Hello all.
I'm currently living in Canada. I have residency and everything.
If I was to pick up and leave for Sicily, what would you recommend for me to do? I'm not sure of the length of the stay, at least a month. But I've honestly been thinking something a little more long term. Or is this not recommended?
I need someone to either talk me into or out of this idea!

The normal sensible advice. Do not jump in head first. Go on a reccy. 2/3mnths. You'll either love it or hate it. Don't make hasty decision. Then go back to Canada and think it through. Jobs are hard to come by unless you like teaching. The pay is crap.

Why Sicily? Why not mainland Italy? There are no dates, no background mentioned so cannot give a real answer.

You have residency (canadian or Italian?)

Do you plan to work? or just a visit?

If you read through this forum you will read tales of doom about living in Italy, it will almost make Baghdad sound like a better destination....

Have a look elsewhere for opinions of expats on life in Italy, there are many blogs written by foreigners in Italy. There is one called girlinflorence which is IMHO objective.

Don't be daft BE is exactly the sort of place someone should come to gain a variety of viewpoints, experiences and opinions from - wait for it - expats/immigrant .

The OP should use this, as well as any other info that can be found.

Now, I realise that you are an Italian living in Singapore who wishes to stick up for your mother country - Italy - and that is fine. I do the same about England when Kiwis start making wild, exaggerated sweeping statements which paint all of England as covered in a smog grey, wet blanket of misery & despair which all 'Poms' ( despise that word now) long to escape. Of course, is not the case.

However, if a Kiwi has lived in the UK and wants to make observations about their lives & experiences of the UK there then I wouldn't dismiss those experiences and opinions of no worth. Anymore than I would accept a Kiwi telling me that my decade of New Zealand life meant nothing.Or that I had a skewed view & I didn't know what I was talking about .

My views and observations of NZ life are every bit as valid as my neighbours, whatever their original nationality, kiwi or otherwise and perhaps it could be said that my thoughts & opinions of NZ are more valid in the here and now ,over those Kiwi expats who have spent years away from their home country. Of course, the same applies vice versa.

So. What I am saying to you is that foreign nationals making a life for themselves in Italy will not view Italy as you may wish them to & they are free to express that without you having a pop at them for doing so.

It is not up to you to judge what is valid and what is not when it comes to an expat's point of view on their chosen country of residence.

By dint of being human beings are views ,experiences,opinions will be for the most part subjective. That does not make them wrong.

Just because you like a certain blog does not make that the more objective. It simply means that, subjectively, you enjoy & recognise those views better.

That's up to you of course. You are free to dip into that as an expat far away from home.

Please accord the same to others without attempting to diminish in the way that you have.

Thanks

Hi there and welcome to the BE Italy forum.

Hopefully , just by writing your thoughts here , your mind may become clearer on the life direction you wish to take.

No-one could or should talk you in or out of your idea.

What they can do is talk you through the practicalities perhaps of work, visa, living accom. and if you were thinking of far more long term, perhaps something of how they have found their Italian lives panning out .

Anyway, tell us a bit more about yourself please.

Are you thinking of a bit of an overseas experience ( as we call it down here in New Zealand) ?

As we are English, Italy is just a hop away. Also we have that awful thing that the EU brings, freedom of travel. A little different for you but I would advise you plan an extended stay, as has been mentioned already.

Unless you have good reason to pick Sicily, have a look around the country while you stay on your first trip (if that's what it is). Italy has so many many different attributes from top to toe (and heel) and travelling around will enable you to make a shortlist of where you think you would like to be. It's certainly a lot different from programmes on the TV!

If you are based in Sicily, you'll be a long way from everywhere else.

Don't expect to get a feel of what it is really like living somewhere in a month. I have been in Greece for 16+ weeks over the last seven years and, apart from struggles with the impenetrable language, I am only just getting to grips with some of the day-to-day issues that living long term somewhere implies.

This year, for example, is the first time we have had to get involved in the health system, a maze of regulation and inconsistencies, but overall a superb service if you know where to go and who to see.

We used AirBnB to plan our trip. If you use this, e-mail the hosts directly in the first instance, don't book through the website as your money may disappear for a few days. Payment is taken when booking and if it turns out that there is no availability (host aren't too good at keeping calendars up to date), it takes 5 days or so to get repaid.

We have found it difficult to find long term rental online. Most of the sites are holiday homes and a four week rental seems to be little reduced from 30 x the daily rate. Maybe a deal can be done by contacting the renters directly. Annunci immobiliari - Appartamenti e case in vendita e affitto | Immobiliare.it is a good starting point.

Like you, we are still considering our options. If you get there before us, it will be good to hear of your experiences.

Hope this helps a little.

Really?? Could do with a few more expat posters in our Singapore section of the forum why not pop over, Fleetwood?

I do lurk your forum and I can see that most posters are sound and there is generally a balanced view on Singapore there.
This particular section seems to have a problem. I have never met so many expats that are unhappy with their location, one wonders why some still live in Italy.
Regardless I think they'll now ban you, since you have invited me to your forum....
trip to tioman tomorrow so I think the moderators won't have to put up with dealing with complaints regarding my posts.....
I may well takyou up on your invitation.

PS I have noticed yo live in Penang, which part? Georgetown or further north?
I know penang quite well. I worked at the mutiara a few years back and I believe it is now closed.

Well it's not my forum but yes pop over. Have a good trip to Tioman. You might want to post about it in Malaysia section? Yep live in Penang, outside Georgetown. But let's talk about Malaysia over in Malaysia section, or we shall bore the pants off everyone in Italy.

Apologies to OP for hijacking the thread

The answers to these questions may profoundly impact what is possible. A Canadian citizen with no connection to Italy cannot just up-sticks and relocate to Italy.

Same as say any American then.... Mr Clooney ? (Money helps....) Hmmm...

Is this a first post and run away from the canadian?

One wonders why you are still here upsetting many posters when you clearly dislike us so much and think we are all gloomy, Italy hating expats?

How many of us have actually said that we're unhappy here? Surely you're not so naive that you think we're all happy holiday makers here? I have mentioned before that we live here. Live being the operative word. We live, love, cry, dance, sing, argue, work, play, struggle, study, shop, travel, pay bills and taxes, have friends and social lives, children, homes, pets. It's life with good days and bad days. Italy is not paradise and it isn't all "dolce vita" either. When we have something good to say we do, when we've had a bad day or a struggle with some bureacracy or a jobsworth in some official capacity we talk about that too. There are good threads about what we like here but you have chosen to ignore any good comments and just pick up on the bad ones.

If you don't like anything we have to say about our very real lives in Italy, then please do and go post in Singapore and leave us all alone. That would make us happy.

Personally, i dream to visit italy but only for beautiful women and foods cooking.

The food is generally good. The women are another story.