I'm travelling long term at the moment and I'd like to settle to focus on transitioning. I've previously been diagnosed with GID and spent some time in therapy. I'm curious as to where might be best in terms of: ease, acceptance, cost and as a nice place to live?

Any ideas? Where would you settle to transition given the choice?

Reality: Small city, northeast or northwest US
Dream: Australia or New Zealand

Those places seem fairly liberal-minded, high quality of living, reasonable cost (kinda), close and supportive communities but not so afraid of outsiders that it's impossible to become accepted.  Decent, varied weather too.

Ideally, I'd like to find myself a tiny house somewhere away from everybody and hide for two years, like a butterfly.

Quote from: laure_natasha on August 13, 2014, 06:56:17 AM
Any ideas? Where would you settle to transition given the choice?

I would stay right here in the UK.

Tolerant people, generally well mannered, legal protection for being transsexual, anti-discrimination laws at work, cheap medication (£15 every 2 months), free GRS and the easiest name change system anywhere in the world.

Quote from: aaggat on August 13, 2014, 08:10:27 AM
I would stay right here in the UK.

Tolerant people, generally well mannered, legal protection for being transsexual, anti-discrimination laws at work, cheap medication (£15 every 2 months), free GRS and the easiest name change system anywhere in the world.

As would I, for most of the abovementioned reasons. And once my transition is complete I may well leave to go somewhere where people are friendlier and the weather is less sucky.

Quote from: FTMDiaries on August 13, 2014, 08:43:05 AM
... once my transition is complete I may well leave to go somewhere where people are friendlier and the weather is less sucky.

Are you reading my plans? I have something very similar in mind.

I can imagine that the northern Euro countries would be nice - better health system and quite open minded people. In Denmark you can change gender marker without gatekeepers, which is somehow nice. Here in Germany it was not too bad, but insurance covers only part of the needed stuff, albeit more than in the US in many cases.

Reality: Berlin, Germany
Dream: Berlin, Germany

I got a lot of support and nobody really cares that I am transsexual. SRS, BA, speech training, beard removal is covered by the health insurance for all citizens.

I love Berlin :-)

Lara

Ah, but its not that easy. BA coverage is a fight, beard removal as well, especially if one wants lasering. And sadly the downside is that SRS and speech training are a bit less than optimal in Germany. There are better voice coaches and SRS surgeons and Voice surgeons internationally available than in Germany and insurance does not cover them, sadly.

Still - if you have the money you can still choose. So it is an advantage over other countries int hat you CAN get it all on insurance. I dont know how I would have paid for GRS and therapy at my transition age and time as a out of work 23 year old without job education.

I'm from the UK and if/when I return I'd like it to be as me...fresh start. That's why I'm interested in other options.

And yes, the weather is sucky!

In the womb, moments after discovering I've been "hit" with a Y-spermie..."OUT!! OUT, I SAY! BEGONE WITH YE!!"

I'm in a good place in Houston, Texas in terms of medical and therapy support. I have good friends who support me but most live elsewhere. One in particular wants me to move to Memphis but Memphis is Tennessee and Tennessee is about like Texas is generally for trans folk - it can be less than hospitable.

My ideal? Probably the Pacific northwest.

New Zealand is a good place to begin transition.  In my city there are a couple of informed consent therapists, mine referred me after two and a half sessions ($150 a session).  It took me three months from beginning therapy to starting hormones.   My endo visits are free, because healthcare is a human right, and i pay $10 (probably $8US) for three months of blockers and estrogen.  There is no real life test here, which i would find very hard to deal with.  So yeah, i feel very lucky.

New Zealand is a friendly country, however people are just as likely to be bigots here than anywhere else really, you have to watch your back sometimes. 

It seems the floor is being lifted for trans people everywhere at the moment, albeit at a pace that would frustrate the patience of a snail.

I'd love to transition anywhere away from the Bible belt in the US.  Lots of transphobia here it seems like.

UK isn't sounding too bad right now.  I wonder how hard it'd be for me to move there...

Eh.

I'm looking into Seattle. Everyone I've met from there says it would probably be fantastic for me

Montreal. Well... I'd live in Ontario, but the surgery? Pierre Brassard, Montreal.
Not everything is covered here, SRS is. If you have the good fortune to work somewhere that has as part of the benefit package, a drug plan, then the HRT is also covered. Cost of living, not exorbitant in places like Kingston, London, Windsor, Kitchener, Hamilton (starting to get a bit more expensive there...). It's pretty accepting here too. 

Quote from: aaggat on August 13, 2014, 08:10:27 AM
I would stay right here in the UK.

Tolerant people, generally well mannered, legal protection for being transsexual, anti-discrimination laws at work, cheap medication (£15 every 2 months), free GRS and the easiest name change system anywhere in the world.

UK for me. I would go there in an instant. The UK actually gives a damn about its citizens.

Denmark, Sweden or where I am Chicago

Quote from: Beth Andrea on August 13, 2014, 11:51:40 AM
In the womb, moments after discovering I've been "hit" with a Y-spermie..."OUT!! OUT, I SAY! BEGONE WITH YE!!"

And that would be the best answer.

Well, ideally, I'd really like to be around Lake Tahoe. South Lake Tahoe and Tahoe City are both wonderful places I'm drawn to. But... it's looking like I'll be landing near Palm Springs in the near future (another great place). But hey, getting back to Cali is a huge step for me!

Other places of honorable mention (yeah I've traveled a bit, I can't help but think about these):
Pismo Beach, CA (where I lived when I first came out to myself)
Ventura, CA
Hood River, OR
Asheville, NC
Ashland, OR
Santa Cruz, CA
San Diego, CA
Albuquerque, NM
Flagstaff, AZ
Seattle, WA

Quote from: LizMarie on August 13, 2014, 12:37:35 PM
I'm in a good place in Houston, Texas in terms of medical and therapy support. I have good friends who support me but most live elsewhere. One in particular wants me to move to Memphis but Memphis is Tennessee and Tennessee is about like Texas is generally for trans folk - it can be less than hospitable.

My ideal? Probably the Pacific northwest.

I feel my good friends in Memphis I've met in the past couple years (whom I'd now prefer to call family) need to get out and live in other places in the world and gain new perspectives, but at the same time they want to stay and help make Memphis a better place. I don't like seeing them stuck there, but I know that people like that are good for Memphis, and I'm happy to see how much my hometown has progressed recently. Memphis really isn't like Tennessee at all, other than being attached, by default, to a bunch of corrupt police state laws. It has it bad parts, but if you aren't causing trouble, you likely won't be bothered. For me, Memphis destroyed too much of its nature, plus the ocean and mountains have wonderful effects on me. In terms of the Pacific Northwest, I think you're headed in the right direction on that one. It's certainly on my short list. I visited two years ago, and the vibes everywhere were just intensely great!

Sunny SoCal would be perfect.   I guess it's a good thing I live here!

When I was growing up, I probably watched The Rocky Horror Picture Show fifty times.  I always wondered about how awesome a place called "Transsexual Transylvania" would be.  A place where I could sort things out and explore without any fear of judgement.