My heart belongs to Europe, 100%. I’ve been very ill and disabled since childhood, I couldn’t afford my medications in the USA, just one essential medication was 2.000 USD per month.

So that was the primary reason I left. There are others, like:

the human rights violations committed by the American state, domestically and abroad,

and the mass shootings.

and the apparent reluctance to acknowledge, much less prepare for, climate change in some circles.

and the lack of abortion rights.

and how shite the American public education can be, and how expensive private education can be.

It’s possible Trump could get elected POTUS.

Etc, etc., etc. I don’t want to raise my kid there for a plethora of reasons.

I love how dynamic, open-hearted and fun Americans are, and of course the USA contains many natural wonders. I don’t dislike America or Americans at all, this isn’t personal.

But life in Norway is better by pretty much every metric, so I’m staying put here.

I left because I knew I wouldn’t remain rich if I stayed in the USA.

I’ve been disabled since childhood, and even with my dad’s great insurance the medical bills were colossal. And once I graduated college I couldn’t get insurance, COBRA was running out… and one of my essential prescriptions, just one, was TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS A MONTH.

I was skipping essential doctor’s visits and putting myself at real risk of a real medical catastrophe… so I decided to move somewhere my money - a moderate-sized inheritance plus what I had saved modeling - could stretch a bit further.

Best choice of my life. Even not being on the NHS, my prescription costs went from thousands of dollars to ~£220 per month. Still a lot, but way less. And once I was on the NHS they were ~£109 per year.

…I was also totally disgusted by the USA’s many human rights violations, NGL. I’m leery of any society that is cool with torture.

As a professional patient:

Once you have a personal number, the Norwegian system is smooth as silk, it really is brilliant. I’m getting a power chair and a chair lift soon, along with a bunch of consults and a MRI (there is an imaging facility in the mall, bloody amazing).

Prior to having a personal number, getting the healthcare I needed was a huge bitch - I had to go the ER every month for my prescriptions and docs who don’t know you hate writing scripts for fentanyl - but the system was blind to my existence, so I can’t hate.

The NHS was easily dealt with, at least for me.

TBH the USA’s system has been both the most expensive and the most fragmented, but I may have just gotten lucky with the others.

What are you afraid of missing out on, OP?

I will say you’ve not been there long, and (for me) the five-month mark is the hardest time of a relocation. I am dazzled by a new environment at first, but that fades, and then I see all of the downsides and miss my old home and friends desperately.

If you keep going, you will very likely find way to make a life for yourself in Canada.

But there is no shame in turning back, and TBH that seems to be what you want, understandably.