most notably of which, Zully and i have started looking into moving to the Netherlands at the end of next year

as much as i'd hate to move, i've just. lost all faith in the US at this point. i'd love to fight for democracy and common sense to prevail over all this madness, but i'm scared things are going to get much much worse before it can get better

so the plan is to save up some money over the next year and see if we can pull this off

holy shit that's exciting!

I mean terrible reasons for having to you know

walk away

it definitely freaks me out, because despite everything america is familiar and there's a big part of me that just doesn't want to make a huge change, but i do think it might be the best move

YEAH lol

but it could be a really interesting new chapter for you both

we were talking about it last night and we were like "omg it's like leaving an abusive relationship"

seriously!

i have no idea how my family is going to react to this, but given how disappointed they also are by things, i hope they at least understand

i've only told one of my sisters and she's like hmmm maybe i can transfer to the vancouver office, lol

(she'd love to get out too but she loves her job and i don't blame her lol)

i'm trying to look at it like-- honestly my day to day would not change a lot, i could still do art for a living, i'd just have to take up more commissions and boost the hell out of our etsy shop because cons would be much fewer and farther between

but the social aspect will be harder since i have so many friends on this side of the world, and adjusting to virtual hangouts from vastly different timezones will be a Thing, lol

yeah to be sure

SO Y'ALL LET ME KNOW WHO ON MY LIST HERE IS CLOSER TO THOSE TIMEZONES

TEEF I KNOW YOU ARE <3

Nat will be able to look into job prospects that actually have to do with her major in international relations so that's pretty cool for her

and i'm definitely going with her because i feel like my only other option would be to move back to LA, and that kind of. defeats the purpose, lol

on top of i'm not ready to move back to LA just yet

i also have some family in italy that i can maybe reach out to and see if i can get a dual italian citizenship through them? i know that would make moving to europe significantly easier lmao

and my college friend that lived with us in fremont might consider moving out there with us too... but uncertain because i know she's got other factors to think about

we keep tempting her though, lmao

I think you both should do what you should to feel safe

and hey, I hear the Netherlands are lovely

^

I SURE AM!!!! you'll be more in my area of TIME

come to europe

I think if you're able bodied and can, you should do it. I would if I could

I think the US can dig itself out in a couple of decades if we really start rebelling, but it's not going to be pretty and I completely understand wanting to escape

sob yeah... and i genuinely hope for everyone that can't leave, for any reason, that we're wrong and that things get better

otterbeans: sob, yeah

i hope it doesn't take that long! i hope by some miracle the idiot and his masses get forced out of office and someone sensible takes charge!

haha, well, I hope the propoganda hasn't totally taken root and when the people that voted for orange man start getting hurt by project 2025, they realize the horrible mistake they've made

that too!

but until then i just. yeah.

if it's shit, hit da bricks

We've got our issues in the Netherlands, but it sure ain't as bad as that.

There is the 30% ruling to look into. And the Dutch American friendship treaty

don't know if either of those would apply to you guys' situations, but worth a gander

yeah we're actually looking at the DAFT!

since i do technically have my own little business, lol

OH that does remind me that i should probably pick up streaming again for that tiny little extra bit of income lol

Mosasaurus we won't qualify for the 30% ruling as the business isn't likely to gross €60k annually. she'll be filing as a ZZP instead of a BV.

I'm not close to that time zone per se, but I do work the night shift, so I'm gonna have to compare them. Because I would not object to digital hangouts.

it's apparently 8 hours ahead for now (Arizona and its refusal to participate in DST is...fun), so there actually should be some decent overlap

oooh! Best of luck on your move! I hope it gives you only the best <3