Americans -- if you were banned from the U.S. where would you go?

Italy, France, or Spain. I very well may retire in one of those countries. Civilized, beautiful, congenial, rational.

US citizen here. First choice is already the UK where the SO lives. Past that, we visited Amsterdam earlier this year, and that city seems ideal. As to why, their philosophy of, yes, we have rules/laws, but as long as an individual’s behaviour isn’t harming others, we turn a blind eye, seems reasonable.

Any English speaking country.

Costa Rica.

I’ll be with @zenvello. Hanging out in Italy, Spain, or France.

I’m already a Canadian-American citizen, so Canada.

But if you were banned from Canada, the U.S. and the U.K.—where, then?

I’ve never been to Iceland but I think I might like it.

Costa Rica or Ecuador

@Yellowdog I’ve only seen the airport but what I saw from the plane as we landed looked like I would imagine the moon to look. That was in the 70s so it could all be different now.

Agreed— but its a literate, intelligent, educated culture and removed from the world’s politics,

I live on St. Lucia, about 1,500 miles southeast of Miami. Been here five years. I like it. I have a sailboat, I make a good living, my taxes pay for any healthcare needs, it’s a small democratic republic. Very expensive. You see the Prime Minister around, in cafes and restaurants, etc. I see his wife a lot when I shop. People aren’t snarky and rude like they are in America. Among the locals, there is very little drug abuse, so you don’t the horrendous crimes you have in the states. People here are actually very old school. Very polite, very gentle. There’s no posturing and no need for it.

If not here, I would go to either France or Italy. I’ve been there and I like the cultures, the food. They, like St. Lucia, are also Social Democracies and, as a legal resident, my income taxes would pay for all my healthcare needs, any education I would want and qualify for, my pension there would be much better than my pension from the states.

The States aren’t that great anymore. The people are incredibly parochial, ignorant of other cultures compared to most other first world countries—hell, even their so-called “left” is intolerant. The States have become a punitive, bullying, ignorant society. It’s not easy to live there. They have more people in their prisons per capita than any other country in the world, their government takes their taxes and gives very little of it back in services like quality education and healthcare. It’s nuts and what is even crazier—the people put up with it.

Go figure.

Oh, yeah. The States also have a huge drug problem affecting every level of their society and the government’s answer to that isn’t rehabilitation, but more imprisonment. It’s really stupid. It is a bullying, punitive society.

I think I would start in the South of France.

I recently found out that since my grandfather was born in Ireland, I am eligible to be listed as a foreign born registry, so I would probably go to Ireland. It is a real possibility anyway, in the not-too-distant future.

The latest “drug problem” in the US is prescribed opioid addiction. It must be a problem if you can see advertisements for laxatives to treat opioid induced constipation! It’s even referred to by the acronym “OID”.

I’d tend choose any of (in rough order): Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, France, New Zealand, Austria, Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Germany, Portugal, Spain, San Marino, Australia, Finland, before others.

I would include Ireland and Ulster as open for one to occupy, in the scope of this question, but not England or Scotland or Wales.

Ireland is different enough to not be like the U.K. or the U.S. or Canada.

New Zealand, Southeast Asia, yeah Ireland too…

Australia, New Zealand China or Ireland.

New Zealand—I never realized the ambiance and culture and landscape until The Lord of the Rings movie came out. I’d really like to live there. But I’m used to July being Summer and December being cold. Not sure I could adjust to Yule being like Jul. Or November being a warm Springtime day. Since they still HAVE the same seasons I guess its just a Holiday association thing.

Ireland, Iceland, Denmark, New Zealand or France – not necessarily in that order. France would probably be the most likely for me since I speak some French and my son lives there but I think French society would be hard to become part of.

@Yellowdog Ireland and Ulster…but not England or Scotland or Wales.

Scotland and Wales are part of the UK, and already included in the ban.

Ulster is part of Ireland!

I would want to go to Australia or New Zealand.

Yes, that is why I said Wales and Scotland are included.

The cultures are different slightly, to North Americans—but probably not different enough to be all that foreign to North Americans to make them hard to adapt to,

I know that Ulster is Irish, but many identify themselves as U.K, culturally (the “Ulster Scot” is dominant in the land—not typical Irish but not Scottish Highlander types either)— and furthermore many want Ulster to be an independent country altogether. Since they are so different from the regular Irish I have a habit of mentioning them separate. Some Canadians, such as Quebec, are so French that they should probably be designate as French Canadians, as distinct from English Canadians.

Most of Ulster is in the U.K., so they are Brexiting too.

I didn’t know that—I was wrong Followed it for years but always assumed Ulster was part of Ireland.

Wow—thanks for correcting this. I don’t think I ever told it to anyone who knew or cared what Ulster was, but I’ve been espousing something incorrect for many years. Thanks.

Well, Ulster is part of the six counties that make up Northern Ireland, the part that is still in the UK. The Republic of Ireland is the 26 counties in the South that broke off from the UK as @zenvelo and others have said. Ireland is largely Catholic while Northern Ireland is split between Catholics and the descendants of the Anglo-Protestants who came there.

I guess I knew this at one time that Ireland was part of the UK but Ulster has always seemed independently minded. I’m going to try to learn more about this because I’m interested again.

I’ve never been to Australia, but it sounds good. Maybe New Zealand. Other choices that sound good, but I haven’t been there, Spain, Costa Rica, Singapore, or maybe some Polynesian or Caribbean island. I like the warm weather.

Western Europe (even outside of Spain) is a possibility also, but I’d like the skies not to be overcast all the time. Northern Europe might be too dark in the winter and too cold. I might go stir crazy. Germany is beautiful, most people speak English and they bend over backwards for Jews right now, except for the fact that there is still NeoNazi activity in pockets, but we have that in America too.

I think far southwestern Canada. I’ve been there a couple of times, they speak English and my family would most likely fly up to visit me.
If I had no family, perish the thought, probably Costa Rica or Tasmania.

I’d look to a country that provides well for refugees, since that’s exactly what you’d be.

This question is a bit ridiculous. Essentially you’re asking, “if you were stripped on your citizenship and forced to leave the country, what would your ideal next choice of country be?” Well, it’d be wherever we could get, with whoever would take us. Without a passport, it might be impossible to fly via US airports, and who says you wouldn’t be rounded up and put into camps as soon as you arrived in whatever asylum country you’re going for?

I know all us Americans think of ourselves as the most important people in the world, but refugees are a hard sell to any nation. No one is just going to accept a stateless refugee because they’re white and English speaking. Canada or Mexico though, would probably be the only workable options for most people here.

Yeah, that’s why I asked the question. But excellent points.