University.

Then I moved to the biggest city in our country in search of better job prospects. It was mostly about the availability of jobs at that point, I didn't have a specific desire to move to this particular city for any other reasons, as I didn't really know how it would be to live in a different city. I figured I could always move back - or to another place - if things didn't work out.

I have never looked back, as I learned that I really enjoy living in larger cities over smaller more car-dependent ones. I miss nothing from my old city, except maybe vicinity to my parents, which was never something I valued particularly highly anyway.

My relocation story isn't nearly so dramatic as others. I only moved two counties across. But I did it for love. I met someone I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, and I moved to live with her. I work retail for a supermarket chain, my job exists pretty much everywhere, I was even able to get an internal transfer. Her job only exists in one place. So, living closer to her work was pretty much a no-brainer.

I grew up in the Boston area and absolutely hated the cold weather. I moved out when I was 18 to go to college in the Southwest. I literally only applied to warm weather colleges.

When my country first elected a rapist con man president, I started looking. I was born and raised in (and never left) New England, and so I also wanted a place that's warm year round. It took me four years to tentatively settle on Belize, in late 2019. I made my first visit in Jan 2021, as the pandemic messed up my 2020 plans. By October, I had sold EVERYTHING and moved with two cats.

Reasons (or things I didn't even know I wanted):

-No DST messing up my sleep schedule.
-No more days with 17+hrs of darkness.
-CARIBBEAN!!!
-Every Belizean I met (exception: gov't employees and police) is friendly and warm. In N.E., people avoid making eye contact and answer greetings in a way to stop further conversation, but in Belize, the people genuinely want to know how you're doing and remember everything you tell them.
-No car required
-Culture with proud participation from the public; holidays with vibrant parades, and entire village ecstatically engaged in all aspects.
-Tarantulas walking in the street (my partner and I love them!)
-Path to citizenship without $0.25M investment
-Citizenship there comes with a CARICOM passport, meaning can live and work in most Caribbean nations.
-Food! Fish caught 30 minutes before it hits my plate.

Things that pushed me away from the USA:

-Truck nuts
-Nazi and/or Confederate flags on trucks everywhere
-Cost of housing doubled from 2017 to 2021
-Consumerism -Embarrassed to be a US citizen

In my experience, there's an inertia to staying still. You either need a pull from the destination or a push from the source. I didn't care where we ended up but I couldn't live where we were. The state government was persecuting one of my kids and failing on maintaining civil services. The destination wasn't great but it was better than the source and has family nearby. Overall, I don't regret moving, but I'm not happy. I went from a terrible situation to a not as bad one. Note - I didn't say this is good.

I moved country as a way to see the world. I left Nederland and started with Australia because I had an Australian passport. I was going to give it a year. I worked six months, was unemployed for 18, then got a three day gig that lasted for six and a half years.

That move was 35 years ago. I'm still in Australia. In the meantime I met my partner, travelled around the country for five years and started my own business 26 years ago.

I visited Nederland four years in, but it didn't feel like home.

It took many years for this to feel like home, from time to time I'd love to hug my family, but never felt homesick, I love watching YouTube videos of places where I grew up. I'll visit the local Dutch Shop to remember smells and tastes and to bullshit in Dutch, but otherwise I'll be doing my Aussie life.

I was born here, but grew up in Nederland.

I realized I wanted to stop living in Texas the first time I traveled outside of the state in my early teens. This state is a fascist nightmare and the quality of life has been slipping for the entire time I've been alive. The open hostility to trans folks like myself was the last straw.

I tried once in my 20's, but I was too homesick for my partners to leave them behind. It took another 15 years after that point before the universe conspired to let me move to Colorado and bring them with me.

So here are the reasons why I relocated;

• Went off to college and like most students I went back home after my first year. It took me about three days to realize my mom’s house was a much bigger mad house than I thought. I moved back to college and knew I was never going back to my home town again.

• After undergrad I joined the US Army with one of the expressed purposes of living in Europe. I was stationed in Germany for three years and I loved it.

• I got orders back to the States and was stationed in Maryland. I fell in love with Maryland the moment I got here.

Moved inside Europe to another country because my partner had lived 3 years in my home country and complained about everything, so we decided it's my turn to complain about everything. One more year to go to settle the score.

On a serious note we both love things about each others country and we are both open to live in either. Living and breathing your partner's culture and environment they grew up in is such a great way to understand them on a deeper level. I finally understand her complaints and she understands mine!

I met my wife here and that's when I decided to stay.

When my previous relationship ended, it just instantly called to me. Knowing that I suddenly didn’t have anyone keeping me where I was, it wasn’t even a day before I knew I wanted to move.

I spent 3 years saving and preparing and making sure it was the right place to go, but never doubted it for a second. Made the right move, too. Happier and more confident than I’ve ever been before.

For me it was the money. I couldn't make enough to get ahead in my hometown so i moved to a smaller city. My living costs went down and my wage went up. It really sucked leaving my friends and family behind but in less than 3 years i went from almost nothing to purchasing a small house.

For out country to country move it was my dad landing a good job and them sponsoring us to move.

For my move from Ontario to BC, Canada it just took a single visit. The scenery and climate in BC was so much better than Ontario. More People had awareness of the environment being important, bikes were everywhere. Social programs made more sense. It just felt like a more civilized society than Ontario cities.

Sometimes simply living in a certain country is enough for you to know that you want to live in a new place and move there.

Moved from small city flat with a 50km commute each way to a large semi-detached in a small town within walking distance to the job. No regrets at all.