Moving To Riga - Advice And Opinion

Hi all.

After replying to a couple of threads, I figured I should start one - makes more sense.

My name's Alex and I'm a 29 year old Scotsman, with a plan to relocate to Riga in the next few months.

My girlfriend is from Riga, and although she has lived in Scotland for six years, she's decided to return to Latvia to be with her family. She has employment, and a place to stay (big enough for both of us as it happens).

I'm trying to get a feel for what it's like, and being quite impatient, I'm almost inclined to just move out there and see how it goes. My thinking is - if it all goes wrong, I'm not really too far from home, and being in the EU makes things easier.

I'm starting to learn Latvian, but very slowly - I've not found a useful resource yet.

I'm trying to find a job over there - but that's not easy from my home in Edinburgh - I'm a senior web designer here (have been designing and building websites for about 8 years now) so I have qualifications, but I understand the market is not great over there, so finding work might be a challenge. I'm not sure yet. I've applied to a few places, but I'm yet to hear back.

I'd be keen to find out about a few English speakers over there so I have a bunch of people I can meet and find out more from. I notice a few of you are from English speaking countries, and seem very nice and helpful.

I guess I just need a few more reassuring voices to help me make this decision.

Whenever I decide to do it - I have to give 4 weeks notice to my current job, so I'll have a bit of time to organise things.

My first trip to Riga is this weekend - I'm very excited to go and see what it's like - and if I enjoy it.

If it seems nice, I may just go for it. Maybe I need to take the plunge to get things moving!