I didn’t plan to leave the United States when I did. I grew to love my home, my spiritual community, my clients, and the life I had built. But over time, it felt like I was standing in the middle of a storm that wouldn’t end. Everywhere I turned, something was falling apart — the economy, healthcare, politics, the environment, and my relationships with my children.
As an empath, I could feel it all. The collective anxiety. The grief. The anger simmering beneath the surface of daily life. What had once felt familiar began to feel unbearable. And then came the moment I knew I couldn’t stay.
When the Soul Says, “It’s Time to Go”
It didn’t happen overnight. It was a slow unraveling — the kind that starts as a whisper and becomes a roar. Each year, another layer of peace seemed to peel away.
The cost of living climbed higher, the sense of safety lower. Every conversation seemed to circle back to fear — fear of losing jobs, homes, freedoms, or even our lives. The pressure to keep up, stay strong, and “be grateful” grew louder, even as the joy drained away.
For me, it became spiritual. My soul kept saying, “This isn’t freedom anymore.”
I started questioning everything I had accepted as normal — working three side hustles while trying to grow my business, skyrocketing rent, healthcare, political chaos, and the ever-present undercurrent of division and violence. It was as if the entire system was designed to keep people exhausted and disconnected from themselves.
And that’s when I realized: It wasn’t just about leaving a country — it was about leaving a mindset I was raised in. It was about creating something different.
“None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.”
Johann wolfgang von goethe
The Perfect Storm
The decision to move abroad wasn’t one single event. It was a series of awakenings that stacked like waves until they became a storm I couldn’t ignore.
- It was watching the political divide grow so wide that compassion became a casualty.
- It was seeing gun violence take lives faster than we could process, and realizing it had somehow become normal.
- It was working harder for less, and feeling my body rebel against a pace that didn’t feel human.
- It was watching my son relapse and pretend it wasn’t happening, a heartbreak that changed everything.
Each of these became part of the perfect storm—not a tragedy, but a reckoning, a spiritual invitation to choose life, peace, and sanity over familiarity and fear.
Listening to the Call
When I finally saw things as they were, not as I wished them to be, everything shifted. Allowing myself to imagine life beyond the U.S. wasn’t about escaping. It was about telling the truth. And in that truth, I found a strange kind of peace. Accepting what I couldn’t change and choosing to change what I could became the first real act of freedom.
The idea of living slower, freer, and more connected to nature and community was about remembering who I am when I’m not constantly in survival mode, and when facing the truth is no longer treated as an inconvenience.
So I followed the whisper. I packed my bags, said goodbye, and began the journey of becoming an expat — not because I had it all figured out, but because my spirit couldn’t stand the madness any longer.
What’s Next
This is the first episode in a series I’m calling “Why I Left the U.S. — The Perfect Storm.”
Over the next few weeks, I’ll share what led me to this decision: the politics, the fear, the broken systems, the heartache, and the longing for something more.
Each episode will explore one piece of the puzzle, from gun violence to healthcare, from racial division to the spiritual exhaustion that comes when empathy hurts too much to carry.
If you’ve ever felt that quiet ache that says, “There has to be more to life than this,” you’re not alone. This series is for you.
Freedom isn’t a luxury for the few — it’s our birthright, even if sometimes we have to fight to claim it.
Affirmation
I am free to follow the voice of my soul. I trust that peace is not a place — it’s a way of being.
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