Moving abroad sounds like an exotic escape from America’s chaos. Grief and guilt often follow
Published
July 11, 2026 6:30AM (EDT)
Middle-aged woman in glasses and a cardigan packs a suitcase for a trip. (Natalia Lebedinskaia via Getty Images)
In September 2025, Ruby Mora, a 34-year-old from Pennsylvania, packed her bags and moved to the Netherlands with her husband. As a neurodivergent Puerto Rican-Mexican woman, she didn’t feel safe in Trump’s America anymore. A community effort helped her finance the relocation and she also secured a visa called DAFT (Dutch-American Friendship Treaty), allowing her to live and work in the Netherlands as a self-employed entrepreneur. While she is just starting to feel settled today, nearly a year later, she never would have expected the complicated and challenging emotions that would surface after the move — and how long they’d last.
