Moved to Canada a year and a half ago. They made the process pretty smooth and easy all told. With that said, I haven't had a good time here and I regret moving. There's a lot of "grass is greener" rhetoric in the US right now, especially from the left. Be warned that a lot of that is misguided. I was underprepared for the host of unique issues that Canada itself has. Leaving the US will not fix all your political problems. It'll just reveal new ones that you aren't familiar with. But, after saying all of that, I certainly would never discourage anyone from trying to move. Seeing the world and opening your mind to new cultures are never bad things. For all my misery here, I have learned a lot about myself. Just make sure you go into it with open eyes. Have realistic expectations. Visit the places you want to move before you move to them.

Like others said, moving through employment would be the most straightforward way. I actually moved TO the US instead of from, and I did so by asking my employer to relocate me. It was still tough, but because I was sponsored by my job, I had a lot of support (immigration lawyer and relocation costs paid for). The most ideal way is to get employed in the US by a company that has an office in your desired country. Then try to get moved there via internal transfer. The next option is apply for jobs in the desired country that are willing to sponsor you, but that's harder because not a lot of local companies are willing to spend. The first one also allows you to hit the ground running.

Find a job that will relocate you. Million times easier than the alternatives.

I did the “alternatives”. I survived. Would not recommend.

Trudeau said a few years ago that Canada will welcome any Americans who can bring useful skills to the country. That isn't a high bar either. He's basically saying as long as you can contribute to society and not be a bum, you're welcome. You didn't specify where you'd like to go, but that's one option.

Hi! I'm sure you have a lot of feelings about the US and maybe you have a specific situation that's causing you troubles.

However, I'd recommend looking at other places in the country before looking at other places.

Moving is a huge expense, and if you lurk all the time on reddit or lemmy. You may start thinking that things are terrible, because you become emotionally invested in the outcome of a collective you can't control.

In terms of other countries, the UK is going through the aftermath of Brexit, Italy is about to elect a controversial figure, France has some questionable anti-encryption policies under it's belt. Another commenter mentioned Canadas downsides.

Looking at Asian countries like Japan and Korea, they are generally homogenous countries, and it takes much more work as a foreigner to make headway socially, with Japan moreso than Korea, to be fair. Compared to the USA, there is nary a country as diverse.

In the USA, there are many many places that can give you relative peace. Investing in local communities is much healthier than looking at huge national controversies, because usually local problems affect you more directly.

If you have the funds and resources and job security and drive to learn the language, I would say take a look at Switzerland. They're relatively stable, neutral, and it's a beautiful place there. I'd say it's still quite homogenous though.

This isn't meant to dissuade you from moving, but as someone who went through a period of depression due to the state of the country and it's affect on my life, and has now found reasons to support the US wholeheartedly despite it's problems, definitely look at quieter places in the USA, like some beach towns or mountainous towns in New Mexico.

I'm sorry OP I couldn't answer your questions directly since I am in a same boat, so I can only share my experience trying to get there... Maybe some of this would be useful

Where did you decide to move to, and what were the things you looked at when deciding to move there?

So the only immigration-friendly countries I can find are Canada, Australia, and Germany. Not a big list to begin with, but for US citizens there might be more options with other EU countries. Canada has... issues, someone else in the thread mentioned about their experiences. Australia apparently is closing its doors. Sweden used to be fine but I heard things went really South for them a few months ago.

And if you're a lurker on Reddit you probably know r/IWantOut? Country-specific wise I know r/Germany has a phenomenal wiki for their stuff, and Canada has r/immigrationcanada. Unfortunately a lot of good information is still on Reddit so yeah

Other countries... I don't think Asian countries do much immigration at all, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. Maybe some EU countries are fine depending on heritage and/or where you are from. I have no idea what's going on in Africa, if anyone knows something plz let me know.

Where can I start? How can I realistically make it happen?

For your privacy plz don't answer in this thread, but 1) how old are you, 2) what type of education do you have, and 3) what type of work do you do? Having a college education and an in-demand career goes a long way, although this is also country-dependent. And yeah under many circumstances your employer could help you with the process. Certain parts of Canada and Germany obviously have language requirements, but a lot of other countries accept English. I heard some places allow investment-based immigration, but 1) it's expensive AF and 2) not sure if countries that allow this plan are remotely desirable for US citizens...

Also side note: please DO NOT give up US citizenship unless you have a really good reason to / already have something in your bag. I'm not a citizen here, and most US citizens have no idea how excruciating it is to immigrate to this country

I think everything is going to be fine. The US is not the best country to live in, yes. But there are worse places to go. I really have high hopes for the new generation coming in. The zoomers and millennials will eventually replace the old generation in terms of wielding power and the lot seems to be more into making the lives of their countrymen better.

Why not move to another state? Conditions where you are, are not necessarily the same everywhere. You can try researching for the best states to live in and see if any fits you in terms of your capacity and opportunities. At least you’ll still be in a culture that you are familiar with.

I moved from USA to Australia for university, then got permanent residency and later citizenship. I had a pathway because of (1) having completed my tertiary degree in Australia, and (2) having a close relative who was a citizen and could sponsor my application.

Without those things, my only viable option if I wanted to stay after uni would have been to go back to the USA to work for several years in my field of study, then apply for residency on the basis of being skilled in an in-demand industry. Australia maintains a list of in-demand skills, and if your field is on the list then that pathway is open to you - but you would also need to line up a job with an employer willing to sponsor your application ( I think this is mostly just about showing that you will have employment in the relevant field, not a financial burden on the employer, though I could be wrong about that).

My advice would be to make a short list of countries you would consider living in, and then look up their immigration websites and find out which ones you might have a pathway in to (each country is going to be different). If you have family with citizenship in any other countries, begin your search there.

What foreign languages do you speak? If you are a typical US citizen, your choice of destination countries is pretty limited. Especially if you want citizenship, you better be or quickly get fluent in the target countries native tongue.

I'm not from the US but moved to Germany with an Italian passport and have had a great time so far.

Not from US, but why do you wanna move out of US?