I’m done with the United States of America.
Our kids are graduating from high school but aren’t able to read and write or do basic math. People can’t even count back change–they rely on the computer to do that for them.
Our roads and bridges are crumbling.
Rent keeps going up. In 2020, my rent for a one-bedroom apartment here in Las Vegas was $1100 a month. Now, just a little over 2 years later, it’s $1700 a month.
In 2021, car payments averaged about $600 in Nevada. The average now is about $800 a month.
The cost of health care is forcing people into bankruptcy. A family of four will pay an average of $1600 a month for health insurance, and about another $400 for dental insurance. And even with that coverage, they are usually still responsible for a percentage of the hospital bill, anywhere from 20 percent to 80 percent.
There are tens of thousands of homeless people in every large city in America, and that number is growing every day.
Our police won’t stop killing people of color. It seems they don’t care what the consequences are.
There is a mass shooting by some attention-deprived lunatic almost every single day in this country.
Our electoral system is a complete disaster. Citizens are forced to vote for the lesser of two evils. It’s a completely corrupt two-party system that serves no one but politicians.
Corporations are taking over Democracy and it seems no one is doing anything to stop them. It’s like the Wild West out there.
Most people live paycheck to paycheck, so it takes only one major unexpected event to completely upend your life. It could leave you without enough to pay your utilities, or your car payment, or your rent. And if you can’t get caught up in the next month or two, you are at risk of losing everything.
It’s exhausting living this way, always treading water, just managing to stay in the black but never making enough to get ahead or have a little extra.
I have a college degree and a strong work ethic. I have 7 years as an editor in print journalism, 10 years in the restaurant business, 12 years in public transit and security, and 4 years in sales. I’ve worked full time since I was 16 years old, and have been paying into the system my entire life. I’ve never filed for unemployment, never had to go on welfare–thank goodness. But now that I’m almost 60 and getting close to retirement age, it’s dawning on me that I cannot afford to retire here. I cannot afford the health care. Or the rent. Or the price of gasoline. Or non-generic groceries. And I cannot keep going at this pace any longer.
And so, on May 1, I’m leaving this country and heading to Ecuador. If you too are considering living as an expat in another country, then stay tuned, as I intend to post all of my travel adventures right here.
ECUADORIOUS 