Settling In Vienna
A big post for a big move. Plus (audio)book news
I haven’t been posting this newsletter much for some time, but I have a good reason: I was in the middle of a big huge move.
My wife, René, and I are now living and working in Vienna, Austria. We relocated here from our hometown of Portland, Oregon, on March 2.
We’ve been here nearly five months, and we’re finally settled in. This massive endeavor had been nearly a year in the making, in the planning, and in the hoping. It started with a three-week recon trip in May of 2025, and has ended with us living in our long-term apartment complete with our two cats.
Here’s a little of what it’s like to plan for, move, and live abroad.
The Reasons
Many in Vienna ask us, “Why here?” Moving to Europe had been a longtime dream of mine and René’s, but work and family commitments, such as helping to care for our elderly parents, had kept us in the US. It made sense to go somewhere where I could use my German. We looked at Germany — at Berlin, Cologne, and Freiburg specifically — but kept coming back to Vienna.
The more we researched Vienna, we discovered how much more affordable it could be for us compared to the US, according to how we live. For two freelancers, the costs of US health care alone were killing our budget, not to mention ridiculous inflation for all the things you can imagine. Plus, Vienna has legendary housing policies, urban planning, and public transit that’s helped make it one of the most livable cities in the world for many years. Tough to beat.
And, yes, the looming breakdown of American democracy has played a definite role. For sanity’s sake, we wanted to get clear of the nightmare and will vote from abroad.
The Challenges
Making this happen was a ton of work with many starts and stops, sacrifices, recommitments, and general tests of will. What follows is only the tip of the iceberg.
Getting a residence permit without an EU passport was looking nearly impossible until helpful video calls with knowledgeable local contacts (do this!) led me to Austria’s residence visa for artists (Niederlassungsbewilligung — Künstler). It could work, they said. I’m a published fiction author as well as a working developmental editor and literary translator of German to English, after all. But I had to pitch myself in the application package and had it cleared by an excellent Viennese immigration lawyer (do this too).
Late in the game, though, and despite our best efforts to argue otherwise, Austrian immigration authorities stipulated that René had to pass the A1 certificate for German (the lowest level — “survival” German basically). Without it, she couldn’t get her residence permit to join me as a spouse. In the span of only a few months, she went on a crash course in German and had to take a test at the Goethe Institute in San Francisco. She passed, but not without heaps of strain and stress on both of us.
At the same time, we still hadn’t received confirmation that I would even get my residence permit. But the show had to go on. We had to start planning for leaving, which included major downsizing. We returned our leased car. Filled a storage space. Got rid of tons of stuff we probably never needed. Contracted to rent out our condo. Prepared to fly over with two cats and as much luggage as we were allowed, an experience that nothing can really prepare you for.
The process is not for the faint of heart. You’re basically fully committing to a complete life change without knowing until a month or so before you leave whether that life change will be approved by strangers you’ve never met.
Once you’re in the country, a gazillion formalities and errands await, including registering in the Austrian system as a freelancer, for both taxes and the social safety net. Finding an apartment was tougher than we thought due to Vienna’s growing popularity, though having a ready pitch in German (definitely do this) helped us make the cut for viewings that got hundreds of replies within minutes. Then you have to stock the new apartment with the basics and make sure you budgeted for that (luckily, we had).
Here are some tips. Knowing the language does help despite everyone speaking a degree of English. Talk to local experts if you can. We hired that immigration lawyer and a tax advisor, and it was money well spent. Make lists, lots of lists, diagrams, whatever helps. It should go without saying, but don’t believe AI-driven advice about immigration rules even when it reads like objective info — always check sources.
The Payoff
Where do I start? The constant wonderful sights, sounds, and views, of course. In the inner districts, strolling practically every other street reminds you that you’re in the capital of a once grand and vast empire — that collapsed like a house of cards and had to rebuild itself smartly (take heed, America). Food is fresh and local, tasty and relatively affordable, from groceries and outdoor markets especially.
The ease of living is real. Everything is within reach. You don’t need a car, at all. Excellent transit comes every few minutes, whether it’s a streetcar, bus, or subway. Health care! It’s so straightforward and excellent so far, I can’t say enough about it.
It’s hard to put a finger on it, and I’m not one of those to glorify living in another country, but there’s just a general feeling of less complication, less dog-eat-dog. People in Vienna simply want to enjoy the lives they’re given, and it shows, and you feel it in so many ways big and small. It’s laid-back, non-confrontational, and never rushed.
I doubt I’m conveying the payoff well enough, so here are a few photos.
What Now
I’m writing, editing, and translating as always. René’s collaborating with clients back in Portland and the US, with regular work trips home. Our cats Monty and Trina will enjoy epic naps as usual.
And there will be a novel involving Vienna at some point.
Have questions about moving abroad or otherwise? Ask me anything.
Finally: Big Audiobook News
I’m happy to announce that all my novels are being re-released in new audiobook versions.
The first two are coming September 8: The Losing Role and Liberated, #1 and #2 in the Kaspar Brothers series.
The Wendell Lett series — Under False Flags and The Preserve — are next, followed by the rest of my books.
Big Ebook Sale
Speaking of the Kaspar Brothers series: Ebook versions are on sale for between 99 cents and 1.99 through August 18.
Look for them at online booksellers: Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop, Google, and Kobo.
That’s all I got for now. I hope you’re doing well.
Steve
Steve, congratulations to you and René for your successful move to Vienna. And thanks for providing so many helpful tips for others that might follow.
Alisa Valdez-Rodriguez, a New Mexico journalist who has dug deeply into Epstein’s Zorro Ranch operation, has just arrived in Madrid where she is making a new home. She left America and probably saved her own life after multiple attacks by a “directed energy weapon.”
My feeling is that anyone who intends to survive the current and deepening madness of America’s Mad Hatter’s Tea Party should seek a new life abroad.
Canada, Europe, South America, Australia…many other places can provide sanity and safety.
Best wishes always.