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The journey of finding a home. How hard can it be?

I didn't feel quite at home in the country where I grew up, so I set off to experience different ones, and I have been on the road since 2012. I thought I could call home any place I slept that night as long as it was safe and somewhat comfy. However, after being on my own through these years, studying, working, and paying my bills, I found out that finding that safe and comfy home somewhere, committing to it, and simply being allowed to do so can be rather difficult.

I found that my feeling of home is affected by the following three main categories that one has to be happy with:

• Environment (enjoying local food, weather, and both natural and urban landscapes)
• People (fitting the community and culture)
• Administration (economy, education, health care, and other government-related stuff)

In most cases, as long as you have two categories sorted – with the people being one of them, you can be a happy person. But at the same time, if you are moving already, why not nail all three or at least reach two and a half?

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I found that a beautiful environment is pretty much everywhere; that was easy. The second area, people, can be trickier – in different places, people look and, more importantly, think differently. One has to figure out what works best for them, but in the end, good people can be found everywhere, too. The administration category proved the real challenge because many governments say something and act differently.

Let's begin with the United States, a country with some stunning landscapes and a country that gave me the best sense of community I have had so far.

Sadly, the welcoming atmosphere I experienced with the locals was not reflected by the politicians they elected. While some government figures said, "We want productive, hard-working people to come," their policies contradicted such. Even if people wanted to enter legally and only temporarily, they got turned down: earlier this year, Yemen's first journalist to win a Pulitzer Prize, Maad al-Zekri, was denied entry to the US to receive the prize in person because he's from a "wrong country" [1], and stories about musicians stopped at the US borders are not rare [2]. If it is too much hassle just to enter the country to collect a prize or perform a concert, imagine how much pain it is to settle there. A lot, as I found out. Long story short, even though I paid all taxes and did not take any benefits, their tangled double-standard immigration laws left me with no choice but to leave.

Looking at some single transactions circling other sectors, like the recent US-Saudi trades with guns [3], the situation seems clear: journalism, music, and similar fields simply cannot compete in short-term profit margins – which is what many politicians with short election cycles aim for.  Building something in the long run is not fashionable.

One country where I have not experienced such an approach is China. Once they get a project running, they are likely to get something out of it – even if it will be 10 or 15 years. That is one reason why China has been taking the lead in many fields recently; some good stuff just takes time.

China is another fascinating country. Like the US, they have outstanding natural areas and plenty of wonderful people. And when the Chinese government talks, it sounds nice too: they promote values in many fields that I appreciate, like education, communication internationalization, ecology... However, it seems like the Chinese government also champion that "say something, then act differently" attitude.

Starting with education – China is, indeed, putting loads of funds into universities, and it shows. But at the same time, they block access to Wikipedia and a huge amount of other online learning resources. You can't objectively support education when you actively suspend access to it from your people. The flow of information is so restricted; it is mind-boggling. Suppose I want to message a friend or family by the service of my choice – too bad. Most Western social networks and messaging platforms are unavailable to ordinary Internet users unless they connect through a loophole into a different country. Yet, government-owned media corporations use those to promote their stories. I saw a paid post on Twitter about how China's good and outlets such as the BBC and the NY Times are "Fake News." Speaking of news, every time I saw national TV talking about Western people, they screened footage of fat folks in fast food. And if they spoke of Western governments, it was a rather sad picture too. China promotes being humble and accepting and claims to be open-minded to different cultures and beliefs. But it is hard to feel it after they show a news broadcast packed with negative stereotypes about other countries and finish by highlighting their nation's superiority.

I see tremendous potential in China, and in many ways, Western countries could learn from it. But as a place to live, for me, it just wasn't there yet.

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Years passed, and after a few other stops, such as my unsuccessful attempt to live in the Netherlands, I eventually ended up in Scotland – where I am based at the moment. They don't judge me for my race or accent, and they don't discriminate by gender or faith. Instead, it feels that if people contribute with some skills and knowledge to the local community and economy, they are treated well. From my experience, Scotland's education is first class, the health care works, and culture is accessible. The local museums are free of charge, and there are excellent land-use laws so that one can hike or cycle across the gorgeous Scottish mountains without worries. For once, it is fantastic.

This situation, unfortunately, can change rather quickly. As it happened, plenty of people in the United Kingdom, which Scotland is (still) a part of, think that immigration is a source of misery to their country. Similar to what I experienced in the US, many find it easier to blame immigration instead of sorting their wealth redistribution problems, violence issues, or unemployment figures. It seems like a common scheme: many people look at the passport color rather than the holders' merits, just as they vote for politicians based on their party rather than their agenda. Back to my issue, thanks to the people in England, the UK is leaving the European Union, and the fate of the EU residents is uncertain. I am having my fingers crossed that the UK won't screw up; however, at this point, nobody knows what will happen with immigration laws in the long run, and the whole Brexit chaos caused the opportunities for people like me to plummet already. And without a decent living, a natural paradise is of no use. So, I've been looking at other potential places to move to, and because of my language limits, I focused my search on places outside Europe again.

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That's when the idea for this article originated, as the real problem is, for an average human being, even just going beyond the boundary of the region where they have citizenship is often a massive headache; never mind settling and living there. The governments justify the visas-related paperwork and fees for "safety reasons," but lately, I can't get rid of a feeling that it is just one heck of a business. Some of them are even bold about it: The other day, I browsed a magazine and saw a good-sized advertisement for buying citizenship:

Money can buy the easiest and fastest way to obtain entry into any country, and indeed, many countries have designated programs to cash on it [4,5]. Let's talk numbers. Say, you weren't born in the EEA, but money isn't an issue, and you want to live in the United Kingdom – there's the Investor Visa for you. To get Tier 1, you currently need £2 million to invest and some £2K in gov and insurance fees. Then, after five years, you can apply to settle, and the job is done. Or, you can invest £10 million and apply just after two years. You should get the decision within three weeks, but don't worry, you can pay an extra £500 and get it in five days [6]. The USA, with its EB-5 visa, is "more affordable." You need between $500,000 to $1 million, depending on the area you want to invest, and some $4K in fees [7]. However, that will change by the end of this year, as the US Department of Homeland Security announced that the price would hike to $900,000 – $1.8m this November [8]. Still, you can get legal residency only after about two years. Any other visas take much more time and effort.

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It makes me think: Should the freedom to move be a fundamental right one should strive for, like when people rightfully demand to be treated equally, regardless of their skin color? Or should living in your desired place be luxury, like owning a Rolls Royce? With the citizenships being sold for hefty price tags as a valuable commodity to the market, it appears to be the second at the moment. Being born in "your ideal country" is about as much luck as being born to a wealthy family.

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I see challenges in life as an opportunity for people to improve themselves. If everything were too easy for us, we wouldn't become any better – and what would be the point of such life? Therefore, I feel like figuring out how to navigate this concept of home is just one of the quests I need to get through. Perhaps, one day, I will find my close-to-perfect place. Or maybe it's me who needs to change to find a home. What do I know? And so, the roller coaster goes on. Due to the strange ways life sometimes goes, I wrote most of this text in Italy. Who knows. The world can be a bit of a riddle, but it is an amazing place to be. I am continuing my search, trying to keep my smile on. And I will keep on.

Sources:

1. Yemeni Journalist Denied Entry to US to Receive Pulitzer Prize: I am Disappointed yet Defiant (Medium, 2019) [https://medium.com/@Afrahnasser/yemeni-journalist-denied-entry-to-us-to-receive-pulitzer-prize-i-am-disappointed-yet-defiant-b619338e9335]
2. Three More SXSW-Bound Bands Denied Entry Into The US (The Record/NPR, 2017) [https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2017/03/13/520010920/three-more-sxsw-bound-bands-denied-entry-into-the-u-s]
3. Trump uses veto to unblock $8bn weapons sale to Saudi Arabia (BBC News, 2019) [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-49106989]
4. What price would you put on a passport? (BBC News, 2017) [https://www.bbc.com/news/business-41013873]
5. How The World's Wealthiest Obtain 'Golden Passports' To The UK And EU (Forbes, 2019) [https://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddawkins/2019/07/22/the-worlds-wealthiest-embrace-covert-and-secretive-service-granting-golden-passports-to-uk-and-eu/]
6. Investor visa (Tier 1): Overview (GOV.UK, 2019) [https://www.gov.uk/tier-1-investor/]
7. About the EB-5 Visa Classification (USCIS, 2019) [https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/permanent-workers/employment-based-immigration-fifth-preference-eb-5/about-the-eb-5-visa-classification/]
8. EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program Modernization Rule (USCIS, 2019) [https://www.uscis.gov/archive/questions-and-answers-eb-5-immigrant-investor-program-modernization-rule/]

Accessed in Aug 2019

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If you have thoughts on this topic, please feel free to get in touch. I love to hear others' standpoints. Otherwise, since you made it all the way here, you might also like these posts:

In "Airport Stories," you will find many short tales from the transportation hubs that facilitated my journeys between countries.

Alternatively, see details about my artwork "Duality," which is about the many sides of the challenges we face. It's the source of the picture atop this article.

You can also browse my Blog Archives for other topics and categories. Thanks for reading!