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Some Say They'd Flee Trump's America. These People Actually Did
New York Times ^ | 04/12/2018 | Ronda Kaysen

Posted on 04/14/2018 4:38:31 AM PDT by SeekAndFind

Peering into a webcam, her face intermittently frozen over an iffy Skype connection in Medellin, Colombia, Lizz Quain was explaining not long ago why she uprooted her 9-year-old twins almost a year and a half ago to travel the world.

Ms. Quain, who is in her 40s, owned a children’s play cafe and preschool near Seattle before she renounced her American middle-class existence in August 2016, fed up with what she described as a stifling, consumerist culture.

Once Donald J. Trump was elected president, she made a common liberal refrain — “If Trump wins, I’m leaving the country” — reality, deciding not to return home with her daughters, Aubrey and Gabriella. After traveling through Asia and Europe, she is now figuring out how to start a business selling products through Amazon to finance the life of an itinerant-by-choice single mother.

“If the G.O.P. gets out of office, if our education system improves, if we get universal health care, I’ll move back to the States because we’ll get tired of traveling,” Ms. Quain said. But until that utopian day arrives, “We’re unplugging from the Matrix.”

The Quains are not the only family that has of late dispensed with the trappings of the American dream (house, school, career) and gone nomad. Hopping from one vacation rental to the next or piling into R.V.s, they have sold or rented out their homes and unloaded most of their possessions, financing their travels with savings or work done remotely.


(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: america; colombia; flee; lizzquain; medellin; trump
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To: moovova
“We’re unplugging from the Matrix.”

she is now figuring out how to start a business selling products through Amazon to finance the life of an itinerant-by-choice single mother.

Cognitive dissonance.

41 posted on 04/14/2018 5:59:53 AM PDT by Sooth2222 (Hanlon's Razor: "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.")
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To: SeekAndFind

Good for her.

And us.


42 posted on 04/14/2018 6:02:16 AM PDT by WayneS (An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last. - Winston Churchill.)
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To: Iron Munro

That’s right, the facts in the story itself don’t support the story line (narrative) . Makes you wonder how stories like this get manufactured. Did the reporter start with a desired narrative and then went looking for the closest thing that that might support it?


43 posted on 04/14/2018 6:02:32 AM PDT by aquila48
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To: SeekAndFind
in Medellin, Colombia ... she is now figuring out how to start a business selling products through Amazon to finance the life of an itinerant-by-choice single mother.

Meanwhile, it's a beautiful spring day here in NC. My plans today include mowing the yard and taking my mom for a drive in the country. After that, we might stop for ice cream. Trump's America sure sucks /s.

44 posted on 04/14/2018 6:05:21 AM PDT by silent_jonny ("forward to what lies ahead" -- Phil. 3:13)
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To: SeekAndFind

Glad to be free of her idiocy!!!


45 posted on 04/14/2018 6:06:36 AM PDT by ontap
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To: SeekAndFind

Good riddance.


46 posted on 04/14/2018 6:10:52 AM PDT by ought-six (Multiculturalism is national suicide, and political correctness is the cyanide capsule.)
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To: GnuThere

If I were starting over with kids, I’d spend at least a year out of our country so they could all add a second language early on.


47 posted on 04/14/2018 6:15:45 AM PDT by aMorePerfectUnion (Q is Admiral Michael S. Rogers)
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To: GnuThere

Done right, it can be pretty cool.

My son was born in Sweden and has travelled widely. He’s been in 20-25 countries including being north of the Arctic Circle and south of the Equator.

And yes, he speaks English, Spanish and Swedish.

But it is all for a reason. He is one of the most grounded, mannered and thoughtful kids you could ever want to meet.

The difference is the baggage you take along. You can either choose to listen and learn about cultures, differences and history, or you can keep the same thoughts and beliefs and stay closed minded.

We chose the former.


48 posted on 04/14/2018 6:19:08 AM PDT by Bartholomew Roberts
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To: ronnie raygun

Probably more like couldn’t afford it.


49 posted on 04/14/2018 6:26:39 AM PDT by ealgeone
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To: SeekAndFind
“This is supposed to be a happy occasion...”
50 posted on 04/14/2018 6:35:36 AM PDT by Caipirabob (Communists...Socialists...Fascists & AntiFa...Democrats...Traitors... Who can tell the difference?)
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To: newnhdad

Isn’t it incredible what can be published in the NY Times??

Maybe it’s not longer surprising, but still difficult to believe, that an allegedly great paper can be such fishwrap.


51 posted on 04/14/2018 6:37:21 AM PDT by Enchante (FusionGPS "dirty dossier" scandal links Hillary, FBI, CIA, Dept of Justice... "Deep State" is real)
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To: SeekAndFind
She somehow landed in Medellin, Colombia?


52 posted on 04/14/2018 6:38:43 AM PDT by Iron Munro (To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize. -- Voltaire.)
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To: SeekAndFind

she is now figuring out how to start a business selling products through Amazon

Her and 3 billion others around the world.


53 posted on 04/14/2018 6:40:30 AM PDT by Iron Munro (To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize. -- Voltaire.)
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To: SeekAndFind
The story ends with this:

Seeing Latin America has been eye-opening. When Mr. Trump was elected, “we both felt like, ‘Gosh, maybe we want to move to Europe,’” Mr. Jernstrom said from Chile. But “this trip has made me appreciate so much about how much we have in the U.S. It’s made me feel like I want to go back to the U.S. and make things better at home.”

It starts like an anti-Trump screed but really shows two things - 1) People dissatisfied with their lives can find a less-expensive existence in other parts of the world and 2) The internet allows people who can make a living through the web to live virtually anywhere and still make a living.

FWIW, I'm making plans to leave the country once I retire and move to Central America where I can live reasonably well on just my pensions and social security. I can spend more of my time serving Christ instead of serving an employer since I won't have to punch a 40-hour clock in order to pay rent and afford health care.

It's not about who is in the White House. It's about how I can retire sooner and not fall into debt in my "golden years".

54 posted on 04/14/2018 6:45:35 AM PDT by OrangeHoof (CNN has covered nothing this week except Stormy Daniels and Trump's poll numbers rose 7 points.)
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To: a fool in paradise

That’s the lifestyle of a lot of RV folks too...most of whom are likely Trump supporters.


55 posted on 04/14/2018 6:55:16 AM PDT by yetidog
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To: SeekAndFind

They should move to Venezuela where they should feel right at home.


56 posted on 04/14/2018 7:02:56 AM PDT by broken_arrow1 (I regret that I have but one life to give for my country - Nathan Hale "Patriot")
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To: Bartholomew Roberts

“You can either choose to listen and learn about cultures, differences and history, or you can keep the same thoughts and beliefs and stay closed minded.

So on target. I have (and still do) love to travel but getting older, married to someone who hates and fears international travel and with a fixed retirement income, I don’t do as much travel as I used to. I have always said that 2 weeks in a foreign country is a better educational experience than a year at college.


57 posted on 04/14/2018 7:05:05 AM PDT by yetidog
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To: SeekAndFind

Some Say They’d Flee Trump’s America. These People Actually Did

Doing their best to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN.


58 posted on 04/14/2018 7:08:12 AM PDT by JayAr36 (Washinton DC, District of Corruption proven daily)
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To: yetidog

Aren’t they retirees?

Are they claiming to be ridding themselves of consumerist AmeriKKKa?


59 posted on 04/14/2018 7:11:53 AM PDT by a fool in paradise (Ads for Chappaquiddick warn of scenes of tobacco use. What about the hazards of drunk driving?)
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To: SeekAndFind
Some Say They'd Flee Trump's America. These People Actually Did

The REAL question is: Has ANYONE missed her, or really give a sh*t?

60 posted on 04/14/2018 7:44:30 AM PDT by 21st Century Crusader (If you are not standing for The Flag or The Anthem, you damn well better be in a wheelchair!)
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