I'm leaving the US for good, anything I should do before I leave?
Since this wasn't apparent the last time I asked... no, I'm actually not a US citizen or green card holder (permanent resident). Just happened to be in this country for a long time due to career reasons.
Visit some national parks if you can (while they still exist).
The Grand Canyon is amazing
Visit some of the National Parks, aka America's best idea.
Some amazing ones (they're all amazing, tbh) in no particular order:
Plenty of countries have national parks btw. Many of them had them before America. While the American ones are indeed geographically amazing, I am tired of thinUS exceptionalism that the US is the only country that has national parks.
Perhaps I'm illiterate, but I saw nothing in their comment suggesting that the US is the only country with National Parks.
I don't think they even implied that they're better than any other National Parks.
They said it was our best idea... I don't think that implies we were first, just that it was a good idea for us to do it.
While many (if not most) countries have national parks, the policies surrounding them are different. A simple thing like camping is often restricted in European parks, mixed land use is allowed so you are more removed from pure non human nature. As a result, the experience of visiting one may be vastly different - depending on what you are doing. American national parks are exceptional not because they are the only country that has them - which isnt true as you pointed out, they are exceptional because of the governing policies surrounding them.
I'd surely visit one, before I left, because the experience isnt going to be the same in any other.
Plenty of countries have national parks btw. Many of them had them before America.
Well not really though ? Yellowstone established in 1872 is generally considered the first national park, in the modern sense of the term*, and inspired others to follow in the next couple of decades in Canada, New Zealand and Australia. It wasn't until the 1900s that the first national park was established in Europe.
there are a couple of other places that also claim this distinction, depending on how exactly you define what a national park is, but not many
Calling national parks "America's best idea" is a quote from historian and environmentalist Wallace Stegner - I think the point of it is not to toot some US exceptionalism horn - in context it's more of an acknowledgment that America deserves a lot of criticism - saying that national parks are America's best idea is actually putting a bit of shade on other American exceptionalism claims, especially during the Reagan "shining city upon a hill" era.
Buy some non US-based cloud storage and copy all your sensitive data to it, and delete said data from personal devices before leaving the country, so you can safely allow customs access to devices if required.
Retrieve data from the cloud when you arrive in the destination country.
Has anyone seen customs ever actually search an electronic device before? I travel internationally nearly every month and have never seen this before, even in China.
According to CBP's own stats they conducted 42725 basic and 4322 advanced searches of electronic devices at US ports of entry last year (so before any new policies of the current administration took effect)
"Under a basic search, a border agent physically inspects your phone and reviews what they can, while an advanced search means the agent can potentially download all of your files using an external device."
driving license was another one mentioned. Having it not expire before you can transfer it is preferable
This is a giant, often overlooked issue. My home country of the Netherlands for example doesn't allow a simple transef and makes you take a test (because road safety is important to Dutch people!). In Germany it's even worse. There it depends on the state you obtained your US license in, since Germany has agreements with some states but not all...
Obviously this is entirely dependent on where you're moving to, but I struggled to find the following when living abroad:
You will not find good bbq. Take the L and move on…
You will find the greatest cuisine ever witnessed on this planet depending on your taste.
A clay pot in Morocco, a grandma’s house in Toledo, a random eel cooked up in Tunisia…
Just as good as byob bbq in Austin TX.
If you learn to cook, you can have those foods anywhere you move.
Yup I do good (to our family’s taste anyway) pizza in about 40 minutes from scratch to eating with just:
Finding the cheese and toppings might be harder, but it’s often just frozen broccoli, bell peppers, onions and roni.
You might need a brick oven though (or at the very least, a pizza oven) if you want that pizza to compare to the good shit you can get pretty much anywhere in the Northeast US.
Again, depending on where in the world you are, you may not have the equipment nor access to ingredients necessary to make these properly. You might be able to approximate, but it won't be as good, which is the entire point of my comment.
American pizza requires a pizza oven or regular oven with a steel/stone (or dish for Detroit-style pizza), specific types of cheese, and depending on your preference, specific toppings; these may not be available abroad. In some countries, ovens are not considered standard kitchen equipment; good luck making decent pizza on the stovetop.
Similarly, really good BBQ requires special equipment that even most American homes don't have, and requires a good deal of outdoor space (otherwise you risk smoking out yourself/your neighbors).
Mexican food is more flexible in terms of equipment, but ingredients may be hard to source (especially spices).
For ice cream you might struggle to find the right add-in ingredients depending on what flavor you're trying to make, but again, the biggest issue is equipment. You can make ice cream at home without an ice cream maker, but it seems like more hassle than it's worth and still requires some equipment and decent freezer space (fwiw I've never done it before; maybe it's easier than it sounds).
Your first three sum up to:
I think OP is set on those in the future, but otherwise good recommendations IG
Get an FBI background check, and get it apostilled. Easy to do from your local post office in the US, difficult and expensive to do outside the us, and you will need it for many things you might want to do in other countries
Why would you need an FBI background check outside of the US?
you need it if you apply for citizenship in some countries. they'll ask for full criminal records of all the countries you've lived in.
Actually the only time I've ever needed one is outside of the country. You need a police report from anywhere you lived for more than six months to apply for residencies, get teaching jobs, etc etc. the only authority in the US that can do this and provide a report acceptable outside the country is the FBI.
This is a pretty important step!
Freeze your credit profiles
This is what I mean:
https://krebsonsecurity.com/tag/credit-freeze/
https://krebsonsecurity.com/2020/08/why-where-you-should-you-plant-your-flag/
Basically put your electronic identify in a freezing unusable state so that in the off chance you must return, you don’t return to a nightmare. Just don’t forget your passwords and pins.
What does this mean
To freeze your credit means that you (or anyone inpersonating you) can do anything that requires your credit. Cant make large purchase, take out loans, etc. Its a good way to protect yourself from identity theft.
To unfreeze it, you need to go through a process with the credit union before you can use it again. Its generally a good practice to freeze your credit always if you can plan ahead for large financial purchase
I am WAY too lazy to type everything out, but there's 4 credit bureaus that effect/control your credit score. Setting a freeze prevents anyone from checking that score in the process of, say, opening a credit card, buying a car or home, and more.
Open as many credit cards as you can and spend all the money and don't worry about paying it back it's all good
Get a few public library cards. Then abroad you can use it to borrow ebooks and audiobooks for free.
Those libraries won't be around much longer, unless heavily curated and basically useless.
Mine are 95 percent county funded in a blue zone. State is already trying to lay down the law only to discover they don't give much in the way of funds. No bucks no leverage. Only law they passed got overturned.
I have to renew mine in person every 3 years or so.
Libraries are not a US only thing.
Yes. But im not allowed to say it. But you most definitely should
Mario sees you
Someone needs to
Yosemite
Grand Canyon
Yellowstone
Avenue of the Giants
Add to this list any national parks you were thinking about visiting. After this administration, they may not be around anymore.
I'm just imagining them filling up Grand Canyon just because.
Close the door firmly after you leave.
So others can't get out? So others still can't come in? So we don't let out all the AC?
Find out next time on: Puzzling Commentary!™
this has been a Desilu presentation.
I assumed for closure, to put it behind you after you leave.
Take me with you!!
Sorry it came to this. We sane few who remain will miss you; we will undoubtedly be worse for losing the diversity of thought (and snarky humor) expats like you bring.
The best advice in the thread so far was to freeze your credit. And I'd add: don't assume you'll never want to come back just because your current self doesn't forsee it. For your own sake, don't burn bridges out of spite.
Honestly, if you have a chance go to Washington DC the museums are beautiful. If you’re leaving permanently, you probably will never see them again.
Honestly, even if they're not leaving permanently, who knows how much longer the Smithsonian will last if things keep going the way they are.
The Museum of African-American history is already on the chopping block for having content that does not paint the US in a good light.
I wish I was fucking joking about that. The proper way to be remembered well is by doing good things, not by having orange hitler demand that the history of bad things be erased.
Eat some good barbeque.
Currently in the same boat, though I'm a citizen
And finally, get a lawyer. No seriously. I know they're expensive but you don't want to fuck around with emigrating on your own. You're gonna have pleeeenty of questions for them
Cash travels, sell your non -heirloom stuff.
Doesn't need to be a lawyer, relocation companies are amazing at this stuff. They can help with taxes, government registration, all of it
First, get a [removed by mod], make sure it's [removed by mod], then [removed by mod] right in the [removed by mod]
Sir, this isn't reddit
He self modded
Wipe your feet on the way out.
This surely varies by state, but in Alaska, for example, I'm told Japanese vacationers LOVE to try out guns. So, if you can rent a gun on a range, shooting off weapons is the most American thing I can think to do before you leave.
A firing range is a whole lot more fun than one would expect.
Go to a country which is better than the US. So skip North Korea, Somalia, Palestine. Then you're good.
just go to rUSsia. Won't even see the difference.
Both the gulags and the front look nice this time of year.
Scheiß dem Trump vor's weiße Haus.
Take me with?
Take me with you.
Unironically... I've basically hinted at everyone I know on ways to apply for EU-based science jobs if they are interested (surprisingly... a lot of ppl are not)
I'm still being optimistic though, really hope the US can somehow pull out a miracle
Have a plan for investments and bank accounts.
Update correspondence information.
Sell or give everything you are not taking.
My answer depends on whether the country you’re going to has an extradition treaty with the United States.
Go camp at a dark sky park for a weekend.
Oh yeah, Cherry Springs State Park in Pennsylvania is cool. Probably not "worth traveling there from some other state before leaving the country" cool, but cool. https://maps.app.goo.gl/SQp261ecxj7exAJy8
It's one of my favorite places in the world. :) There are others, though.
Vandalise something
If you have the money to leave. Buy a couple people on the street loaves of bread or a sleeping bag or something.
"Visit" some Tesla dealerships
OmegaMart if you’re near Vegas lawl
is it really all that? the ads promise existential horror, but I never thought it'd deliver.
I had not heard of this until reading your comment, and I've just started down the rabbit hole... This place looks fucking incredible
Completely! I’ve heard about it from a few people and I want to go soooo badly.
Set it on fire & dip. Jk... unless?
It being the entire country?
You decide
California: "way ahead of you bro"
Borrow a lot of money and then declare bankruptcy. If you're feeling generous, buy up people's medical debt for pennies on the dollar.
Take sometime to learn about what you will do with your 401k if have one.
Shoot a gun
drop kick B Shapiro due north
Turn the lights out
Wish them good luck on your way out. They're gonna need it.
Make sure your last permanent address is where you wanna be voting. Absentee ballots will all be for whichever district you lived in last.
Don't think they can vote if they're not a citizen, no?
oh right missed that part. well, still relevant for other readers
Sag zum Abschied leise "Servus".
Turn the lights off.
If you are in Wisconsin or will be traveling through Wisconsin on your way out then you have to piss on McCarthy’s grave
Wait, he's buried in Wisconsin?
Well, my weekend plans are set now!
His original grave is in Appleton, Wisconsin before the moved it to dc because locals kept pissing on it
shit on Donald's face.
Don't forget to have fun and be yourself.
Run.
Olympic national park is the crown jewel of your country
Pinned for future reference, thank you!
Last dinner must be at five guys
I can't tell which way this comment is going, but Five Guys is the most I've spent for the worst French fries I've ever had in my life, and the burger is "meh" grade. Burger King does a better burger and fries faster and cheaper.