I'm afraid to answer this because the monkey paw might curl and I'll be in an ICE concentration camp in Eswatini.
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Nordic countries or the Netherlands seem pretty cool. Although the winters would be a bit brutal being so far north.
Realistically I've thought about Australia since it has a nice climate, decent politics, and no language barrier.
Personally I would not leave the USA voluntarily since I mostly like the people I know here but if the fascists succeed in taking over then I might have to go somewhere else. Still hoping they can be beaten though.
Australia has a language barrier with other Australians
Realistically I’ve thought about Australia since it has a nice climate, decent politics, and no language barrier.
I know this is mostly a matter of taste and thus subjective, but I'd argue against every point in your list hehehehe
I hate cold weather lol. And where I live now already gets hotter than most of Australia. Or at least the parts where people live.
NZ could also be nice but I heard it's hard to immigrate there.
I'm the opposite of you. I live in Canada and would move to a colder place without a second thought... to each their own, they say!
Stay safe
Colder than Canada??? Not many options there lol.
I would consider Canada if it wasn't for the winters... Maybe Vancouver would be tolerable but even that's pushing it. If I have to put on a jacket that's a sign that human beings were not meant to live here.
The ocean fronting parts of scandinavia aren't that cold comparitively as I understand it, just as coastal alaska is temperate. Get inland a bit and it turns into bitter cold.
Not sure how they even stack up, even at the 45 parallel in the US we get bitter cold, maybe more than their major cities. 40 below.
Russia on the other hand, shit.
It's all relative. I consider Alaska to be quite cold even if it's technically temperate.
I live in California and our subtropical winters are about as chilly as I would like to experience, personally.
Ha ha, you and I agree that "temperate rainforest" is actually uncomfortably chilly.
At least in the upper midwest here we get a summer of sorts, (it's cold as shit here even in the summer for the most part,)
Realistically I've thought about Australia since it has a nice climate, decent politics, and no language barrier.
I wouldn't go to Melbourne if I were you, half of yesterday was hot and dry, then the latter half was raining, and now today has been a mix of hot dry wind and then became hotter and dryer but without wind. It has gotten worse over the years, but the "multiple seasons in a day" phenomenon has been here since forever.
Sydney has pretty stable weather though and is generally nicer than here, but idk about the other cities, since I don't really travel much.
I have moved from the US to Spain. I have 0 regrets. I'm healthier, the people are more friendly and love life and their families. America is a shithole. Every day I get updates from my family about how awful things are, and i never regret moving.
Life feels so ....normal here. I have worries but its not a constant dread hanging over my head. Most of my life I have had GAD- Generalized Anxiety Disorder. I used to get frozen in thought loops of nonsensical dangers, like someone randomly shooting my husband or a car accident or something. Those episodes have almost completely stopped now. I rarely have panic attacks anymore.
Im healthier, have no more debt, I dont fear the people around me.... Its peaceful. I also visited the UK and it wasnt the same. It was too roudy, still friendlier than america by far , but very raucous.
Here in Spain its quiet, and slow. I prefer it so much.
I moved to Spain from Poland over 10 years ago. I could see the society in Poland is not planning on advancing anytime soon so I left. Since I moved Spain kept making progressive reforms (they are now considered #1 LGBT friendly country in the world among other things) while Poland kept moving backwards (restricted access to abortion even more) so I'm not looking back. Spain is far from perfect (I liked the relax attitude to general order at first but now it's getting to me. pick up your trash, people!) but people, food, weather, nature... If I will even move again it will be inside Spain.
Be warned, there's a growing far right movement in spain as well.
There is in every country. I'm aware of it and keeping an eye on it, but its not even compatible to how it was in the US. I lived in a small town that had "the only good liberal is a dead liberal" bumper stickers on the back of every other pickup truck, and a giant confederate flag painted on the side of an apartment building. Rape and murder were weekly crime statistics and people would try to run over stray cats as a type of local game.
The worst thing ive seen here is two drunk people yelling at each other about football.
Took the train under the Channel after spending a week in France. Holy. The difference in volume and manners as soon as we stepped on the train. Two youngsters decided they needed to sort their relationship issues under the ocean for the whole car to hear. UK is the most American European country.
Iceland. I love the culture and the weather. I had my honeymoon there many years ago, in the winter. It was amazing.
But my kids should be near their family, so even if I could go, I'd probably stay here in Texas. Plus the food here is much better.
It's not everything you think it is. The fentanyl addicted homeless problem in the cities is getting brutal, and the lack of decent transit is hard, and honestly we have our share of kooks. It is also becoming embarrassingly racist because some white Canadians are starting to openly hate immigrants, which I blame the government for as it's basically a glorified slavery system now and not a way to bring talented people to work here. That is not the fault of new immigrants, but these Canadians hate African, Indian, and Muslim immigrants a LOT, and it's honestly embarrassing.
Yes.
- Iceland
- New Zealand
- Sweden
- Scotland
- Italy
Really, any others in the top-10 happy nations. I'm not fussy.
I like my country, but I would love another adventure ; mild adventure, as going to a happy nation is like "roughing it" in a 4-star.
Originally from China. It's probably quite hard to explain on a short post over the internet especially since there are way too many fucked up things where I'm from, but I absolutely wanted to and have been living outside for 11 years straight now, and I've been mostly happy wherever I've been (and I've been in some shittier cities). Although it is more of an "anywhere but China" attitude for me...
So yeah. I don't think I necessarily dreamed of living in any particular country, but just wanted to live anywhere else
Hypothetically, yes, very much. I feel like I'd fit in much better culturally somewhere like Finland, or generally the more peaceful European countries. But as soon as I even begin to think about actually doing it..... No way in hell.
My family is here. All my friends are here. I've also got my mental health support system here and stuff like that, that would be incredibly hard to rebuild somewhere else.
There's also the obvious language barrier, which I think for me personally would be insurmountable.
There's a lot to dislike and hate about my home country of Israel. The weather is too hot and never changing in the summers. A large portion of the population is detestable in culture (and don't even get me started on politics). Public transportation is a bad joke. But despite all that... It's the best home I've got. Best thing to do is stay and try to make it better.
If everyone runs away whenever a place starts going to shit, it just goes to shit even faster. The non-shitty places will eventually run out.
Would and have. A few times.
I can say the grass is always greener on the other side, and people are mostly the same no matter where you are.
Yes. Anywhere that actually isn't trying to persecute it's own people but actually make their lives better. So tired of this hellhole. (USA)
I did. Living in turkey sucks especially for a trans woman. Studying and staying in Berlin now
Another turkish trans girl here. Texas hasn't been the kindest but it has been better than Konya.
I’m an expat Brit and I’ve lived in Canada for many years. If I had to do it all again but pick a different country, I’d choose New Zealand. I’ve never been but it looks like a beautiful place and, well, the All Blacks? 😁
Born in Russia, moved to Europe after graduating, then moved to Japan. I would never go back to any of the places I lived in. Of course, Japan is not perfect; no country is. But I realized it's about the compromises you're willing/can deal with. At least here, my family and I feel safe and as comfortable as we've never felt before.
I live in NZ.
There are a bunch of people saying that NZ is is a place they would like to go. It is really nice, slow pace of life in most places; however the cost of living here is way too high compared to incomes.
Politics is relatively stable compared to other nations; but we do have our own scoundrels who are complete fuckups.
There are quite a few drawbacks; talking with a German friend last night. We were talking about cites around the world, he said "Rome, oh yea I went there in high school when I was 17 for a week". That is just not really possible from here. Getting certain things here is just not worth it; the postage is more than the thing itself; or it just doesn't ship here at all. e.g. Jolla phone; but it isn't just niche Linux phones; a few years back I couldn't buy a laptop with a Ryzen processor, had to order it from Amazon in the US, everything available form a NZ retailer was Intel.
Public transport here is shit; outside of Wellington, it is 30 years behind where it should be. The CRL (city rail link) just opened in Auckland (our biggest city); this completes a loop that should have been built in the 90's. NZ is a very car dependent country; I can't catch a train from Taupō where I live in the middle of the North Island, at all, there is no rail line here.
I was fortunate enough to visit new Zealand earlier this year and your country is stunning. I loved Taupo. I'm Australian but could see myself very happily living in New Zealand. Also the issues you mentioned with new Zealand pretty much also applies to Australia
this completes a loop that should have been built in the 90’s
To be fair, living in Auckland, it feels like they started building it in the 90's.
Lived in Norway most my life, and one day I woke up and decided to move to Estonia. Been living here for some years now, and life is quite similar, but with a lot of different nuances.
People are a bit more cold and generally untrusting towards strangers, but not in a bad way. People here are really warm once you befriend each other however, and they invite you to go mushrooming with them. I like mushrooms, and Estonia being a big swamp, there's a ton of them here! (my freezer is completely full of them now as the season draws to a close)
Before I moved here I had traveled a lot, and I've seen many people and cultures. With how easy it is to travel the world in this modern day and age, I really recommend people to go a bit outside their comfort zone, and experience life from a different angle. It truly helps get a more open mind and wider perspective on things. The language barrier that some people here mentioned isn't that much of a barrier anymore, since a majority of people under 40 know passable English these days, and there's always digital translation solutions.
Also, learning a new language is considered a very healthy thing for the mind!
yes, France. Alas they are as afraid of me as the Australian government is afraid of the French
why ? As an Australian, France has way less Australians, so that's a huge bonus.
but more seriously, i'd be forced to learn another language and be open to exploring entire new ways of thinking and living.
As an Australian I don't have a problem with the metric system :) and both France and myself think our ex PM ScoMo is a complete fucking asshole, so we have lots in commin :)
currently I spend 8 months a year in SE Asia and 4 months in Australia.
FYI, on that tropical island in the header image:
Living there is not all it’s cracked up to be. It’s green hell, salt eats everything, pests never get culled from freezing, I could go on and on.
And unless you’re exactly on the equator, tropical cyclones are going to make your life difficult.
In the past week I learned that Southern hemisphere South America does not get tropical storms!
Indeed. But they did get one freak tropical cyclone, in 2004!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Catarina
It's the only recorded one in history, though. And I think they still do get some tropical-feeling weather in Brazil.
Sometimes I'd like to try life in Europe somewhere, I'm lucky to live in Canada but I'd like to see life where we really have a robust social safety net and not just a nod to it.
I have a friend in Ontario, and it's quite a nice place to visit and seems so beautiful!
Then I read about Doug Ford and... yeah.
Canadians are such lovely people though.
Also Canadian, also thinking the same
I'm just really tired of pretending we don't have problems. What's happening to health care here is distressing, and so is the fentanyl problem. Housing sucks too.
Just for kicks, I looked into this years ago, pre-trump. Figured Scandinavia would be good and ultimately settled on Gothenburg, Sweden. Big city, relatively mild weather, close-ish to the rest of Europe.
Other options I've either daydreamed about or heard good things about over the years:
Vancouver, BC, Canada
Australia (East coast, have some extended family)
Spain
Baja California, Mexico
As a Michigander, I could see myself ending up in Canada. In theory, I already have Canadian citizenship waiting for me (since my grandfather was born there), and if I were to pursue getting that certified, it would definitely make immigrating easier. I think if the elections in the US seem to be compromised this year, I'll file that paperwork right away, just in case I need to move quickly later.
FYI, the wait for processing is now years-long, due to the large influx of applications and the lack of foresight to increase staffing to manage that. Also, if you don't already have the documentation to prove who your grandfather is, his citizenship, and who you are in relation to him, archives across the country have been inundated with requests for this kind of genealogical information, and they, too, are under-resource to handle it. (And not only so, but arts, culture, and heritage institutions have had budget slashed all across the country, so there are actually fewer people now to handle these requests.)
The midterms is my bellwether too. I am haunted by images of elderly people in Europe fleeing their homes with what they can carry. I'd rather not end up like that.
I'd start now. Immigration has grown quickly a lot less popular in Canada and the government dials it back when people get angry about their own quality of life here.
Switzerland. The entire country is gorgeous, and the people seem to have pretty solid human rights. Also, you're a train ride away from a lot of other cool places. And it seems like they make a lot of cool stuff there.
I'd pick Spain. But, there's no way I can do it now, I'm too old and poor.
Had I known what a shithole this country would become, I would have started out with that in mind and made it happen. I would have done many things differently, had I known. Hindsight is 20/20.
I've lived in two other countries than my own. Also lived in two other major cities in my own country. Never wanted to stay, was glad to come home. I like where I live a lot. When I was living other places I found them boring and I missed stuff from home that they didn't have.
Sad to say my own city though is rapidly becoming more and more boring because it's been taken over by rich douchebags and their creepy monoculture but I think that's true of any desirable place to live these days.
I recently spent several weeks in Iceland, I would live there.
I love the cold, I love the rain, I love their landscapes, and the food (I am a big fan of the plokkfiskur, absolutely worth trying). The people were incredibly nice, things were clean, the roads were generally well designed with good rules.
Aside from a sheep that I swear was saying rude things about my mother, it was wonderful.
If I had the choice, I would be quite happy living anywhere not in the south, maybe something north of Borgarnes.
Currently living in Russia.
Would love to explore Scandinavia more, had mostly positive memories from visiting Finland (although, folks, don't forget smaller towns also need some colors! Imatra, for example, is depressing AF in the autumn).
China is also interesting to explore and live a bit in. An incredible mix of cultures and ways of life, all packed in unimaginable ways. Also, the nature of Far East is breathtaking.
Other than that, I'd love to settle somewhere very, very remote, away from the world's troubles and noise. New Zealand seems to be nice, or, if I'd want to go hardcore on a small civilized spot in the middle of nowhere, St. Helena is a great pick.
I already do that 😊 I'm originally from Hungary, but have lived in Scotland for 15+ years now. I love the weather (no, seriously) - none of Hungary's oven-like summers and freezing winters, but mild temperatures and high humidity all year around, so mosses and some other plants that normally die in continental winters are flourishing year-round here. Sometimes it gets a bit too gloomy, but it's a worthy cost for the temperatures :)
Also it's a great country for the most part - don't want to get too much into political and economical details - but the people are friendly and helpful, I very rarely see the attitudes of neurosis and apathy that seems common in Hungary (for understandable reasons).
Auckland New Zealand for me. The climate there is great because it rarely goes below 40 and above 80. And it'd pretty 50/50 being sunny and cloudy. And it's far away from the US and that would be nice too.
I'm tired of endlessly stressing out about money, so I would say somewhere with a lower cost of living (but still relatively safe and healthy) and with nice friendly people. If I had to guess where that'd be, I'd say Thailand/Vietnam, Costa Rica, or South America. Maybe even Spain too, but outside of the major cities? I've heard that the north coast or Extramadura can be really nice too....
It's fun to dream about, but not something I think about seriously. All places have their pros and cons, all places have good and bad people. I would definitely love to at least travel there someday though!
I am American. There are many countries I could see myself living in. But the current job market in the US offers higher income than most other countries would offer my family.
I live in Denmark and am studying French to move either there or to Spain (I already speak Spanish) although it would mean higher living costs.
I miss people with strong, possibly contrasting opinions. And crowds, damn I miss street crowds!

(And yes, I am well aware that by "Tahiti" I really mean "France." Il y a une raison pour laquelle j'apprends le francais depuis quelques années.)
New Zealand seems pretty nice too.
American here, I'd happily live in another country. I don't even mind learning a new language. I already know english and have a solid grasp on spanish. Quality of life needs to meet or exceed mine here. (probably not difficult). I want acrage, fast fiber internet, no hoa, and amenities within 30min drive or so. I already live in wisconsin, so canada would be an easy transition. I like the cold. I've considered moving once the the wife and I are empty nesters and downsize the house. Other countries that I could make work: Australia, New Zealand. Spain, UK, Nordic regions, maybe even parts of Mexico.
I've only been to canada/mexico, so I'd want to visit first.
Swede here, if I had to pick another country to move to, there are a few on my list.
Finland is probably number one, similar climate and culture, some places even speak Swedish, though I would do my best to learn Finnish.
Greece, they have my favourite food, climate seems nice, it just seems nice.
Italy, they have my second favourite food, nice climate, and fast trains.
Australia, seems pretty close to Swedish culture, similar food, and something about the country just seems very appealing to me.
I've lived in 3 countries throughout my life- not entirely by choice. Silver lining is I know three languages now
Other than mine? Probably France, Italy or Portugal. They are like cousins to me, I feel I could be at home in any of them. And the languages are similar enough to what I already speak that I'm sure I'd pick it up without too much trouble.
I live in the Midwest part of America. I'd love to live in Canada or a European country. I have a friend in Canada so it'd be nice to hangout more often. As for Europe, only downside is their winters I'm pretty sure suck more than ours and I despise winter.
As for Europe, only downside is their winters I'm pretty sure suck more than ours
for the most part, europe enjoys milder winters due to proximity to the ocean and its moderating effects... even though much of europe is 'north' of minneapolis (which is about the same latitude as bucharest)
Svalbard. Fewer scary people and more insanely cool animals. The light changes alone are enough for me.
Don't forget some of those cool animals are, indeed, scary. And some people carry guns.
For all I remember, people on Svalbard are allowed to carry rifles because being attacked by a huge bear is a possibility.
American here who is currently awaiting approval of a visa for Australia. My wife got a job in Adelaide, so we’re just waiting for visa approval and will be moving us and the kid. Cannot wait! I look forward to a healthier lifestyle, assimilating to their culture, and just having a new/different outlook on life.
We only visited Sydney and Cairns a couple of years ago, but we loved everything about both places and wished we could stay.
American here. I would love to live in New Zealand. I spent two weeks there for a work trip and it was beautiful. Otherwise Nordic countries and Australia as others have pointed out. I would also like Ireland as it’s super green. I’ve spent a good chunk of time in all of these locations already and they’ve been nicer than most of the USA. I do love Seattle but I daydream about a functioning federal government.
I'm a Brit and I moved to New Zealand in 2010 and haven't looked back. UK is a shit hole traumatised by Tory rule and Brexit. New Zealand is such a literal breath of fresh air. sure we also have similar social issues like right wing politics (Act, NZ1st, National), but we also had Jacinda and I'd vote for her again forever. you don't move to NZ to get rich, you move because you love the land, and the people are awesome and friendly. I'd never go to the US. ewwww
I live in the US and while I don’t often dream about living in other countries, if I had to move elsewhere long term, I’d probably pick whichever of the following I was able to get a decent job in, comparing expected net pay to cost of living:
- Canada
- UK
- Australia
- New Zealand
I'm sure there are plenty of countries that I would rather live in, and I know for a fact there are other countries I definitely would NOT want to live in.
I'm not familiar enough with any of these places to know for sure.
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