What's up with this blog?

This blog is the brainchild of Andrew Lantos with some editing and contributions by his wife.

This blog was started when these two individuals chose to completely uproot their life in Baltimore and move to Vienna, Austria  (A life that, in retrospect, was quiet, easy, relaxing and meant relatively lucrative jobs for both of us).

But instead of contentment, the heroes of this blog left...all friends and family behind to venture forth to Vienna, Austria.  A place where, from day one, they had no apartment, no friends, no family, a very minor knowledge of the language (almost none), and Andrew had no job.  Luckily, Rachel's already-obtained employment meant we would not starve from the beginning (although in truth we ate a lot of pasta during the month of August before Rachel's first paycheck arrived.)

So, to all those brave souls looking to venture out in the darkness without compass or guide, here is what it is like to leave behind all you know, all means of communication, and start completely over in a foreign country.

Hopefully, through our misadventures, some questions will arise which you had previously given little thought.  Perhaps, before you go abroad, you will do more thorough research both of your potential job prospects and the job market in your chosen country as well as to the local real estate system.

If you are a first-time visitor to this blog, you should look through the archive as we have already discussed many pertinent details such as:  how much it costs living here versus in the US (with figures), the realities of the Viennese real estate market and how much savings you need in order to rent here, and other details of day to day life.

We welcome you to our adventure and we hope you learn from our mistakes...

Cheers,
Andrew