Sancho

So sad -

The end of our Italian dream

GeorgeYoung

It strikes me that they were always destined to fail because they were changing so many aspects of their life at once: moving from city to countryside, from employment to self-employment, from one country to another (and chuck in a new child as well!). All of these are big changes so to do all three at once is to give yourself a huge amount to take on. No wonder they found it a huge shock to the system. Credit to them for giving it a go, taking on an olive grove is certainly not for the faint-hearted, they seem to have done well to achieve as much as they did.

modicasa

It seems that very few people are happy with their own company these days. People 'need' outside stimulus, 'chance encounters' and being in the midst of an anonymous crowd.

Donna Noble

I tend to agree with George on this. They seem to have gone from one extreme to the other. Maybe near a small vibrant town would have been a more appropriate option. Anyway, by the sounds of it, they haven't completely cut ties with their rural life in Italy - who knows, they might want to return one day.

And modicasa has a good point that we probably don't really think too much about how much it means to us to be part of the throng.Me included! Although, I'm sure there are some quite-happy-thank-you-very-much expat hermits out there!

heritagestanley

Not sure why Sancho commented "so sad". OK they decided that very rural Italy wasn't the idyll that they had hoped for. But they seem to have notched up a number of important achievements along the way, including creating what I hope is a sustainable business enterprise which has got local farmers involved; making some good Italian friends; and above all learning something important about themselves in good time.

Capo Boi

This article is almost nine years old....Didn’t she use it to hype her book, if I remember correctly.

heritagestanley

9 years old, yes: well spotted!! I'd completely missed that

scot47

It is still a warning to all those who think of "Living The Dream".

Capo Boi

There were others before doing the ‘adopt an olive tree’ as there are now. It can be a bit misleading as you don’t actually get the oil from your individual tree. Well you do a little I suppose mixed with the oil from the other 1000 trees or whatever in the grove. A high mark up way to buy oil in my opinion but I think the original company is still in business possibly under different owners.

About 15 years ago a friend of mind adopted a ‘truffle’ tree. To date, zero truffles but hey ho on paper at least he is entitled to any found under his tree and does not have to share. Well that’s the charitable impression at least.

spouse of scouse

I'm not sure why someone with her rather patronising attitude towards the local people ever thought she'd 'fit in', as she puts it.

The nearest town, Macerata, is half an hour away; some of our older neighbours had never seen it. Marchigiani women wear checked pinnies all day (and possibly night) and the men wear outdoor work clothes (a physical and metaphorical cover, perhaps, as many spend the major part of the working day sipping Varnelli at the local bar)

carcajou

Not really sure what the story is here.

Urban millennials moved to Italy based on a false stereotype of what Italy is like, and what working in agriculture is like, and got burned? Blowing off the villagers who gave them good advice as hayseeds, because their friends in London and LA said otherwise?

Rinse, wash, repeat all over the world. No different than when Australians in Sydney or Perth decide they are going to go buy a vineyard in the Barossa or Margaret River and think that means trading in the rat race for leisurely half days and an endless series of long lunches with friends. Only to realise what they've actually signed up for is more work with less money . . . this couple even said in the article they thought they were getting "no obligations" and "time on their side."

They ought to be thankful the locals didn't "slow-play" them.

I showed this to my (Italian) wife who also caught the time discrepancy and pointed out things were a lot better in 2009 than they are today.

scot47

And similar to those from the South of this island moving to rural and island communities in Scotland. The picture the newcomers have is often far from the reality of daily life.

GingerFlowers

I wouldn't worry about them..they found another source of inspiration for their numerous books..:-)

https://www.independent.co.uk/travel...-a6855541.html

philat98

There are plenty of blogs about Italy that are more interesting. My favourite is done by Bill Thayer. His website that describes nearly all the villages in Umbria is very useful.

Pailor

Yeah! I found that a bloody annoying actually. Does she think that working 9-5 in an office in UK wearing uncomfortable clothes and masochistic shoes is somehow superior?
My close neighbour has been such a help, they're all so kind here.

I read a bit and then saw her for what she was and couldn't be bothered, sadly though, people will believe in her story and won't come here. The local economies really need the input of fresh blood due to young people moving to the larger towns and cities.

We've moved here, we have an olive grove and a small vineyard, but we weren't naive enough to think we'd make a living from it. Our fruit, olives and almonds ( and of course home made wine ) Are all icing on the Sicily cake.

I think they were just silly and didn't do their homework before jumping in. The attitude toward the locals cant have helped