We’ve all seen them. Those dreamy movies about living a perfect life in Italy. But peel back the layers…is it really possible?
Bet you’re in the club
Frances Mayes hit a nerve back in 1996 with the release of Under the Tuscan Sun, the now-legendary story of making a dream of life in Italy become reality. The 2003 movie release based on Mayes book furthered the legendary-status fuel and is undeniably responsible for planting dream seeds all over the world. How many people do you know who are enamored with that movie…and maybe imagined themselves on the Positano beach with Marcello? Case closed.
When we have spoken to others of life in Italy “one of these days”, Mayes’ story is often cited. And while we’ve enjoyed that movie (and many others of the same genre) over and over, it’s…well…a movie. It fostered curiosity, though, on what making a move to Italy was really like.
Stories galore
There are many wonderful reads out there about transitioning to a life abroad. I’m not tossing any stats to back this up, but seemingly the topic of life abroad in France or Italy rank highest. We’ve done our share of reading the Italian-focused ones — each a take-away of further intrigue, a few more sprinkles of reality, and a fueled desire to maybe, just maybe, do the same.
Two in particular have had a lasting, even profound, effect on us.
Exhibit 1: At Least You’re in Tuscany (2014)
Marty is admittedly the voracious reader in our family. This delightful book by Jennifer Criswell caught his eye sometime in 2013. He insisted I needed to read it. It’s a fly-on-the-wall journey with Jennifer as she recounts, hilariously so, her first year making a new life in Montepulciano, Tuscany fresh off the plane from NYC. Jennifer has a gift for storytelling. Her accounts of joy, hard realities, pleasures, perseverance…and lots of humor – because, yeah, at least you’re in Tuscany — enthralled us.
Fast forward to 2015. Montepulciano and Il Sasso language school, thanks to a heads up in Jennifer’s book, became our main target for a fall trip. We contacted Jennifer on a whim; was she still in Montepulciano, had she fled home, how had recent years treated her as an ex-pat?? So many questions — not to mention the idea of meeting her was exciting. A quick email reply and Jennifer invited us to come out for a personal tour at Poliziano Winery where she was working at the time. You bet we’d be there! The tour was grand, but even grander was the beginning of a friendship. Jennifer has made a successful life in Italy for about 15 years now and currently manages sales, the wine club, and hospitality at Leuta Winery near Cortona. She also published a second memoir a few years back…Well Seasoned in Tuscany: A Year in the Life. It’s a wonderful read reflecting on her settled life as she takes the reader on journeys of tradition, friendships, celebrations, sorrows, gaining citizenship, cooking (recipes!) – all told in her warm, humorous style.
Exhibit 2: I Can’t Believe We Live Here: The Wild but True Story of How We Dropped Everything in the States and Moved to Italy, Right Before the End of the World (2023)
I first encountered Matt Walker and Zeneba Bowers on social media. I mean, here are these people, professional musicians with multiple cats…chucking it all and moving to a teeny apartment in Italy. What?? I told Marty “You have to see this up…wow…and follow along!” We became intrigued as we watched from afar the tribulations, joys, obstacles, and gratitude that come when starting a new life in Italy – at right about the time Covid was doing the same thing.
The two published their memoir in 2023 recounting with insight, realism, lots of humor, copious resilience, and never-ending gratitude the journey of planting roots in the beautiful village of Soriano. It is a great primer for all the unavoidable frustrations of Italian bureaucracy, but also the beauty and sheer joy of being able to call Italy your home. They inspire us.
Matt and Zeneba also operate a travel planning business called Little Roads Europe. We’ve made use of a couple of the well written itinerary guides they offer which compliment nicely the travel style we embrace. I recommend them!
And the list goes on
The reading list of memoirs of moving to Italy is vast. If they pique your interest, the above are personal favorites, but have fun seeking out your own. And never hesitate to reach out to the authors.
I love reading about people who’ve made the move to wonderfully exotic locales, especially to places in Italy (and France), and “Under the Tuscan Sun” is a favorite!! I’ve since read “Vanilla Beans and Brodo: Real Life in the Hills of Tuscany”, by Isabella Dusi, “The Olive Farm: A Love Story”, by Carol Drinkwater, and “On Rue Tatin: Living and Cooking in a French Town”, by Susan Herrmann Loomis, all of which (like “UTTS”) put a humorous spin on the joys and struggles of fitting in to a new —and culturally unique—community. I await the publication of your official ex-pat memoirs, in the meantime I look forward to your blog updates 😉
Wow! What a wonderful collection of titles, some of which we have not read. Thank you for the ideas! I agree… It really is fun to read people‘s real life adventures in a new country. It is also encouraging to folks like us who are considering something of the sort! So appreciate you following along for this upcoming adventure… Besides being wonderful, we truly do hope that at the end, we will have a much clearer sense on which direction to take our lives!