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this post was submitted on 25 Oct 2023
1021 points (96.8% liked)
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You can do it - I did.
Yeah - sounds like a pain. 25+ years later, it's been worth it to get the hell out of New Jersey.
Oh is that all? So easy. Just find a skill. They grown on trees.
Well, if you’re looking on trees, that explains a bit.
But seriously - I hated my job in ‘94, picked up a book in HTML, and within 6 months was able to get a job at a web startup. By ‘98 I was able find a job in The Netherlands and move here literally a month later.
I know of financial analysts, accountants, designers, plumbers, builders, nurses - all from outside the EU, moving here. About 80% have gone back, but that 3-5 year window gave them plenty of experience and an external view of what they REALLY wanted for their future.
You can do it, but you have to know what you want, where you want to go and especially, what the market needs.
Prove it. Say something Dutch! I dare you!
Gotver!
That probably checks out!
No. You can do it. And you know other people who have done it because they live there too. Not because they were able to change skillsets and find one Europeans want.
This is the same mentality as "if you don't like your job, just start up a small business."
This is not achievable by anyone.
Heh. I was trying to be encouraging but clearly you’re not here for information. Not sure why you decided to stick your nose in and tell the world why you’re so fatalistic, but from the number of immigrants who go to Europe or North America or Asia yearly, and become successful in their moves, it can be done.
Let’s face it. You just don’t want to bother.
Edit: moved from NJ to Colorado to here, after nearly a decade, finally invested in an apartment and will sell it at 2.25x what I paid for it, and will in retire soon to Bali.
But you just keep telling yourself that this can’t be done... 👍
To be fair, in your other comment you stated that you got in on Web Development before the first dot com bubble burst. With the years listed you could also have easily made bank with Y2K consultancy work around that time as well, as many in the tech sphere in that time did.
Defeatism and people who give up before they've started is bullshit, but you should also take some time to reflect on the factors external to your own efforts that had considerable impact on your own success.
The first step is trying, but at least half of the impact of anyone's effort is dependent on situations outside of their own control. The key is to not stop trying, and to do all you can to pivot into situations beneficial to you and away from those that aren't. Much easier said than done.
Fair enough - there have been a couple of times I probably could have "made bank", but I'm not a visionary that way, and I've done well enough to be happy.
I lost the want to be rich. I'm well off enough and secure enough to not pine over missed opportunities. I've also learned to look for less in life, because it became readily apparent that, for me, More was not Better.
I think the thing to also consider is that when you enter a new country, you really start all over. When I left the US, I had maybe $10K to my name and I had to rebuild my credit rating, get work papers so I could (after 6 years) leave the job I was let into the country for and go to another one without being tossed out of the country in the process. Getting out from under whatever oppression I felt living in the US was the most massive success I've had.
Here, I wasn't bound by conventions, and when people said "we don't do that", I still had the freedom of mind to try anyway. There's a great benefit to reinventing yourself occasionally, and forgetting your own (or imposed) limitations. Once I learned I could navigate my new country, I explored Europe, then Asia and generally on my own - and I felt more confident than I ever previously had.
As well, there's affordable care, a social support system where you can be on unemployment for nearly a year without losing your home or going hungry, and a work ethic that says "work well, not hard - and take time for yourself". It was an eye opener.
You're right - the first step is trying, but keep stepping after that. Learning to keep adapting and that it will never end - it's a superpower if you use to better yourself and your goals.
TL;DR: I seriously hit the RESET making my move, but the growth experience ended up being far more worthwhile than cashing out. I still work, but I'm more relaxed, have formidable savings and health care and will retire well off enough to never want.
Not only before the.com bubble burst. But even having a PC at a time when most people didn't have a PC. Let alone access to the internet and even the awareness that learning HTML would be a good idea. Guy has so much privilege that he's just ignoring. It's pretty insulting.
Plenty of people would never have had that opportunity regardless of how hard they worked. And every one of us that moves away only makes it harder for those that stay. I'll congratulate the people that do it on the situation that they managed to work out for themselves. But they should rightfully expect ire form others. Flaunting privilege like that.
Dude gave up before they even started. Definitely can't do it with that mentality.
Well, you know me better than I do.
Exactly. So don't even try. More places for the rest of us.