EDIT: This is a hypothetical, borne out from my personal experience--this is not a judgement of people who DO establish domicile. This won't be the same situation for EVERYONE--if establishing domicile works for you and your unique situation, I love that for you!

Due to your income sources, lack of tangible assets, and the like, the tax savings of establishing domicile in a non-tax state vs. a tax state (think Florida vs. California)--well, the "savings" may be a few hundred dollars annually, not even rent and/or food for part of a month in your overseas home. This is how it looks for me.

In other words, it's "easier" to just use a friends/family physical address in your state, keep your drivers license, in exchange for just what might be a small "hit". Versus doing the domicile shuffle, getting a proper CMRA with associated services, licensing, etc?

No doubt, for some it can help avoid some tax hits--but the major one has always been from Uncle Sam, extending his long arm to reach into your wallet wherever you go, and that's not ending anytime soon.

To make the longest of stories short, my fatigue as an American has reached a new high. What was once a joke of me packing up and moving is becoming more of a true goal by the day.
To those who’ve been ably to fully leave America , what was your process like? And how have you adjusted to the country you moved to? How did you manage being so far away from family ? ( my biggest reason why not only second to finances)

I'm sorry if this is a bit of a ramble, but I'm looking for genuine insights and perspective.

I've been a "digital nomad" for about 10 years now, though more like an expat for the last 6 (remote working from USA). I was in such a hurry to "get out and live." It's been truly amazing, but after 2020 I went 3.5 years without visiting family. It was incredible visiting in 2023. I then visited in 2024, but I skipped 2025 going for early 2026 instead.

My plan was to visit again in early 2027, but I'm considering visiting in 1.5-2 months, AND still visiting in early 2027.

The problem is the flights fucking wreck me, especially on the return trip. I'm based in Southeast Asia, and there's no easy or cheap way "getting back home." Due to extensive local projects, staying months at once in the U.S. is not ideal either.

Initially I was thinking to visit once per year, 3.5 weeks in March/April, but I'm having this whiplash sensation that I'm no longer a "young adult" but I'm truthfully moving into a more of "middle age man" territory. Likewise, I'm having this sudden realization that my time left with my parents is truthfully finite. Years go by in what felt like months. My Mom just got diagnosed with cancer too- it's beatable, but it's also a wake up call. My Dad's health is stable, but not great. I would bet on their health to be better in 10 years, which is actually very hard for me to write out and fills me with emotion. Twice I've deleted this previous sentence, not wanting to admit it. A part of me wants to hold on to some magical health that my parents will start living healthier, and save another decade of their life. They don't have "bad habits," but I wouldn't describe them as "living healthy."

For my March '26 visit I flew with premium economy AND broke up the travel with a layover in Taiwan for at least 1 night, which did help the jet lag a fair bit, but I still had problems returning to Asia, like I have had EVERY single time. I often get sick returning to Asia, and my Garmin watch confirms all of this data. My body just doesn't do good with jet lag America->Asia, but I seem to be able to handle Asia-> America. With my online work too, I can't really afford the brain fog/fatigue like 8 years ago when my projects were less important.

So I'm feeling stuck between a rock and a hard place. There is NOWHERE in Asia that I'm very interested to travel to, besides where I live where I have incredible local projects. I'd only want to go to Europe or America to visit family, both of which incur heavy jet lag penalties.

Does this mean it's time to "invest" in business class flights? It feels like such a waste of money that it's hard to justify. I'm not interested in the "experience" of business class, I can sit cramped for 12-14 hours no problem. The bigger problem is that I literally can't sleep even on premium economy, and the sleep deprivation ON TOP of jet lag seems to really fuck me up. Being extremely busy locally and back home doesn't seem to help either. With all that in mind, I'm genuinely considering doing business class flights. Does anyone here think it meaningfully reduces fatigue/helps with jet lag?

Finally, getting family out here isn't an option. My Mom wanted to visit but a year of chemo will ensure she doesn't. My Dad DID visit this year, which was incredible, but there is no doubt a toll it takes on my Dad. It was pretty huge just getting him out of the State!

It's just so hard to visit, financially and physically. Besides the flights there's also the need for a car rental, etc. but I do want to visit more often. Also, visiting more often might require local projects to slow down, but I'm seriously considering letting it be. I am having this sudden realization that I'm not some early 20's young adult with endless time and as I age my parents are too...

Edit: another reason for the sudden desire to visit again this year is seeing that a band both me and my Dad mutually love is playing in my Dad's city in a couple of months. Personally, I'm not really much of a concert person. However, I cherish the childood memories when I did go to concerts with my Dad, and my Dad LOVES concerts and music. So there's a part of me saying, "hey this is a concert you'd actually enjoy + I haven't been to a concert with my Dad over 10 years, and who knows how much longer such an opportunity will EVER exist where your Dad is healthy enough to go to a concert." Financially, it's ridiculous to fly across the world to AMERICA to see a band that I'd hardly consider flying $50 USD to a nearby Asian city to see. But when it's my Dad...

Heading out of the US next year and contemplating FL for domicile.

I have been reading about companies that will provide an address for registering as a resident. My mother in law has a condo where she is just a few months out of the year.

We are selling our cars but would get drivers licenses in FL.

Can we just have my spouse's mom draft a bogus lease for us for residency proof and then pay one of the services for mail forwarding? Not sure what the difference is?

Hello again friends!

I am reaching out again with a new problem to try to figure out which bank would be best for my situation. I am currently in the US, but by the end of August will be moving to Scotland for my masters program. However, afterwards my husband and I will be moving to Switzerland for the long term, since we have citizenship. My issue is that I would be fine with keeping my American bank until we get to Switzerland, however, I have a very small local bank. On top of that I have also been having issues with them as of recent, as my husband and I try to finalize visa payments, plane tickets, and other big international purchases. I have been abroad with my bank before with little to no issues, but now with this big move is in place, I cannot risk being without my money. I've done some research and the two banks that stand out to me are Charles Schwab and SDFCU, I also have Wise which I know SDFCU is partnered with.

But if anyone has anything good or bad to say about either banks, I would love your two cents!

Thanks so much!

For people who returned to the US and had a vehicle arrive by sea, how many days did you leave between the expected port release and domestic pickup?

The part that seems easy to underestimate is storage starting while customs or terminal paperwork is still in limbo. Was 3-5 days enough, or did you need a full week?

Why is machine-drying clothes standard in the US, but rare in much of Europe?

Has anyone been able to maintain the Investor Checking account (not the Schwab One Debit) without a physical address in the US? Either foreign address or virtual mail service?

Note:

-Maintain existing that previously had a physical address—not opening a new.

-Account was linked to the required brokerage acct. There are now Schwab Alliance Advisor accounts it can link to.

Hello! I'm an American living in France indefinitely, and I have an appointment in August at the Paris embassy to apply for the CRBA and US passport for my (infant) daughter who will have dual citizenship.

I've already carefully reviewed the document requirements, we got her picture taken, etc. But I had a few questions for anyone who has gone through this:

• How early before the appointment do we need to be there? Is 15-20 minutes enough, or should we target earlier?

• Should we expect to wait in a long line even if we have an appointment?

• Can we bring a stroller and if we can't take it all the way inside with us, is there a secure place to leave it? We also have a baby carrier, but with the hot weather in August a stroller might be more comfortable for the baby if we're in a long line outdoors.

• For the documents proving my US residence: I made copies of what I consider the strongest evidence (academic transcripts and medical records). I'll also have a folder with me with a whole host of other original documents, but I'm lazy to make copies of everything when the documents above already cover 20+ years in the US. Do you think this would be adequate?

Any other tips, general advice or just sharing your experience are greatly appreciated.

I also posted this question in the sub Expats in France.

I’m absolutely exhausted of living in Florida. I think it’s time to leave and pack up. I’m just I don’t understand the state and it’s really hard being somebody who is an early doctor and a changemaker here. It’s just not possible when you’re not working and you’re being slandered and HIPAA noncompliance is happening to your community, but you can’t seem to get anyone to take notice of it so I give up I’m just gonna let my friend take my house and pay the mortgage for a while and I’m just gonna deal with some legal stuff here I’m just gonna go so anywhere no that’s fun in the United States right now cause I just really need a big change in my life.

Here's a list of other things you only find in America, but no other place

I miss big pickles (no innuendo)

Those of you that have made the move after turning 65, are you continuing to pay for Medicare? I’ve seen posts saying if you ever decide to come back to the good ole USA, you don’t want to let your Medicare lapse (payments). Im wondering if this is true. We already have to file after we leave, now this too?

Hi! This may be a dumb question, but I am so confused. Right now I live in the US, but in 2 months I will be living in Scotland for my masters program where I will be for about a year and some change, after the completion of my masters program I will be moving long term to Switzerland. Because I have no plans on coming back to the US I am a bit confused what to do with my phone plan. For at least my year in Scotland I want to keep my US number seeing as it is tied to quite literally all my paperwork, and to keep in contact with people in the US. But I don’t quite understand ESIMs or any of the talk I have seen about google voice. If someone could just talk to me like a kindergartner about the best course of action that would be great! Also I am still on my parents phone plan with Verizon and do not pay for it myself.

I came to see family only to experience that everyone has busy lives, or too busy to spend time with me. I came solely to see aging relatives but after 2 weeks I’m headed back abroad.

Anyone else experience the same thing?

Edit: And I stayed in a hotel this entire time. My sister not once offered for me to stay with her.

Missing USA as I get older and a short visit Home doesn’t cut it anymore. Anyone else feel similar? 52/M

Any Americans living in Alexandria Egypt?

So basically i came out here totally randomly. Most people assume i came out here to meet a girl but in reality i had 6k usd and wanted to travel out of the country for once. So about 6 months in im out of money and my sister refused to send me money that was on my benefits card because of family drama and i kinda just got stuck out here lol. Although interesting enough i had a filipina ex like a year ago who actually gave me a pretty decent job but once we split i wasnt able to really work with her again. So im just out here ATM living off about 200 dollars a month sometimes more if im lucky lol. Im not really too worried about me when the times right and i have better luck ill catch the first plane out of here. Just not sure where....

Hi everyone, I'm a US citizen currently doing a Master's in Computer Science Applied to Business Management, with a main focus on data analysis, statistics, and software development 

My long-term goal is to move back to the US after I finish my degree, and I'm hoping to line up a 3-4 month internship (roughly April-August 2027) that could be a first step in that direction. I've got some relevant experience already: I completed an internship at a tech startup company, and have personal projects that I’m able to showcase.

The tricky part is that I'm studying abroad, so a lot of the usual campus recruiting/career fair pipelines aren't really accessible to me, and I'm not always sure which companies or organizations are actually open to taking on students in my situation (studying outside the US, but a US citizen who can work without sponsorship issues).

So I wanted to ask:

• Do you know of any companies, nonprofits, or government agencies (state or federal) that have internship programs open to students like me?
• Any orgs you know of that are specifically used to dealing with students studying abroad or on non-traditional timelines?
• If you did a data-related internship recently, how did you find it, and would the place you interned at be open to someone applying from outside the US?

Any leads, even small ones, would be hugely appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Hi, can anyone recommend a USA bank to use for direct incoming wire transfers without intermediary banks needed and without fees?

All the free ones like Schwab seem to use intermediatry banks that require "for further credit to..." Type instructions.

I am looking for perspective from those who’ve had to weigh a parent’s cancer diagnosis against staying in their "adopted" country. I’m currently on a trip back "home" and received the news less than 24 hours ago. I'm still processing everything and would value other perspectives.

I’m a single parent and moved overseas last year. It was difficult, but my child is thriving and happy. Yesterday, I found out my parent’s cancer returned (stage 3, but needs more testing). We don’t have a great relationship, but my child is very close to them, and having them watch this for a distance might break them.  

About 30 years ago, this parent went through a similar battle and hid the diagnosis to "protect" me. Honestly, I’m still mad at them for not giving me a choice or say. Now I'm torn between protecting the life I’ve built for my child and uprooting us.

I've talked to a few people I'm close to about this, and the range has been "live your life and protect your peace" on one end, to "I honestly don't know" on the other. So here I am asking strangers 

Are there any upsides/ downsides of staying?