Why is the U.S. Urging Citizens to Come Home if They Aren’t Prepared to Take Care of Us? Hana_LaRock Follow Mar 20 · 4 min read

As I write this from self-isolation in Bangkok, learning that the State Department is urging Americans to come back home IMMEDIATELY, I am struggling with what to do. Yes, my husband and I are U.S. citizens, but it is not our home. We have not lived there in seven years.

In fact, we don’t live anywhere. Before coming on this “trip”, we were living in Mexico for three years, where we are residents. In January, we moved our belongings back to my parents’ house (including our dog), and set off on a indefinite journey until we were ready to return and start a new life in the States (with jobs and healthcare and housing, etc.). We had one-way ticket.

When we learned that COVID-19 was getting worse, we planned our “travels” around that. Originally, we had wanted to go to China, but we knew that wasn’t going to be safe or possible. Ultimately, when we were in the Netherlands a few weeks ago and the virus began spreading more to the west, we decided to go to Thailand. At the time, there were not many cases here, and we knew we’d have access to affordable healthcare should anything happen.

Right now, there are thousands, if not tens of thousands, of digital nomads, remote workers, long-term travelers, general travelers who for whatever reason are visiting another country long-term, deportees, refugees, and millions of other cases of people who are in-transit or in a country that’s not their “own.” They don’t have a physical home, nor do they necessarily have many options at their disposal.

Let me say that I know we are not “displaced” in the sense that many others are at this time. We do technically have a choice of where we want to be and go right now. But, please stop saying that I made a bad choice to not return back “home” from my “travels” during a pandemic. Back where? We are not all on vacation. And, we have planned ahead of time, knowing it’d be safer to be abroad than in the U.S. if the virus got worse. Right now, I am reminded that one of the reasons we moved abroad seven years ago in the first place was because we did not have access to healthcare in our home country.

Sure, we could go back to Mexico, but we do not live there anymore. And, most countries around the globe are restricting everyone aside from their own citizens. But, before I rush out on the next plane back to the United States, I have to remember that we do not have health insurance, my parents live in a small apartment where I could be exposing them, etc.

I don’t doubt that the United States government realizes that there are people like us out there. But, I can’t for the life of me understand why my government is urging to us come home if they are not in a position to help us once we get there.

The fact that my husband and I have to sit in our apartment in Bangkok and debate what we’d do if we came back to the United States right now and got sick (after hours on an airplane), should not be. Right now, they are unable to help their own residents and millions of Americans who are uninsured and/or unemployed. Or, people who are undocumented, etc…the list goes on and on.

We do not just have a pandemic crisis in the United States. We have a healthcare crisis that affects Americans year-round. It’s the reason many Americans, like my husband and I, decided to go abroad in the first place. How else could I pursue my career as a writer without proper access to healthcare?

Then, we have another issue. Other countries are closing their borders to non-citizens, and Thailand has only a 30-day entry for foreigners. As a reminder, when we came here, we had planned to stay within our thirty days, then head to Bali and Singapore as part of our route back to the States. Those borders have also closed, and flights on our route have been cancelled.

Sure, we can get an extension here in Thailand, but then what? We have to consider the repercussions of choosing to stay in Thailand. If I don’t make it out of here in time, will we be stranded? For how long? Will we have to go somewhere else? Will we be forced to fly home (if their are still flights) only to contend with the fact that we will be completely helpless and financially ruined if we happen to get sick? And, if we stay abroad, note that most of us writers do not have work right now due to the current situation. And, travel insurance does not cover you in a pandemic.

Right now, it is safer for us to hunker down here. For now. But, that brings up other issues. I have already been quarantined one night and tested for COVID-19 after having symptoms. I tested negative, and the stay was affordable. But, I also realize that I am taking up a bed that should ideally go to a Thai citizen instead of me. And, Thailand, like other countries, has restrictions on how long Americans can stay here, which is being debated as I write this.

Again, as someone in my position, I am speaking from a place of privilege. But, the U.S. government needs to stop encouraging citizens who have are not residents to come home and repatriate, unless they are willing to help us make that transition (and, everyone else while they are at it).

Help us. All of us.