Notes from the Sub-Basement of Mars

Sometime soon, hopefully this year, we are moving to a different country. There are a few reasons why we are doing this, and I thought explaining why we’re doing this would make a decent second post. As I said previously, I have a history of desperately wanting to journal and get my thoughts down, but I typically give up a week or so later. The amount of journals I own with only the first few pages used is nothing short of embarrassing.

However, I did not pay $102 dollars for those journals.
Okay, maybe collectively.

Dormouse and I started dating in May of 2013. We both were in Southern California, and knew we had to get out of there. Dormouse was in school, spending an absurd portion of their day commuting. I was making pretty good money at the time, but the cost of living was so high that my paycheck almost immediately disappeared. It was incredibly frustrating.
In 2015 we moved to Portland, which was very nice. We both agree that if we could move anywhere, it would be Portland in 2015. However, as time went on, we found ourselves dealing with new issues we were not prepared for. I was diagnosed with a life-changing condition, and our money soon ran low.
In 2018, we moved to Ohio. The less said about that time, the better.
In 2020, we moved to Texas. Dormouse’s family is almost entirely here, and we decided to join them.
Five years later, we’re looking to move again.

Even though I spend a lot of my time here in the sub-basement of Mars, I spend a majority of it in Central Texas. For anybody who has read the news in the past, oh, ten years or so, things are getting bad stateside. I’m not going to go into extensively, because you probably know. It may be directly affecting you, and if it is, I offer my condolences.
Dormouse and I have found ourselves waking up in the morning and checking our phones to see if the country we’ve lived in our entire lives still agree that we are people who deserve rights. It is not good for us.

I believe Travis McElroy said something along the lines of “Moving will not fix your problems. You will move away from some, and find others.” Having lived in seven states all over the country, I find the to be devastatingly true. Finding healthcare immediately is incredibly difficult. Without it, the medication I take to remain alive would cost around $3000 a month.

I’m rambling again.

Long story short, our values do not align with our country. I don’t know if I ever did, but we can save that topic for therapy. I’m hoping our new home will be more sympathetic to us, or at least not actively working against us. So far our experience has been surprisingly manageable. We met (virtually) with a Swedish immigration attorney, or at least somebody who is knowledgeable on the topic, and it seems like the process, while long, will be easy for us to navigate. We’re taking weekly Swedish lessons from a wonderful teacher. My father’s side of the family lives there, and I’m incredibly excited to spend more time with them.

All in all, we are looking forward to this move. It is daunting, but I know we can do this.