Everyone Is Googling ‘How to Move to Scotland’

This morning I, and many others, awoke to discover a country in which our rights and freedoms matter less. On the night between November 5 and November 6, Donald J. Trump, a convicted felon, defeated Kamala Harris in the 2024 Presidential race, and became the 47th President of the United States.

And much like any other person who cares about reproductive rights, a fair approach to immigration, anti-fascist policies, and an unwavering, constant fight against racism and discrimination of all minorities—including, and not limited to LGBTQ+ members, people of color, and people with disabilities—this morning I found myself questioning whether I should actually pack my bags and leave the country.

Unsurprisingly, I’m not the only one having these thoughts. Canada is sure close by (and relatively easy to immigrate to), but Americans are looking even further. Their eyes, it seems, are set on Scotland.

On Google, searches around the phrase “How to move to Scotland” in the US spiked on the morning of November 6, going up to 100 in Google’s popularity meter, which is the highest value. For context, yesterday’s value around the search phrase was zero. According to Google Trends at the time of writing, the most interested US states in the search are, in order: Oregon, Colorado, Washington, Kentucky, and Missouri.

Americans have been Googling related questions as well, including “jobs in Scotland,” “is abortion legal in Scotland” (it is), and “Scotland trans rights.” Reportedly, people in the US have also been searching information to immigrate to other countries, including New Zealand and Ireland among the top Google searches.

While permanently immigrating to a new country might be more complicated than it seems, obtaining a digital nomad visa to work remotely from there is arguably easier. Since you might need it today, here’s a list of all countries offering digital nomad visas today. No remote job? No problem, we have a list of available remote jobs as well, and you can find it here.

Regardless of where you decide to live—stay safe, everyone.