Leaving the USA....

[catherine]

Congrats Bae!

Would you be willing to share some of the thinking behind this possible move? It seemed from your posts that you were well rooted in your community, and an active participant in building and maintaining your community, so in my mind, that would be really hard to leave. What is the attraction of moving thousands of miles away and giving up the life you've obviously loved?

Exactly what I was thinking. But I do remember asking bae at one point if living the "simple life" on the island is intellectually stimulating enough. There are certainly a lot of opportunities to stretch all kinds of skills by expatriating and restarting another career. And with DD almost out of college, and actually attending in Europe, that makes it a bit easier.

If it were me, I would definitely want dual citizenship, though.

Congrats on the offer, bae!

[iris lilies]

You are going to work in one of those countries? Like, for money? If my question seems rude, its because I had figured your current Emergency response job is volunteer corp (which gets paid, I assume, but not in a traditional "job" sense.)

Which country is warmer? Go there. No, wait, just go to Norway. Iceland for vacation is very trendy right now.

I dont know about the dual citizenship thng. It seems like if you are making this move, go all in. The complexities of maintaining dual citizenship may not be worth it. It seems like one of those things where you look back years later and say "why did I bother with that back up plan?" Besides, with one spouse having citizenship, that seems good enough. Your marriage is solid.

this is interesting news, but you did hint about it months ago. I can imagine the reasons why for moving but wont put words in your mouth. Are you having to leave quite a bite of assets in the U.S. at the demand of the Feds?

will your mother remain in the U.S?

[gimmethesimplelife]

Bae, CONGRATS! What a wonderful situation to be in. I can't tell you how many people would be jealous of you if they knew. And this is not an easy choice - I'd be a bit stumped too as Norway and Iceland are both jumps in the quality of country scale. Norway has wonderful social welfare for all and is stable and is one of the few social welfare countries that is not in a great deal of debt and is not making cutbacks. OTOH I respect Iceland for putting their crooked bankers in prison after they messed up the economy (unlike in America where we go into further debt and bail them out....tells you a lot about America right there, doesn't it?) I'd probably go with Norway, truth be told, as it's closer to continental Europe. But best wishes and I'm very curious as to where you decide to land.......Rob

[Float On]

The Finns have made a reasonably-competitive offer as well, but Finnish is really bloody hard for my ear to pick up so far.

What an adventurous opportunity. I just wanted to say that in Finland college is free or almost free. The boys have a good friend that had dual citizenship and they are pretty envious of her college experience in Finland.

Oh, my cousin was just in Iceland for the World Highland Games, beautiful location. I think he came out in 5th place this time.

[Tammy]

I moved from Ohio to Phoenix at age 48 and it took me a few years to fully adjust and make close friends here. I also missed my kids and grandson a lot - that was the hardest part. But I never regretted it. It opened up my world so much to live near and work with people from all over the world. My life in Ohio was very insular.

And this was simply an in-country move from rural to urban!

Enjoy your adventure.

[Williamsmith]

I vote for Iceland. Having learned about you through your posting....it seems more suited to your happy terms of existence. But don't burn your bridges, despite our seeming disfunctional society, the US is a grand place to live. You may want to come back and being the prepared person you are.....you will want to leave breadcrumbs.

[iris lilies]

What an adventurous opportunity. I just wanted to say that in Finland college is free or almost free. The boys have a good friend that had dual citizenship and they are pretty envious of her college experience in Finland.

Oh, my cousin was just in Iceland for the World Highland Games, beautiful location. I think he came out in 5th place this time.

what is his sport?

[ToomuchStuff]

I went to bed shortly after posting, too tired to come up with more.
But this morning, I talked to a relative, whose job made me think, what are the tax implications about each of your options? How are those effected by marriage? (can one of you even give up your citizenship, without both of you taking an exit tax hit)

[Float On]

what is his sport?

I have 2 cousins who compete Thom.JPGTedd.JPG and hold records. There are several competitions in Highland Games all involve men in skirts throwing heavy things! Ha! We build 'em big and strong in my family. In fact one of my uncles may still hold a few state records in weightlifting back in the 60's.

[Teacher Terry]

I would have dual citizenship. My DIL became a citizen but did not give up her Polish citizenship. I would vote for Norway.