Trying to move out from my parents but there's a new issue..
This might be long but, I think the most amount of context I can give will help here.
For the sake of simplicity, I’ll be referring to myself as the oldest daughter.
I (22 F) am planning to leave home sometime between Christmas and early February. I have a fiancé (21) who I will then be legally marrying and living with.... like halfway across the country. I have a few younger siblings (16 F, 11 F, 6 M) who I will miss dearly, as well as my mom (47 F) and dad (50 M). I think it's also imperative to say I’m from a Latino family and my parents were immigrants.
My mom is very involved in practicing her religion and often brings my siblings along. She stays out of politics and generally sides with my dad unless it affects her pride or relationship with her family. My dad is a MAGA Christian who is extremely stubborn and set in his ways. He thinks my mom is in a cult and doesn't care what religion we follow as long as it's Christian (with MAGA ideology). I am not either of these and I don't like organized religion or either of my parents’ views.
Let me be clear, I love my parents. I also can't stand them. I think for the sake of me not getting depressed enough to “do something” about it is that I need to get space. The reason they don't know about any of this is because time after time they prove I can’t trust them to respect me, my thoughts, opinions, or privacy. I wasn't allowed to wear nail polish or makeup until I was way older. Pushed into classes I knew I couldn't handle and gaslit that I had chosen them. I was held to much stricter standards than those of my siblings my whole life. I still am a child until they need me to be an adult. It’s hard to feel like one in the first place. Everything to do with the house is just yelled at me “Shut up and just do it.” “When I say it just do it” “This is MY house” among many other things friends and my fiance have heard being on calls with me.
I initially had planned that I would stay back from the Christmas trip to my grandparents and have the conversation of moving out with my fiancé over a video call with my aunt (dad’s sister, we’ll call Heather) as a moderator. She understands me as a young adult woman in this family and is also like more of an adult in their eyes, being married and moving out now. My friend, (I’ll call her Rose), was meant to be with me for the conversation and to help with moving my important things out to her place. I had planned to give my parents the choice that I leave before they come home, or I stay until early February. Under no circumstances would I stay longer. My parents have a history of looking through my room, notebooks, phone, any electronics or places I could write or draw really. There’s zero chance I would risk this happening all over again or risk my lines of communication being taken and hidden from me again.
The issue now is that despite my refusal to go on the trip, they bought me a ticket anyway. My dad asked for my email bc he noticed when he got his new phone that data never transferred (I never gave him my email but he could ask anyone else in the house, and they’d know it) which was my first red flag. Then he asked for my SSID before remembering he had a copy (i have 2 copies bc he "lost" my original before it popped up again), and then my birthday (I know. Wow.), then asked me for my debit card. It was a like $200 round-trip ticket but I didn't have enough on my card. I thought that would have saved me because he had to go to work. My mom asked in the car later while running errands if i felt pressured and that she didn't want to pressure me. I said I did and that I didn't appreciate how they kept looking for a ticket despite me saying not to. Blah blah blah family, what are my reasons? I tell her my reason is it's like a bad omen i won't get another job before then. She says she just doesn’t like me being away from them/home alone. MIND you, I have been left alone over weekends with my sibs ALONE. I’ve went on what they thought was a trip with friends ALONE. And even if I wasn't planning this I still wouldn’t be alone because all my friends are staying home for Christmas. So, bullshit.
I texted Heather last night about the ticket situation and if I could wiggle my way out of going if I could stay with her just until I could get a ticket going out of her state. She has yet to respond (understandable) and I told Rose if it's the case I have to go I’ll leave my stuff packed and a key for her to retrieve it. Otherwise, I can’t think of anything else. I can't drive, haven’t been able to land another job. I miss my fiancé and our cat. My mental health is almost as low as when I was in a 2-year-long manic episode (only way I could describe that time of my life tbh). My therapist is doing her best but honestly, sometimes it seems like I might have her work cut out for her. There's obviously a lot more but this is my problem right now… any advice or resources or words of encouragement would help greatly. Sorry if this is written badly, I haven’t written this much in a WHILE. Thanks.
Posted Nov 3, 2025, 9:11 PM UTC