We’ll cut to the chase… we have a new city (and country) we will be calling home very soon. We’re moving to Vienna, Austria! In fact, Andrew is already there! It was relatively slow to start but escalated quickly and now here we are organizing with movers and looking for a new apartment. No we aren’t ready (you should see our to do lists) and yes we are sad to leave Switzerland. We really loved our time spent here and we will never deny its beauty. However, we’re on to another chapter of our lives and are very excited!

More important than the move is what drove the move… Andrew has taken on a new position with a different company! This was definitely a difficult decision for him, especially recognizing the opportunities we had been afforded in his current job. After weighing his options and thinking together about what made the most sense, we’re feeling so incredibly excited for this next chapter! It’s been tough to balance the emotions because we have loved every minute of living in Switzerland and a part of us hates to leave. The culmination of our time in Switzerland was summed up in a bar last week. With some of our closest friends, where we raised a glass and thanked everyone for making the Swiss experience unforgettable.

Unsure of how many times we’ve read and heard that Vienna is one of, if not the top place to live in the world. Trying not to set any unreasonable expectations over here! This isn’t our first rodeo so it should make it even easier to adjust. We will have some assistance from his company in the moving process so we are hoping for no snafus. We’re looking forward to settling in to a new place and learning an entirely new culture! It’s a bit weird to be moving to a city that we recently visited (at Christmas) with our “tourist” stops planned, potential dinner locales, etc. Especially since we had no idea at that time that we were touring around our future home city. At least now we should definitely be able to explore all of those spots! Best believe we’ll take a few weekends to sightsee in our new city!

We have friends who are well accustomed to Vienna and a relocation contact to assist us in deciding where we want to live in the city. This was a decision that was much easier in Lausanne as the city size is dramatically different. Vienna will easily be the largest city either of us has lived in and we’re hoping that doesn’t hold us back from feeling a sense of home over time like we did with Lausanne.

It’s been an incredible and at times unbelievable phase for us being in Switzerland. We still have many friends to visit while we aren’t far and plan to ski as much as we can there. Maybe cliché but the going away party was filled with remember whens and bittersweet see ya laters. It’s a stranger feeling than the one we had when we moved away from the U.S. Many of the people we spent some time with over the last 2.5 years we may never see again and its odd to think about at the moment! So Switzerland, this is a see ya later, not a goodbye!