I wonder daily how bad it has to get for y’all to wake up. My threshold was breached 24 months ago, if not sooner. For a county that brags about freedom snd defending rights, yall are the biggest cowards anyone could imagine.

Escape isn’t the only option. But for me it was. America never felt like home, no matter how hard I tried. I tried and couldn’t cope with the fake values, fake hopes, fake morals. Mostly, I couldn’t deal with people who still bought into this absolutely nonsense.

I am so sick and tired. Of reasoning with people intent on staying asleep. Distracted by the slop and brainrot in their phones. We did tell you. The lack of care, lack of solidarity, lack of compassion. That’s what did it for me. I can’t stand the complicity. I refuse to work to fund this bloodshed

Yall voted for this shit. Year after year. More policing. More military. More wars. More violence. Did you honestly think it would keep you safe?! Didn’t you see how it would inevitably end up coming back to torment you? When we begged you to wake up, and you chose to side with those in power…

The richest county on earth invests all of its dollars on perpetuating gratuitous violence around the globe. Do you feel it? It’s getting closer and closer. That’s the problem with violence, it’s never assuaged until it hits closest to home. You’re next. Did you think you’d be spared?! Really?

You think you can just turn things back around? When you still hold on to this exceptionalist myth? You think America is the greatest? I’m sorry but you’re fucked. If you can’t let go of this narrative: America is the best. There is no hope for you. You can’t even recognize the basic reality.

Is that the way you want to live? I didn’t. They tell you to stay and fight. But my question remains: with who, for what? When you can’t trust your neighbor. Y’all talk about “community” but it’s also “preserve your peace” the second anything or anyone makes you uncomfortable. What hope is there?

If we’re being honest, there’s no future in America. You can hope, and pray (if you still believe in that shit) that you’ll be spared from the brutality of late stage capitalism, but we know that’s up to chance. One medical diagnosis, loss of job, housing emergency, you’re shit out of luck…

I’m happy to elaborate on specific part but it’s a lot. Unfortunately, you can’t really “pack up and leave” overnight. Maybe some people do but I personally don’t know how to sustain that long-term. This isn’t to discourage anyone, anything is possible. But my best advice is make sure you want to!

And the last thing for now is that if you’re moving with a partner or best friend, it does put a lot of pressure on the relationship. You’re each other’s only support system for a while before you meet new people. And your sense of self is shaky. You need to prepare for that turbulence also.

Then you’re somewhere new. You have to complete a shitload of paperwork again to validate your visa. Jump through insane hoops to get a bank account and do the most normal things. You’re setting up your life from scratch and it’s hard, slow, annoying, frustrating. Especially, if you’re not fluent.

And then there’s the goodbye tour. Everyone has the intention of visiting, so do you. But the reality is that great relationships end because of distance. It’s again, one of the hard parts of ACTUALLY leaving, rather than just daydreaming about it. Our friends threw us the sweetest goodbye party 🇺🇸🦅

We had to apply to our visas. The websites are fucked, it’s more frustrating than you can imagine. We brought our 2 cats which requires: buying plane tickets for them (check the airline they don’t all take pets), getting additional vax, vet assessment, USDA certificate (surprise! It’s expensive)

Next - it takes time. We planned for 3 years. But the actual time between hitting “go” and leaving took a good 6 months. We had to decide what we would take with us (4 suitcases and 2 cats about $1000 extra of airline fees, just FYI) sell all the rest of our belongings.

If you don’t know why you’re moving somewhere, beyond “escaping the US,” you’re not going to have a fun time. I’ve been doing this since I was 5, I say this with this gently. I know the situation is really bad. And I get wanting to flee. But in a state of panic it’s easy to idealize moving.

While Americans do a fantastic job at screaming at immigrants for not being “American enough” the same standard should apply to you if you’re leaving. It’s not your place to show up and refuse to respect local customs. And it’s awkward adapting. Be ready to be uncomfortable often. It’s weird.

One of the reasons we chose France is because it’s my mother tongue. My gf spent a year and a half studying before we left. If you’re going to move somewhere that doesn’t speak the language, think about what you’re getting into. Are you ready to learn a new language? In my opinion, it’s rude not to.

I appreciate that France has language requirements to qualify for visas (although, my opinion on this changes when we’re talking about immigrants who are from colonized countries). The goal of moving isn’t just leaving. It’s about establishing yourself somewhere new. That starts with language.