Wanting to leave the States

[Photography by Adri]

Hi all!

I am currently living in very, very far Northern California. It is a beautiful place that has a lot to offer a nature and wildlife photographer such as myself. However, I am thinking it's about time for me to leave - not just CA, but the U.S. The amount of hatred, violence, and general intolerance here is something I have grown very tired of. Combined with so many bad memories in this place, I have been growing more desperate by the day to live somewhere else - somewhere far away. Maybe I'll return one day, but for now I just want to get out of this country.

I am still in college, working on my general education at the moment. My goal is to one day make a living off of just my photography, but until then I am wanting to pursue natural sciences/photojournalism with my schooling. I'd like to move to another country to finish my schooling, but that's where I'm stuck. I have absolutely no idea where to go.

Where do I start? How do I begin deciding on a place to go? I believe the main barrier here is that I have a dog with a bite record - and I am not leaving her behind. She is my soul-mate and saved my life, she will be with me until the day she dies. I know that makes things 100x more difficult, but it is what it is. Don't let this beautiful face fool you, she isn't always the nicest of dogs.

I'd love to go somewhere in the middle of nowhere. As a nature and wildlife photographer, that is generally the best type of place for me to be. Currently my only languages are English and American Sign Language, and I just started with French. I was thinking Canada might be nice, but again, I really have no idea.

Any kind of advice or suggestions would be very much appreciated, I feel a bit stuck right now.

See my work here:
www.PhotographyByAdri.com

 

[Wildcats160]

Study abroad for a semester. Test the waters. Moving to a new country is too big a decision to be made on the emotions of a young person. Please don't take that as condescending. It's simply a fact, if you are a typical school age (18-22), you have a lot more maturing and emotional development to do before you settle. That's simply the effect of life experiences. If you want to go explore the world, travel. Just don't shred your US passport because the US doesn't seem ideal through your young eyes. You never know how it will appear to you with 5 to 10 years of adult life under your belt.

 

[crzyfotopeeple]

Having traveled quite extensively I can say that anywhere you go there are problems. We are all humans and will act accordingly. We are living in one of the safest times in the history of this country, don't be fooled by the constant media attention to the negative in society.

There are roughly 320 million people in this country with the overwhelmingly majority being basically good people. Most all of us want what is best for ourselves and our families. I truly believe most of the hatred we perceive is based on the huge amount of information and news we have available 24/7. I'm not saying hatred and intolerance doesn't exist I just think it's blown way out of proportion.

There seems to be a motivation to divide everyone in this country and turn us against each other. Instead, we need to come together and try to change the things we know are wrong. I am not advising against traveling and seeing the world but to do so on the premise that the grass is greener on the other side is a set up to be disappointed.

I'm not very elegant when it comes to writing and don't always get the point across I'm trying to make so please excuse the bad grammar and punctuation. In any regard best wishes on whatever you decide is best for you.

BTW. My brother sold everything he owns and moved to a very small mountain town in Colorodo and left the cell phone behind and simplified his life. It worked for him, he now does odd jobs and lives in a yurt. Somedays I really envy him.

 

[Dave442]

Spent a day up on top of Mount Shasta some years ago with my dad. Seemed like the most isolated spot we could be at in the world at the time, especially as we were living in LA back then.

What do mean when you say "somewhere far away"; far away from what? Wherever you go you are going to be where you are. Moving outside the country can open you up to greater intolerance than what you may be feeling now, you will be the foreigner.

Studying outside the US is probably best done at first as an exchange student. Both my siblings did that and then followed up with some years of college outside the US.

I currently work outside the US and have taken a dog from one country to another, usually a bit of paperwork but not impossible.

 

[Dennis Bloodnok]

Hi, Adri

In your post, you have centred your goal around what you don't want; you're looking to move away from somewhere unsatisfactory. In my past experience, I've never found that to turn out particularly well. I would strongly suggest instead to spend some time thinking about what you DO want, and then figuring out how to work towards it.

As has already been mentioned, most countries have their own flavour of intolerances and prejudices, so basing your next step on negatives (what you don't want, what isn't right etc.) doesn't guarantee your destination will suit you any better. Of course, you could argue with some justification that your original post was precisely to find out more about the potential destinations, but my feeling is that until you focus on what you need from your next step, all our posts will only go part-way to answering your question.

Does that make sense?

 

[robbins.photo]

Ok, so I guess you'll want to avoid some of the places I've lived other than the United States.

I lived in a couple of different African countries, both of which changed governments several times in the few years that I lived there. Changing governments there is not a matter of some complicated electoral process. One side slaughters the other until they can take power, then they do - and 6 months to a year later another faction would come along and do the same to the new ruling faction. The "government" usually had control of the capital city and maybe a few other areas of interest, most other places whoever was in control was based on who had the most firepower.

It was a real hotbed of tolerance and brotherly love.. well, other than the weekly massacres of folks who had the misfortune of being born into the wrong tribe, etc.

The middle east is of course another incredibly enlightened place, where grievances that are over 2000 years old were still being fought over and getting people killed on a daily basis.

In short, after having lived or visited most of the corners of the globe if you want to move someplace where there is no hatred, intolerance or violence about your only option is a deserted island where you will be the only inhabitant.

 

[astroNikon]

stop watching the news so much. It's full of negativity.
Enjoy life around you more.

Otherwise you may want to try Switzerland or the Nordic countries.
Just make sure you get a good job, which probably won't be in photography.

I really enjoyed Italy (but that was a long time ago now) and I was fluent and looked the part too.

 

[unpopular]

Leaving the country on a permanent basis is nearly impossible. Not impossible, but extremely difficult. Unless you have an employer to sponsor you, or you're independently wealthy it's really hard to emigrate anywhere. I don't know about other countries, but I do know in Australia non-citizens are required to buy healthcare insurance, while still contribute to the single-payer system, which makes living in Australia even more expensive than it already is.

My parents failed to get Australian citizenship, despite that my father is a software analyst in a very narrow specialty. With their citizenship going nowhere and living expenses so high, even they ended up coming back to the US after a few years.

 

[zombiesniper]

Being Canadian the one major hurdle after getting some kind of visa is leaving your dog behind. A bite record will almost certainly get a no at the border and even if you did get past that. Your dog is on a very short list to be put down if it ever happens again.

Edit: Oh ya. We have d*@k heads here to. They just apologize after screwing you

 

[robbins.photo]

Edit: Oh ya. We have d*@k heads here to. They just apologize after screwing you

Sounds like a great advertising slogan though, doesn't it?

"Welcome to Canada. Where even the d*@k heads are polite."

 

[Designer]

I am still in college, ..

How does that not surprise me? My first thought was; "Don't let the door hit you on the way out." But then, the owners of this site would like to keep everything positive and friendly, so here's some advice that will actually help you:

Turn off the TV and radio and stop reading "news" papers. Do that for a year, get a job, pay taxes, talk to real people who also don't watch TV, and you'll start to feel much better.

 

[unpopular]

Turn off the TV and radio and stop reading "news" papers. Do that for a year, get a job, pay taxes, talk to real people who also don't watch TV, and you'll start to feel much better.

In other words, bury your head in the sand and drink the koolaid. Apathy is the new American Dream.

 

[Dennis Bloodnok]

I am still in college, ..

How does that not surprise me? My first thought was; "Don't let the door hit you on the way out." But then, the owners of this site would like to keep everything positive and friendly, so here's some advice that will actually help you:

Turn off the TV and radio and stop reading "news" papers. Do that for a year, get a job, pay taxes, talk to real people who also don't watch TV, and you'll start to feel much better.

Designer, I understand the gut reaction, but I'm not convinced Adri should be dismissed so quickly. He is, for instance, quite right that intolerance is rife in many countries, and is actually contemplating putting effort where his mouth is. I disagree with his approach, but am truly thankful that apathy hasn't set in yet. I'd rather a disillusioned college student than someone prepared to sit by and let a problem continue without lifting a finger to help.

 

[robbins.photo]

Designer, I understand the gut reaction, but I'm not convinced Adri should be dismissed so quickly. He is, for instance, quite right that intolerance is rife in many countries, and is actually contemplating putting effort where his mouth is. I disagree with his approach, but am truly thankful that apathy hasn't set in yet. I'd rather a disillusioned college student than someone prepared to sit by and let a problem continue without lifting a finger to help.

Well I can't speak for Designer of course, but the assumption here is that the United States is somehow worse than most countries in this regard, when in point of fact it's actually much better than most countries in this regard.

I would also note that leaving the country really doesn't constitute putting in an effort to fix anything, at least not in my view. I'll leave off the rest as we're getting dangerously close to a political discussion here, which is not only against forum rules but from experience completely pointless. But I will say that if your concerned about intolerance then become a voice of reason. Don't jump over the fence and make a run for it hoping the grass is going to be somehow greener over there. It won't be...

 

[jaomul]

I can't speak for the OP, but will say this. When I was young, the first time I travelled to the US, I was excited but nervous, because probably tv shows the headline stuff and not all good. I have been back in total 5 times and not once did I feel anything other than safe. Between the tv, internet and social media the world can look even scarier than it is, having said that its good to be a little cautious, but don't be under the illusion that any one place has not got problems. Human nature causes problems.

Where I live (a nice spot in ireland) a guy bit another guys ear off in a bar the other night, over an unpaid bet. It was 5 euro. Go figure