AUSTRALIA TO ITAY
Australia to Italy & beyond!
With our proposed departure date looming I thought I would give you all an update on our progress moving from Australia to Italia.
As you may know we are in the middle of a renovation on our property in Australia (Brisbane, Queensland to be exact) and we are so close to finishing I can taste it. Progress has been slower than we first expected and council regulations for the self contained unit were all new to us.
This has been the first renovation that Salvatore has totally project managed, usually he is out there laying tiles or painting and I am passing nails and washing paint brushes.
Not this time, we took a seminar some time back Renovate for Profit which was fantastic. Now we are able to employ tradesmen to complete the work and have multiple parts of the renovation on the go at once.
So although it has come together quickly it has been a steep learning curve managing the project and the various characters who are our tradies.
We are around 90% complete and aim to be finished within the next two weeks. It’s starting to look great which usually means it’s almost time to sell. One thing you need to come to terms with fairly quickly living the life of renovators is that you don’t get to enjoy the finished results for very long. It can feel like you are living in some other families home for those few months before you sell.
After 15 renovations in as many years I find I don’t become attached to the house as I once did, I know I am preparing it for the real owners.
With the move from Australia to Italia coming up so quickly the excitement is mixed with a tinge of sadness. I am experiencing our life here with thoughts that it will be a long time before we get back to Australia. So far we have been so busy planning and renovating that the actual reality of moving countries again hasn’t hit home.
So we are racing against the clock to get the renovation finished and the house sold in time to get to Italy to sign the contracts on the new property in Veravo. Our window of opportunity for the train trip is getting narrower and starting to look unlikely. Now my dear Salvatore is talking of such a trip starting from Italia instead of Vietnam so who knows where we will end up in the next few years. Our lifestyle of buy, renovate, sell is all to finance our gypsy lifestyle traveling the world. I am longing to have a home base in Italy, one that we can make our own.
Are you living a life you love? Moving from Australia to Italia?
I would really like to know whether you are longing to move to Italy but not sure how. Are you still working another job or do you renovate full time? Finally, if you have ever lived abroad or love to travel (even from the armchair) please leave a comment and let me know. I would love to hear about it.
and the gang x
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Hi Lisa, I look forward to your Renovating Italy posts. I may have written you in the past, I certainly feel as if I have. I used to follow From Australia to Italy (http://australiatoitaly.blogspot.com/) for years after a Google search for my grandfather’s village of Malito. There I met Leanne and followed her romance from Roma to Malito, the birth of her two children and then after a short absence her tragic story and realities of Italy’s health care system. As a nurse this perspective interested me. Leanne and family moved back to Australia, the South proving too tough.
I became interested in Italy in the course of studying my roots. I discovered I could become a cittadina through my family research. In May 2011 I became a citizen of Italy in San Francisco, CA!
I tried to read your old posts and see a gap. Did you renovate in 2005, sell then return to Australia and then back to Italy in 2011? What was that all about?
Your husband is one of a kind so talented and hard working! I appreciate your posts mainly on Facebook. Please keep up your wonderful work. Best, Susan
Ciao Susan, I was so shocked and saddened to hear what had happened to Leanne and can’t imagine how traumatic it must have all been. Almost all the systems here have me shaking my head but so far so good. Wonderful to have become a citizen, are you planning to one day move to Italy? We did initially come to Italy in 2005 and renovated a farmhouse in the mountains at Borga Nari, we sold this house in 2006 and returned to Australia, soon after we realised that we wanted to return so over the following years renovated a number of properties. Our second last property caught us right in the middle of the real estate market crash and we lost out on that one so had to come to Italy with less than we expected. We finally made it back in March 2013, and have been here over a year now.
We have another house in Liguria which we have up for sale right now {my husband and a friend of his came to Italy in 2010 and bought it}, and this one we are living in which is in Piedmont. I love it here in the mountains. Sam is a gem, he can turn his hand to anything and we just keep moving forward as we can, I’ve been sick this past week so not much happening on fb or here at the blog. We head off to France in a few weeks and I’m hoping to be recovered fully by then.
great to chat, did you find out much about your Grandfathers village? Or about his heritage, it’s such a fascinating thing to trace your family xx
ciao ciao lisa x
Ciao LIsa
I wrote on your facebook page last week…I’m from New Zealand and seem to have a real “call” to live in Italy. We have been trawling the internet looking at a lot of houses to
renovate in Italy…some have stood out to us and we would love to buy one….I believe that one day we will move…I don’t know how or when but I feel it will happen. It’s a bit scary thinking about it and all that it involves, as I am sure you have thought the same in your preparations to go.
I know it won’t be easy for us to live in Italy not being EU citizens, I can’t even find out on the internet if there is a possibility that we would get a visa to live there, do you know anything of the process?
Hope all is going well for you and your family in your preparations to leave.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Ciao Carey
Hi Carey, terrified is the word I would use when we first thought of moving. I only said yes as I never thought we’d actually do it! Family and friends thought we were a bit loco, but once you get that thought in your head it’s hard to think of anything else.
There are so many houses in Italy in need of TLC, my husband also loves trawling the net for homes. Every one we see is one we’d love to work on, we have our hearts set on one day renovating a village near our old house in Gambasca. I don’t know about the process you would have to follow but a good place to start is over at –
http://www.expatsinitaly.com
We are in limbo at the moment until the house sells, things are starting to get dire. It’s just a waiting game now.
think I need to write some posts on how we actually got ourselves from the idea of living in Italy to the actual day when we signed the papers on the house.
Great to have you both along, look forward to hearing about your “journey” to Italia!
ciao lisa
Hi Lisa,
It was great talking with you and Salvatore today. I love the dream you guys have and am very excited to see you live that gypsy lifestyle across the globe. I hope to get the oppertunity to work with you but if not i look forward to watching and reading your stories as you “Renovate Italy”
All the best
Gareth
Coronis
Thanks Gareth, it was just a pleasure meeting you and I know if we decide to go that way you will be the only one we would work with. We have met many agents over the years and only one other has stood out like you do. We stay committed to a quick sale and our move to Italy. If you ever look to Italy don’t forget to come and stay with us.
ciao lisa and sam
Hi Lisa,
My apologies for the repeated post, my computer is slow and I thought the first one didn’t post, I suppose you can feel my ” wanting”!! Ahahaha!!
This is so amazing, you and your family are amazing!! I feel like you have secretly entered the depths of my mind and carefully read the details! My frustration is not knowing how to get from here to there….
What a dream, a dream I feel in my heart.
Wendy
Hi Lisa,
PLEASE tell me how to get there!!! This sounds so unbelievable!! It is as if you have secretly stepped inside my mind, and carefully paid attention to the details……I simply do not fully understand the pathway from here to there…..
You are an amazing family, I am certain our families are destine to meet one day!!!
Wendy
Hello Lisa,
How exciting for you and your family. Moving to Italy to renovate a house, and to live amongst there town. I would so love to move to Italy and experience the feel of the people, the food, the history and see all those amazing sights. How exciting. So looking forward to following your family adventures and see your gorgeous new house!
Happy travelling days ahead for you and your gorgeous family
Cheers
Lisa
Hello Lisa,
I so love reading about your adventures. I so love the idea of moving to Italy. Imagine the feeling of living and working with the country, the feel of the local town, the food, the family feeling….the whole idea of the new country – love it 🙂 Amazing adventures ahead for your family – I so am looking forward to reading more.
Cheers
Lisa
Hi Lisa,
great to hear of your progress. So close now you can almost touch it!
Funny also to read that you completed the Renovating for Profit workshop – I did also! Just finished a 3 day workshop with Cherie in March. It really is a small world.
Look forward to following your updates on departure from Oz, arrival in Italy and when all the fun commences with your renovating in Italy progress.
Good luck
Leanne
Lisa,
great to hear of your progress. So close you can almost taste it.
Funny how our paths intersect. I just completed the Renovating for Profit course with Cherie in March this year! Small world really.
Look forward to following your updates on departure from Oz and relocation to Italy. All the best for the final countdown
Hi Leanne,
sorry my reply seems to have dissapeared. I love that our paths have crossed and keep crossing. How did you like the seminar? This has been the first project that Sam has totally project managed rather than doing work himself. Steep learning curve but totally worth it. Once you get a good team of reliable tradespeople on board you are half way there. Cherie is a dynamo, I found it challengintg to be supervising the painter who was a much older man, glad I am so fussy and set him straight right at the start.
Are you looking at doing a renovation or have you done some in the past? Look forward to hearing about your adventures in the world of Reno’s…
ciao Lisa