7 Reasons Why You Should Actually Move Abroad if Your Presidential Candidate Loses
A popular claim that doesn't really happen, but moving abroad is actually an invaluable experience. Let this election can help you make that leap.
Note: This post is an attempt at some levity during an election that’s put a lot of people on tilt. Perhaps you may find some respite from your doom-scrolling.
Every election season sees a slew of people who claim they are moving out of the country if their candidate loses (or, probably more accurately, if the candidate they hate wins). These claims of moving abroad have long been lampooned as ridiculous, no one ever really moves, do they?
The numbers are difficult to come by, but media reports always seem to find a smattering of people who indeed move abroad after an election.
The old stereotype that Americans don’t even own passports is outdated (almost half of all Americans have passports now). More Americans are certainly moving abroad these days.
The Association of Americans Resident Overseas reports that there were roughly 5.5 million Americans living abroad in 2023. Americans even ranked as the 8th nationality moving to the UK.
Part of the trend can be explained by the rise of work-from-home jobs. People from the States have been chasing the Digital Nomad lifestyle. But locals are already getting sick of Americans and our strong dollar.
Chase those visas now before it’s too late! And this presidential election is a good excuse to finally make that leap abroad.
I’ve chronicled seven reasons why you should move abroad if your favorite presidential candidate loses. These aren’t simply travel or try new food, of course, you get to travel and try new food while abroad—that’s a given. I’m offering reasons a bit more obscure, drawn from my own experiences.
I’ve lived abroad three times now, with each stint under a different presidential administration:
In Italy during the George W. Bush presidency.
In South Korea during the Obama presidency.
In China during the Trump presidency.
I draw from each of these for these 7 Reasons Why Should Actually Move Abroad if Your Presidential Candidate Loses.
7. Ultimate Complaining
Instead of annoying everyone you know—including obscure relatives or that guy you sat next to in 3rd grade—with your political complaints, people abroad will appreciate your critique of your own country.
Be mindful that everyone else will also be complaining about the US. But you can ingratiate yourself with the locals through your own complaints.
Local: “_______ sucks! How could the US elect such a leader?”
You: “Don’t blame me, I voted for the other guy!”
*Cheers glasses*
Make a new friend. It’s that simple when abroad.
6. You Become THE American
Even though there are more Americans living abroad than ever before, our numbers get diluted within each country. So in any various social interactions or groupings, you become The American. This means you get to represent the rest of us shlubs back in the States.
If anything happens in the US or there is some question about American culture, locals will be coming to you for answers.
What is this insane place called Florida? Ask The American.
How does the Super Bowl work? Ask The American.
Why are the Marvel movies so bad now? Ask The American.
What is the name of this new pop song? Ask The American (well, unless it’s K-Pop, then ask The Korean).
Being The American to answer these questions is an honor and a privilege. Admittedly, though, representing the entire country can be a lot of weight and responsibility,
Remember, you don’t need to have all the answers. Just offer your personal perspective the best you can. Lean into your American-ness. Trust your American gut. It will be fun.
5. You Will Realize What America Doesn’t Have.
We’ve all heard the monikers of the US growing up, steeped in American Exceptionalism:
The Greatest Country on Earth
Land of the Free, Home of the Brave
City Upon a Hill
The American Dream
The Melting Pot
Leader of the Free World
The Great Experiment
Arsenal of Democracy
There are no cats in America and the streets are made of cheese
These labels and the broader conception are simply taken for granted while we are here in the US. When you go abroad, you start see there are other things out there that we don’t have.
In the US, we have fairly strict rules surrounding alcohol, likely holdovers from our Great Awakening past and Prohibition days. In Seoul, I could casually drink a beer outside in the sun of the Han River without fear of some kind of bogus public intox ticket.
There are other aspects, such as lack of public transport or broken urbanism. Across the US, locals have strict rules that forbid property owners from building the types of housing or buildings they want through zoning or other laws. Not very free!
Even when Tucker Carlson—who has been described as having “America First” political sensualities—was wowed by the train stations in Russia when he visited. This is one of our most nationalistic commentators making these realizations about what is missing here in the US.
It’s impossible not to notice some of these things once you are abroad.
4. You Will Appreciate What America Has More Than Ever.
Don't know what you got till it's gone
Don't know what it is I did so wrong
Now I know what I got
It's just this song
And it ain't easy to get back
Takes so long-Cinderella (1988)
Imagine the 1980s song Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone) by hairband Cinderella but instead of for a girl it’s for an entire country. That’s how you will feel on occasion while living abroad.
It’s the opposite of #5 above. You will find yourself pining over free refills and Monday Night Football. You will feel the American Exceptionalism coursing through your veins.
I’m not a car guy, and definitely not a suburban sprawl guy, but even I can recognize the space we are afforded in the US. Our houses are massive. Our grocery stores are massive. Our everythings are massive (a future post from me).
After living in East Asia for years, there is now almost no housing in the US that I think is too small. When I was in grad school looking for an apartment in Manhattan with my wife, we found a tiny studio right next to campus, It had a backyard and was in our budget without having roommates. The only problem is that it was micro size, only 400 square feet.
The leasing agent told us there was no way two people could live in the unit When we explained we had been living in Asia and actually lived in something smaller (which was true), they relented and rented it to us.
I don’t have a lot of videos or photos from inside that apartment given its meager size, but you can see the video of the backyard above. It ended up being my favorite place I’ve ever lived.
My perspectives changed forever by living abroad. I came to appreciate our wide open spaces more than ever.
3. American Holidays Will Mean More
Related to #4, but worthy of its own number on the list, moving abroad will make you appreciate American holidays.
There is an idea that foreigners are lonely during domestic holidays. On the contrary, on some holiday I had no connection or memories with, I was just happy to have the day off and no one bothering me. But on days when it was a holiday in the US and I was at work, that was the worst.
You will have true Fear of Missing Out (FOMO). The FOMO just makes you enjoy the holidays when you do get to celebrate them though.
My favorite Thanksgivings have all been abroad. While studying abroad in Italy, I was on a weekend trip to the UK, a group of us Americans got together to watch the Cowboys beat the Lions in some random bar in London. No Turkey, but we did have buffalo wings. Close enough.
The other onet that sticks out was back in Incheon, South Korea when I was teaching English. A group of ESL teachers all got together in a friend’s tiny loft studio. We could only find turkey burgers. They were awful. But the night was great.
I will now never take another Thanksgiving for granted, especially the turkey.
2. You May Never Move Back to the US
Just on a note, I did eventually move back to the US. At one time, I thought I would stay abroad forever, but I eventually came back after a few years. As Professor Sean Maguire played by the late great Robin Williams says in the classic movie Good Will Hunting, “I gotta to see about a girl.”
The point is, you don’t know what will happen. You may yourself fall in love with a place, a community, or even a person abroad. On my travels, I have met many people who have had such tales, making their lives as expats in communities abroad for what is forever and counting.
With the ease of communication tools and social media, it’s easier to keep in touch with family, friends, and others back home in the US. Admittedly, this is a difficult part of moving abroad, even if you make new friends and family in another part of the world.
Nonetheless, you may just find yourself a new place to call home. But…
1. You Can Always Come Back
There are likely some who would like to try to move abroad but do not want to commit to never coming back to the US. Most people I knew from my time abroad did actually move back eventually.
Not everyone is doing the Not Just Bikes abandoning the country thing, a famous urbanist YouTuber. He moved to Netherlands after getting fed up with the North American system. In a Tweet, he proclaimed, “People should give up on North America,” saying that the US and Canada are too far gone and people should no longer waste their time trying to make these places better.
Not Just Bikes is firmly in the #2 camp on this list. He is not coming back (I should note that he is Canadian and not an American).
For the rest of us, a good idea is to just wait out the president you don’t like! Come back after a few years with new experiences and perspectives on life. You will have an infinite number of stories to tell, and you may even feel some reverse culture shock—this is normal.
Even if you do come back, be warned, you won’t be the same.
That person who left is gone forever. In their place, someone new. Someone who doesn’t mind representing all Americans, who can appreciate what the US has or doesn’t have, who made a tough decision to return. And, of course, someone who has traveled and tried new food.