"PTSD plus a Yelp of nations: this is our art, and it’s compelling as hell." - This had me laughing. Great article Dan, thanks for sharing all these resources and links!
Really enjoyed this. I like your energy and the perspective is fresh. I moved from the US to Sweden in 2019 and I'm definitely calling it exile. And I'm calling myself an ex-American. It was a tough decision to move with a cascade of consequences. I don't regret that decision, but I do regret that I felt I had to make it. Will look forward to more from you!
Thanks for reading, Laura! Means a lot from someone already out there doing it :) Ex-American...that's more than I can do, I think, for reasons I can't even put words to? But I admire the guts, absolutely. Will be interested to read how it goes for you in Sweden!
My wife and I have been plotting our move to NZ for a few years now. Funny enough, we moved back to the U.S. so that we might harvest the money necessary to make our move happen. The plan is to go in the next five years. Our motivations are complex and not neatly represented by the NYT or even this well written essay. The short version is that we want to live in a place that is reliably free and we want to grow old in a system, and indeed a healthcare system, that recognizes that we are human beings. I will also say that a big focus as we save our money has been on how we can make meaningful contributions to NZ once we arrive. While there is an element of running from in our move, we very much view the endeavor as running to.
Great writing and observations! And I do wonder exactly what Powers thinks of the famously, oh-so non-corrupt Italian government, or the brawl that just broke out in the Italian Parliament? And has she ever read Elena Ferrante, for god's sakes???
As an Italian-American who loves many things about Italy – believe me, it's not some kind of nirvana. Nowhere is (well, except, perhaps...nirvana).
Days of Abandonment makes Italy seems like a hard place indeed. NZ is not nirvana either, alas. No Ginsburg, for one thing :) Hope you're well, we miss you!!
Interesting stuff to ponder two days before our departure back to France. (We'll find out if France is a good country to escape Trumpism in a few weeks, after the next parliamentary election -- will be something to move there only to find Le Pen is our new prime minister.)
Yes, I fear Macron has pulled a Cameron-calling-Brexit here, but what do I know. And there are some ties we can never escape, I suppose. Bon Voyage, man!! Good luck!
There is still a point system (which includes (WTF) points for speaking English) and then the secret point system like how big a burden you or any your family members be now or in the future) Reading these comments about people wanting to come because of our healthcare and social support systems/ 'free' public education/ buying a home or to escape Trumpism suggests that many just haven't done their homework. But yes without doubt many share the 'the American dream of leaving America' and for many it's as far away as they can get - without getting closer. But distance has its own tyranny.
Distance has its own tyranny....yikes that's so good & true & I will carry that one with me! The grass is always greener, yeah? No such thing as a 'free ambulance' back home. NZ is not perfect, for sure. Maybe if you're acting out of heartbreak or fear you rate places differently than if just choosing them off a menu? I dunno. I like it here. Thanks so much for reading!
In my early 20s, I visited New Zealand and became obsessed with the idea of moving there. Life got in the way. Grad school, husband, kids, then strangely, an opportunity popped twenty years after my initial trip toto visit Taupo for a week before a conference in Australia. I adored New Zealand, but I realized there were places I'd loved since my first visit. And I was truly shocked by how much Melbourne had changed since the turn-of-the century. It made me want to revisit every place I hadn't been too since my 20s.
The long trip back made me wish for long, leisurely stops along the way to explore other places I haven't yet been. And my husband and I are encouraging our kids to go to college abroad so that we can get an apartment somewhere else for 2-4 years.
These days, my dream isn't moving to anywhere in particular but the freedom to move anywhere when I want to go. I understand now that if I had moved to New Zealand in my 20s, I probably would have moved on to another country by now.
Hi Theodora! Thanks so much for reading! I loved this. I'm a parent too and find myself taking places so *seriously* now, like everywhere is auditioning to be my spiritual home? It's nice--and good for my sanity, I think--to think back on those roaming 20s, and lean into that freedom again now. May our kids take us somewhere cool!
Fantastic read! We feel more like traumatized American refugees over here in Portugal, having gotten here by the skin of our teeth with no more than what we could fit into suitcases. We got out while we still had the option and I am haunted by the fact millions won't because they are unable or unwilling to face reality. It's been surreal. Sometimes it's the little details that impress upon me the full horror of it, like my partner and I wearing every piece of our un-valuable, but sentimental jewelry on our bodies and stuffed into pockets on the plane out. Like, that's just not supposed to happen, you know? Not in the 21st century. There's my Yelp review of the American Diaspora experience for ya!
If Trump is elected we are considering leaving as well! I cannot handle the complete and total collapse of our democracy! I will never understand why they can’t see the potential future in front of them!
Okay, the question is not about ‘seeing it’ but, as someone wrote in Russia in the early 20th century, What Is To Be Done? Which is not about the outcome, which we can‘t control. The crux about democracy is it necessitates responsibility - and not just from leaders. How do we view our own, how will we bear it and what will we do with it?
That's Lenin's line, yes? Russia, early 20th century....that ended well. Sigh. I guess the question is when the responsibility to your own life and family tops the citizenship part? Or, as in many dictatorship cycles (I'm thinking Latin America here) you flee to return and fight another day? Remembering some good chats we had about Dems Abroad :)
i can't think of a single first- or second-generation american who would agree with your assertion that "exile is one idea Americans simply cannot comprehend."
we are Americans, but we have living memory of exile in our parents and our grandparents. we understand that striving for a better life in another country comes with major sacrifice. that emails and letters and - if we're lucky - occasional visits from and to family are all that remains of our connections to our place of birth. our views on the United States are not through rose-colored glasses, we are not beholden to "murrica first." we go where we must for the life we need.
your claims are simply not generalizable to Americans writ large.
You're absolutely right. I'm making a huge generalization here, from the safe bubble of fourth-, fifth-, whatever-generation white dude. We knew it once, but we've long forgotten. I mean, really, I'm missing some basic math here: Edward Said, bard of exile and my best evidence quoted above, was also an American.
Fair to say I've unwittingly half-proved my point: when it comes to exile, *some of us* Americans are clearly oblivious as hell. These will be interesting years ahead as we learn what many of our compatriots, and indeed many, many people the world over, already know all too well.
Thanks for reading, and for taking the time to write! It means a lot. A hero of mine once said that the best thing about writing on the internet was the folks who show up to teach you things. I'll carry this one with me. Thank you!
That user comment (“The American Dream is to Leave America") is everything.
Hi Angela! Yeah, it's a hell of a line, ain't it?
"PTSD plus a Yelp of nations: this is our art, and it’s compelling as hell." - This had me laughing. Great article Dan, thanks for sharing all these resources and links!
Thanks, Brian! Glad you dug it!
Really enjoyed this. I like your energy and the perspective is fresh. I moved from the US to Sweden in 2019 and I'm definitely calling it exile. And I'm calling myself an ex-American. It was a tough decision to move with a cascade of consequences. I don't regret that decision, but I do regret that I felt I had to make it. Will look forward to more from you!
Thanks for reading, Laura! Means a lot from someone already out there doing it :) Ex-American...that's more than I can do, I think, for reasons I can't even put words to? But I admire the guts, absolutely. Will be interested to read how it goes for you in Sweden!
My wife and I have been plotting our move to NZ for a few years now. Funny enough, we moved back to the U.S. so that we might harvest the money necessary to make our move happen. The plan is to go in the next five years. Our motivations are complex and not neatly represented by the NYT or even this well written essay. The short version is that we want to live in a place that is reliably free and we want to grow old in a system, and indeed a healthcare system, that recognizes that we are human beings. I will also say that a big focus as we save our money has been on how we can make meaningful contributions to NZ once we arrive. While there is an element of running from in our move, we very much view the endeavor as running to.
'Running to.' I dig that. A humility there, that I think we US expats (myself included) often forget. Good luck with the move!
Great writing and observations! And I do wonder exactly what Powers thinks of the famously, oh-so non-corrupt Italian government, or the brawl that just broke out in the Italian Parliament? And has she ever read Elena Ferrante, for god's sakes???
As an Italian-American who loves many things about Italy – believe me, it's not some kind of nirvana. Nowhere is (well, except, perhaps...nirvana).
Love the allusion to Ginsberg. He got it right.
Days of Abandonment makes Italy seems like a hard place indeed. NZ is not nirvana either, alas. No Ginsburg, for one thing :) Hope you're well, we miss you!!
Miss you all, too! 💜
sparking interesting conversations over here, with my “ex-pat” husband…
Oh that makes me happy!! I'm right there with y'all. And R has far more expat years & knowledge than I do, looking forward to more chats this summer!
Interesting stuff to ponder two days before our departure back to France. (We'll find out if France is a good country to escape Trumpism in a few weeks, after the next parliamentary election -- will be something to move there only to find Le Pen is our new prime minister.)
Yes, I fear Macron has pulled a Cameron-calling-Brexit here, but what do I know. And there are some ties we can never escape, I suppose. Bon Voyage, man!! Good luck!
Great essay and so many great lines.
There is still a point system (which includes (WTF) points for speaking English) and then the secret point system like how big a burden you or any your family members be now or in the future) Reading these comments about people wanting to come because of our healthcare and social support systems/ 'free' public education/ buying a home or to escape Trumpism suggests that many just haven't done their homework. But yes without doubt many share the 'the American dream of leaving America' and for many it's as far away as they can get - without getting closer. But distance has its own tyranny.
Distance has its own tyranny....yikes that's so good & true & I will carry that one with me! The grass is always greener, yeah? No such thing as a 'free ambulance' back home. NZ is not perfect, for sure. Maybe if you're acting out of heartbreak or fear you rate places differently than if just choosing them off a menu? I dunno. I like it here. Thanks so much for reading!
Me too -
Trade your currency for gold. Bring sheep shears.
Oh we got shears! But no Nyquil. Bring Nyquil.
In my early 20s, I visited New Zealand and became obsessed with the idea of moving there. Life got in the way. Grad school, husband, kids, then strangely, an opportunity popped twenty years after my initial trip toto visit Taupo for a week before a conference in Australia. I adored New Zealand, but I realized there were places I'd loved since my first visit. And I was truly shocked by how much Melbourne had changed since the turn-of-the century. It made me want to revisit every place I hadn't been too since my 20s.
The long trip back made me wish for long, leisurely stops along the way to explore other places I haven't yet been. And my husband and I are encouraging our kids to go to college abroad so that we can get an apartment somewhere else for 2-4 years.
These days, my dream isn't moving to anywhere in particular but the freedom to move anywhere when I want to go. I understand now that if I had moved to New Zealand in my 20s, I probably would have moved on to another country by now.
Sometimes just moving is the dream.
Hi Theodora! Thanks so much for reading! I loved this. I'm a parent too and find myself taking places so *seriously* now, like everywhere is auditioning to be my spiritual home? It's nice--and good for my sanity, I think--to think back on those roaming 20s, and lean into that freedom again now. May our kids take us somewhere cool!
Fantastic read! We feel more like traumatized American refugees over here in Portugal, having gotten here by the skin of our teeth with no more than what we could fit into suitcases. We got out while we still had the option and I am haunted by the fact millions won't because they are unable or unwilling to face reality. It's been surreal. Sometimes it's the little details that impress upon me the full horror of it, like my partner and I wearing every piece of our un-valuable, but sentimental jewelry on our bodies and stuffed into pockets on the plane out. Like, that's just not supposed to happen, you know? Not in the 21st century. There's my Yelp review of the American Diaspora experience for ya!
Jewelry in your pockets! 'The plane out,' too. A whole new meaning, now. Crazy days...!
If Trump is elected we are considering leaving as well! I cannot handle the complete and total collapse of our democracy! I will never understand why they can’t see the potential future in front of them!
Somehow with all the noise about November, we're still not seeing it.
Okay, the question is not about ‘seeing it’ but, as someone wrote in Russia in the early 20th century, What Is To Be Done? Which is not about the outcome, which we can‘t control. The crux about democracy is it necessitates responsibility - and not just from leaders. How do we view our own, how will we bear it and what will we do with it?
That's Lenin's line, yes? Russia, early 20th century....that ended well. Sigh. I guess the question is when the responsibility to your own life and family tops the citizenship part? Or, as in many dictatorship cycles (I'm thinking Latin America here) you flee to return and fight another day? Remembering some good chats we had about Dems Abroad :)
i can't think of a single first- or second-generation american who would agree with your assertion that "exile is one idea Americans simply cannot comprehend."
we are Americans, but we have living memory of exile in our parents and our grandparents. we understand that striving for a better life in another country comes with major sacrifice. that emails and letters and - if we're lucky - occasional visits from and to family are all that remains of our connections to our place of birth. our views on the United States are not through rose-colored glasses, we are not beholden to "murrica first." we go where we must for the life we need.
your claims are simply not generalizable to Americans writ large.
You're absolutely right. I'm making a huge generalization here, from the safe bubble of fourth-, fifth-, whatever-generation white dude. We knew it once, but we've long forgotten. I mean, really, I'm missing some basic math here: Edward Said, bard of exile and my best evidence quoted above, was also an American.
Fair to say I've unwittingly half-proved my point: when it comes to exile, *some of us* Americans are clearly oblivious as hell. These will be interesting years ahead as we learn what many of our compatriots, and indeed many, many people the world over, already know all too well.
Thanks for reading, and for taking the time to write! It means a lot. A hero of mine once said that the best thing about writing on the internet was the folks who show up to teach you things. I'll carry this one with me. Thank you!