I was born in Pittsburgh, and after extensive interviewing (including at RAND and CERT), I'm seriously considering emigration.
If you had the above experience, where would you go?
I'm eligible for an Italian passport "jus sanguias"[1].
So far, the only places that have made serious overtures are North Korea and Israel, but I suspect I wouldn't be a cultural fit -- both have legal cannabis, but I like to eat so NK isn't a fit, and I'm a lifelong Palestinian rights advocate and uh... not Jewish... so they're off the table despite having a lot of their folks into crypto as in cryptography.
I'd joked before COVID I wanted to be a digital nomad and take the train from Moscow to Bejing, but not really inclined to give either tourism dollars and glorious cyberpunk Hong Kong isn't doing so great either so uhh... suggestions?
Where would you go if you woke up one morning and felt like your US Passport was worthless?
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_nationality_law#Attribution_of_citizenship_through_jus_sanguinis
Back in 2000, California looked really nice on our honeymoon, but I've heard it's all gone way down hill since then.
You're talking emigration, not just 'nomading'--which is that grey area of having a tourist visa but working remotely, thus technically you're not working illegally within that country.
Since most countries are very strict about emigration, yes even EU ones, your best bet is to go for that Italian citizenship which if gained will grant you EU citizenship, and thus the right to free movement of working in the EU. From that, you can leverage working elsewhere in the world.
Fun fact: got a friend who has the same benefit as you--he got IT citizenship thanks to both his parents, now lives & works in Milano in cybersecurity.
> felt like your US Passport was worthless
Don't say that. Don't even joke about that. You must have no oversea-living experience: a US passport will never be worthless - It's priceless--it's the best insurance you'll ever own - no, that you have a Right to - when traveling & working overseas. It'll allow access to more countries than any other passport; it'll help more than hurt your chances for employment in many countries; it'll provide you diplomatic services that most other countries have never and will never provide their citizens; and when the worse happens, it'll allow the US embassy staff to get your ass out of a country (yes, brooking the local rules of law) before you get thrown into its prisons -- even if YOU are the one at fault. If the 'worser' happens, it could be a literal 'get out of jail Free card' for you, depending on the diplomatic relations between the US and that country.
There is great divide between civility (you are part of a culture because of your values) and ethnicity (you are part of a culture because you share a history with other people from that culture -- your parents were that culture).
There is a great divide between high trust and low trust societies.
There is a great divide between rich and poor.
There is a great divide between liberalism and authoritarianism.
(mostly) Functioning institutions in a high trust, rich, liberal, civil society, which America, particularly educated America, is, is an oxygen you don't know you are breathing.
A little travel will let you be a little asphyxiated and therefore more appreciative of American institutions and culture.
It will also show you that America is definitely in decline and that American exceptionalism is ridiculous. San Francisco is a horrible city compared to many abroad.
The Romanian language can at times sound Italian. You could bounce between the two countries.
As far as non-italian destinations go, what languages do you speak?
I get that you feel that but you have no idea how privileged that sounds...a huge chunk of humanity would love to trade places with you. Even Europe isn't having a ball lately economically. I really do hope you immigrate somewhere just to get a healthy perspective on your situation.