Our leaving the United States isn't political. And we haven't developed a cultural bias against our original country (Michigan and Indiana, with years in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Wyoming, and Colorado).
Italy is a beautiful land, the people are warm and welcoming, especially when you make an effort to learn to speak Italian (we have a very long way to go), and living inland we find affordable (more affordable than urban North Carolina).
There is a lot of paperwork and appointments in the process of gaining long-tern residence. We had let our Permesso di Sogiorno lapse after 2017 and without records with us—they MIGHT be in some box in storage in Raleigh—we had to start from the beginning, We are unable to buy or lease a car until we qualify for the Permesso in the spring, so we are renting a car we like, but at a high cost.
The cost of living is lower than in the U.S. Food costs are somewhat lower (25%?), and our rent is reasonable (less than half of what we would have paid for a two-bed, two-bath apartment in Raleigh), We live in a small town in the Umbrian hills, but there are several other towns very near (fifteen minutes), and Terni (110,000) with a large hospital, auto dealers, supermarkets, and a Brico (a kind of Lowe's or Home Depot), meets all our basic needs.
Driving times in minutes from our home:
Montecastrilli 13
San Gemini 16
Terni 22
Todi 23
Perugia 46
Assisi 1:06
Rome 1:11
Florence 2:21
Any questions?
Italy is a beautiful land, the people are warm and welcoming, especially when you make an effort to learn to speak Italian (we have a very long way to go), and living inland we find affordable (more affordable than urban North Carolina).
There is a lot of paperwork and appointments in the process of gaining long-tern residence. We had let our Permesso di Sogiorno lapse after 2017 and without records with us—they MIGHT be in some box in storage in Raleigh—we had to start from the beginning, We are unable to buy or lease a car until we qualify for the Permesso in the spring, so we are renting a car we like, but at a high cost.
The cost of living is lower than in the U.S. Food costs are somewhat lower (25%?), and our rent is reasonable (less than half of what we would have paid for a two-bed, two-bath apartment in Raleigh), We live in a small town in the Umbrian hills, but there are several other towns very near (fifteen minutes), and Terni (110,000) with a large hospital, auto dealers, supermarkets, and a Brico (a kind of Lowe's or Home Depot), meets all our basic needs.
Driving times in minutes from our home:
Montecastrilli 13
San Gemini 16
Terni 22
Todi 23
Perugia 46
Assisi 1:06
Rome 1:11
Florence 2:21
Any questions?
