I left the US and moved to Vienna, the world's most liveable city, a year ago. It's been incredible and I don't want to leave.

• In 2022, I officially moved to Vienna, the world's most liveable city.

• Vienna is more affordable than New York City and my Florida hometown, and it's beautiful.

• I love the reliable public transit, beautiful architecture, clean streets, and many cafés.

Burned out, stressed out, and laid off in New York City, I could feel it was my time to leave. After making the decision to go full-time freelance, I also knew it was now or never to fulfill my dream of living in Europe.

Fast forward to 2021, when that dream finally took flight. I tried living in a few cities that first year (Lisbon, Warsaw, Amsterdam, Gdańsk, Nice, to name a few), but something was always missing. I couldn't name it, but I could feel it.

It wasn't until after my first week of living in Vienna that I had a name for what I'd been lacking: belonging.

I'd always sought belonging in people, places, and jobs, but it remained elusive, always slipping from my fingers. But
Vienna felt different, as if its way of life filled in all of my gaps and invited me to grow from scratch.

More than that, I felt as if the city opened its arms and, as Billy Joel sang, was waiting for me. In March 2022, I officially moved to Vienna with my cat, Oliver.

Since then, we've had the pleasure of belonging to the world's most liveable city — a title Vienna was crowned with in July 2023 that it's held multiple times before. The award was given, in part, for the city's stability, healthcare and education systems, and other factors.

And in our time here, I've gotten to learn why Vienna is so wonderful.

I'm constantly finding new reasons to love this city

Vienna seems to have an infinite array of cultural experiences, as varied as museums, concerts, and festivals. I love the many buildings with their grandeur and Baroque or Art Nouveau details.

I love the clean streets, hundreds of cafés, beautiful vineyards, and all of the green space that covers half of the Vienna area.

I'm also regularly impressed by the city's public-transit system that seamlessly moves people around the city via buses, trains, trams, and underground lines.

The relaxed city comes fully alive in the summer and the winter, too. Don't get me started on the famous Christmas markets — they're my favorite.

I often find myself walking around the city, smiling at nothing and everything.

The pace and price of living here makes it even better

Fortunately, the city is also far more affordable than where I've lived before.

I've seen studio apartments in Vienna available for well under 1,000 euros, about $1,070. My rent in New York City was close to double that amount for one bedroom in a shared space. Overall, I've found the cost of living for me is lower here than it was in my hometown in Florida, too.

Beyond affordability, it's Vienna's pace that I love the most. I no longer feel like I'm in a rush all of the time, and I feel and see an ease in the city that makes existing in it, well, easy.

And, contrary to what I hear from some ex-pats, I've found it easy to make friends and build my community here using Facebook groups such as International Women of Vienna, going to coworking spaces, and even joining local yoga studios.

I've still got a lot to learn, but I enjoy being a student here

As I continue learning more and getting involved with my community, I'm figuring out who I will become.

I'll keep learning Austria's official language, German, as I think it's vital (and respectful) to ingrain yourself into a city by learning the local language. For now, I can get by when ordering coffee and buying groceries.

I always appreciate the polite smiles as I do my best with new German words and phrases, and think it's kind when people switch to English when I get beyond what I've memorized.

People here often tell me I'm in my honeymoon phase with Vienna, but I think they're mistaken. I like who I am here, and I'm committed to her and this beautiful city.

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