Step One

Whenever one thinks of moving or even traveling outside of the US, the first thing that comes up is the good ol’ passport. Not the passport card or the new fancy passport drivers license or whatever they’re calling it now. A standard passport book. Obviously, I’ve never had one nor has my husband or my kids – so, that’s step one.

First, let me say that this information is accurate as of the writing of this post and it may be different at the time of reading. With that out of the way – here we go!

If you already have a US passport with X number of empty pages in it, then you’re golden. But if you don’t… then you’re going to face your first large expense with regards to traveling outside the country. For just one person, or even two, it’s not a huge expense but when you’re talking about four of them – it can get pricey.

First – a first-time adult passport will cost you $110 plus a $35 application fee. So, $145 when it’s all said and done. That’s for anyone aged 16 and up. For anyone under the age of 16, it’ll be $85 plus that pesky $35 application cost, equaling $120. For our family, as it will stand when the time comes (we’re shooting for an estimated, hopeful, moving year of 2022) – that’ll still be three adult passports and one child.

That’s not all though – both my husband, daughter, and myself will all three need an international driving permit if we hope to be able to drive once we’re over there. Those are $20 each, which isn’t that bad. So, that’s another $60 added on, bringing our grand total to $615.

The international driving permit is offered through AAA while the passports are obviously offered through the US Passport office. Passports do take about 6 weeks to get to you, so that is something to keep in mind and you’re going to need certified copies of your birth certificates, your ID cards or drivers licenses, and your social security cards as well as approved photos that you can luckily get at many places including most post offices. The driving permits take anywhere from 4-6 weeks.

Now, because we’re not completely deluded – we also plan to make a trip to Scotland in 2021, if we can – with everything going on (Covid) we have no idea if that’ll happen but that’s what we’re hoping for. A scouting trip in all reality. A chance to see the country and check out England, a chance for my husband to maybe meet with his company’s people over there, and generally get a feel for it. Being rural people ourselves, I don’t think we’ll have a hard time with the pace of life over there. But, it’s still important that we check it out before we commit. Because once we do this… it’s done. It won’t be easy to come back. So we had better be sure.

Where oh Where to go *Updated*

When we I first decided we I wanted to move abroad, we I initially set my sights on Canada. It’s the closest country other than Mexico (sorry, Mexico. You’re beautiful, I love the culture, the people, the food… it’s just too damn hot.) – hell, we could drive to Canada. So, I did some research. And then I did some more research. And… well… it’s not that different from the US. Yeah, they have a certain kind of government sponsored health insurance but… the cost of living, hell – the cost of everything, is pretty much the same. The cost of houses is actually a bit more between where are and just across the border in Vancouver. Now, that may be just a Vancouver thing but – it doesn’t seem like it.

Anyway – learning that Canada is… very much like the US, even with their racism towards the Indigenous people – I was disappointed but ultimately not surprised. After that – I shelved the idea for awhile since life has a funny way of demanding our undivided attention.

After quite a few years – the idea once again took root and demanded further thinking. I had been seeing a lot about New Zealand – a small unassuming but jaw dropping beautiful country almost on the bottom of the world. Just looking at the place makes my heart ache – it’s so beautiful there. The native people, the Maori, their culture and heritage is just as beautiful. The way of life there – all of it seemed to fit. Plus, a bonus, at the time, my husband worked in the oil and gas industry – which was big down there. He could walk onto a job. It all seemed… just right. Until I started looking into the actual immigration process. It wasn’t the paperwork or the fees, hell – that’s going to be crazy no matter where you go. It was one… small… seemingly inconsequential bit of information. If you’ve been convicted of a felony – it’s a no go. You can apply to have an interview – where someone behind a desk judges your character to determine if that felony defines you. You pay for this interview, of course.

Before I continue – let me make this bit clear. My husband was convicted of a felony when he was 17 years old. He broke into a convenient store, when it was closed and no one was there, and stole lottery tickets and cigarettes. Because he was a stupid 17 year old. He got 10 months in a TDC (Texas Department of Corrections) governed rehab facility and about five years of probation – a felony that he carries to this day – and he specifically had his gun rights revoked (as a part of his sentence, not the standard suspension that all felons receive, the judge specifically revoked them, for the rest of his life). Now, the gun part isn’t a big deal – it was just kind of shitty since there wasn’t a weapon involved, hell – there wasn’t even another person there. But, whatever. Now, to bring this into sharp perspective. This was 23 years ago. My husband’s 40 years old and the most trouble he’s gotten into since then is a speeding ticket.

Now, I’m not knocking New Zealand for their immigration rules, they have to draw the line somewhere but it is disappointing that apparently it doesn’t matter how long ago the felony was – as far as they’re concerned, a felony is a felony and that is that. So, that effectively put an end to any plans of immigrating to New Zealand.

Okay – so – a lot of countries have this felony rule – I get it, I do. But, different countries have different lengths of time they require to have passed before they stop caring about that felony – if that makes sense. Now, no country wants a murderer, that’s obvious – but for something like what my husband has on his record? It’s fine as long as that time frame has come and gone.

So, yet again – the idea was shelved for a few years. During which time we moved up here to Washington from Texas so at least we got out of the heat (though now it kind of feels like we jumped into the fire, literally with the wild fires that are happening up here at the moment). After some time up here, I finally did something that I had been wanting to do ever since I had heard about it. I ordered DNA tests from 23 & Me and Ancestry.com for both my husband and I. Now, the results of which were very enlightening for both of us. I might go into them a bit in a different post but for now, let’s just say that we are both very… very… very British. Cliff’s notes – in your results, if you get British– you’ll get them as “England and Ireland” which includes Scotland. They’ll then list where in those islands you’re DNA is matching up from strongest to weakest. For both my husband and I, it goes 1. London, 2. Glasgow. Now – these reports are only as good as the databases that they are referenced against. Our Ancestry.com reports are extremely similar. I understand that people traveled – and the routes that they took. Both my husband and I have our roots going back to Scandinavia, mine more Norwegian and his Finnish.

Anyway – it was these results that had me taking a look at the UK for heritage reasons. And further, taking a longer look at Scotland. It literally started out as a “hmm… I wonder how much homes are there.” And it ran from there. It took off like a bullet train. Extremely long story short, that’s what we’ve got our eye on.

We, more I than my husband, would like to move to the UK – primarily looking at southern Scotland or Northern-Middle England, since Southern England is more expensive than the rest. Isle of Mann looks interesting but a little too isolated – the rest of the islands as well are the same for me.

I’m big on learning about our own histories, our ancestors, knowing where we came from and who came before us. I think it’s all important, every bit of it. The good and the bad. I’ve already done extensive research, that I’ll get into in another post. But for now, we’ll just leave it at this. Scotland is what I’ve got my sights set on.

*Update 9/14*

I forgot to add on in my earlier info dump concerning felonies that with regards to immigrating to the United Kingdom, their time restriction on felonies like the one that my husband has is five years to ten years past depending on the sentence. Since it has been over twenty years, I'm fairly certain that his record won't be a problem, especially since he technically won't even require any sort of criminal record certificate though a full FBI record is still required. I'll get to that in another post. 

Why Could You Possibly Want to Move Abroad?

Years ago, when I realized, seemingly out of nowhere, that you could actually move abroad – I, at first, had my sights set on Canada, because it was the closest country where I wouldn’t melt. See, when you grow up and no one you know, no one in your family, absolutely no one has ever moved out of the country – let alone even traveled outside the country except to maybe Mexico (we lived in Texas) – the thought, the idea that you could actually move outside the country? Well, that never enters your mind. It just never occurs to you. But, when it does…. well… suddenly, that thought is always with you. Sometimes it’s nothing more than a passing fancy, just a little dream but others, you do a little research – see what’s exactly involved. And that, is what started it all.

The original idea of moving outside the US wasn’t fueled by anything like “this country sucks”. It was originally fueled by a desire to travel – to see what’s out there – to live a different kind of lifestyle. America’s work-home balance is so skewed, it’s not even funny as I’m sure many will agree on. You work insane hours to pay for a big house that society says you have to have, then you can’t even enjoy it because you’re working so much to pay for it. It’s a vicious cycle.

See, I grew up… what I’ll call mid-low income. My Dad was lower middle-income and my Mom was probably about… middle lower-income – without getting to much into personal childhood stuff. So, with my Dad, we lived in small neighborhood on the outskirts of Austin, Texas. It was pretty nice, we rented a duplex – I didn’t always have the nicest things, my clothes didn’t always fit right, and I was the kid that just didn’t have lunch money. For reasons – we’ll just say that’s how it was. With my Mom, we lived out in the country, miles outside of the small town of Bastrop, Texas – a bit away from Austin. Dirt roads, open fields, creeks, bare feet, hanging clothes on the line, no air conditioning, all of that. We lived in a 1969 single wide trailer in my grandmother’s back yard (I was born in ‘84… we’ll just leave that there). My Dad’s mother, my Grandmother, was wealthy – she worked hard, saved her money, was very frugal but didn’t mind spending when she wanted to, if that makes sense. My Mom’s mother was the kind of person who shopped at the PX, bought in bulk, used the same VCR tape three or more times, and made nearly everything from scratch for a long time until it got too much for her. So, I was around literally all aspects of money. From the high to the very low. I’ve been to the galleria in Houston, Texas with my Grandmother while she dropped hundreds (in the 1990’s) on my cousin and myself for school clothes each year… and a week later, I could be on the side of the road in Bastrop County helping my Mother pick up cans for money.

Now, it’s not saying my Mother didn’t work – she did, she worked hard and had a good job with the state as a legal secretary. She just had to pay child support to my Dad. And she had to pay a lot. About $900/month. Which was why my Dad was middle and my Mom was lower. I won’t go into the specifics, but that’s just how it was. And that’s not to say that my Dad didn’t work either – he was a truck driver, he worked too. He just wasn’t very good with his money – he spent plenty on himself and very little on me. ANYWAY!

Back to the subject at hand!

I wanted to live in a place where work home life was a bit more balanced. Where money didn’t rule every moment of every day. Where you didn’t have to have a million dollars – where it was completely okay to not have a huge ass house and a brand new car. Because that’s just not me. Give me an old house and a car with no note any day. I’ll take it over a three thousand square foot house and a high note any day of the week.

I hate money. It changes people, it makes people do insane things. I personally think we’d all live much better lives without it. But – that’s just me looking through Utopian glasses. Complete fantasy.

I want a simple life – I want a small holding,, a small homestead, I want to be as self sufficient as reasonably possible. I don’t want to be a prepper because I’m not prepping for anything – just wanting to live a much simpler and healthier life. And more and more, it seems like it’s harder and harder to do that here.

First Things First

I wanted to go ahead and get this first bit out of the way. In the description, up there, I put “From Texas to Washington State and Onward to the UK!” So, let me clarify that one real quick.

In 2018, after more than thirty years of living in Texas, my husband and I packed up our family and moved the two thousand plus miles from Southwest Texas to Washington State. Yep, we moved literally half way across the country. Observe.

Oh, and we drove. Hauling a travel trailer, all of our worldly possessions, two kids, two cats, one fish, and a dog. Fun times. It actually wasn’t that bad and we, surprisingly, didn’t have anything go wrong. No one got sick, nothing bad happened, there were no flat tires, nothing. Shocked the hell out of us too! By the way, the dog we had, our sweet Charlie, we ended up finding another home for her unfortunately. It wasn’t that we couldn’t handle her or that she did anything wrong. Simply put, she went from having a big yard to having no yard and while walks were a plenty, she was noticeably going nuts and wasn’t getting any better at all. Some dogs can handle small, cramped quarters… some simply cannot. And it was unfair to expect her to just deal with it. So, we found her a good home with a nice family that had a big ol’ yard. I miss her terribly and think about her often but, that’s part of being a responsible pet owner – doing what is best for the animal, not for yourself. There was no way of knowing whether or not she’d do alright with the change in surroundings or not, until we actually went through it. The same thing later happened to one of our cats, was completely fine while we temporarily lived in a travel trailer for three-four months. But we move into a larger (obviously) apartment and she started literally shitting on the carpet, even though nothing about her litter or box had changed. Vet checked her out, she was just acting out for whatever reason, she was not happy. My best guess? Too much stress. She was too freaked out. Unfortunately, we had to find another home for her too because… apartment. Last update we got from the adoption agency showed she’s doing just fine, still has some litter box issues whenever things change around her though. Meanwhile, our eldest and remaining cat – he’s fine. None of it seemed to bother him at all. In 2019 – my daughter adopted her cat from a shelter in a town north of here so now we’re back to two cats and all those lovely deposits, fees, and costs that go with them. But I’ve seriously digressed.

Anyway… the whole point of this is that we moved from Texas to Washington State without knowing a single soul up here. We don’t have family up here and had no friends up here. I still don’t but honestly, I’m a serious introvert so it doesn’t bother me all that much, probably not entirely healthy but whatever. With the covid right now – I’m not missing much.

See, back in 2014, we came up here to Seattle and onward to Orcas Island on vacation. And were like “damn… it’s nice up here”. Because, well… here.

On the left – where we were living. On the right – where we vacationed. And not to mention the temperature differences. For example, the day we left Carrizo, where we used to live in Texas, to move up here – it was 109 degrees F. That’s about 42-43 C. In June. Not even the hottest part of the summer yet. When we got up here? We drove through snow up in the mountains and needed hoodies once we arrived. The weather simply cannot be beat. Even right now, during the “heat wave”. We don’t have air conditioning in the apartment, a lot of places up here don’t – and honestly, it’s not that bad at all. No A/C down in Texas? HA! That’s a fast way to literally die. Not like “oh, it’s so hot, I’m dying.” No, literally die from heat stroke/exhaustion.

Now, we’ve been up here since June 2018, so, we – luckily – had plenty of time to enjoy a lot of what the area has to offer before quarantine. The kids are going to schools that the school back in Carrizo couldn’t even get close to on their very best day ever. That’s another thing – the opportunities that the kids are going to have being up here and away from there. That’s not to say that there aren’t opportunities elsewhere in Texas, there are – and I do miss a lot of things about Texas. But you can’t change the weather there. Kind of like how location is so important when buying a house – it’s the one thing you can’t change about it.

So, now that we’re up in this beautiful area of the US, what could possibly have us wanting to move abroad, you might not be wondering. Well, that, is for another post.