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Getting Out: Your Guide to Leaving America

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Had enough?

Whether you find the government oppressive, the economy spiraling out of control, or if you simply want adventure, you’re not alone. In increasing numbers, the idea is talked about Expatriate.

Over three hundred thousand Americans emigrate each year, and more than a million go to foreign lands for lengthy stays.

But picking up and moving to another country feels like a step into the void. Where to go? How to begin? What to do?

Volume 2 of the Process Self-Reliance Series, this smartly designed two-color guidebook walks you through the world of the the reasons, the rules, the resources, and the tricks of the trade, along with compelling stories and expertise from expatriate Americans on every continent.

Getting Out shows you where you can most easily gain residence, citizenship, or work permits; where can you live for a fraction of the cost of where you’re living now; and what countries would be most compatible with your lifestyle, gender, age, or political beliefs.

So if you’ve had enough of what they’re selling here and want to take your life elsewhere—well, isn’t that the American way? At any rate, it’s not illegal. Not yet, anyway.

320 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2006

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About the author

Mark Ehrman

2 books2 followers

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
Profile Image for Jason Lundberg.
Author 68 books162 followers
February 14, 2009
Getting Out: Your Guide to Leaving America is volume 2 in Process Media’s Self-Reliance series, and aspires to be an all-purpose guide for expatriation from the USA. Written with a pessimistic slant toward the current state of the nation (only natural, since Process’s books tend to lean firmly to the left), the book presents a compelling case for leaving the country, be it for political or economic reasons, or for a chance at adventure.

Ehrman splits up the book into eight parts — Ways to Leave; Getting In; Foreign Citizenship and How to Get It; Work, Study, or Slack; Choosing a Country; The Top 50 Expat Meccas (which takes up fully half of the book); Doing It; and Web Resources — each presenting the details necessary for a move abroad (including website links when available), and peppered throughout with testimonials on living in a foreign country. Of especial note are the sections on obtaining a visa, working overseas, and health care (although this section could have been much expanded, as it is one of highest worries on an American’s mind today).

The greatest resource in the book, however, is its biggest chapter: The Top 50 Expat Meccas. Broken down are the statistics on style of government, population, currency, languages spoken, religion, ethnicity, cost of living, visa requirements, climate, infrastructure, internet access, health care, popular expat professions, taxes, crime rates, and attitudes toward cannabis use, homosexuality, and abortion. This information, coupled with the aformentioned testimonials, as well as first-person experiences, provide a wealth of information on choosing a new country in which to live.

Notably absent to this list, however, is Singapore, to which I just immigrated only two weeks ago. It is a country with one of the best health care systems in the world, excellent public transportation, and a hunger for recruiting foreign workers (specifically English teachers and professionals in science and engineering). It may have been overlooked because of its small size (approximately only as big as New York City), or possibly its socialist style of government, but there is no way to know; the criteria for which countries made it into the top 50 and why are not evident within the text, and the reasoning behind the choices made is vague.

There is also a surprising lack of deepness to the book, in that Ehrman provides a lot of information, but does not go as in-depth as similar books on the subject. This gives a broad but shallow reading experience, which may help to narrow down your choices on where to move, but is lacking in what to do after that. All the space given to first-person accounts is helpful (word of mouth is a powerful persuader), but Ehrman relies on it overmuch, and some of that space could have been re-allocated to more research from third-party sources.

Still, if you are considering moving overseas, Getting Out is a good place to start.

(originally published at Vagablogging.net)
Profile Image for Graeme Roberts.
546 reviews36 followers
March 8, 2017
This 2005 first edition of Getting Out: Your Guide to Leaving America is now twelve years old, but I still found it very useful and endlessly fascinating. It could feed utopian dreams, but is much more likely to dispel them. The theme of escaping the evils of the George W. Bush regime recurs in places, giving this book new vitality in this era of Trumpian despair.

Getting Out combines very practical, factual advice about visa and residency requirements, housing, health care, banking, and much more for the fifty most popular American expatriate destinations. Admittedly, some of that information must now be out of date, but a Google search should clarify most questions. The factual information is interleaved, throughout the book, with the experience and advice of actual expatriates, although their exposure ranges from a few months to many years. You can read all the facts and promotion you like about living in Prague, for example, but I was delighted to hear that most foreigners find it depressing after a while and leave. Boom! Some of the expatriates surveyed seemed rootless and sad, and a few were undoubtedly sketchy. It is refreshing, however, to hear from real people and to read between their lines. The few inevitably silly articles that appear in magazines about Americans retiring to Central American or Caribbean paradises, for instance, are worse than useless.

If you have thought of moving to somewhere other than the United States, read this book.
217 reviews10 followers
September 11, 2020
Wealth of information and resources. Good things to consider before bouncing.
Profile Image for Mark.
127 reviews13 followers
July 31, 2007
How to leave America. Supposed to be practical, but might be more geared to just daydreaming. I've put up with Bush for this long, why leave now?
1 review
April 11, 2013
Should probably be updated to include more countries in a post-Bush world, but nevertheless entertaining.
Profile Image for Jon.
983 reviews15 followers
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November 16, 2020
I think the wife and I have been watching too many episodes of House Hunters International. Surely, if families can just uproot their entire lives on a whim and go to live in a foreign land, we can figure out how to retire to a warm and tropical destination, given a few years to plan it out, right?

Getting Out contains a wealth of information on all aspects of becoming an expatriot, from the financial to the political, housing to healthcare. After a meaty general introduction to the topic of leaving the U.S., for short or long term, there are individual chapters containing more specific details on over 60 countries, with their pros and cons, immigration policies, social and political situations, and costs of living. Each of those chapters also contains testimonials from folks who have actually made the leap, and are living in that country, describing their lives there, and the issues they have faced and overcome.

The last section of the book has a cornucopia of reference material, websites with resources written by and for expats. All, in all a good primer for getting out.
82 reviews
February 27, 2021
I find this to be a great resource if considering leaving the US. This book gives a great overview of realistic expectations for moving to a different country and several insights on many countries that might be considered. While this particular edition is dated I feel that a lot of the resource material at the end of the book is still useful. I also feel that this is an excellent book to read if considering leaving the US at any point.
192 reviews4 followers
July 9, 2013
Getting Out is written with a near-continuous sneer that just feels immature after a while. It has the "Fuck Bush!" sentiment that most held in high school and that now, in the oh-so-enlightened 2010s, I find sort of cringe-worthy, even if it's still right. I find the pure vitriol has mostly evaporated; we've survived to see an uptick in worldwide regard of the U.S., and besides, we have more to question about Bush's handlers than Bush himself -believe me, I never thought I would be anything remotely like apologetic for that man, but I just don't feel that anger anymore. The impending sense of doom has been replaced with an indefinite discomfort.

This book is written perhaps at the height of Bush's folly, and the nadir of global opinion of the U.S. What's curious is that the text occasionally devolves into just the kind of brusque wrongheadedness and generalizing of which it accuses the U.S. "First-" and "Third World" are thrown around constantly, despite "developed" and "developing" being the more preferred terms nowadays. Its sliding scale of affordability in each country's profile is sometimes hard to pin down. There are more than a few typographical errors.

Getting Out's testimonials run from insufferable (mostly the most conspiracy-driven evacuations, as they're made to seem) to awe-inspiring (how many of us have the gumption to just drop everything and go on an adventure?). More information on the specifics of extreme getting-out (i.e. renunciation of U.S. citizenship and the like) would have been interesting, but I know this book isn't expected to be How to Disappear Completely and Never Be Found. It's a primer for those in the daydream to possibly-doing-this stage of emigration, but who haven't yet gotten to the hard, bureaucratic paperwork of it. The economy has undergone several notable conniptions since the book's writing, and it could do with an update.
Profile Image for Dr Janice Flux.
329 reviews
September 25, 2008
although i marked this as "read," you can only read so far into this appropriately-timed book before it becomes a list of countries and their pluses and minuses re: the expatriate lifestyle. there are very helpful facts, such as the legality/safety of open homosexuality in each country, etc. i enjoyed looking up the few countries i might be interested in spending some time in, and then it was kind of done for me.

the first part, though, is a useful and interesting overview of all of the different ways to legally and illegally live in other countries, as well as some things to keep in mind during and after the process of "getting out." the first was mostly interesting to me as a list of things i don't have to do if i ever want to go spend more than a few weeks visiting my family in poland, as my grandmother (on the non-polish side) was born in ireland and my irish citizenship was recently approved. that process is in here, along with quite a few others.

i really liked the narratives from expatriates who left this country for a wide variety of reasons, even though, as someone else here has mentioned, there were quite a few people i wouldn't want to hang out with. the girl who moved to the country i would love to live in most was kind of a jerk, and didn't say much but "waaah, people here aren't as nice as they were when i was a tourist." it would have been helpful to get more than one point of view. still, having all these different voices giving advice or telling their stories helps add more depth to the facts listed elsewhere. but unless you are dedicated to the idea of leaving america but aren't sure how to do it or where to go, i would borrow this from a friend, or from the library.
Profile Image for Hilary.
29 reviews1 follower
November 21, 2007
It's got kind of an annoying style, with contributions from some people I wouldn't want to be friends with at all, but it's interesting information. The main thing I learned is, Canada: Easier than you think. Especially if you don't mind working in the middle of the country, where they need a lot of young workers right now, because of the shale-oil stuff, but who knows how long that will last, and, ew. But ultimately, Canada's a big country with a relatively small population, so they aren't very exclusive. it helps a lot to have skills (IT, medical, etc.), but if you have a Canadian relative, that'll also help a lot.
Profile Image for Mark B.
100 reviews
July 7, 2014
A fairly quick read since I skipped over sections I wasn't interested in. (Places like Latvia or anywhere in the Middle East are not on my prospective list) Good information, although totally slanted to the left. Interestingly, a lot of things the Bush administration is accused of, also applies to the current Obama administration. In my mind, this just attests to how thoroughly dysfunctional the US has become. Recommended, but look for newer editions. Also, plenty of other options in this genre.
Profile Image for Arwen Downs.
65 reviews2 followers
August 9, 2009
This is the next step up from poring over various Lonely Planet books on different countries. The snapshots of American expatriate life in other countries never cease to fascinate me, and there are helpful suggestions for every aspect of emigration from the difficulty level of getting a work visa to the world's most and least expensive cities to live in. I am still shocked that Winston-Salem is the 124th cheapest city out of 144. . .
Profile Image for Jaimie Foster.
35 reviews1 follower
July 12, 2007
Dang it. There aren't not as many opportunities as I thought. And England is really cold even in July. The book is well-organized but it doesn't have as much information about each country as I would like. It does let you know the countries which are the most lenient towards marijuana possession, though, in case anyone needs to know.
32 reviews
February 24, 2010
LOVED this book, too much.

This is one of those books that unless you really plan on doing what the title suggests, you shouldn't read it. This goes into the details of how to actually move abroad. And it didn't scare me, it made me want to do it. I put the book away for a week, because it made me way too excited.

Ultimately, a fabulous book.
10 reviews1 follower
January 3, 2009
great book! info on moving overseas. lists detailed info on 50 countries and what to expect for setting up a business, social life, retiring, ease of residency, how far the dollar will go, etc. personal letters from many expats sorted by country or topic.
898 reviews25 followers
November 4, 2014
promises to be an interesting book! like it already, with its comprehensive reviews of lots of rely nice altenatives to this wretched country. Looking forward to reading more and mor of it! Richard is too!
Profile Image for Cristina.
71 reviews3 followers
October 22, 2007
it appears to be a lot more difficult to indefinately leave the country than i had initially anticipated. bummer.
Profile Image for Lana Jax.
8 reviews
March 7, 2008
2010 i plan to be an expatriate of America, or die trying. this book is almost as essential as a friggin dictionary.
Profile Image for Page.
13 reviews8 followers
April 18, 2009
SO FAR I'M LEARNING SO MANY THINGS ABOUT VISAs and NITTY GRITTY SNAPSHOT DETAILS OF EX-PAT DESTINATIONS. This book is wicked awesome.
Profile Image for Jaime.
549 reviews2 followers
July 23, 2010
This book has plenty of useful information but the editing/proofreading is so poor as to be distracting. Still, it's a decent resource.
Profile Image for Sarah.
140 reviews1 follower
Read
November 18, 2010
Very helpful the little bit I got around to reading!
Profile Image for Tiffany Hunnicutt.
1 review
September 24, 2015
Very informative.

This book is a quick and easy reference. It helps narrow down your possible places to move to and answers questions that may have overwhelmed you.
Profile Image for Alexis.
56 reviews3 followers
June 13, 2016
Very informative and lots of good resources listed at the end of the book.
Profile Image for Enriquè.
10 reviews3 followers
September 26, 2019
Just about everything you need to know on how to GTFO. Pretty cool! Entertaining + Good reference material for library
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews

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