Wanting to leave the USA, needing recommendations from people who have travelled more than we have! (vacation, price)
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Family of 3 wanting to relocate to a new country for various reasons (one main reason I have to keep private to preserve our safety).
We do NOT have any deep personal ties to the USA. In addition to private reasons for needing to relocate, we do not enjoy supporting the U.S. government with our tax dollars.
My husband has a great job here in the United States but I do believe there are equivalent / similar jobs in probably every country (there could potentially be both private and federal options for him).
We may be feeling a bit idealistic, but time to get realistic in our search for a new place to settle. Any recommendations for communities / small towns (not interested in any hugely populated areas, we don't like big cities) would be greatly appreciated.
Here are some facts about us:
We are very much into eating healthy (99.99% of our meals are home cooked) for health reasons. So living in an area where we could afford to have our own garden / livestock would be ideal, but if that is not an option, then access to a natural grocery store would be very important.
We love the outdoors and very much embrace being in good physical and mental health.
We have considered traveling to a couple of places in order to narrow down our search for a new place to settle - but having trouble narrowing it down! Also we cannot afford to travel the world!
Something very important to us is a PEACEFUL culture. We are not into violence, video games, definitely not into competitive sports, or conventional medicine. We are very much into Natural Medicine. A community with midwives, doulas, naturopaths, herbalists, acupuncturists, naturopathic pediatricians, massage therapists would really suit us, but definitely NOT necessary.
SAFETY is very important, and FAMILY friendly. Breastfeeding friendly, nursing in public openly accepted - even better! CLEAN, not very much pollution is also very important to us!! And legal to home school / unschool. A community familiar with unschooling would be fantastic.
Nonviolent Communication - would love to find a community of people familiar with this.
Some places we have considered are New Zealand, Denmark, Australia, Canada,
We have lived in places with various climates. We don't love rain, ice, and snow very much but would be willing to relocate to a place with harsh winters if everything else felt suitable for our little family. We honestly would prefer not to live somewhere with high risk of injury from poisonous critters, which is why I am so hesitant about most of Australia. Safety is so important to us and if we do live somewhere rural it would be nice to not have to worry so much about the poisonous snakes and such.
Well, immigration isn't that easy. Do you have dual citizenship? A very high in demand skill? A boat load of money to invest? Picking another country isn't like picking another state. If it was, we'd all be doing it.
There are plenty of hippie communities in the US that support all the things you are talking about. Just sayin.
There are American Territories that don't require repatriation/immigration that could provide what you're looking for. Check out American Samoa, Guam or the Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan in particular).
Yeah, it was surprising to me too. Reason I found out about that was, I was thinking about a 'one day' vacation in AS. However, the flight times and prices shelved that idea that pretty quick.
I'm afraid what you are seeking is UTOPEA, and if there was such a place, it would already be so crowded you couldn't get in. I would suggest you look in this country because emigrating isn't as easy or attractive as you think it might be. There are lots of large cities all over the country, that are fine places to live, they just aren't hip or cool. If you like lots of sunny days, then move into the western part of the USA, where the sun does shine more as it tends to be drier.
The other thing you might consider is moving to a rather remote rural location. People do tend to be friendlier and there is more of a community spirit. Maybe you could live in a small town outside a large city and your husband could commute. You might consider west Texas area, as there is more acceptance of home schooling, and there is a pretty good live and let live attitude here.
Sounds like Central or South America might work. You'd have to get over your aversion to bugs. You also probably have to prove you have enough money to live on for a while. Why do you think your husband can probably get a job in another country? If it is not an English speaking country--he might need another language.
Other than that there's also that secret fortress in the mountains that Scientology owns....
Places that are both clean and safe are not cheap.
Well run countries that are clean and safe don't generally want to allow a bunch of immigrants, so it is not easy to get a permanent resident card.
Switzerland and Luxembourg are both clean and safe. They are expensive and they don't want you to move in. They will be happy to take your tourist dollars, but you will have to go home after your visit.
Australia will not allow you to immigrate unless you are bringing a very large amount of money with you (business visa). You have to show that you will take nothing from their economy.
I don't know the requirements for moving to Canada, but they don't want a bunch of unemployed or retired Americans moving in, either.
Central America is neither clean nor safe.
Uruguay is clean and reasonably safe and they allow some immigration. The country is well headed in the socialist direction and taxes are crippling. Between labor laws and taxes, it is difficult (almost impossible) to start up a business. However health care is decent and the culture is family oriented.
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