Bye For Now U.S. – It’s Not Me It’s You

The year was 2005. I’d called in sick from work and was watching one of the two channels I could pick up with the rabbit ears on my TV. On one channel was a news report of the death of Pope John Paul II. On the other channel was a travel show where the host was spending 24 hours in Seattle. Guess what station I tuned into?

In a time before smartphones and Google Maps I was scribbling down in a notebook a plan to take a road trip to Seattle, a city I’d never considered visiting before. The knowledge I had of Seattle prior to this was Starbucks, Space Needle, and I knew the TV show Frasier was set there (though not filmed there as I later learned). My friend heard me mention going on my own and insisted on coming. On a cool September morning at 5am we drove from Edmonton to Vancouver, spent 2 nights there, and then drove to Seattle for a few days (staying in Lynnwood) before driving home.

That trip to Seattle wasn’t my first trip to the U.S. That was a trip to Disneyland I went on with my family when I was 12. Seattle was a bit of a turning point for me. It was the first trip outside Canada as an adult, a trip where it could be said I got bitten by the travel bug. Before that I hardly ever travelled, but after I tried to travel somewhere at least once a year. It wasn’t always easy that trip. Looking back I’m amazed my friend and I didn’t get more lost than we did, considering we were navigating old school with paper maps. Nonetheless Seattle was an important trip to me.

Last year I started thinking about going back to Seattle for September 2025. It would be the 20th anniversary of that trip, something I can’t even believe is possible. While I’ve been back to Vancouver several times (mostly to visit another friend that used to live there) I haven’t been back to Seattle since 2005. It would also be a way to honour the friend I went to Seattle with, as she died unexpectedly in 2023. It felt right to go back.

Until it didn’t. Until the current U.S. President not only brought on tariffs, starting a trade war with Canada (and seemingly the rest of the world), but also made threats about Canada becoming a state. The majority of Canadians don’t want that and we don’t see this as a joke but a threat to our sovereign nation. It was seeing ice raids, people being detained or sent to El Salvador without due process, overturning Roe v Wade, some states passing legislation that is anti-trans and/or anti-LGBTQIA+, the violence, the racism, and so much more that made me go from “maybe I’ll go to Seattle” to “I’m not gonna step foot in the U.S.” 

Our neighbours to the south seem to not just be flirting with fascism, but embracing it. And far-right extremism is not something I’m okay with. A few years ago I did some research and data analysis, which wasn’t my area of expertise, so my methodology may have been flawed. I made a list of states I’d be okay to visit. It went from 50 to 10, and not just for safety, but to acknowledge where I was okay to spend my money. Do I want to visit a state taking away rights from trans people? No, I don’t.

Now, that data has been deleted because it doesn’t matter. I’m not going to the U.S. for the foreseeable future. Definitely not for the next four years, but maybe longer. I understand that not every American voted for this, and I get that many businesses—especially in the tourism industry—are going to suffer if visitors stay away. Canadians, after all, account for about 25% of U.S. tourism. I acknowledge there are a lot of people in marginalized communities that are being further hurt by what’s going in the U.S. And it isn’t just one group of people or the party in power that makes me want to stay away. I’m seeing this sentiment over and over. It’s not every Canadian, but many are done with the US. I don’t know if the relationship between our countries will ever be the same. 

70% of Canadians live within 2 hours of the U.S. border. I don’t. There were no impromptu cross border shopping trips I’ve taken with two exceptions, walking across the border from Niagara Falls, Ontario to Niagara Falls, New York in 2013 and visiting the anomaly of Point Roberts, Washington with my friend in 2015. My other visits to the U.S. have been planned. Trips I’d dreamed of taking. When I was a kid I’d wish on airplanes to go to Disneyland. I wanted to visit New York City for so long and got to visit 3 times. The me of 5 years ago, maybe even 5 months ago wouldn’t believe this is the stand I’m taking, but it is. 

There are places in the U.S. I’d love to visit one day, and places I’d love to go back to. I know people who’ve gone to the U.S. recently without any issues. Maybe I wouldn’t have any issues. I can acknowledge the privilege I have as a white woman that would probably shield me from a lot, but there are no guarantees. Would this post that you’re reading right now be seen as enough reason to deny me entry into the U.S. or worse? I don’t know, and to be honest I don’t want to go somewhere that there’s a chance of that happening. I don’t want to support a government, a country, a system that’s doing what the U.S. is doing, to its own citizens and to people visiting.

I’m not here to say Canada or any country is perfect. I live in Alberta, a province with a government that is probably the most conservative in the country. My government is wanting to do things like roll back trans rights and ban books, both of which I’m adamantly opposed to. I completely understand if some people decide not to spend their time and money to visit Alberta. If you don’t have the power to vote for the government of a country then boycotting is one of the only things you can do. Whether it’s boycotting products from that country, or businesses, or travelling there.

I’m not here to influence you; if you want to travel to the U.S. and have the means to do so then enact your freewill as you see fit (please don’t do anything illegal or reckless). If you are going to visit the U.S. I would suggest doing your research before your trip, and be cognizant of where you’re spending your money. Spend your money to support businesses that align with your values.

Me, I don’t want to spend any of my hard earned money or my free time going to a country where their government is in shambles and threatening sovereign nations. The U.S. has always been that neighbour downstair that can be loud sometimes, but they throw a good party, and for my experience have generally been welcoming. But the party is over. Maybe I’ll get to visit you again, but maybe I won’t. So goodbye for now U.S. It’s not me. It’s you… but maybe it’s a bit of me as well.