As you might know, Ctein (it's his only name, and his legal name, and it's pronounced "kuh-TINE") for many years wrote a column for this site. Before that, he published many hundreds of articles in a variety of photography magazines over many years, and was well known as a photo-technical expert. Many of those columns are available in the "Ctein" category in the right-hand sidebar, or his columns (421 of them!) are archived on his website. He also printed, participated in, or administrated many of our Print Sales.
Ctein by Beth Zuckerman. Elmo
is about to become a migratory bird.
As he put it to me, "There's a whiff of 1932 Germany in the air. Probably, very probably, things will not get that bad. But the folks in Germany in 1932 who thought to themselves, 'Things can't get that bad,' well…for the most part they died or fled with the clothes on their back and little more." As you might not know, Ctein is of Jewish extraction, and he's an old-line hippie radical with a long history of civil disobedience, as well as a polyamorist. He and two of his partners, Paula, who I know, and Alaster, who I don't, are decamping to "somewhere East of the Atlantic." The move will be permanent; they're not coming back. The house at 42 Skyline Drive (the address might sound familiar to Douglas Adams fans) in Daly City, California, where he and Paula have lived for 40 years, is for sale.
When I told him I go back and forth as to how to feel about this, he said, "On the odd-numbered days, I think this is the best move I could make in my life and a fabulously good idea. On the even-numbered days, I am terrified and think this is an awful idea and I must be insane to even contemplate it." However, "Staying is more risk than we're willing to take. Everyone does their own risk assessment and acts accordingly."
Mike: So when are you leaving, do you think?
Ctein: We are planning to leave in October. That's about as fast as we can do the immense amount of stuff that needs to be done.
Mike: Where will you go?
Ctein: Probably either Ireland or Portugal.
Portugal because it's ridiculously easy to qualify for retirement visas, which are renewable indefinitely so long as you maintain residence there. It puts you into their national healthcare system as well, and lets you apply for citizenship after three years. The plusses are a great location with wonderful climate—even nicer than the San Francisco Bay Area (because that is what is really meant by "Mediterranean climate"). The minus (for me) is having to learn Portuguese, because while it is an extremely English-friendly country, if I really want to fit in I need to learn the native language, and if I want to apply for citizenship I have to be able to demonstrate that I can converse in Portuguese.
Ireland, because Paula is entitled to birthright citizenship there (her grandfather was born there), and that gets me in on a permanent visa as her "committed relationship" (that is what they quaintly call it) partner. That's our first choice, but if it weren't for that, Portugal would probably be No. 1. We're still evaluating both paths to decide which is going to work best in our tight timeframe.
Mike: Any message you'd like me to convey to TOP readers?
Ctein: Sure—if readers are located in either country, or have friends there who would be happy to advise us, we'd be grateful for any more first-hand information that we can get. Conversely, if any readers have been toying with the notion of maybe getting out, I'm happy to provide resource links. If readers don't feel comfortable posting their advice or questions publicly, they can email me at [email protected].
Mike: But we won't talk the politics in the comments.
Ctein: Right, let's not discuss the pros and cons of the current administration! Topic-adjacent, to be sure, but editorially declared to be off-topic.
So that's the news. Best of luck and Bon Voyage to Ctein, Paula, and Alaster. Part of me wants to congratulate them on a new adventure in life, part of me soberly feels it's a sensible response to current events, and yet another part of me wants to offer consolation at the imminent upheaval in their lives and the loss of their longtime home, community, habits, and friends.
But hey, didn't the ancestors of many of us get here by crossing the Atlantic? Mine did....
Mike
Original contents copyright 2025 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. (To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below or on the title of this post.)
Featured Comments from:
Mike Chisholm: "Learn Portuguese? Uh oh.... Check out the names of the days of the week and how to count to 100, freak out, then book a flight to Ireland, and be forever thankful they won't make you learn Irish...."
Adam Isler: "As the son of an English Jew who dodged the blitz as a boy in his siren suit, and wrote a novel about a Jew who waited too long to leave Berlin (The Prince of West End Avenue), I feel the same as Ctein. After returning from a two-year sojourn in England where I earned a photography MFA, just in time to vote, we are returning to England next month to suss out if it has the place for us. I hope my fears are alarmist, feverish imaginings but the risks feel too real to ignore."
Danny Roberts: "Great post, carefully worded. Best wishes to Ctein and partner(s)."
John Camp: "Ctein's a friend. I wrote a novel with him, and none of the science/engineering in it came from me (I contributed the necessary BS.) I have discussed this with him, and urged him to stay. We need people like him to stay here and resist. I think what we're going through is an aberration, and a more egalitarian, Europe-like America will emerge from it. In my humble opinion."
Jim Simmons: "My wife and I made a pros/cons chart of moving from the U.S. to New Zealand in 2004. We saw variations of what is occurring in the U.S. now even back then. We moved to N.Z. in 2005 and have been very happy with our decision. Friends and family have been asking us since the 2016 election how to navigate a similar move, but most of them are past the age limit for getting residency here. All empires have an expiration date, but a sensitive nose can smell the rot long before that date."
Stéphane Bosman (partial comment): "For a European, it is strange to see Americans considering a move from US to Europe. Europe is literally dying, both culturally and economically. We have lost our economic power, our military power, our freedoms, our values, and our way of life is crumbling. The population of all countries in the EU is growing poorer and poorer each year. A large part of our youth is looking to emigrate to other parts of the world because they know Europe has nothing to offer to young generations. Many today consider the US to be more attractive than Europe."
PieterK: "Following the news lately I can understand that people in America are not very happy any longer. Portugal is a beautiful country with beautiful cities. You can see that Portugal was once a very rich country. After Portugal and Spain joined the EC, Europe invested a lot of money in those countries. Good luck with learning the Portuguese language. That can be really tough! I have three friends who moved to Portugal, one from Holland and two from Sweden. Speaking Portuguese is really difficult for them, even after so many years."