adamm82

My wife (Italian) an I are in our mid 30s and finding life a struggle in London we just want some peace and quiet and our goal of buying a place to live here seems difficult.

I am bored of the office environment, the expensive train fares, the traffic, the ridiculous rents.

We have a place in Northern Italy that we can go to tomorrow. Every day it seems more and more attractive. She will be able to find a job very easily for myself it won't be as easy but we can easily survive on one income for a while and we have money in the bank. she also has family nearby.

It would give me some time to have a break and stop stressing about everything and start to have sometime to concentrate on my interests. I like to make music and videos and I do not have space or time to do much of this in my current situation.

It's a big step to give up what we have right now but it's not really going places and I think getting stuck in London with a mortgage for a tiny flat in an area we don't want to live doesn't seem like much fun.
Though I don't speak italian I do understand quite a lot of it. I hope I can pick it up as generally I am pretty useless at learning languages.

Pica

Sounds like a no-brainer to me! You're very lucky to have this opportunity-don't waste it

Geordieborn

Guess the last reply is move to Italy.... But you are right, it's a big decision and it likely depends on how much you are prepared to change your like style? For the moment I would seriously go with Pica, but you do need to ask a few more questions.

geoff52

I have moved countries, and you find that the frustrations you are leaving behind, are replaced by other frustrations in your new country,
Learning a new language and changing careers are big changes.
In the end, it will be all about money. If you have enough money for a house and the lifestyle you want.
Money issues can test the most resilient relationships.
I would think very carefully about the long term money issues.

modicasa

I have always made my moves when it felt right, not for some decision planned out with lists at a table. And big moves have happened organically. If you are asking strangers whether its a good idea or not, then I reckon you're not ready to do it.

criodain

Go. Think of the time you'll initially have to make music over there which you don't have now. The new experience and surroundings could be your inspiration.

What's the worst that can happen?

adamm82

That's true though I ask strangers online all sorts of things

Geordieborn

The worst that can happen in some people's eyes is the loss of £30,000 - £100,000. Just the estimated range from the people we know that have sold up in the years we have been here. Mind you some of them still think it was worth every penny for the experience and they had, unfortunately not all, some are very bitter. I would like to think we would be in the former camp...

scrubbedexpat142

I agree, if you are not 100% sure, don't do it.
Those little niggles you might have now will surely grow to dangerous proportions later.

morpeth

I assume you have already visited the pace you wish to move to, and if you can imagine your life there as what you wish go for it. Mind you the chaotic inefficiency and bureaucracy in Italy might be obnoxious but as you have described your situation go for it ! Getting away from London noise, pollution and house prices certainly not a bad thing !

Conor_0

I MOVED TO MILAN FROM NORTH EUROPE AS MY WIFE WANTED TO RETURN TO ITALY AND MILAN 15 YEARS AGO. ITALY IS A DIFFICULT PLACE TO WORK IN - DIFFICULT TO FIND WORK AND VERY DIFFICULT TO FIND WELL PAID WORK. IT HAS NOT BEEN A GREAT CAREER MOVE FOR ME, BUT I LIKE ITALY AND DO NOT REGRET IT. YOU NEED TO LEARN ITALIAN ASAP (1 YEAR OF FULL IMMERSION USUALLY BRINGS YOU UP TO ACCEPTABLE LEVEL ALSO FOR PEOPLE LIKE ME YOU ARE NOT GOOD AT LANGUAGES). BEING AN ENGLISH SPEAKER YOU MAY BE ABLE TO FIND WORK TEACHING ENGLISH - THERE IS A BIG DEMAND FOR ENGLISH TEACHERS.

christmasoompa

Hi, and welcome to BE.

Please turn the caps lock off - in forum netiquette, all caps is considered 'shouting'!

Many thanks.

Conor_0

Hi,
sorry for shouting

GeorgeYoung

One consideration is to think about the extent to which you'd be "burning your bridges" in the UK. Can you get a sabbatical from your employer? If you have savings, how much would you burn through them by staying in Italy for a year or two?

We moved 2 years ago and are very happy. Plenty of frustrations of living here but plenty more rewards, I love it. We might have to move back to the UK in the next year or so if money gets too tight but I'm delighted we took the plunge when we did. After all, who knows whether it will be possible to relocate so easily in the next couple of years?

Jake.White

I'd think very hard about it mate. I have a place in Italy too although I live and work in England. I've been visiting twice a year now for 13 years and once did a 6 month stint there over the winter and found it very hard indeed. Life in Italy is VERY different to life here in the UK. In some ways it's much better and in other ways it's much worse. Customer service for example is simply not what it is here, whether it be in retail, at the bank, from tradesmen or other services or whatever - generally it's just awful. I wonder where you are in the North..? If it's in the Alto Adige area you can get by in a lot of instances by speaking German as well as Italian, and I even speak to my neighbour in the far south in German which is good for me as my Italian is still crap even after 13 years : old dog / new tricks, and all that.. . I would say your chances of finding a job with no Italian are almost zero but that's just my take on it and others might be a bit more enthusiastic. You make music..? me too. The electrical supply voltage is same as in UK so all your amps and keyboards will work fine, and I do all my recording on a Mac which will work fine there too, but watch out for electrical tarriffs if you do go because in my house if I switch on too many items at once the circuit breaker trips and it's a right pain, but I guess you probably know all this. Anyway, without further waffle I'll return to my original sentence and advise you to think VERY carefully about it before you make a final decision as you might well come to regret it for any number of reasons. Just think practical rather than pie in the sky and you should be ok.