OT: Giving up Citizenship.

[Guest]

also (ex) new yorker ...lol
..
i agree with the above statement about re-location ...
incredibly difficult & unless your friends &/or family are near , it's very hard ...
home is REALLY where the heart is....
wherever that is ...

Relocation is very very hard especially if you have grownup kids. I tried but went back (Europe) but now I am also thinking about Spain or Portugal because of the weather. And my hope is that my (grown)kids will come after.

[Guest]

Any country that has already tried communism and it has failed.They realize that pretending you will spread the wealth is a lie and it has only resulted in misery for all

Yes I've been thinking about Eastern/southeast Europe as well (I'm the above poster) problem there is the language, most people there don't speak any or just little english . I mean in general. That means I must learn a new an diffidult language of course that is a challenge, but I'm not sure I can manage that. It will take a long time either way.

[madame]

very best of luck to ya'll...
i imagine it would be very difficult once kids reach a certain age to move them ..
without the language you are extremely limited & will always be somewhat of an outsider ...
but even worse you will not be able to form new deep friendships with locals ...
you must stay in a big city which is what you want to escape from ( i imagine) ..
the cities everywhere are filled with expats from all over ...
in all my years as an expat (living in remote locations southeast europe) i've never come across another new yawker (unfortunately)...
if i had to give any advice it would be to learn the language ...WELL !
learn it REAL well ...
& if the time ever comes that you feel the need to leave the USA you will be so prepared & have so many more opportunities & confidence ...
in places like italy & greece , once you get out of the city there is NO english ...anyway , as someone who is bad with languages , if i can do it so can you ! lol
good luck in your life adventure ...
it's all about the 'quest' ! ...

[Guest]

in places like italy & greece , once you get out of the city there is NO english

That's interesting. Even though I've known even in parts of Europe English may be limited or nil, it's a good reminder that English hasn't taken hold even in Europe where one thinks of the citizens as mostly bilingual at the least. The Scandinavians English is so good they barely have an accent.

I know of a country formerly a British colony and most of the citizens aren't fluent in English at all.

Native English speakers have to be mindful about that when we tend to think English is often one of two official languages for international business affairs.

[Guest]

Thinking of moving to the US (California) from Canada. Lived in all provinces of Western Canada and I can say if you're a professional, Canada sucks. There's no room to grow and taxes are way too high. About 1/3 ++ of my salary is my taxes, it doesn't matter how high you're paid - you won't get much after taxes. Housing is enormously high. Medical care is not really free, we pay some money for it. However, it only looks like everything is so good with medicare, but quality of doctors is very low. And you know what - you cannot sue a doctor in Canada for terrible errors they make! If you need a specialist, you'll have to wait for 6 months average, and if you have health problems and cannot wait - nobody cares. That's the reality of Canadian medicare system. Another thing - people are loosing jobs constantly and they are paid little.If you want to open your own business - again, most of small business operators won't be able to become rich - ever! Average Joe the businessman makes little money and leads miserable life.