1. 

   Toni Hilton says:

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   For me–when I came here in 1994, the biggest misstep was in thinking that my nursing career could be picked up again once I had mastered the Italian language. I didn’t realize then that the Italian medical system, being state run, is not so progressive, merit based or interested in assimilating foreign nurses with high skill levels (I had a university degree and critical care background). Plus, with Italian medical school costing a fraction of what Americans pay, there were many young med students who wanted to take the place I would have filled.
   I had to re-invent completely, and became a property manager…
   The second misstep, along the same line was thinking that there was some reciprocity with driving licenses…which there isn’t. After having driven in the Americas for 30 odd years, getting a new-from-scratch driving license here was frustrating and expensive.

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2. 

   Lisa Chiodo says:

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   Hi Helen.. Sam here re Malware alerts and Security popups I have done all the scans on our site and server and it came up clear of malware and viruses.. make sure you check your end as well just in case you are infected… sneaky people out their.. thanks for letting us know. Will be in the process of updating our site so may be down for a few days. thanks again Sam.

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3. 

   Violet Owens says:

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   Lisa, thank you for your advise I’m moving to France at the beginning of next year and your shared experience is very helpful for me to know. It’s good to know on which aspects of the move to pay more attention. I hope I’ll have a smooth and less stressful move. Greets!

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4. 

   Heather says:

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   Lisa – I found you through b-school and have been following your wonderful blog since then. I love hearing about your experiences especially how your children settled. We got our business in the UK to the place where we can take chunks of time out to live abroad a couple of years ago. First we spent 4 months living in Spain and our children went to school for a term in the most beautiful, rural village – it was idyllic, the people were lovely, the scenery took my breath away every time I stepped out of the door. My daughter was 11 and thrives in new situations and the whole experience was great for her in so many ways but my son who was 7 really struggled with the fact he couldn’t properly understand the other children (he had been having Spanish lessons since he was 3 but of course it’s a different thing to being able to understand fluent speech with a regional accent) and he withdrew into himself at school. I would say overall the experience was positive for him because he loved the time we had as a family out of school – but the school situation wouldn’t have been sustainable for him long term. He LOVES his UK school and if I am honest he hated going to school in Spain. Also for my son in particular (but for both of them really) the school system was so old fashioned – loads of learning from text books and hand writing practice. Because it was a short term adventure we looked on it in a different light – it was all part of life’s experience for them, the school days were actually very short and it was only for a few months but when we put them back in the UK system we could really see how they catered so much better for children with dyslexia – loads of practical activities etc. My husband and I fell in love with rural Spain and Portugal years ago and have been working towards spending as much of our lives as we can there for about a decade. We are finally getting there on a business front but our children are now nearly 9 and nearly 13 and I’m worried about how we can make it work for them. We bought a beautiful renovation project in Portugal just before Christmas and we are so excited about it but the children’s education feels like a big dilemma at the moment – for different reasons for both of them. I guess we feel that we are forewarned about how our son struggles with being surrounded by people he can’t understand – one idea is that we put our daughter in school straight away but hire an au pair to talk to our son in Portuguese for about 6 months before we try putting him in the school system and also enrol him in loads of clubs and activities. I know this is a huge topic and I have already written an essay here but it’s great to hear other peoples’ stories of how they made it work for their children.

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5. 

   Krista says:

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   I forgot to check the price of items in Australia. If I’d known how expensive books were, I’d have brought all of mine with me instead of thinking I could easily replace them when I got here. 🙂

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     Lisa Chiodo says:

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     Oh we bought ten boxes into Italy which was inexpensive in Australia, we just didn’t know the port of Genoa would then charge us a thousand euro to clear them through the port.

     Now if I get back to Australia and visit my Mum I just bring a few things from my boxes stored at her place. My entire life is in ten boxes.

     Ahhhh how do we manage without our beloved books Krista x

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6. 

   Catherine says:

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   This is not specific to moving to Italy but once you do change culture/season/outlook and life abroad is no longer a holiday/adventure but routine, you are going to feel a little loss and confusion. If you live away long enough you might never go ‘home’ comfortably. Ever. You might feel as though you are an ‘exile’ or foreigner everywhere. Or – and this is great – you might be able to sink down pleasurable and exploratory roots anywhere you go.

   This doubles or triples when you produce bi-lingual children, who will never be ‘Australian’ in the same way you were, and not regular Italians either. But, like you, they might feel at home anywhere, equipped in a special way to deal with life!

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     Lisa Chiodo says:

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     So very true Catherine it hit me hard the first time in Italy for the first six months. This time I have also had to deal with menopause and Carina hitting the teen years. I know when we eventually visit Australia it will be hard to adjust,.

     I hadn’t thought about our children not feeling at home in Australia. It will be interesting to see how they develop as they grow, Carina just seems so Italian now and fitting in with the kids at school means not speaking english, teenage girls just want to fit in.
     sending love xx

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7. 

   Alison says:

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   A couple I didn’t know until I got here…

   Work out how to transfer money between countries cost-effectively.
   Realise that it costs a TON to get your ‘stuff’ from Australia to Italy, so what to do with it instead?

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     Lisa Chiodo says:

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     YES we got caught with sending boxes over from Australia, and I only have ten boxes stored at my Mums with my entire lifetimes treasures lol x
     One each for my children and the rest with childhood items and books. xx

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