IIUC, no judicial order is required for collecting. Only for looking at collected data; but agencies get creative around these processes, so I wouldn't count on legal protection from snooping.

But there's nothing to circumvent if the host isn't in the USA.

Unless you're sticking to countries that hang their hat on digital privacy, hosts outside the USA are also likely to be snooping with varying levels of competency. "Not USA" isn't a good enough filtering criterion.

That’s assuming the wires aren’t tapped, it’s all encrypted and doesn’t pass through the US, they’re not cooperating regardless with the US.

If the US puts enough pressure, they could still cave and comply.

My point was that in some cases, it's easier for the NSA to snoop when the target is outside of the USA.

Many countries have reciprocal agreements for sharing intelligence. Unless you go to a country that is known for its privacy values at the highest level then you're likely not going to maintain you privacy from the government of your country or most other powerful governments.