Alternative Title: Where would you live if you had only minimal constraints?
While I am very much soliciting genuine requests and hope to follow through on the post title, I hope this prompt will also be a fun one.
Many of us fantasize about living abroad or starting over. But there is always an excuse. Some factor tying us down or preventing us from making the lunge: a job, a partner, a sick relative. I have found myself with these excuses recently plucked away.
Since any (good) recommendation should be tailored to the recipient, here are the aforementioned minimal constraints:
- American citizen. Native English speaker.
- Not restricted to English speaking locations, but the difficulties of learning a language and assimilating should be considered
- For simplicity and op-sec, assume fluency in other languages can be rounded down to 0
- Long Term, Stable Couple
- All preferences are shared between both of us
- Do not need to consider relationship prospects of destination
- Monogamous
- Straight
- Young (~30) years old
- No children yet. Will have first (of several) children within next 3 years.
- No adult dependents (such as sick family members that need to be cared for)
- $250k household income
- Assume standard income growth for competitive tech field: +5-10% real growth per year.
- Fully Remote Work
- This is the big one that opens up the world
- Assume remote work will remain viable (fair assumption given our fields)
I'm a believer in the idea that constraints can paradoxically increase creativity, but if you have a dream destination that is incompatible with these constraints don't let me stop you from sharing.
The Motte has an eclectic mix of users and I specifically want to know YOUR ideal destination, NOT what you think someone like us would want. The standard lists and rankings of "best places to live" are either bizarre (they overweight metrics that don't matter to most) or end up just being too blank - effectively just a list of major cities.
I'm hoping to discover some unusual preferences. Maybe your dream is a few hundred acres of farmland in a rural spot. Maybe it's something incredibly niche like needing to be walking distance from the Louvre or being able to view the Khumbu at sunrise from your porch. Now is the time to sell me the rest of us on your dream :).
We will be visiting a number of options this summer and would love to add some additional locations to either this trip or the next. The goal is to move to this location early 2025.
Will include some of the options I've been toying with as a comment.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Notes -
My list of countries that I somewhat researched moving to (before finding that no other country on Earth would have me) are:
That is a very unique list to put it lightly. I couldn't even begin to understand either the commonalities between these locations or how you even approached creating such a list haha. Mind sharing what you were selecting for?
Can't just drop this and leave us hanging on the cliff! Why are you trapped?
Let me enhance my list slightly, and add in one nation I forgot, namely Saudi Arabia:
Namely, they're all hereditary monarchies with non-figurehead monarchs.
Like @magic9mushroom said, mental illness — namely, schizophrenia. Not even the US allows permanent residency. I'm on the dole here, and I'd probably end up on the dole in any other country, so of course they don't want to let in a net tax burden if they can avoid it.
And even if I wasn't, most of those wouldn't let me become a subject or permanent resident anyway. Liechtenstein takes in only a few new people a year, pretty much all Swiss or Austrian. One of several pre-conditions for Monegasque citizenship is having an account in a Monegasque bank — and while the minimum deposit to open such an account varies between banks, the smallest is half-a-million Euro, and most require a cool million. Bhutanese citizenship law is a mess, which has been leading to expulsions and a refugee issue since the 90s. The UAE has neither natural permanent residence nor naturalization — you're either a born citizen, or a guest worker who will eventually have to leave. Obtaining permanent residency in Saudi Arabia is reportedly very difficult, and acquiring citizenship requires it being granted by the King himself via royal proclamation. And, of course, not being Muslim is a problem for any of the Islamic monarchies. Eswatini sits between Mozambique and South Africa, being almost completely surrounded by the latter. They were also one of the British "High Commission Territories" until 1968. As a result, they have good reasons for not being particularly welcoming to white guys looking to move in long-term.
It's like Groucho Marx's quote "I don't want to belong to any club that will accept me as a member," only with countries.
Never would've guessed monarchy as anyone's selection criteria. Even though this community (and precursors) provides way more exposure than typical to neoreactionary thinking, I guess I never internalized someone would deliberately select for it.
The culture, economic prospects, geography, genetics, laws, etc vary so widely among those countries that it makes me wonder why you think that the style of government matters so much more than the governing (what laws exist and are enforced)?
Tough break on the hand you were dealt, not sure I see a great way to achieve your goal of living your monarchistic dreams. There's always being successful enough it doesn't matter, I suppose.
An American Augustus still seems the best option.
Yeah, fat chance of that. Given my age, there's not much chance of me crawling out of this pit I'm in.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link