this post was submitted on 13 Mar 2025
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I assume you're taking a big hit salary-wise (a trade-off I would make, for the record).
Cost of living. You earn a lot less in Europe/ UK, but you pay far less to have a basic standard of living, and enjoy the safety net.
This is always said, I have seen the stats that prove it but I have just never come across people here that are as strapped and in debt as a lot of americans I meet. Not to mention the amount of additional taxes like state, county, huge property taxes. The numbers must add up, I wont deny the facts but how itnworks is beyond me
Well I'm going back to school there first to get an actual degree. After that though yeah I'm expecting to make around 1/3 what I am currently, between switching countries and going from automation engineering to level design. I think it'll be a worthwhile trade-off too
If you take into account all the things you don't have to pay, that salary is not that low
Out of interest, since moving continents is no small matter in my opinion; what makes that, and making a third in terms of salary vs the US, a worthwhile trade-off?
Lots of reasons over the years but the most immediately pressing is I'm trans so if the US starts black bagging people I'm high up there on the list
Ah gotcha yeah that makes a lot of sense! I hope that kind of bigotry dies out again soon but doesn't look like its slowing down. I hope you can feel safe and be more like your true self now.
Unfortunately I don't think it is going to die out, I think it will need to be rooted out at the cost of lives. The feeling safe part is important but I've been living my true self a while now. I make an active effort to not pass too well so that other trans people who feel they can't show themselves can see me and know there are others around. That was important for me early on so I want to provide that. Has led to some less than stellar interactions though even in Seattle...
Not OP but like come on, look outside - the country is a roadside attraction. I wouldnt raise my kids there under any circumstance...so I guess safety is a consideration.
Yeah I know but didn't want to assume. Some people have family roots for example. I do work with US colleagues and not all feel the need to move countries for example, which I find very interesting because it sure looks like a shit show to me. I'm not based in the US myself.
I was actually just starting to root here, for the first time in my life I felt like I could settle in somewhere. Then my polycyle imploded, lost most my friends, divorce, job is getting worse every day. Leaving the US has always been a dream of mine but I felt tied here most the time. Losing my entire social circle created a convenient opening
Certain stuff, and especially rent, is a lot cheaper in Europe, though.
It was a pretty big shock for us when so many of the Ukrainian refugees that arrived during recent years came in SUVs, and they looked quite new, too. But in Ukraine, one of Europe's poorest countries by far, cars cost a lot less, too.