Now several months after I announced my odyssey to obtain my Australian work visa, the time has finally come!
I’ll be flying to Sydney next week, April 15th, and as you can probably guess, I’m excited as hell! 
This starts an important new page both in my life and my career, but that’s not what this post is about. It’s about sharing the experience of living for over two years in Europe.
First off, I traveled. A whole lot. Both for work and leisure. I’ve been to 23 cities in 11 countries, which you can check on my map. Getting to explore all these different cultures was definitely rewarding and fun, to say the least. But I have my favorites, including Prague, London, Dublin and Bruges…
While in Madrid, I worked for Mirai España, the company that provided me with great professional experiences. I had the opportunity to work with a few very smart people that, in a way or another, contributed to improve my skills as a software engineer. Not to mention the several conferences I attended, including QCon in London, RailsConf in Berlin and serveral others.
Being a rock/metal fan I am in the ideal place to see just about every band I always wanted to. Concerts in Europe are high quality, frequent and affordable and as such, I’ve attended a whole bunch of them:
- Metallica
- Megadeth
- Soilwork
- Machine Head
- Offspring
- Cavalera Conspiracy
- Within Temptation
- The Haunted
- At the gates
- Judas Priest
- Testament
- Nine Inch Nails
- AC/DC
- Rammstein
- Grave
- Krisiun
- Nile
On a more personal note Madrid is also the place where I met Enif, my beloved girlfriend. We are both very excited about this new experience and, of course, we’re moving together to Sydney, with plans of getting married next year! 
As you can see, Europe has been kind to me and I will certainly miss the experiences, cities, cultures and people I’ve met. But I’m only making room for more and more interesting things that will certainly happen on the land down under. Let’s conquer it all!
Hopefully my next post will be written by the beach, in my new home in Australia.
Cheers, mate!
Nice post Leo! I wish you good luck and lots of fun in your new adventure. Congrats for your marriage plans. Will sure meet again somewhere :), keep in touch in twitter!
Thanks Xavi!
Wil definitely keep in touch!
Good post. Made more excited to work and live in another country, I’ve no concret plans on that currently but it’s a dream I want to make real.
The first job outside Brazil was hard to get?
Good luck on the “new life”.
Hi Felipe,
The hard thing about the first job abroad was to find a company willing to sponsor my visa. I found that specific offer on the 37signals job board.
Hey dude, awesome news bout the wedding! I hope Australia gives you both a great welcome, and keep us posted, kk?
Cheers!
Will definitely keep you posted
Hey, Leo!
I’m very happy for you, guys. I wish the very best for you and Enif! You guys r0x!!
Cheers!!
@Tiago
Tks man!
See u in Sydney!
Ahhh, yeah, that’s it dude. It’s been great hanging around madrid and having some beers with you. Maybe that’s a new excuse for me to hop to Australia anytime now.
Have fun in your new country
Hey Leonardo!
Congratulations on your new journey!
All the best!
Vlw! Obrigado!