In this video, I share what life in Italy really looks like in the years that follow your move, having lived in Italy now for over 6 years.
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*VIDEO CHAPTERS*
00:00 Introduction
00:57 Season 1: Year 1
05:23 Season 2 : Years 2-3
12:33 Season 3 : Years 4-5
17:24 Season 4: Year 6
20:52 What you can learn from Season 1
21:51 What you can learn from Season 2
22:59 What you can learn from Season 3
23:59 What you can learn from Season 4
24:57 Most of all – remember this
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Sharing real expat life in South Italy.
41 Comments
What season of expat life are you in right now — just starting out, finding your rhythm or feeling fully integrated?
Wow, I did not know you were a Montessori teacher! My 3 kids all did K through 8tth grade in an AMI certified public Montessori school in the USA. I have so many wonderful memories of the lessons, and I cannot imagine having to do the traditional lessons online.
Love your channel, always great information. Cheers!
"It's not all roses and flowers" as they say in Italy.
I love this. It's very enlightening. I am also an expat. From Canada to East Africa, and it reassures me to know that the seasons are the same for many of us. I am not alone.
I really loved this video. 😊❤😊
These stages can be applied to any country you expatriate to from wherever you are from.
Especially if you are learning a new language.
what is the difference between expat and immigrant?
Loved the video. Thanks for sharing, Ms Britaly.
I focus in your coffe , you need made little hill , and need take away from fire before full come out, otherwise will be water.😂
Bring a panini to the post office. You'll be waiting.
I am considering relocating to Italy. You share your experience in such a very honest, compassionate manner that many people can likely appreciate. Thank you!
As a retired expat who lives in Rome, I agree with so much of your content. I have dual citizenship and love it here, so do not plan on returning to my home country, (plus Rome is definitely easier than the deep south of Italy), but the cluelessness I hear on some of these YouTube channels is unbelievable. As an older person, I SMH when I see retirees choosing to live in small villages in Sicily where access to good healthcare is so terrible. What will they do if they have a healthcare emergency which is a real possibility as one gets older? Do you want to suffer a stroke or an MI in a place with no major hospitals? What about getting groceries and running errands? Will you be able to trek up and down hills at 85 – forget driving because if you have a US license, you need to start from scratch in Italy so you can drive AND buy a car. Are you willing to do that at 70? Life in Italy can be great, but being realistic and understanding that not all is Under the Tuscan Sun is the best way to make sure your dream doesn't become your worse nightmare.
German expat here,I live in Northern Italy since about 35 years now, as per my experience I am still an expat after all these years but within myself I feel more italian than german after all these years. If I could go back in the early years I would turn back to Germany but now it is too late.Now I am a stranger in my home country too….😢😂
Lived in Italy for 7 years during my studies. Italy is nice for a 2-3week holiday once a year or every other year, but not really to live in.
Nice Signorina….👍
Hi Ms Britaly, what you are describing is what most people moving away from their native country are experiencing. Expat is just a glorified version for the immigrant word. I did live in your country for several years, experiencing much of what you are describing myself. There I found some amazing human beings, loving, to-the-bone english people that really helped and cared for me – against all stereotypes. Although sometimes the cultural "barrier" was there, they put up with it and the same was for me. As you are nicely describing, one has to take also the uncomfortable and scary parts of it, grow and get over them to make a fulfilling life for oneself, until "abroad" starts to feel and become home. Mind you, when one is out of their native country, one will always get that "foreigner" vibe from locals, but in Italy that has not to be a bad thing. Italians in general like well behaved foreigners and are welcoming towards them, trying to make them feel at home. Just like my beloved english friends and families did with me in their own unique manner, different from the Italian bombastic way but warming and comforting all the same. Ora ti lascio, mi raccomando sii sempre forte e positiva. Ciao!
Thanks for the honesty as always. Last week I was in Gallipoli and thought that I would send a postcard home (remember those?!😂) So I popped into the post office, took a ticket and got in line. When I eventually got to the till and asked for a stamp to the UK, the postal worker replied “we don’t sell stamps here”!!!!!!!!!!!! To say that I was gobsmacked is an understatement. I couldn’t even respond as the worker was deadly serious and he looked perplexed as to why I was asking to buy a stamp from a post office!😂😩😳 I adore Italy and it’s one of my favourite countries, but it is truly stuck in a different era and happily refuses to even remotely catch up with the rest of the world. This was not in a village in the remote countryside, so I dread to think how those people cope. There is a reality and it’s often not what we imagine. Still absolutely love Italy but I’m really not sure that I could live there.
Very lovely story
I lived 20 years… Most amazing country for me. If you are good with the language
Your nails are amazing!
The plandemic
Un incubo
Airbnb 4 months a year will do me Claire. No country is perfect. The UK is great for many things but its a basket case lol. All the best. Michael.
Thank you for your story. I am living in France and Morocco. Now i am partly settling in Italy. I am hoping to start my travel in april.
Which medium sized city has the most cloudy days in your opinion?
Hi, A nice video, but the music becomes monotonous and distracting. Part of your experience is simply getting older and letting the little things go. Best part of aging.
As for a person from Palermo, I can imagine that navigate life here can have his challenghes for foreigns, but Palermo is not just inefficiency and corruption, our city (and island) is full of LIFE all in capitol letters as such you can't find everywhere, it has its sweetness and sourness as any other place, it takes time to understand our ways and get the best out of it.
Maybe it only happens to me… It's like this: when I watch your videos, I'm captivated by your thoughts — for the first three minutes — but then I have trouble following them. Why? Ah, it's the music that accompanies them. The constant repetition is annoying, and I realize that subconsciously "filtering" your words is a burden.
It's as if your apartment isn't insulated from the noise of your neighbor.
I'd rather just enjoy your voice; the music — apart from the introduction — adds nothing to your speech.
I've been living in Spain since the 90s and with the exception of Barcelona's decline, although it's nothing like LA, it's ten times better than Italy in terms of security and stability. I visited Rome and the south of Italy back in 04 and it was third world compared to Madrid and dangerous.
All valid views on the various stages of settling into life here as an immigrant. Thanks for being so open about them.
By the by, and I may well have missed something, but weren't you moving back to Salerno?
Every time the 'red tape' arrives, the response was always the same "Welcome to Italy" 🤣🤣🤣✌️
I lived in downtown Napoli from 2003-2008 & hated leaving… it’s a special place where I honestly felt safer than here in the US. So many amazing memories. It was also a much different time too. Capri & Ischia in the summer & holidays.
Great video!!!! Thank you for sharing 💕
Thank you for this video. I think I'm in stage 2 moving into stage 3. I was keeping one foot too long in London (mainly mentally). A helpful and encouraging message to this video.
I lived 10 years in USA and I am happy to have permanently come back to Italy
Thank you for your video. My husband and I are planning to retire in Italy
As an Italian I have to say that the answer was when you said you were in Naples/Salerno. Whilst the region offers a lot of beautiful places, even Italians would struggle living there 😂 the Neapolitan culture is a bit of a microcosmos of its own and it is not representative of the country. Had you moved to the central regions, the mountain regions or the northern regions, your life would have been more settled since the beginning and probably more normal. The north and south divide is still really evident with the country split into two contrasting parts
Its not just moving to Italy that provokes all those emotions- its called ADULTHOOD. lol waaaay back to 2017…
The UK is still part of Europe. It didn't move to a new continent.
"Gritty" is exactly the word I use for Naples.
I was born in Italy but would never want to live there again
Beautifully and profoundly presented. Your breaking point was moving to a place you could feel more accepted and at home. Happy it turned out positively for you! By the way, the pandemic everywhere was just “abnormal”! I left the place I was resident right after for a few months.
I’m Italian , born in the Uk, both my parents are Italian and they emigrated here back in the 1960’s. I have lived in Italy when I was younger. Lived in provincia di Matera, Pompeii and Provincia di Salerno. I would never move there permanently as the reality is difficult: red-tape, high youth unemployment, mafia, terrible driving standards, graffiti, drugs, criminality, heat, getting things done , hiring contractors, accessing healthcare. People are amazing as is the language (which you MUST learn!), food , calcio, beaches. You have to be prepared for a lot of obstacles and I would say that England is much, much easier as a permanent place of residence. Good luck 🤞