Living Abroad Will Change How You Think

 

Living in Italy or abroad will change who you are and how you view yourself and life.  It is the best thing I have ever done.  I am happy to talk to you about pursuing this idea, here on line.  It is so doable, although most think is it out of our reach.  I feel like I live a much better lifestyle for far less money than I did in the USA.  I love my country …but there is another way.

 

My biggest attraction is the lack of hurry.  Thought, pride and energy are put into the simplest things.  Italians do have a flair…for just about everything. We live purposefully and slowly, enjoying the everyday things. We are not bombarded with choices, which frees up our minds.

 

I love that everything is old, so the need to remodel, change out, upgrade, trade-in, and change is removed.  We do focus on the change of season, which means the foods we eat and the activities we do.  Summer is to enjoy the outdoors, go to the seaside and garden fresh foods.  Fall is festival time, grape and olive harvests.

 

And I love the rhythm of the day with its up and down of energy. Rise at 8, work 9-1pm, lunch and nap, work 4-8pm, dinner at home, then walk in the piazza for a coffee or a chat. Now it stays light until 9:30 pm or so.  In my old life, I would rise at 5am, hit the gym, car pool/commute , work 9-6pm, grabbing a quick light lunch, commute/a glass of wine to unwind while I made dinner, asleep in front of the tv by 9 or 10.  It is impossible to be productive all day.  Longer days is not the answer, but managing energy and focused action makes much more sense.  No one really talks about what you do for a job, but everyone talks about food.

 

Why not live for 6 months and work for 6? Just like a foreigner moving to the USA, you need a work visa.  I suggest you go to Italy, rent a room in someone’s home or rent a furnished apartment for a 1-3 months and live the Italian lifestyle.  Check out sublet.com or easystanza.it (change it to English).  I did it for 3 months the first year and had the time of my life. Not working gave me a chance to reset my internal clock and learn to live without constant stimulation. Busyness is a trick of ego and makes you feel important or accomplished when all you do is run in a circle.  Europeans do less and accomplish  more.  I did it with very little money because I rented out my home and reduced all my monthly bills to a cell phone, health insurance and storage unit.

 

The cost of living in Italy is very low even though the exchange rate is not in our favor.  Without a car, tv, and other luxuries discised as necessities, I found I could live cheaper than by keeping my home, properly tax, house insurance, car payment, car insurance, pool guy, yard guy, cleaning lady, cable, health club membership, cc membership, hair and nail appts, etc.

 

It is a different way of life but I replaced the “money wheel” with time, freedom, adventure and travel.  Now I collect experiences, not stuff.

One Response to Living Abroad Will Change How You Think

  1. Damian says:

    There’s certainly a great deal to find out about this topic. I really like all the points you have made.

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