A Retrospective
We’ve been in the States for almost two months now and our ‘Year in Vorlarlberg’ adventure seems a distant spot in the rear view mirror. Life moves fast, and the longer you live, it seemingly moves faster. As we were focused on recovery and envisioning our next year’s activities, we had a happy visit to bring our memories back to our last adventure and motivated me to blog about our Year in Vorarlberg Retrospective.
Our dear upstairs neighbor, Mrs. W, missed us so much that she hopped on a jet and came over for a visit. We thought she was an amazing octogenarian while we lived there, her unaccompanied visit here reconfirmed it. For two weeks, we relived our nine-month visit to Feldkirch, and now that she’s gone we thought the time was right to properly close out our ‘Year in Vorarlberg’ Blog with this final retrospective.
YIV Goals
While we didn’t accomplish all of our YIV Goals, we managed to complete quite a few of them. Working through the ones that proved to be out of our reach provided us with ample insights into how we’d approach them differently in the future.
We didn’t get to live there for a year for reasons previously described, but Ursula did get a full nine months of living at ‘home;’ enough to discover if Thomas Wolfe had it right when he wrote that ‘you can’t go home again.’ We think he had it about right. Although I never read his book, the on-line synopsis suggests that insomuch as we’ve changed over the years, so has ‘home.’ It may physically resemble our childhood memories, but it too is no longer the same place. The towns are smaller and more crowded. The beloved culture and habits of the past have morphed to reflect the faces and imported cultures of new Austrians; it’s almost the same,,,, but not really.
Family and friends of youth are no longer there, they’ve been replaced by the adult versions of them with their own separate lives and interests. While eager and available to spend time with you during short visits of the past, during an extended stay, they return to the normalcy of their life without you. You are no longer a part of their day-in and day-out existence.
Re-establishing life
Nine months is just about long enough to begin to establish one’s own new existence in the place of their youth, but not really. Ursula was on the cusp of forming new relationships with old friends (tho more distant) after the old relationships appeared to have less meaning than before. She met new friends and was developing personal interests beyond what short, intermittent visits back home could not sustain. The new ‘Home’ is still a vibrant and beautiful place to live, and we could easily see ourselves moving back sometime in the future for a much more extended presence, but that will take some more work and preparation.
Where we were quite successful is in learning what it really takes to live in Austria for an extended period. Although we did the research and thought we knew, it made working through the travails of visas and residence applications to really figure it out.
To that end, we’ve pursued dual citizenship possibilities for Ursula. If that comes through (we should hear soon), then we eliminate the cumbersome constraints of foreign travel and living on Ursula’s US status. As it stands now, the Austrian version of the ‘Green Card’ (for me) is only available at the risk of the US Green Card (for her). This is an unacceptable trade-off. So, if the word comes through, we may have a new US citizen in the future.
Cost of Living
Living expenses in Vorarlberg were about what we expected. We saved in some very big areas and surprisingly did not spend too much in others. The ability to use a friend’s car whenever we needed to get beyond bus or train commutes was invaluable and saved us from having to buy or rent one. As it turns out, buying one would not have been an option without a primary residence status (which was not possible as previously described).
The fact that Ursula discovered a furnished apartment within walking distance of ‘everything’ also made a big financial difference. We were not forced into purchasing the essentials of life, then having to sell, or give them, away when we left.
Food, quite surprisingly, was much cheaper than expenses in the US, and in most cases, there was much more variety and more delicious flavors.
Where we spent the majority of our money was during travels away from Feldkirch and transportation costs between Austria and the US. All in all, I’d have to call the financing portion of our visit a success.
Learning German
My goal to learn German was, not quite a failure, but awfully close. While I didn’t spend the three months focusing exclusively on fluently learning the language, by almost complete immersion, my fluency improved dramatically. Unfortunately for me, English is the international language, and most Austrians have a fair to a high degree of proficiency in it. I say unfortunately because when I got lazy or over my head, they’d easily revert into English and I’d be spared the embarrassment or struggle to speak German. I still have a ways to go before my confidence meets up with my competence, and my competence requires more work. But that’s for another journey back to the Alps.
Seasonal Skiing
Our desire to live vicariously on Alpine Ski Pistes with Season Passes was a qualified success. Ursula skied like she never skied before. By the end of her season, she was back to being a certified Austrian who grew up on skis in the Alps. A full season of sun and powder and empty pistes was all it took, and she took advantage of it. I, as previously written, had a fantastic, but short season. Because I had to flee the continent or risk overstaying my visa, I only spent half the season on the slopes. But what an incredible experience that was. Success, overwhelmingly so.
Traveling further afield
I wished to travel extensively throughout Europe by using the Feldkirch apartment as a base station from which we could launch into new places and experiences. That was a partial success. We didn’t do as much intercontinental travel as I had wished. We did not see very many new places but instead returned to many of our old favorite places. Part of that was due to my premature departure, part was due to the ball and chain effect of having pets, and a final part was due to the fact that Feldkirch is a really cool place to live with too much to do. It didn’t always make sense to want to travel afar when living very well could be achieved right where we slept. So, less travel than we wished to, but no real regrets.
Regrets?
Speaking of regrets, there weren’t too many other than not being able to spend the full year and experience all four season with all the holidays and fests and birthdays and activities. But, there’s always the future.
Now as were ensconced in the day to day influences of life in Alaska, our adventure to Vorarlberg is becoming a distant, but wonderful memory. We’ll miss it and fondly remember the times. But, with the onset of age and distance and as the shadows of these memories lose their mesmerizing influences, we can always reflect on this Blog to bring us back to the time when we spent a Year in Vorarlberg…..ok, nine months.
We hope you enjoyed joining us on this adventure and invite you to follow along as we blog about our next one…whatever that may be.
Interesting Links
- Interested in the ‘Biking around the Bodensee’ Blog?, Link here to our Year in Vorarlberg Series
- See our ‘Best of Photos’ from this a adventure and from the Rhein’s Lands
- Care to comment on the Blog or Adventure? Jot down your comments in the form below – thanks