My advice? Get organized, get nerdy. Make a list of countries that interest you. Do a two-week deep dive for each, researching everything you can find online about their available immigration pathways, and make spreadsheets or take notes or whatever. Figure out what you qualify for or what you need to work toward.

I recommend this because it sounds like you haven’t done specific research on a lot of these countries you’re considering. For example, you said your parents “have more money and would qualify on their own”, but of the countries on your list, only Spain and Ireland offer golden-visa-type residency permits for people who buy high-value real estate. And that would potentially be an option for your parents (can they buy a 500,000 euro property in Spain?), but wouldn’t help you.

Know that many European countries have fewer services for trans health care than US blue states. It’s not widely available most places, so do your research if being on hormones or getting surgery matters to you. US states like MA and WA, along with Canada, are among the best places in the world for trans health care.

Your options as young people without a lot of money are generally to look for jobs abroad (once you have your degrees and some work experience, because foreign companies won’t sponsor people right out of school), to study abroad, to claim ancestry-derived citizenship if applicable, or to come into a lot of money. You could also get jobs with a US company with foreign offices and have them transfer you internationally. Not as simple as it sounds, but it does happen.

Also, you mentioned several countries where English is not the official language. Do any of you speak a language other than English?

What you’re proposing isn’t impossible, but it is likely a multi-year project requiring a lot of time, effort, organization, money, and a bit of luck.

I do wish you the best. We can help more if you have specific questions.

I’m Canadian and have lived both here and abroad, including in the US and Europe. I am less skeptical of the desire to live in a rural area than some other posters (my family is from Northern Ontario and I have a deep love of the natural landscape and certain elements of the lifestyle), so let me offer you some pragmatic comments and questions:

• Have you visited Canada, and the area in question? Have you researched the challenges of living in a northern rural area? My grandparents live in a rural area within a 90-minute drive of Sudbury, Ontario (far less remote than you’re contemplating) and while there are some wonderful perks, there are also significant challenges. I am happy to go into detail if you like, so ask if you have not already researched, but you would definitely want this information one way or another.
• What immigration basis would you use to move to Canada? Have you confirmed that there is a pathway for which you qualify?
• What are your medical needs? Canada and NZ both refuse immigration to otherwise qualified individuals if they have conditions that would pose an undue burden to the public health care system. In Canada, the 2023 cost threshold was $128,445 over 5 years (or $25,689 per year). That is, if you will need medical care costing that much or more, you will be denied even if otherwise qualified. A physical examination by an immigration-certified doctor is a required part of the immigration process.
• Classification of political views as “advanced” or not is a fraught adventure, but since that seems to matter to you, be aware that in Canada, rural areas are generally more traditional along certain axes.

I have never set foot in NZ so cannot opine on that point. I will answer questions about Canada if I can be of aid.

Let’s start with the obvious: the book’s philosophical message has all the substance of a motivational cat poster. It’s a loose collection of ersatz axioms that are intended to sound profound, but are really just insubstantial fluff that cannot survive thirty seconds of serious examination. The essential ingredients are fate, theism, and optimism laced together with new age mysticism.

The regressive portrayal of women is irritating, but the rest of the book was so inane I barely had the energy to be annoyed by it.

Above all: the writing is terrible. Be prepared to sigh tiredly, again and again, as the author eschews all subtlety or nuance, and capitalizes every Important Concept to help you achieve Deep Understanding. There are no characters in this book, only wooden mouthpieces for would-be revelation.

It’s essentially a motivational self-help book with a fairy tale vibe. Fine if you want that, but I think people dislike the book so intensely because they’re expecting literature and they get…that.