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By Daniella Gray
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An American mom is going viral for her reasons to move her family out of the United States.
Thirty-eight-year-old Tanya Rasmussen, who has three sons with husband Rodney Rasmussen, 41, shared that the decision to leave Seattle wasn’t one made lightly and instead fueled by a “slow burn” that eventually became impossible to ignore.
“Moving wasn't about a political team for us,” Tanya told Newsweek. “It was about putting our children in a system where the pillars of their life, health, schools and environment are actually protected and based on facts.”
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After the 2024 election, Tanya and Rodney decided to wait six months before making any irreversible decisions. Instead, things went from bad to worse in her view.
Everyday expenses continued to rise, and tariffs directly impacted their e-commerce business, squeezing a household that already relied on two full-time incomes plus a side venture.
“We were technically ‘making it’ with two high-paying jobs and a side business, but we were working ourselves to death,” Tanya said.
As the months passed, it became clear that the changes underway in the U.S. were not temporary disruptions but signs of a longer-term transformation—one that deeply concerned her as a parent.
Her worries shifted decisively from short-term political turbulence to the long-term systems her children would inherit. Deep cuts to non-defense spending—23 percent in just one year—felt to her like watching critical safety nets unravel.
“It’s been heartbreaking to see the National Park Service lose a quarter of its staff—those beautiful spaces in Utah and Washington were such a huge part of our lives—and now it feels like they’re being treated as land to be sold off for drilling and mining rather than treasures for our children,” Tanya explained.
Education was another breaking point. With the Department of Education being dismantled and college costs continuing to climb, she said her children’s academic futures felt increasingly uncertain.
Financial stress, paired with daily anxiety over mass shootings and gun violence, created what she called an unsustainable way of life.
All of these factors contributed to “irreparable damage,” she said in a reel on Instagram (@hylo.abroad) which garnered 1.4 million views on the platform.
Ultimately, the family relocated to the Netherlands. Although being apart from friends and family, life, she said, is “slower and simpler.”
“The Dutch don’t worship capitalism; in fact, they value the opposite—anything second-hand or sustainable is king,” Tanya said.
Although her family owns less and spends less, they fill their time with activities they find enriching. Proximity to the rest of Europe has made travel easier and more affordable.
Her children are also learning Dutch and experiencing a level of independence Tanya said would be unimaginable back home. Safe, bike-friendly infrastructure allows them to move around freely, and a public transportation system has eliminated hours previously spent driving each week.
For Tanya, the decision to leave was not about abandoning home, but about choosing a future that felt survivable and hopeful for her children.
“I hope the country can get better and get to a place where I would feel comfortable moving back home, but I am not very optimistic about that right now,” she said.
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