arjacey

Check your insurance if you are planning on taking your car outside of the UK. Most policies only cover for a limited time, perhaps 90 days in a year. We are insured by Saga who cover the full 12 months.

arjacey

We spent 4 weeks in May looking at areas from Lucca south to Calabria, Puglia, Abruzzo and Umbria. We only scratched the surface but did find where we would like to rent for a trial. So I would say go for as long as you can. We found that after two weeks we were still on holiday and it was only in the last two weeks that we made progress looking at the possibility of living in Italy for a longer period. Even then, I don't think we will be able to grasp the reality of it until we are there for several month and have to deal with the day to day issues that just don't come up on a short stay.

Our plan is to rent for 12 months, perhaps occasionally travelling to and from the UK but I am fortunate in being able to work wherever I have an internet connection. And we do not have children, at least dependent ones, we need to consider.

Most beneficial was looking around the Estate Agencies and collecting website addresses as we hadn't been able to find these easily using web searches and were generally directed to holiday property sites. Also, there were lots of private rental signs with a phone number.

I would agree with other posters: don't give up your UK base. We have been in Greece for the last 7 summers. Italy seems to be where Greece was 3-4 years ago. Those ex-pats who had given up the UK and moved here permanently, maybe buying property have had a bumpy ride over the last few years. But property is moving now. Many are selling up as soon as they can and buying back in the UK.

HTH

tomdidutton

Hi we will check we're covered with admiral at present.
i dont think we can get cover with saga as we're in our 30s.

tomdidutton

we are planning a similar thing as in planning on 6/12 months and see how things pan out.
The guys on here have give us some good links as have some expats on twitter. I'm unsure if i can put them on here as don't know if it breaks forum rules.
That said we have found a few nice houses in some nice areas and got details of estate agents and employers in italy.
We are planning on putting our belongings we not bringing into storage as its quite cheap here in Barrow. Then if things dont work in Italy we still have a back up plan but if we stay we can sell the stuff or transport them over.

Eva_Genuine

Hi tomdidutton, if you need help with the translation of your CV or anything else, I'd be happy to assist, just let me know! All the best.

tomdidutton

Hi thank you that a really lovely offer i really appreciate it.

clint

Don't forget that if your children need to attend school while you are here, the Italian school year starts in September

tomdidutton

Hiya Clint.
we remembered that and its on our "to do" list when we come over for our look about. Our youngest will be 2 is there any requirements for her to attend nursery or is that voluntary?
Also will we have to pay for our other daughter to attend school or is it state funded as in England?

clint

I am not the best person for schools as I don't have kids. State schools you have to pay for child text books (it can be costly from what my cousin was saying the other week). Nursery is not compulsory

tomdidutton

Thanks for the reply Clint. We'd like to get daisy into a nursery or play group to help her with language and other kids it also maybe a wau to meet new people in the area we move to.
It's not too bad having to buy books as i thought that we may have to pay school fees as we not Italian citizens so its cheaper than thought.

clint

other parents on this forum can give you a better idea of what the cost of text books are like I know my cousin last week was complaining at how expensive they are. Shouldn't be too bad for primary school, media upward it is expensive.
I am sure most town/villages will have a nursery school or a ludoteca

tomdidutton

Thats something we will look into.
I'm still unsure about which way to do things. Either find a job then look for a home in the area or vice versa. What would you recommend?

Isakat

You will be taking a huge and unnecessary risk if you find a home first and look for a job later. Jobs are a lot more difficult to find here than in the UK. Many jobs are still given not on merit, but to family and friends and the majority of jobs do not involve permanent contracts.
If you do this, make sure you have huge savings....

I am not trying to dissuade you from your dream, I take my hat off to you for your strength and ambition to come to Italy, but you should realize that this is a very different society to what you are used to when it comes to employment.

37100

Job first. No question.

tomdidutton

Hi i appreciate that your being realistic with us and not sugar coating things.
The thing is wont it be more difficult to find a job with a uk address?
Any tips on how to find a job over there whilst in UK?
Ive looked at some of the large multinational forms like GE and HP also Serco. Clint passed me a link for the UN and Boeing sown in Puglia.
Which I'm going to send off an application for.