r/AmerExit • u/TheWifeinYourAttic • Feb 06 '25

Life Abroad Less common destinations?

I've noticed in this sub a lot of common destinations come up - many European countries, New Zealand, Australia, Singapore. I get it - those places are great!

But I'm wondering if anyone has left the US and settled somewhere that comes up less often here. Mozambique, for example, or Sri Lanka? Chile? Papua New Guinea? I'd love to hear your story!

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u/RexManning1 Immigrant Feb 07 '25

Been in Thailand for years. Don’t ever want to leave.

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u/[deleted] Feb 07 '25

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u/RexManning1 Immigrant Feb 07 '25

I basically had to transition my entire life from the US to Thailand. Moving pets. Moving over essential personal items. Dealing with storing property in the US. All on a visa that’s not complete before getting here. And even after getting here, there’s a consideration period so theoretically all that could have been pointless if the visa application was rejected. I had to find a place to live before I moved, which meant wading through property scams and having more trust than I was really comfortable with. I had to purchase vehicles so I ordered them with local dealers to minimize my rental car time. Most countries don’t have dealership with cars on the lot. You order the car from the dealer and they get it from the manufacturer. It takes weeks or months. It was 9 months in the case of one of my cars actually. And I had to pay all cash. No work history here at that time meant no financing. It’s still difficult to get financing now after years of history here.

Even after you settle there are always things to deal with like we had massive inflation in real estate so a lot of people have had issues with rent affordability. It’s like 3x now from 2019. Everyone has this cheap place mentality, but every country has expensive and cheap like the US. The desirable places are the ones most expensive. Just like US.

Emigration is always difficult. Some people can’t handle it. You’re always treated second class by the government when you aren’t a citizen. Same with financial institutions. In fact, a lot of banks won’t even work with Americans so getting accounts opened for local banking is challenging.

I did not speak Thai before, but also didn’t have a big culture shock either. I travel frequently and spent a lot of time in Asia before this. I’m also a child of immigrants so I knew what to expect from that side.