On Leaving the United States

30 Jan, 2026

It's a bit odd thinking it's "time to leave" your home country. I am not at risk of imminent harm. I enjoy privileges afforded to me by a society that places higher regards to cis hetero white guys. I do not feel urgency at all to leave, but my wife and I have decided that we will.

It is our plan to emigrate to Scotland. I am very fortunate in that my wife holds a UK citizenship. This makes it much easier for me to secure employment without the need of sponsorship. We are currently looking at an exit in 2 to 3 years. This affords us time to build wealth and paying down debts to maximize our financial health before relocating across the pond.

We have always not wanted to retire in the US. We were considering Spain, Portugal, and other lower cost of living areas of Europe, but the orange man has certainly made us re-think this approach. I am not old, but I am also not young. Attaining a UK Citizenship is a 5 year commitment on my part. I will be approaching 50 before this happens. But I fear that the US has fundamentally changed. My fear is that while I hope to die in old age, having lived a beautiful life with my wife, I will leave behind a country much worse off than the one into which I was born.

There are a few things that are undeniably true about the current state of things in the US. Firstly, the gun debate was put to rest when the Sandy Hook shooting took place and no action was done. Just more "thoughts and prayers". We had assault weapons bans here, it was fine, but since it was removed, the amount of massacres has increased many times over. To conservatives, the massacre of children are seen as an unfortunate price to pay to maintain an unencumbered "right to bear arms". While we do not have children, and wont be having them, this doesn't sit right with me. And now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned against the will of the majority, we are being ruled by a minority opinion. When you pair that with the acceptance of children dying in schools, it becomes clear there is no 'pro-life' agenda. It’s simply about control and foisting their ideals on everyone else.

The orange man and SCOTUS being completely captured by conservatives for the foreseeable future leads me to believe that this country is in a state of regression and will be for some time. I cannot understand why Americans would vote for a convicted felon, adjudicated rapist and twice impeached man back into office. The man incited an insurrection against his own country all because his ego could not accept a loss. Americans are paying the price for it. Inflation, dollar dropping in value, and federal agents murdering American citizens in blue cities/states.

It is also very obvious with Project 2025 and rulings by SCOTUS that this country will forever be vulnerable to another demagogue like or worse than the orange bastard. A lot of the guardrails have been removed and it will be very hard if not impossible to fix or put new ones in place with how divided this country is. The gerrymandering certainly is of no help.

So are we leaving because of the orange man? No, not entirely. It is quite American to say so, we had always planned on leaving at some point, but the state of the country has hastened that desire to leave.

Lastly, and most importantly, I have to think about my wife. As a minority woman practicing medicine, she feels increasingly unwelcome here. While only some of her patients are trans, the country’s current policy direction puts her career at risk. I worry the government may take punitive action against her simply for treating trans individuals with the humanity they deserve. The back and forth of electing Democrats and whiplashing back to GOP and hostile polices does not afford comfort. It burdens us with uncertainty. Life in the UK, much like the world over, is not necessarily easier or better than here, but we seek change. If it works, wonderful, if not we can come back.

With all that said, future posts will be more around the practicalities, logistics and planning of emigrating. We got 2 - 3 years before we move, but we are planning and acting now. I am excited to share how we are handling all of that next.

#emigration