If you could pack up and move your whole life, where would you go?

aomewhere that was not actively facilitating the replication of the novel coronavirus

My wife and I have talked about this a lot. We're at 4 years out from both kids being out of high school, which will remove the most urgent need for us to be in East Tennessee. Don't want to move a million miles away from them either (tho obv I have no real idea where they'll end up). In the last year or so we've started talking more seriously. We travel together a lot and we always joke that we want to move to wherever was the last place we visited. But after some real consideration (Chicago -- too cold, Oaxaca -- too far), a trip to New Orleans in February settled it. It's always been one of our favorite places, my wife lived there for a few years, I have family from there and have always loved it. I agree with the above statement that there are a lot of forces at work on it, definitely not all positive, but there's still a strong New Orleans culture that's very real and ground-level. And it's just not like anywhere else in America (or anywhere — it's always seemed like a bit of a mythological port city to me). Also I feel like it's sort of eternally expecting apocalypse, and they're ahead of the rest of us in figuring out how to live with that.

So that's our current thinking. We have some time to work out the logistics.

i have a few different good friends from the old days who also made their way to new orleans and never left. i've only been a few times, but it's the american city that is the least american and will always hold a place of honor because of that

so many of you choosing somewhere inside the confirmed dystopia that is the USA

governance in the USA is very badly broken and in many visible ways we're firmly on the path of conversion to a fascist state, without many remaining exits from that path. if it ever looks like the concentration camps for the 'internal enemies of the state' were immanent, I think my refuge of choice would be Ireland, maybe Galway, Limerick or a smaller satellite town near these. but, as I said, my roots in Oregon are very deep. only a refugee situation is likely to dislodge me.

We have Canadian passports so were thinking of somewhere boring but pretty in BC, like Nelson

ha i love how many people have said nz. i would also say nz

i would also move to berlin instantly if i could, the week i spent there was one of the best of my life

there are so many places i would like to go. i would like to be able to speak the language, though, at least to a level where i can get by. i have been duolingoing spanish so hard the last few months

i have been talking about the fucking los zapatos verdes for so long it's starting to materialize in my dreams

i think one of my big unresolved desires is that i desire to move to very remote place with zero people and live in a small cabin. i already did it last year for a few weeks, it was one of the best experiences of my life. but when i did that, there was a guy who owned the place who would stop by every week or so to make sure that i hadn't died, and when the water pump broke, he was everything to me. i'm worried about moving to the middle of nowhere with nothing but an ancient time-life How to Fix your Disappointing House book, following the instructions and the thing still being broken.

so until i learn how to avoid dying from exposure and incompetence when i'm in the wilderness, i should probably stay near a supermarket

I often consider moving back home to New Orleans but I'm not quite ready. I visited over the holidays and it was a pretty grim scene, as I had a hard time distinguishing between what was post-Ida destruction and what was just standard neglect and deterioration (of the city and my family). If you're moving from somewhere rural/red then you're probably already inured to covidiocy/trumpism but otherwise it can be a very frustrating experience. I still miss the place dearly. If anyone does plan on moving there and is looking to get a handle on the city's corrupt politics I'd recommend following @skooks on twitter.

It's a slogan I know but I basically believe it -- nothing much about your existence is going to change as a result of changing your physical location

― Guayaquil (eephus!), Sunday, May 29, 2022 12:43 PM (yesterday)

uhhhh ... I'm going to assume that this was meant in the context of Karl (a cis-white dude) wanting to move somewhere and not really a universal "your," where other people would experience significant changes related to racism, homophobia, transphobia, the right to get an abortion, general acceptance and tolerance of "otherness" ... and have moved for those reasons?

Oh yeah, I know just enough about New Orleans to expect dysfunction, poverty, racism, violence. On the other hand we hear gunshots in our Knoxville neighborhood all the time and I’m surrounded by check-cashing places and opiate addicts living by the creeks, so … I have a reasonable tolerance for urban dystopia. But New Orleans also has a lot to counter all of that.

KM you could move to Fairbanks and live in a cabin that feels remote but is actually within a twenty-minute drive to a supermarket.

I’ve wanted to move to New Orleans since my first visit in 1988, but I realize moving to a place I’ve only
visited for a week at a time (albeit many, many times) is probably a pipe dream. I’d like at least spend a few months/half a year there to start. But yeah, the decay mixed with the gentrification both give me pause. Plus, my wife’s dream move is the north shore of Minnesota, so we’re definitely at odds there!

that does sound intriguing, lily! and i have often dreamed of living in a really cold place, for a while. but honestly i think i would like to move somewhere that is not cold, for once. i'm in STL now, the warmest place i've lived in a while, and it was nice when the snow came and everyone was freaking out about it, and i thought it was a mild and disappointing snow.

moving to warmer climes gives you a temporary boost of wellbeing compared to where you recently lived. you get to take your coat off a month before anyone else, it's amazing. it's similar in some respects to moving from a place with a high cost of living to one with a relatively low one. your monopoly money from the previous city is worth more, at this other one.

in other words, the trick might be to start at the coldest, most expensive place in the world, and as you live, gradually slide down to drinking water on the equator

I hope I’m wrong but I keep waiting for like Disney to swoop in and just buy the entire Quarter and turn it into an Epcot version, mouse ear silhouettes everywhere. The real estate prices are way out of wack with average salaries. And the state/ local politics there are beyond fucked. But even so, if I thought my gf could stand a summer there it would be at the top of my list in the US.

xp idk moving from somewhere where it was on average 90 degrees every day all summer (no air conditioning) to somewhere where it was on average 70 degrees ... the ability to wear a sweater or ... any clothing for that matter and not be uncomfortably hot and sweaty and gross ... that was a great boost of well-being

lmfao at so many of you choosing somewhere inside the confirmed dystopia that is the USA

it might be shocking to you but there aren't many places left to live outside the US that aren't headed towards dystopia either. and leaving the country is also massively expensive.

idk maybe could we keep 'destination shaming' out of the thread

i think some of us Americans are just being practical in terms of relocation costs and "would we legally be allowed to be residents and work there" ... I could totally fantasize about chilling on a gorgeous beach eating & drinking dope-ass food in the South of France, but ... the French government would probably deport my American ass after a short while idk

Bulgaria has nice beaches and also cats ... I know a few words and phrases of Bulgarian

idk maybe could we keep 'destination shaming' out of the thread

eh idk i've been trapped in my current apartment for a while now bc i can't afford to move down the street let alone to another country

yeah of course it is still an expense, we are talking about "if..." here. on a couple of occasions I have found a job in another country in which there was free accommodation and they paid for the plane ticket, not sure if that's still a thing though.

I think the thread should go in whatever direction it takes, but in my op I was trying to include the idea of imagining where we would pick up and move if practical concerns weren’t a limitation. But I get how that’s not a very fruitful topic, since it’s just basically an invitation to share your dream, and that can go badly

is it also that weird to imagine that people tend to gravitate towards the familiar rather than dealing w/ potential culture shock?

I said New Zealand but I could have just as easily said East Atlanta, which is bohemian.

it isn't as if every square inch of America is a hellhole. even if we are all living in Hell here right now, collectively speaking.

not to mention this is imago's second Kool-Aid Man intrusion of "lol yanks" in recent weeks and i'm not amused

the question was obviously 'if money/family/etc is no object'

if you want to stay in the US for cultural or sentimental reasons, fine

I don't have a college degree, from what I've gathered over the years most of the 'developed world' wouldn't even let me in unless I win the lottery and get an investor visa or something. (Winning the lottery, of course, removes like 95% of the reasons every square inch of America IS arguably a hellhole.)

moving to warmer climes gives you a temporary boost of wellbeing

Wherever we live, warmer climes are likely coming to us in our lifetimes... might not be conducive to our well-being in the end, though.

That is as it should be. The whole clime-switching economy depends on other people seeking colder climes

the question was obviously 'if money/family/etc is no object'

i think it comes down to your definition of "etc" ... like, does it include magically getting a visa and/or magically learning to speak the native language very rapidly and/or conquering resentment towards natives of Imperial colonial powers by magic of a charming Mary Poppins-like personality?

It’s also funny that imago is saying this, don’t you live in fucking England? Fuck off.

A simple "Ban LJ" is the traditional response.

KM, I recently spent some time in the Chapel Hill- Raleigh- Durham area and while you might need a car, I know people who don’t, and the art scene is chill, small, but exceptionally weird and friendly. Great music area, too. I loved it.

We have decided that if our house value gets to two times what we paid for it, we will start thinking about selling and moving.

Realistically, we’d probably move somewhere in Maine or Western Mass, tho if we could go anywhere in the US and didn’t have to worry about money, I’d say Westport, California.

If we could move anywhere, I think my sights would be on Prince George, BC— it has lots of trains, abundant natural beauty, a university, and we both have some affection for small cities.

I also would move to Porto in a heartbeat for sort of the opposite reasons I’d move to Prince George.

If money/family/etc were no option I might go with Barcelona. Great weather, culture, pace of life. A hop skip and a jump from a lot of amazing destinations. Easiest language to pick up coming from English. Healthy presence of leftist orgs. Obviously the failing struggle for independence is rough but their cops can't be as bad as here.

My American friend did exactly this and went to Copenhagen. Loves it.

yeah, i have never stepped in europe (beyond iceland) but barcelona would be one of my first stops if i did

xp

The real estate prices are way out of wack with average salaries.

All the AirBnBs in New Orleans, a city with a housing shortage.

Huh, wonder where all the housing went? pic.twitter.com/AEib4nFkip

— Angela ⚡️⚡️⚡️ (@byzplease) April 20, 2022

Easiest language to pick up coming from English

Catalan?

tbh I used to live in Barcelona and could easily see that as the answer to the original question

Xp there ought to be a law

However there will absolutely under no circumstances be a law

Pretty amazing that the hospitality industry didn't have enough lobbying money to strangle Airbnb in the crib.

uhhhh ... I'm going to assume that this was meant in the context of Karl (a cis-white dude) wanting to move somewhere and not really a universal "your," where other people would experience significant changes related to racism, homophobia, transphobia, the right to get an abortion, general acceptance and tolerance of "otherness" ... and have moved for those reasons?

― sarahell, Monday, May 30, 2022 11:39 AM (four hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

for sure, doesn't apply to somebody seeking asylum in the us, doesn't apply to lots of people, I was more just responding to the vibe of the thread which is mostly "new orleans is cool / vermont has nice mountains" etc. (both of which are of course totally true!)

We have Canadian passports so were thinking of somewhere boring but pretty in BC, like Nelson

NZ is an obvious and attractive option. I know someone who moved there from Canada with zero regrets. (She works in HC)

My other front-of-the-mind option is Uruguay. Climate-wise it sounds ideal (4 seasons, no extremes) and politically/socially it doesn’t seem to suffer a lot of the ills that plague many other Latin American countries.

(I like Canada but I’m growing out of love with it, as many of the things that felt given — a plucky but polite underdog mentality, social democratic government, institutions like the CBC and CanCon regulations [as much as there is to complain about with those, we didn’t know how good we had it] — are clearly being eroded as we subsume ourselves to USAnian culture.

Plus I fuckin hate these endless winters and mayfly-brief summers.)

I moved to NZ from the UK four years ago, also zero regrets.

Barcelona can be lovely, but the beaches were filthy when I was there, and Las Ramblas was like any other big tourist street (think you can say the same about most famous cities.) my friend went there with decent Spanish and tried to use it to communicate with the locals, and that did not go down well at all, he found he was better off just using English.

anyone who has actually left the us - how did you do it? i'm pretty sure i'd have to make more than the 45k a year i make and also not be burned out and unable to handle complex administrative tasks on a day-to-day basis.

New Zealand is really lovely, but it's so damn far from anywhere else...

Melbourne, Australia

or a city in Europe?

i have lived in the U.S. all of my 46 years and if i could leave, i think i would leave - if nothing else, for my kids' sake