But it’s a greenhouse gases contributor - electric is better. Check that anode commented below.

Best reason ever to be rid of TikTok.

Fair enough - there have been a couple of times I probably could have “made bank”, but I’m not a visionary that way, and I’ve done well enough to be happy.

I lost the want to be rich. I’m well off enough and secure enough to not pine over missed opportunities. I’ve also learned to look for less in life, because it became readily apparent that, for me, More was not Better.

I think the thing to also consider is that when you enter a new country, you really start all over. When I left the US, I had maybe $10K to my name and I had to rebuild my credit rating, get work papers so I could (after 6 years) leave the job I was let into the country for and go to another one without being tossed out of the country in the process. Getting out from under whatever oppression I felt living in the US was the most massive success I’ve had.

Here, I wasn’t bound by conventions, and when people said “we don’t do that”, I still had the freedom of mind to try anyway. There’s a great benefit to reinventing yourself occasionally, and forgetting your own (or imposed) limitations. Once I learned I could navigate my new country, I explored Europe, then Asia and generally on my own - and I felt more confident than I ever previously had.

As well, there’s affordable care, a social support system where you can be on unemployment for nearly a year without losing your home or going hungry, and a work ethic that says “work well, not hard - and take time for yourself”. It was an eye opener.

You’re right - the first step is trying, but keep stepping after that. Learning to keep adapting and that it will never end - it’s a superpower if you use to better yourself and your goals.

TL;DR: I seriously hit the RESET making my move, but the growth experience ended up being far more worthwhile than cashing out. I still work, but I’m more relaxed, have formidable savings and health care and will retire well off enough to never want.

Heh. I was trying to be encouraging but clearly you’re not here for information. Not sure why you decided to stick your nose in and tell the world why you’re so fatalistic, but from the number of immigrants who go to Europe or North America or Asia yearly, and become successful in their moves, it can be done.

Let’s face it. You just don’t want to bother.

Edit: moved from NJ to Colorado to here, after nearly a decade, finally invested in an apartment and will sell it at 2.25x what I paid for it, and will in retire soon to Bali.

But you just keep telling yourself that this can’t be done… 👍

Oh is that all? So easy. Just find a skill. They grown on trees.

Well, if you’re looking on trees, that explains a bit.

But seriously - I hated my job in ‘94, picked up a book in HTML, and within 6 months was able to get a job at a web startup. By ‘98 I was able find a job in The Netherlands and move here literally a month later.

I know of financial analysts, accountants, designers, plumbers, builders, nurses - all from outside the EU, moving here. About 80% have gone back, but that 3-5 year window gave them plenty of experience and an external view of what they REALLY wanted for their future.

You can do it, but you have to know what you want, where you want to go and especially, what the market needs.

You can do it - I did.

• Find a skill in need in Europe (preferably richer Northern) or rich places like Singapore where the QoL is worth moving
• Sell everything or save the equiv of 2-3 months of salary for settling-in expenses
• Write to headhunters, businesses…anyone posting a job in your field; see if they can assist you with an apartment so you can land with a place to live (note: nothing comes furnished - no carpet paint, appliances…my apartment even needed wall switches)
• Move there with everything you now own in 2-3 bags
• Rebuild your life slowly: learn the language, learn to love Ikea - you’ll be there a lot, learn that you can’t get what you used to love to eat so you’ll have to learn to cook to make it, learn to live as an immigrant, with everyone wanting to know why you’re there, without full rights, and with constant intrusion of the immigration services.

Yeah - sounds like a pain. 25+ years later, it’s been worth it to get the hell out of New Jersey.