Submitted 1 week ago by zlatiah@lemmy.world to nostupidquestions@lemmy.world
Since this wasn’t apparent the last time I asked… no, I’m actually not a US citizen or green card holder (permanent resident). Just happened to be in this country for a long time due to career reasons.
Visit some national parks if you can (while they still exist).
The Grand Canyon is amazing
Visit some of the National Parks, aka America’s best idea.
Some amazing ones (they’re all amazing, tbh) in no particular order:
Grand canyon isn’t even on here, in disappointed
Bryce canyon is superior for a day trip. Grand Canyon isn’t really that beautiful unless you can hike or ride down into it.
Plenty of countries have national parks btw. Many of them had them before America. While the American ones are indeed geographically amazing, I am tired of thinUS exceptionalism that the US is the only country that has national parks.
Perhaps I’m illiterate, but I saw nothing in their comment suggesting that the US is the only country with National Parks.
I don’t think they even implied that they’re better than any other National Parks.
While many (if not most) countries have national parks, the policies surrounding them are different. A simple thing like camping is often restricted in European parks, mixed land use is allowed so you are more removed from pure non human nature. As a result, the experience of visiting one may be vastly different - depending on what you are doing. American national parks are exceptional not because they are the only country that has them - which isnt true as you pointed out, they are exceptional because of the governing policies surrounding them.
I’d surely visit one, before I left, because the experience isnt going to be the same in any other.
Plenty of countries have national parks btw. Many of them had them before America.
Well not really though ? Yellowstone established in 1872 is generally considered the first national park, in the modern sense of the term*, and inspired others to follow in the next couple of decades in Canada, New Zealand and Australia. It wasn’t until the 1900s that the first national park was established in Europe.
Calling national parks “America’s best idea” is a quote from historian and environmentalist Wallace Stegner - I think the point of it is not to toot some US exceptionalism horn - in context it’s more of an acknowledgment that America deserves a lot of criticism - saying that national parks are America’s best idea is actually putting a bit of shade on other American exceptionalism claims, especially during the Reagan “shining city upon a hill” era.
Get an FBI background check, and get it apostilled. Easy to do from your local post office in the US, difficult and expensive to do outside the us, and you will need it for many things you might want to do in other countries
Why would you need an FBI background check outside of the US?
you need it if you apply for citizenship in some countries. they’ll ask for full criminal records in all the countries you’ve lived.
Actually the only time I’ve ever needed one is outside of the country. You need a police report from anywhere you lived for more than six months to apply for residencies, get teaching jobs, etc etc. the only authority in the US that can do this and provide a report acceptable outside the country is the FBI.
This is a pretty important step!
Obviously this is entirely dependent on where you’re moving to, but I struggled to find the following when living abroad:
You will not find good bbq. Take the L and move on…
You will find the greatest cuisine ever witnessed on this planet depending on your taste.
A clay pot in Morocco, a grandma’s house in Toledo, a random eel cooked up in Tunisia…
Just as good as byob bbq in Austin TX.
I think that’s a myth. I’ve had the best BBQ in Houston and it’s the same as a BBQ joint here in Calgary.
If you learn to cook, you can have those foods anywhere you move.
You might need a brick oven though if you want that pizza to compare to the good shit you can get pretty much anywhere in the Northeast US.
Again, depending on where in the world you are, you may not have the equipment nor access to ingredients necessary to make these properly. You might be able to approximate, but it won’t be as good, which is the entire point of my comment.
American pizza requires a pizza oven or regular oven with a steel/stone (or dish for Detroit-style pizza), specific types of cheese, and depending on your preference, specific toppings; these may not be available abroad. In some countries, ovens are not considered standard kitchen equipment; good luck making decent pizza on the stovetop.
Similarly, really good BBQ requires special equipment that even most American homes don’t have, and requires a good deal of outdoor space (otherwise you risk smoking out yourself/your neighbors).
Mexican food is more flexible in terms of equipment, but ingredients may be hard to source (especially spices).
For ice cream you might struggle to find the right add-in ingredients depending on what flavor you’re trying to make, but again, the biggest issue is equipment. You can make ice cream at home without an ice cream maker, but it seems like more hassle than it’s worth and still requires some equipment and decent freezer space (fwiw I’ve never done it before; maybe it’s easier than it sounds).
Yup I do good (to our family’s taste anyway) pizza in about 40 minutes from scratch to eating with just:
Finding the cheese and toppings might be harder, but it’s often just frozen broccoli, bell peppers, onions and roni.
Your first three sum up to:
I think OP is set on those in the future, but otherwise good recommendations IG
Open as many credit cards as you can and spend all the money and don’t worry about paying it back it’s all good
I mean the banks most likely gonna carsh in a few years anyway.
Years? Maybe for for all of them to fold but I wouldn’t be shocked for several to start shuttering this year
Get a few public library cards. Then abroad you can use it to borrow ebooks and audiobooks for free.
Those libraries won’t be around much longer, unless heavily curated and basically useless.
Mine are 95 percent county funded in a blue zone. State is already trying to lay down the law only to discover they don’t give much in the way of funds. No bucks no leverage. Only law they passed got overturned.
I have to renew mine in person every 3 years or so.
Libraries are not a US only thing.
Libraries with access to the enormous amount of English language content are usually only found in English speaking countries, though.
Good luck finding more than a few books on niche topics in, say, Dutch (ask me how I know).
I deeply regret not hanging onto my US library card.
Mine are 95 percent county funded in a blue zone. State is already trying to lay down the law only to discover they don’t give much in the way of funds. No bucks no leverage. Only law they passed got overturned.
Freeze your credit profiles
This is what I mean:
krebsonsecurity.com/tag/credit-freeze/
krebsonsecurity.com/…/why-where-you-should-you-pl…
Basically put your electronic identify in a freezing unusable state so that in the off chance you must return, you don’t return to a nightmare. Just don’t forget your passwords and pins.
What does this mean
To freeze your credit means that you (or anyone inpersonating you) can do anything that requires your credit. Cant make large purchase, take out loans, etc. Its a good way to protect yourself from identity theft.
To unfreeze it, you need to go through a process with the credit union before you can use it again. Its generally a good practice to freeze your credit always if you can plan ahead for large financial purchase
Yes. But im not allowed to say it. But you most definitely should
Mario sees you
Someone needs to
Close the door firmly after you leave.
So others can’t get out? So others still can’t come in? So we don’t let out all the AC?
Find out next time on: Puzzling Commentary!™
this has been a Desilu presentation.
I assumed for closure, to put it behind you after you leave.
Yosemite
Grand Canyon
Yellowstone
Avenue of the Giants
Add to this list any national parks you were thinking about visiting. After this administration, they may not be around anymore.
I’m just imagining them filling up Grand Canyon just because.
I don’t suppose you’d be up for a political assassination or two…?
Maybe go visit the Statue Of Liberty, before it gets melted down.
Statue of France**
The price of copper is $4.44 per pound. Lady liberty is composed of 176,000 lbs of copper. Melting her down would be worth $781,440 which is less than it would cost to dismantle and melt her down. Basically she’s not worth the trouble.
It’s not a cost issue, she’s a DEI hire.
You finally did it, you melted it, you maniacs!
You tell that to a tweaker with a van.
Take a picture of “The New Colossus” in particular. I doubt people in the future will believe it was really there.
It’s such a beautiful poem too
Take me with you!!
First, get a [removed by mod], make sure it’s [removed by mod], then [removed by mod] right in the [removed by mod]
Sir, this isn’t reddit
He self modded
Go to a country which is better than the US. So skip North Korea, Somalia, Palestine. Then you’re good.
just go to rUSsia. Won’t even see the difference.
Both the gulags and the front look nice this time of year.
North korea is way better than the US.
Eat some good barbeque.
Currently in the same boat, though I’m a citizen
Figure out your car and drivers license stuff. Some countries let you swap one for the other.
Mail forwarding. Either forward your mail to someone you trust or pay for an international forwarding service. You’re still gonna be getting mail afterwards, like credit card renewals.
You’ll likely have to do the same for finances
Go through everything you own and trim down. Whatever you don’t get rid of, you’ll have to deal with customs.
Cash travels, sell your non -heirloom stuff.
Doesn’t need to be a lawyer, relocation companies are amazing at this stuff. They can help with taxes, government registration, all of it
Honestly, if you have a chance go to Washington DC the museums are beautiful. If you’re leaving permanently, you probably will never see them again.
Honestly, even if they’re not leaving permanently, who knows how much longer the Smithsonian will last if things keep going the way they are.
The Museum of African-American history is already on the chopping block for having content that does not paint the US in a good light.
I wish I was fucking joking about that. The proper way to be remembered well is by doing good things, not by having orange hitler demand that the history of bad things be erased.
This surely varies by state, but in Alaska, for example, I’m told Japanese vacationers LOVE to try out guns. So, if you can rent a gun on a range, shooting off weapons is the most American thing I can think to do before you leave.
Take me with?
Wipe your feet on the way out.
Scheiß dem Trump vor’s weiße Haus.
Pee on Kissinger’s grave?
Take me with you.
If you have the money to leave. Buy a couple people on the street loaves of bread or a sleeping bag or something.
Have a plan for investments and bank accounts.
Update correspondence information.
Sell or give everything you are not taking.
Were you just on H1-B status the entire time?
leave an upperdecker in every tank toilet you can.
Borrow a lot of money and then declare bankruptcy. If you’re feeling generous, buy up people’s medical debt for pennies on the dollar.
hit_the_rails@reddthat.com 1 week ago
Buy some non US-based cloud storage and copy all your sensitive data to it, and delete said data from personal devices before leaving the country, so you can safely allow customs access to devices if required.
Retrieve data from the cloud when you arrive in the destination country.
AntelopeRoom@lemm.ee 1 week ago
You don’t go through US customs to leave the country.
Adulated_Aspersion@lemmy.world 1 week ago
Yet
ylph@lemmy.world 6 days ago
This is true, however you can still be targeted for extra checks by both customs (CBP) and immigration (ICE) if they have a reason to suspect you, even when departing the US. Both CBP and ICE have access to departing passenger lists.
For example you are required to declare larger sums of cash being carried out of the country (over $10k). You are supposed to go to customs and fill out a form, but many people do not know this, often legal immigrant workers taking cash back to their home countries. CBP uses dogs trained to smell cash and patrols departure lounges in airports, and if they pick you out, you can be searched, and any undeclared cash will simply be seized if found.
It’s easy to imagine with the current administration they could start targeting people based on social media posts or some kind of previously compiled political profile or “enemies” list or whatever, if they aren’t already.
COASTER1921@lemmy.ml 6 days ago
Has anyone seen customs ever actually search an electronic device before? I travel internationally nearly every month and have never seen this before, even in China.
ylph@lemmy.world 6 days ago
According to CBP’s own stats they conducted 42725 basic and 4322 advanced searches of electronic devices at US ports of entry last year (so before any new policies of the current administration took effect)
“Under a basic search, a border agent physically inspects your phone and reviews what they can, while an advanced search means the agent can potentially download all of your files using an external device.”
gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de 6 days ago
or just encrypt it, in case you have the technical knowledge to do that reliably.
hit_the_rails@reddthat.com 6 days ago
Yes but you could be compelled to decrypt devices, and detained for failing to do so