A new life in Italy - Could you jump into the unknown?

MOVING TO ITALY

Could you jump into the unknown?

I’ve been thinking about our new life in Italy and the differences between jumping into the unknown and returning there much wiser.

When we left Australia for a new life in Italy the first time I was a totally different woman, one who had so many hidden fears.

These were not to do with leaving Australia and our comfort zones, that didn’t worry me at all.

I longed for the adventure I experienced traveling in my 20’s. These were much darker fears that something may happen to our children, that they would get lost or disappear in some strange country.

This time I am free of those fears, no longer an obsessive Mum who wouldn’t let her children out of her sight.

This time my husband and I are relaxed about it all, even when on a deadline we just know things will work out and nothing will stop us. As Michelle from Bleeding Espresso put it so beautifully we are living deliberately!

With our first journey to Italy there was a point in all the planning and goal setting where we ended up just looking at each other and saying “wow what have we done?” This moment came just on take off from Tullamarine airport in Melbourne.

We had said out goodbyes to the friends who had gathered at the airport.

I’m sure some were there to make sure we really did leave the country.

We were fairly amazed ourselves that we were actually going to board a plane and venture into the complete unknown with our one year old son and three year old daughter. What were we thinking?

Of course when we set the goal of a life in Italy none of our friends or family really believed it would be anything other than one of Sam’s latest ideas.

I didn’t really believe it myself until there seemed to be no going back.

We sold our house in Queensland, had a huge garage sale and sold everything we owned including the car, two mountain bikes and a piano which we ended up giving away. I knew there was no turning back when the piano took off down the road to its new home.

We then flew to Melbourne to get married, had Luca Christened and celebrated both the kids’ birthdays in a combined farewell and birthday party at La Porchetta’s in Rathdowne street (our old favorite hang out).

Sam had never been out of the country so I was able to take the experienced back packer position. Leading us all into our new life in Italy with tickets and passports in hand. Our first stop Bangkok. It was almost 20 years since I went backpacking around Europe and also stopped over in Bangkok on that trip. Not much seemed to have changed apart from the airport.

Flying over the alps from Frankfurt to Torino and Sam got chatting to some Germans sitting across the aisle and thought it a good time to start talking about Fawlty Towers and the “don’t mention the war” episode. You can imagine how that went down, they didn’t talk to him for the rest of the flight.

The Alps stretched on forever and I felt close to heaven, Dad, and our son Aaron on that flight. This time they are joined by my brother Bradley, my Uncle Bodge and with his funeral a few days ago my Uncle Fred who took the role of “Dad” when I lived with them in England many years ago.

Very special men who each had a part in who I am today, each of you always travel in my heart!

So I know nothing will stop our dreams, life is too short to wait for the perfect time to live!

ciao Lisa

What dream are you putting off?

Would you like to jump into the unknown or test the water first?

Save

and the gang x

22 replies

Sarah says:
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Lisa you are a wonderful inspiration, and a better friend. You have encouraged me to follow my dreams. I’m giving myself the proverbial kick up the bum and starting the journey of following my dreams. Nothing as grand as moving country, but love sharing your stories.
Much love
sarah
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- Lisa Chiodo says:
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  Sarah you are inspiring, you never give up, always offer a friendly smile, and are the one person that always kicks me out of my solitude, almost daily actually! Lets never give up on our dreams, here’s to 2018 my friend x
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Concetta Veneto says:
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Ciao from Veneto 🙂
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- Lisa Chiodo says:
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  and Ciao to you xx
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Michael Bonato says:
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Hi Lisa, Love reading your adventures, I am wanting to do the same thing myself by first going there and tracking down any relations I have there from my fathers side, and then touring a bit with the view to buying a restorer in a beautiful rural area commuting distance from a lovely village, this is my dream. My kids are grown up and say to me do it, don’t worry about us , we will come over and visit you. I have applied for my Italian citizenship by birth right from my father, but seems in Australia they are just as relaxed about getting back to you as in Italy. Keep blogging I love to read what you guys are up to with your beautiful children, such an educational adventure for all of you. ciao ino alla prossima volta.
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- Lisa Chiodo says:
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  Ciao Michael, hope you find the relatives what part of Italy are they from? Your dream sounds great and will love to hear how it turns out. One day I”m sure we’ll meet up to chat about life and renovating lol xx
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Linda Chapman says:
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Lisa, from reading your posts, clearly you and I share the same dream: exploring and claiming a piece of Italy for our own. Following along with your exploits is completely fascinating to me. You have accomplished exactly my dream for yourself. And I so admire you for having done that. Your success story has encouraged me to follow my heart at last. Would you please offer a bit of advice as to the beginning point, what is the first step toward purchasing or renting a property in your “Secret Italy” , Liguria, Borga, any of the locations shown in your photos or videos, all of which I love. I do possess a pioneer spirit so that is a definite asset. Thanks for any suggestions you would offer.
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- Lisa Chiodo says:
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  Hi Linda, it is such a wonderful dream to have. I’d be happy to pass on anything that would help you further your own dreams. We are in a great position as my husband speaks Italian and is of Italian heritage. This certainly helped with firstly finding houses that were not even for sale officially and also for the following negotiations and legal work. We went to Italy that first time with no knowledge of the system and went through agents who showed us a number of properties. We also spent some time exploring different areas via our campervan to see where we wanted to live.
  
  This time we spoke directly to locals to find properties for sale and bypassed the agents.
  
  We are looking at putting together listings of unadvertised properties in the future. If you had anything definite in mind we could certainly help you out somehow. I hope this helps in some small way, another thing that I know helped us is that we took part in a number of seminars etc prior to realizing our dreams. We followed Anthony Robins, Robert Kyosaki, and took business coaching which took us to the Landmark Forum..this is the defining moment for us as it showed us a new way of approaching life.
  
  so go chase that dream, ciao lisa x
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Leanne says:
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It’s great to see so many people (Aussies) fulfilling their dreams. I just wrote an article about 2 Australians who pursued their dream to move to France and one of the things that really struck me was that both of them said something along the lines of “you don’t need to be anyone special to move to France (Italy, anywhere!) you just need to desire to do it”.
You’re showing Lisa that it really is that simple – just go for it (acknowledging that it takes a lot to make it happen of course!)

All the best

Leanne
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- Lisa Chiodo says:
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  You are so right Leanne, I often tell people “you could do it as well” only to hear many reasons why it’s just not possible for them. There really is no secret other than to decide and then be unstoppable in your quest wherever it may take you (often not where you expect). The actual practical side of moving country is secondary to a shift in mindset which we took on for ourselves almost eleven years ago at a Robert Kiyosaki seminar. This led us to property, and to Anthony Robbins then onto Landmark which had a profound difference on all our lives. Without these and many mentors and coaches along the way we might not have seen that our dreams were not only possible but were demanding we chase them!
  
  I really am passionate that we follow our dreams and I hope that we can show others that it is possible….
  
  I love your site and the things you share at facebook they are always so positive and thoughtful!
  ciao bella
  Lisa
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Penelope says:
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Hi Lisa,
I have just discovered your blog and it chimed. I’m about to move to Italy from the UK. I have a buyer for my house here, and I’m planning to live in the Veneto, near Vicenza. I’m elated and scared in equal measures. It’s good to read about your and others’ experiences, and I’ll be following your journey from now on. Ciao Penelope
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- Lisa Chiodo says:
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  How wonderful Penelope, sounds like your dreams are coming true. So happy to have you along and would love to hear about your experiences. Once you get to Italy I can connect you with a great expat group I belong to. Elated and scared sounds like the perfect way to feel, be sure to stay in touch.
  ciao Lisa
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Cathy says:
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Lisa,
I can’t wait to share your next adventure in Italy via your blog. I think the first time I jumped into the unknown, and moved to Italy, I didn’t really know what to expect, and it was such a shock. Hence my motivation for giving it a second go.
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- Lisa Chiodo says:
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  Hi Cathy,
  Just been checking out your blog, I would be lost without mine now. It took some steep learing curves but I am slowly getting there. Moving to a country for the second time is a bit like when your second child is born…you know the ropes but they still suprise you!
  
  I’d love to catch up at IR or my fb page if you want to chat about Italy or blogging (my fav topics).
  ciao bella
  Lisa
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Lisa Wood says:
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I would love to be on a plane with you guys going to Italy – I jump into the unkown all of the time…and then have to come back down to earth and wonder what I have done! Many things do work out for many different reasons…you will be getting back to Italy, and have many great times ahead with gorgeous kids. Imagine the memories they will have now they are older then 3 and 1…they will have so many great times ahead 🙂

Cheers
Lisa
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- Lisa Chiodo says:
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  Could you imagine, we’d need to charter the entire plane almost with all your clan and ours!! When you get to Italy we will have a place for your Bus!! I can’t wait to see the kids reaction to it all now they are older…Carina has heard the stories, seen the photos but really has no memory of it at all.
  
  You are the queen of jumping into the unknown!! Did you all know that this lady and her husband bought an old bus, sold everything and is now traveling around Australia with four of her five sons.
  
  here’s to dreaming
  ciao lisa
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Francesca Muir says:
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Hi Lisa – have just stumbled on your blog and LOVE it – I too did something similar in the late 1980’s – took a giant leap off a cliff with only a coat hanger to hang onto (my analogy) and moved to Crete to pursue a dream – no Greek blood, no language under my belt – just a passion to be there – it was wonderful – and I have never felt so alive. And alive without my suit of armour! I am new to blogging and immediately adding you to my list – I am so going to enjoy reading your archives this weekend. Thank you Francesca
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- Lisa Chiodo says:
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  Hi Francesca,
  I am already loving your blog and the beautiful images and stories. I think maybe we Aussies are an adventurous lot. I totally understand what you mean by “never feeling so alive” there is a wonderful community of bloggers and I just love connecting with readers from all over the world and hearing of their dreams and passions.
  
  How freeing was it to give up that suit of armor ? How did you stumble upon us??
  I’d love to feature some of your images on the blog, if you’d be interested let me know. Looking forward to much blogging and dream sharing with you, I also have a personal fb page you can connect with me on (Lisa Chiodo)
  ciao for now
  Lisa
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  - Francesca Muir says:
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    Thank you Lisa – of course you are most welcome to use my images any time – I am not sure if you can copy them though as I have removed the ability to do so – let me know. I found you through Carla Loves Photography on FB – I love her work. Another intrepid Aussie traveller! My next dream is to travel to Italy – no Italian blood despite the name, so am taking Italian speaking lessons and there is nothing like learning a new language when you really want to learn it – so much easier some how! Have connected with you on FB.
    ciao F x
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    - Lisa Chiodo says:
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      Well how perfect is that, Carla is a big favorite and one who got me started (in a round a bout way) blogging. I loved her books so much and thought “I have literally thousands of images of our life in Rustic Italy I should do a book” instead I started a blog…
      
      I’ll send you an email about the images, I’d love you to choose 2 or 3 that are special to you. Those moments that you capture each have their own story. When you get to Italy you must let us know! I can’t wait for our kids to be fluent in Italian and call the grandparents for a chat! I see you already like Bleeding Espresso, have you found A Certain Simplicity…one of my must reads!! Look forward to being blogging buddies!
      ciao for now
      Lisa
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      - Francesca Muir says:
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        Lisa – thank you – I am looking forward to this too – and have checked out and checked in to A Certain Simplicity – this will be a regular as well. Take care F x
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        Lisa Chiodo says:
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        Great Francesca I know you’ll like her. I sometimes get into information overload with all the blogs I like.
        ciao lisa
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