Today I have decided to start a blog about being an American living overseas in Hungary.  First off let me describe myself to you.  I am 58 and retired US Army microbiologist.  I served 28 years of active duty from 1971 to 1999 after which I retired but stayed in my research position as first a contractor and later a GS-15.  My wife Luba and I decided to retire early and move to Europe and after a lot of searching we decided on Hungary as the ideal place to retire. We don't regret that decision at all and have a wonderful life here.

As with anything there were trials and tribulations and I'll try and describe in detail our experiences in subsequent posts. But first let me explain why I decided to go it alone as an independent blog. I had previously been fairly active on the FIRE website but was repeatedly getting in trouble for posting what was considered political discussions which are forbidden on that site.  I don't know how anyone can discuss retiring overseas or experiences working for the US government without discussion some aspects of politics.  Anyway, writing my own blog I can say what I want and not worry about getting into particular trouble with the possible exception of my own government who may decide that this blog may be anti-American. That in itself is now grounds for assassination according to our President. Hopefully, that doesn't happen but clearly being vocal against US policies has some risk to it. If it sounds like I am harshly over-critical then it isn't meant to be. I am merely trying to present an honest opinion based upon my perceptions.  However, that said I do believe there are an awful lot of things with the US, particularly after 9/11 which I do not like and may be perceived to be overly critical. Yes, I am critical but I do not believe it is unjustified.  I would like very much to see America return to the values and concepts which formed the basis for the nation from the beginning and not some bizarre vestige of Nazi Germany which it has become today. I will save that diatribe for a subsequent post.

First, let me describe our circumstances here in Hungary.  We live on the North shore of Lake Balaton in Balatonfured in a beautiful home we purchased for cash.  This is arguably, the best place to live in Hungary and certainly we enjoy all the wonderful aspects and entertainment which is available here.  The city (town?) is itself picturesque and has a vibrant tourism based economy.  The lake enjoys a great deal of tourism and many people have purchased vacation homes here.  Originally, it was popular with Germans who were able to meet here from both sides of the East/West German border. Also, Austrians enjoy the lake as well and we are only 2.5 hours from Vienna. But, the majority of tourists come from Budapest. There is a lot to see and do here which I will also go into later. For now this is who we are and I'll be posting more to flesh out what I have started here.