Pinned for future reference, thank you!
this post was submitted on 27 Mar 2025
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No Stupid Questions
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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
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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.
or just encrypt it, in case you have the technical knowledge to do that reliably.
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- 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.
- 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.
- 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).
- Make sure all city, municipal, county, state, and federal tax stuff will be OK to do after leaving (sometimes, some prep is needed)
- If you have any retirement plans like 401ks, IRAs, etc. see about rolling them over or whatever
- 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.
- Freeze credit reports at the agencies as others mentioned
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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)
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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.
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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
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Get a few public library cards. Then abroad you can use it to borrow ebooks and audiobooks for free.
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Take me with you!!
Close the door firmly after you leave.
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.
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Eat some good barbeque.
Currently in the same boat, though I'm a citizen
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Figure out your car and drivers license stuff. Some countries have an agreement that lets you swap a US license for theirs.
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Mail forwarding. Either forward your mail to someone you trust or pay for an international forwarding service. You're still gonna be getting mail afterwards, like credit card renewals.
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You'll likely have to do the same for finances
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Go through everything you own and trim down. Whatever you don't get rid of, you'll have to deal with customs.
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
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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.
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