Us citizen here recently moved to Sweden. I have a lot of things going for me: I was able to save up money working in tech, I’m using that to pay for living and tuition on a study permit, recently divorced and mostly estranged so I don’t have a lot of ties holding me back, I have a sought after skillset and enough savings to basically be guaranteed I was accepted.

I’m still struggling with everything. There was and is so much paperwork, so many loose ends, even after getting here it’s just been months of hardship trying to get stuff lined up. Trying to get my savings out of USD without interrupting being able to pay for things and not risk being flagged for money laundering is an ongoing battle. Housing here is wonky and I’m risking homelessness next year if I can’t get it figured out in time. I have no strong community ties here yet so I’m toast if I stumble too badly. The US has their grubby hands all up in my business still so I’m answering to two countries at any given time instead of just one.

There are certainly avenues people can take to get out of the US that are easier than what I’ve done but anyone who says it is easy is full of shit or incredibly privileged.