This is the story of how I moved from Idaho to Italy. Why am I sharing this story today? By the end of this post, I will show you some steps you can take now to do the same if you so choose. Stick around until the end because this isn’t only applicable to a move to Italy.
I’m going to have to take you back to the beginning of that year, 2013 which I would describe as a transition phase. Transitioning from what, you might ask? At that point, I didn’t really know the answer to that question either. Let me give you a quick snapshot of what defined me in 2013. If you’d rather watch the video, you can find it here or on our youtube channel.
Who was I?
I was single, living on my own… well sort of on my own. I had purchased a townhome, in my hometown, 5 years prior and rented it to local millennials like myself that had finished university, or were working in order to earn money to do the same. I can’t even say clearly what I was doing for work in that period… other than everything I possibly could to survive.
I had tried my hand in various entrepreneurial ventures. Imagine being passionate about real estate without the capital to realize your goals. Actually, I’m guessing the grand majority of you are or were like me at some point in your lives. Otherwise, you probably wouldn’t be reading this. I had worked for a land developer during the 2008 crash, moved on to personal finance coaching, and dabbled in vacation rentals. Due to lavish living while working for the land development company, None of the successive jobs could sustain the amount of debt I had accrued, so, you can see I wasn’t exactly radiating success. The one thing that I can say I was successful at during that period was organizing a non-profit music competition group. It didn’t pay the bills, whereas that wasn’t really the goal behind it. It did keep me sane however.
Looking back I can say many of these experiences played their part opening the way for me to start living in Italy.
Let’s talk about you for a minute.. I’m talking to those of you who want to make some major life changes.. Whether in Italy or not.. Did this epidemic make you realize you wanted more… or perhaps less in life? Are you feeling desperate because you don’t see an easy path forward? Are you concerned about your finances due to job loss, stock market fluctuations, or technological innovations like cryptocurrency? Just wanting a bit of a change?
Though influenced by different forces, I was feeling much the same in 2012 as many people are today. In addition to that.. I was feeling lonely. At a certain point, I recognized that I had lost contact with most of my friends.
What next?
In 2013, I decided to make changes in my life. You might think this as weird, but on January 1, 2013… I decided that I would go all in on 1 change in my life at a time… First up, relationships.
If you’ve ever experienced financial stress, you probably know it can lead to seclusion.. And ultimately cases of depression. I never went as far to get a diagnosis.. But I did wind up in seclusion and developed a dependence on gaming and anything else that could distract me from my reality. This isn’t an attempt to tell you I reached severe depression, nor do I want you to feel bad for me, but I’m guessing if you talked to those closest to me from 2006-2011, that they would say (If they noticed) that I distanced myself and became pretty tight with money. I was reaching the Scrooge mentality.
First steps to change
Well that was all going to change. I recognized, I was the cause of my loneliness and I was going to do something about it..
How?
I had no idea. But, I took the easiest first step I could think of…I registered for a dating app… It didn’t require any immediate social engagement and fell right in line with my interest with technology. (This was before Tinder was popular) So for the month of January I had access to new possibilities at the press of a button. It lasted only for the month of January. I didn’t like the idea of paying a subscription service. I still had partial Ebenezer syndrome after all, but I knew that a free profile would result in lackluster results. In online dating, even as is with most other things in life…”You get what you pay for.”
I made some attempts to reach out to the profiles I found interesting, but most of the time received no response. I still don’t know the reason I started looking out of my area and specifically out of the country, but I’m glad I did. Fortunately for me, fate caused a gorgeous Italian Resident, Albanian girl, with long dark hair, about my age to create her own singles profile for the same 1 month period.
The result of my choice
She was beautiful, educated, and lucky for me, English was a second language so she wouldn’t be scared off by the pick up line pre-set I chose to send her.
The rest is history! Well actually, we lost contact for a few months, but were smart enough to connect on Facebook. We actually reconnected while she was hiding in her hotel room while traveling to Barcelona with another guy. Apparently someone should have told him, she’s just not into you. Thanks to him, she had plenty of free time and was eager to use it. From that day onward, we skyped on a nightly/daily basis until I took the money I had saved up and bought a plane ticket to visit her for the first time.
I bought a round trip ticket, but never went back. We ended up marrying and now have 3 wonderful kids!
How does this apply to you?
Why did I decide to share this story today?
The first message I want to send is that you have the power to change your future. A lot of people are considering a move to Italy. Maybe that’s you. Maybe you just need a change. Well.. Every change starts with small decisions. I’d never have the life I have now if I hadn’t made the decision to adjust my life.
Now let’s shift gears..
Let’s assume that you’ve seized the day, you’ve decided to act and make changes. Let’s assume you want to move to Italy,
I’ve seen a number of comments recently saying, You can’t just move to Italy.. It’s true! I guess a few of you have tried only to learn there’s an entire bureaucratic process behind moving from one country to another. When I talk about 1 euro homes, many people get the impression that buying a home will give you an instant pass to stay in the country long term. Of course these aren’t true, but there are a few ways to enter Italy, if that’s what your goal is. Many of these options are applicable in other countries as well, with slight variations.
So what is the fastest way into Italy, legally? We’re not going to talk about the illegal ways, although I’m sure they exist as well. You could do what I did!! Get married to an Italian Resident.. As far as time frames go, I can’t imagine anything faster. I was in the country on August 5th.. Proposed August 16th and married by November 12th of the same year. But even though I had chosen to get married a bit later, I already had permission to stay in Italy due to beginning the application process for an Italian Wedding. I think that document was only respected by Italian officials and if I had left the country would have had difficulty within other European states. Point is, residency by marriage is the fastest process you have at your disposal.
Ok…I know.. Not everyone is going to be able to marry an Italian resident and I definitely don’t recommend you go marry the first Italian resident you find. It just worked out in my case. And no I didn’t marry her for that reason. To be clear, I probably wouldn’t be living in Italy if my wife hadn’t liked it here so much in 2013.
Your Options
So what are your realistic options?
Are you an Italian descendant? If you are, you could gain citizenship and therefore the right to live in Italy if one or more of your ancestors were Italian citizens. Again not everyone will qualify, but if you do, it’s only a matter of time- patience that stands between you and your Italian dream. We’ll talk a bit more about patience at the end of this post.
There is the student path. Going back to school could get you temporary long term residency when striving to complete a degree in an Italian University. I know a few people who have used school as a justification for moving here. It’s also probably the most easily accessible option to certain age groups.
What if you are within the working class?
Italy does have a Visa application for skilled workers, but the number of accepted applicants are limited.
Some people ask if Italy has a Golden Visa.. By golden Visa, I mean basically buying your citizenship into a country. Italy doesn’t offer citizenship on demand, but it does allow for long term residency if you invest over 250,000 in an Italian innovative startup company. If you’ve got a bit more money to donate, there are a few more options to choose from all the way up to buying Italian Government bonds by investing 2 million euro.
Elective Residency
Most people however choose what is called the Elective Residency Visa. This Visa, just as it sounds, allows you to elect to reside in Italy, but there are some base requirements. Online you can find some variances to this information and in the end it depends on the Italian consulate that approves your application to decide if you truly meet the requirements. The hardest step to prove that you can live in Italy is that you can afford to live here, without the necessity of finding Italian employment. That’s right, you’re not allowed to work in Italy with the path, and the money you use to justify your living expenses when applying for the Elective residency visa must be specifically passive. Whether by dividends from investments, rentals, or pensions.
If you can prove your worth, then the Italian way of life could be your reality. Italy has made the Italian dream available to everyone! Well perhaps there are a few specific cases that won’t ever be approved.. But even throwing all the other options aside.. Everyone, assuming they make enough passive income, could elect to live in Italy.
Now don’t go in the comments and start saying.. DauvO! But what if I can’t! Actually do.. I welcome your comments!
Your biggest challenge
If you are reading this and have just realized that none of these options are within your reach and you’ve just decided you’ll never make enough passive income to justify the long term residency visa.. This is my moment to tell you, you’re right! …
What, did you expect me to say differently? You are absolutely right! …If you’re telling yourself at this very instant that you’ll never qualify… You will never qualify.. Or.. if instead you looked at this new problem and instead of saying.. I can’t afford it… Ask yourself… How can I afford it?
The problem you’re having is that you consider yourself as you are at this moment. You see yourself as a static individual that doesn’t have what it takes to make the move. And perhaps due to past events, you expect that your life can’t be any different. Do you see what’s wrong with that picture?
You’re not a static line on the chart.. Your life is dynamic.. It’s not who you are, but who you’re becoming that matters. If you’ve written this off as only a theory.. You forgot how this whole story began.. Remember the DauvO of 2012… insecure, addicted, and lonely. All it takes is one step in the right direction.
No, you can’t move to Italy tomorrow. Unless of course you can…I’m not here to limit you if you can.. Let’s face it.. Odds are you can’t. Just remember nothing worthwhile was built in a day. Start identifying what you are missing in order to achieve your dreams. Whether those dreams are Living in Italy, or not!
Take Action
If you don’t have any passive income to date.. Devise a way to start earning $50 dollars of passive income per month. Then turn that into $100.. Then $200.. Before you know it.. You’ll reach the $2,600 per month necessary to reach your Italian dream. Can you imagine paying for your Italian dream by investing in an Italian dream home?
If you need some ideas on getting that ball rolling, make sure to subscribe because we’re going to start sharing more posts to show you how you can do just that with real estate. Thanks for all the support you show me and my family!
