I've been living abroad for almost 5 years now (note time proximity to first Bush election) in Prague, Czech Republic primarily, and though I own a business AND have a full sleeve dragon tattoo, I didn't get it to scare anyone or appear like i'm part of the triad, It's just pretty.

I've lived in a lot of places and the more places I live the more I realize that living somewhere is little more than a question of being there. I would encourage ANYONE (especially Americans) to step outside of the world they were raised in and look around a bit.
Most people will make it out to be such a task requiring forethought and money and planning and all that but moving to a foreign country requires little more than going there. If you have enough money to move to the town next to you, you probably have more than enough to move to most places in the world especially if you choose a place that has a reasonable economy (obviously moving to London or Paris would be much the same financially as trying to relocate to New York or San Francisco).
Get a Job. Find a place to live. Those are the same the world over for the most part. Jobs that are available for especially English language speakers in much of the world are fairly plentiful, and visa requirements are just something to be dealt with as it comes. I started a business in the most statistically difficult country to start a business in in all of Europe, and I did it by the seat of my pants.
If you're a halfway intelligent person, you have SOME form of viable skills (most places just speaking english is a viable occupational skill....The number of teaching jobs in some places is astronomical) then you'll be fine if your on your own. I have a child here now and if I should decide to move somewhere else I couldn't do it as simply these days, but for a single person (or well suited couple) it is a breeze.

Come on out. No need to hide. The waters fine.