Not That Many: The Number Of People Who Can Pick Up And Move (Or Travel) Abroad

So, good luck if you think you're a political refugee after the debate!

It's easy to live in bubbles.

I was sitting in front of a coffee shop the other morning and overheard the following conversation—

A lady walks up to another lady sitting with her little kid and says, “Hi. We just got back from Canada!”

The lady with her kid looks to the kid and says, “Canada, where we want to move very soon.”

Obviously, this desire to flee North of the Border—which has been a thing since George W. Bush (and probably before)—was triggered by Biden’s disastrous debate performance.

Part of why my wife and I will move to Spain has to do with politics.

However (!!)—

As I did my best to convey to my Spanish instructor the other day—

Una de las cosas que me hacen querer mudarme es la situación política en EEUU.  Entonces puedes ir a otro país donde tienes interés en lo que está pasando pero no es personal para ti pero todavía está pasando en el otro país más o menos de la misma manera como en tu país. 

Hay mierda pasando en todo el mundo. No estás escapando de nada solo es lo que es personal para ti.

Let me be somewhat vulnerable and provide the (rough) English translation (though, to my credit, the only significant mistake I made that had to be corrected is in bold)—

One of the things that makes me want to move is the political situation in the US. So, you can go to another country where you have an interest in what is happening but it is not personal to you but it is still happening in the other country more or less in the same way as in your country.

There's shit going on all over the world. You're not escaping anything it's just what's personal to you.

This conclusion capped a discussion started when I asked my instructor, who is Catalan, about the relationship between Catalonia and the rest of Spain. It’s an issue I have an interest in and want to learn about. In part, because we’re moving to Spain. But also because the particulars of the situation at least resemble that of The Parti Québécois (Quebec Party) and their longstanding desire to separate from Canada.

A few points pursuant to all of this before we (partially) satisfy the title of today’s installment.

• Most likely, I agree with that lady politically.

• However, it’s not lost on me that there are millions (as in, roughly half of the country) who do not. And a large segment of that rough half disagrees passionately. You/I/we can call them idiots or whatever, but they exist for (sometimes) legitimate reasons.

• To say—it’s easy to live in your bubble, speak out loud around people who probably agree with you and want to flee the country (she probably won’t) for politically-charged reasons.

• But you’re just fleeing something that’s deeply personal to you.

• Canada, like Spain (and Italy and France and … … … … … … … … … … …), faces many of the same, some similar and other distinct, but likely disturbing political and social issues. Ask indigenous Canadians how they feel about the way their government has (or hasn’t) looked after them.

As fate, luck and a little savvy would have it, I have a shitload of options.

I am a Canadian citizen. I’m also an American citizen.

I don’t make a ton of money, but I make enough to qualify for a visa to move to Spain. A visa I can obtain because not only can I work from anywhere, but my work, based on everything I’m pretty sure I know, falls within the structures required to obtain the visa.

My wife is Puerto Rican. This means she can apply for Spanish citizenship after two years of residency, not the standard ten.

I don’t have a lot of money. But—when they decide to call it quits on life—I’ll likely inherit a few bucks from my parents. Not enough to make me rich. But enough to make me meaningfully better off than I was before.

My Dad turns 90 in November. My Mom turns 77 in a couple of days. So, by my math, I’ll starting collecting Social Security around age 67 (the current—I stress current—full retirement age) and receive my generational windfall around the same time.

We’re talking about 18 years burning down the road.

I consider myself lucky. My wife and I have options. We could move to Canada (as much as I do love it, no thanks). We’re moving to Spain. And we could likely move to a relatively large list of other desirable countries with relative ease.

So, to be mobile in this way, you likely require one or more of the following—

• The ability to get a job in another country. Probably easier in some places than others, but, from what I understand, not so easy in Spain, if you’re not, from Spain (first) or the European Union (second) and, in many cases, don’t speak Spanish.

• You have a ton of money via generational wealth, the stock market, some other windfall or through an extended period of earning and/or saving, which often tends to not culminate until you near or enter retirement.

• You have the right type of job or citizenship.

At the very least, the more you have of some or all of the above, the wider range of options at your potential disposal. Generally speaking. This applies to people who want to move, travel for extended periods, be digital nomads, whatever.

This is yet another bubble we—at least, some of us—live in.

Actually, two bubbles.

As we have discussions in forums like this one, you can easily get the sense that everybody is moving abroad. Not the case. It’s not easy. It’s a privilege. I hope I am treating it like one. I’m certainly not acting as if I’m escaping political problems at home in exchange for none abroad. They exist. I just don’t—and likely won’t—feel them quite the same way.

And, there’s this idea out there that everybody should live abroad just once. Or that, somehow people who make it abroad for extended periods of time are the enlightened ones. Definitely, there’s a benefit to doing this as far I know and will soon further see. But, here again, it’s a privilege, just like having spending money or being able to take days off and so on and so forth.

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That’s Canada over there!! 🇨🇦