I was trying to optimize to get a green card (I'm Canadian) "quickly" and took a job that promised to help me but didn't deliver. Looking back, I shouldn't have been in such a rush to find a shortcut and just grinded leetcode longer. The whole time I was saving money because my end goal was to go full American Dream and start a business after I got a green card. It all worked in the end though because it lead me to where I am now.
As for moving to Taipei, when the green card fell through I started _really_ doing the leetcode grind because my friends at FAANG companies told me how much better of a job they did for immigration. While I was doing that I decided to interview at some startups for "practice" and ended up getting an offer to move to Taipei (CEO split his time between Hong Kong and Taipei). I'd been learning Chinese for a couple of years and always wanted to check out Asia. Taiwan had zero COVID cases (not exaggerating, literally zero domestic cases for most of 2020/2021) and I was getting no benefit paying Los Angeles rent and not being able to meet new people in person.
It wasn't until about 8 months into the startup job I realized just how affordable Taipei was, and it sunk in I didn't need to keep a job for immigration anymore (Taiwan has a Gold Card visa that's super easy to get and isn't tied to employment like the USA). That's when I decided to go all in taking Chinese lessons every day and starting an engineering training business in the afternoons/evenings. I gave my last job one month notice to not burn any bridges and now I'm on my own.
If you anyone wants to move, I highly recommend not worrying too much about the money and just finding a job and moving. Having some income lined up before you go is nice, even if it's just beer money teaching English. If you're indifferent about the money I recommend at least signing up for a language school so you have a routine you can follow during the week while your friends are at work.
