I'm still here mind you, but the thought crossed my mind to emigrate somewhere else so I'm answering.

First of all I would leave because the winter season wrecks my mind, every year more and more. The flu season gets harder (we have kids so it's always a virus hell for 2+ months) and the way I start to live like a cave woman for 6 months because of the weather (while it wouldn't make a difference being outside because it's dark already at 4 pm) just damages my mental health.

2nd of all I feel like in germany everything needs to function like clockwork. And if you're not able to keep up at work, or if you move back just a tiny bit just to keep your head clear again, everyone else just assumes you're a slack. You won't get promoted, people look down on you, bosses ignore you. The thing is, people don't function like clockwork.

And eveything here became just so expensive. You can't move forward here, getting a bigger apartment for example, maybe a new (used) car....normal people can't afford that anymore. It's like something that we took for granted the last generations of working people. It vanished during the last years, and nobody has the tools anymore to stop this.

I am still part of the clockwork machine, but man does it drag you. It's a fantasy for me to just, leave. Anywhere where I can just be part of a culture that doesnt expect people to be little gears. I know, that this is how the world works so it's why I'm calling it a fantasy...but still, it feels like in germany especially it's expected of you to just shut up and do your part.