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.

          • cows_are_underrated@feddit.org
            0·
            3 months ago

            (Not so) fun fact, but you can actually Die from drinking too much, because you may dillute your blood up to a point where your blood cells are bursting, because the osmotic pressure outside of the cells is to low to hold against the inner pressure of the cell.

  • tiredofsametab@fedia.io
    1·
    3 months ago
    1. consider keeping your US phone number until all banking stuff is done since many banks do 2fa and this can be a giant pain after moving. Try to switch to an app if possible. Many providers also disallow known VoIP numbers.
    2. driving license was another one mentioned. Having it not expire before you can transfer it is preferable (assuming the target country allows transfer. Japan didn’t until after two years after I got here and my license expired so I had to start from zero despite driving for 15+ years in the US). You may need to get notarized driving records which is also easier before you leave.
    3. go through and change/cancel anything with an address on file – can be much easier from within the US. I went through the past year’s bank records to find anything sneaky that doesn’t renew monthly. If you have things that only renew every N years, don’t forget to cancel or update those (domain names, for instance).
    4. Make sure all city, municipal, county, state, and federal tax stuff will be OK to do after leaving (sometimes, some prep is needed)
    5. If you have any retirement plans like 401ks, IRAs, etc. see about rolling them over or whatever
    6. maybe do something with social security with regard to your target country if an agreement is in place, particularly if you didn’t work long enough to claim it. You can get US SS overseas in the vast majority of countries, but there are also certain provisions where you wouldn’t or it would be reduced based on what you have in the target country.
    7. Freeze credit reports at the agencies as others mentioned
      • tiredofsametab@fedia.io
        0·
        3 months ago

        I’ve been happy most of the time. It’s not for everyone, but I’m a decade in and don’t plan on leaving anytime soon.

        • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone
          0·
          3 months ago

          What’s the cost of living like compared to the US? I’m guessing you speak the language if you’ve been there that long?

          • tiredofsametab@fedia.io
            0·
            3 months ago

            Both the US and Japan have extremely varied costs of living depending upon where you’re talking about. I live in the countryside and things are generally fairly cheap, though inflation has been hitting hard since corona and a poor rice harvest last year. I studied the language a bit before I moved, came over as a language student (probably second-oldest there in my 30s), and found a job a few months later. I’m conversational, but my reading is pretty crap. I generally do all my own medical stuff and the like, though definitely run documents by my wife to make sure of some things (particularly government and finance). We basically only speak Japanese at home.

            Tokyo can be expensive or not totally depending upon the experience you want to have. No need to own a car so no inspection, tax, insurance, gas, and parking spot cost. I lived there for 8 years without driving at all but did end up getting a motorbike after moving to the suburbs. I had to get a car when we moved to the countryside. Houses are going to be much smaller and much closer than most of the US. I earn well above the median salary (which is something like 4-6 million JPY/year for someone in their 40s) and pay roughly 26% of that out to pension, taxes, etc. Healthcare is far cheaper than in the US but not free at point of service like other countries. There are out-of-pocket maximums over some periods and tax rebates on the year if you go over 100k yen.

    • jjpamsterdam@feddit.org
      0·
      3 months ago

      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…

  • memfree@lemmy.ml
    0·
    3 months ago

    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.

  • fireweed@lemmy.world
    0·
    3 months ago

    Obviously this is entirely dependent on where you’re moving to, but I struggled to find the following when living abroad:

    • good (American-style) pizza
    • good Mexican food
    • good BBQ
    • certain ice cream flavors (like cherries jubilee/cherry garcia)
    • wide open spaces completely devoid of people
    • large-group events of a boisterous and goofy nature
    • certain types of museums/educational facilities (such as good zoos/wildlife rehab open to the public and interactive science museums)
    • Beetschnapps@lemmy.world
      0·
      3 months ago

      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.

      • fireweed@lemmy.world
        0·
        3 months ago

        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).

        • pseudo@jlai.lu
          0·
          3 months ago

          It is not easier than it sound.

          You need freezer space which would mean to usually run your freezer half empty and recipes calling for a ice cream maker will require an ice cream maker. There is no way around it and ice cream maker were about the same in the middle age. Just not powered electrically.

      • anomnom@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        0·
        3 months ago

        Yup I do good (to our family’s taste anyway) pizza in about 40 minutes from scratch to eating with just:

        • flour
        • water
        • yeast
        • sugar (I pre feed the least in hot water for 5 minutes)
        • salt
        • olive oil
        • homemade crust spices (salt, garlic powder, oregano, red pepper flakes, etc )
        • maranara or pizza sauce (might be harder to find a good one abroad, not sure)
        • cheeses (or not for my wife)
        • basil leaves in season (we grow enough in mid summer, but buy it occasionally otherwise)

        Finding the cheese and toppings might be harder, but it’s often just frozen broccoli, bell peppers, onions and roni.

        • fireweed@lemmy.world
          0·
          3 months ago

          American style pizza

          frozen broccoli

          You have exactly ten seconds to get the fuck out of my comment section

          • anomnom@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
            0·
            3 months ago

            It’s more like neopolitan pizza that I make, and sometimes I do proper high temp thin stretchy crust type too, more like I’ve seen in Italy.

            And I thaw the broccoli first before cooking it, but it doesn’t burn the tips as much when it’s cold and the oven is at 500 (I’m still working out building a brick oven in the back yard someday).

      • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone
        0·
        3 months ago

        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.

    • The Ramen Dutchman@ttrpg.network
      0·
      3 months ago

      Your first three sum up to:

      • Italian food but worse
      • Mexican food but worse
      • Food that’s probably better in most other places

      I think OP is set on those in the future, but otherwise good recommendations IG

  • andrewta@lemmy.world
    0·
    3 months ago

    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.

    • pleasestopasking@reddthat.com
      0·
      3 months ago

      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.

      • Bytemeister@lemmy.worldEnglish
        0·
        3 months ago

        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.

  • Darkassassin07@lemmy.caEnglish
    0·
    3 months ago

    I don’t suppose you’d be up for a political assassination or two…?

    Maybe go visit the Statue Of Liberty, before it gets melted down.

    • drzoidberg@lemmy.world
      0·
      3 months ago

      Along with the handful of political assassinations, how do they feel about kids in the line of fire? Cause there’s this scumbag that always carries a small meat shield. Some people would prefer not to hurt lil meat shield, but I personally see it as a small price to pay to keep a fascist out of power.

    • Zorsith@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
      0·
      3 months ago

      Take a picture of “The New Colossus” in particular. I doubt people in the future will believe it was really there.

      • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone
        0·
        3 months ago

        It’s such a beautiful poem too.

        Brings a tear to my eye when I read it, but unfortunately not for the reasons Emma Lazarus may have hoped for when she penned it 😢

    • tonyn@lemmy.ml
      0·
      3 months ago

      The price of copper is $4.44 per pound. Lady liberty is composed of 176,000 lbs of copper. Melting her down would be worth $781,440 which is less than it would cost to dismantle and melt her down. Basically she’s not worth the trouble.

  • magnetosphere@fedia.io
    0·
    3 months ago

    My answer depends on whether the country you’re going to has an extradition treaty with the United States.

    • zlatiah@lemmy.worldOP
      0·
      3 months ago

      I… don’t quite feel comfortable sharing the full details, but F-1; I have submitted a green card application too but no way it’s gonna pass now. I might find an opportunity to write about it a bit more in the future

  • karpintero@lemmy.world
    0·
    3 months ago

    Visit some of the National Parks, aka America’s best idea.

    Some amazing ones (they’re all amazing, tbh) in no particular order:

    • Yosemite
    • Arches / Canyonlands (close to each other)
    • Yellowstone
    • Grand Tetons
    • Glacier
    • Denali
    • Olympic
    • neo2478@sh.itjust.works
      0·
      3 months ago

      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.

      • ylph@lemmy.world
        0·
        3 months ago

        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.

      • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone
        0·
        3 months ago

        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.

        • Dragonstaff@leminal.spaceEnglish
          0·
          3 months ago

          I don’t think the person above meant anything by it, but if we’re just discussing grammar: if I say something is “my idea” that does suggest that I thought of it. It is reasonable to read the sentence that way, and Americans do have a tendency to reflexively think we are exceptional.

          Both readings are perfectly cromulent.

      • PieMePlenty@lemmy.world
        0·
        3 months ago

        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.

        • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone
          0·
          3 months ago

          I’d surely visit one, before I left, because the experience isnt going to be the same in any other.

          You might want to visit them soon anyway, as I believe they will be significantly reduced over the next 4 years as our Kakistocratic government continues to dismantle everything good about this country.