"...if there is a heartbreak Vienna cannot cure, I hope to never feel it." -- Storm Jameson

 It's the time of year in these latitudes when the weather moderates, though climate change is certainly showing us a thing or two as the years go by. I was nearly 50 years old before I experienced an actual autumn, with red and golden leaves and a permanent turn of temperature around Labor Day. Until then I had just assumed the pumpkins and sweaters and Oktoberfest beers were just manufactured by the calendar to sell stuff, kinda like Father's Day. But with rain all day and highs in the 70s most of the week, we're more in tune with what I knew in the Pacific Northwest and felt in Pennsylvania so I get it now. Finally. Lows in the upper 50s this evening mean I even have the heat ready if need be.

We've come to the uncomfortable realization our time here in Vienna is finite. We were discussing over the weekend the things we still want to do in this wonderful city and realized we only have four weekends left before we leave for Liverpool. Having "only" a month left is of course just a dream for so many and it makes us again recognize how lucky we are. But, unlike tourists, we're not here for just a minute before we scamper back home. We have changed our lives to become transients in search of Something Better and this brings a different set of circumstances on many levels.

The first is Vienna -- a city we have grown to love but where we realize we cannot stay long-term just because of the strict immigration laws in Austria. We love our neighborhood and its easy access to so much history and so much of Europe. We can walk to so much convenience and the park across from our apartment is beautiful and active with families and children -- plus great benches to sit and talk and smoke and Just Be. The healthcare is tremendous and public transportation remarkable. If we could stay, we already know where'd we'd start looking. An ideal place to be but, well -- we knew this going in. Other than New Orleans, I can't imagine being so sad to leave a city. I'm surprised how much I love it -- even the cranky old neighbor and his shitty little dog.

While our international homes for the coming nine months or so are already set and things sound all exotic and shit, we're also facing some pretty stark realizations about going back to the US next year. Even without considering things like a car, gasoline and insurance, life in the US is Pretty. Damned. Pricey. Aside from places like the middle of Paris and London, we can set up pretty well in an apartment in Europe for waaaaaay cheaper than a similar place even in, oh, Lawrence KS or Ponca City OK (I am pulling these towns out of the air, but from what we've seen it's accurate). We're talking about just rent and utilities. This doesn't include the cost of daily getting around. We're also not talking about long-term -- we just want a place for a few months. Signing a year-long contract saves us nothing.

....hence our consideration of simply not going back. I mean we will return to see family and friends for a bit but the reality is we can't see a way to do in the US what we're doing here and to find a place to Just. Stop. We're actively in the market for finding that stopping place and I don't mean in some American Expat Enclave. Portugal and other spots are full of them and they're not for us. We've learned here that it's much better to Be A Local.

(An aside here -- yes, Asia, Mexico and other parts of the Americas and some parts of Africa have been discussed. I also have relatives in Australia. Each has its appeal but cost or other considerations raise larger questions over the long term.)

 It'll take a little while to find where our One Particular Harbor might be. It's the Getting There we love. Lord I love it so to just be out here.