17.
“I’ve lived in Scotland since 2005. My life isn’t perfect. Moving abroad didn’t solve my problems, and in fact introduced some new ones. For a long time I considered moving back, but that fades significantly after the first 10 years.”
“I am personally doing better than I probably would be in the US. My husband earns enough that I’ve been able to pursue personal passions instead of working an office job. We own our house, mortgage entirely paid. I can’t drive, which was impossible to navigate in the US, but not really a problem here. Not to mention healthcare. Just be prepared that if you do move overseas, your family will never visit you. They’ll say, ‘Oh, now I have a great excuse to visit (wherever you live),’ but they won’t. Maybe once or twice, but you’ll forever be the one expected to buy plane tickets and do all the traveling. Even calling you on holidays will be treated like a chore and you will always have to be the one calculating the time difference for phone calls even after 20 damn years in the same place. Maybe your family is better than mine, but that has been my experience.”
