# I want to live in Italy



## pinkaquarius84

I know it sounds crazy even though i never been there. My mom and my brother went last year and loved it. Also my mother had visited Italy 3 times and well this year i want to go alone. I have done so much research on it. I am miserable here in the US. I have a security job I loathe and i can't afford to go back to college. I am single with no kids. If I had 10,000 saved up and if i move to italy will it be hard to find a job there and to live there? I mean what is I get a job as a waiter will it be enough to live off?


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## Bevdeforges

First of all, visiting a country can be very different from actually living there. There are facilities and services available to tourists that permanent residents don't have access to.

And secondly, do you speak the language? People in all countries resent foreigners coming in and snapping up jobs while there are unemployed natives in the country. It's worse if the foreigners don't speak the local language. (You only have to look around in the US to see the resentment against immigrants who don't speak English.)

Make a visit to Italy, by all means. And then start researching what your options might be were you to decide to live and work there. If you decide to go ahead with your plan, the first step might be to start learning Italian and to start researching visa requirements on the Italian consulate website.
Cheers,
Bev


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## stefanaccio

If you are able, land a job at one of the US military bases in Italy. The largest ones are in Vicenza, Aviano, Naples and Catania. This will give you the possibility to have your torta and eat it too....


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## Joppa

stefanaccio said:


> If you are able, land a job at one of the US military bases in Italy. The largest ones are in Vicenza, Aviano, Naples and Catania. This will give you the possibility to have your torta and eat it too....


US military presence in Italy is shrinking, and I suspect it will be quite difficult to get a job on one of the bases. Many more jobs are disappearing than being created. Furthermore, posting to Italy remains one of the most popular among the US military community (plus its civilian workforce), so competition will be fierce, compared to, say, Afghanistan or Iraq.


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## AnnaEmmet

pinkaquarius84 said:


> I know it sounds crazy even though i never been there. My mom and my brother went last year and loved it. Also my mother had visited Italy 3 times and well this year i want to go alone. I have done so much research on it. I am miserable here in the US. I have a security job I loathe and i can't afford to go back to college. I am single with no kids. If I had 10,000 saved up and if i move to italy will it be hard to find a job there and to live there? I mean what is I get a job as a waiter will it be enough to live off?


Visiting a place is completely different from living there. This is especially true of Italy. I've lived in Italy for two years and visit yearly. I'm now living in France. Italy is a wonderful place and has a lot to offer. However, living there is a completely different story. Even the simple tasks can be difficult if you don't know the language, know how things work, and don't know anyone. 

In reading your post, it sounds like you are not enjoying your life right now. I've certainly been there. Rather than blowing your savings moving to Europe, spend some of it to try to find a way to make your life more tolerable in the States. I've personally found career counseling to be especially helpful. From what I've and heard from other peope who have moved abroad to escape an unhappy life, most of them found themselves just as unhappy in the new country with the additional difficulties of being in a country they don't know and dealing with a language they don't understand. 

Good luck!

Sent from my iPad using ExpatForum


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## Miss Italy

pinkaquarius84 said:


> I know it sounds crazy even though i never been there. My mom and my brother went last year and loved it. Also my mother had visited Italy 3 times and well this year i want to go alone. I have done so much research on it. I am miserable here in the US. I have a security job I loathe and i can't afford to go back to college. I am single with no kids. If I had 10,000 saved up and if i move to italy will it be hard to find a job there and to live there? I mean what is I get a job as a waiter will it be enough to live off?



Hi
right now the situation in Italy is bad, very. Also, we have immigrants coming from Noth of Africa and other regions who take up all jobs. Age is also important. Young work force is preferred. Regarding the money, you have $ 10000 which means roughly 8000 Euro. Remember that waitrers do not get tips in Italy and the gasoline right now is 1.6 Euro per liter. It is tough. Believe me, the USA is the right place to stay, at least for now. Best of luck!


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## sailorman57

pinkaquarius84 said:


> I know it sounds crazy even though i never been there. My mom and my brother went last year and loved it. Also my mother had visited Italy 3 times and well this year i want to go alone. I have done so much research on it. I am miserable here in the US. I have a security job I loathe and i can't afford to go back to college. I am single with no kids. If I had 10,000 saved up and if i move to italy will it be hard to find a job there and to live there? I mean what is I get a job as a waiter will it be enough to live off?


Waitress? in Italy? If you do not speak Italian is hard to ...... (€ 800 per month) website translation, perhaps, but you have to know a little 'in Italian ......( € 1000 per month) ..... here's' crisis, perhaps in some pubs ..... beer for the summer season (€ 1100 - 1200), but temporary.
Hello


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## eurozoner

Forget it...will end up as an expensive holiday,you will return to the US broke and in a worse situation than now...but maybe a good visit..get some first hand experience... there's no waiting work really,and without Italian your not going to get employed.


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## countach70

I was in your position, unhappy with my situation in USA and after 20 years of wanting to move to Italy I took the leap and finally did it. Best thing I could have ever done so far. Certainly everyone's situation is different. But it seems as if you at least have the initial desire and have done some research and you picked a place that has a large tourist and expat community so it is not as if you chose to move to the moon. Certainly the choices you make and the lifestyle you want to lead will determine how long your original nest egg will last you until you find employment here. I moved with very little in savings but I knew that I was willing to tighten my belt and live differently because being here in Italy was my main goal. I went from living solo in a penthouse style waterfront apartment in FL to a roommate situation in Trastevere. I sold my BMW and now use only public transportation here in Italy or walk many places. I have rediscovered the joys of cooking and when I do go to restaurants I am just a bit more cost concious than the past but still enjoy my dining out. It is all in the choices you make. I have met many expats who are here and networking and have had several job opportunities offered even though i am not fluent in Italian yet. If you have skills and perserverence you will get by. I am studying Italian online and with tandem partners who I exchange english for italian conversation. All in all there was no grand plan...I have just done many things as I have gone along. I think that is what life is about most anywhere. Good luck to you in your desire to move here!


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## bunty16

If you never take the risk you will never know, and spend the rest of your life wondering. two ways of looking at this risk, have an emergency fund to get you back home, but if you do not have this fund it will make you work harder at staying, and not giving up too easily.


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## bluechip

Why don't you take a vacation in Italy first? You could use two weeks to get a first sense of a city or two.


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## christinedelrosso

oPTIONS FOR LIVING N ITALY
Job
School
Marry and Italian
Dual citizenship
3 month visa.
oR, A WHOLE LOT OF MONEY.

You sound young and idealistic, greast! It is different to live her than visit or just dream about  it. It is a foreign country, that functions like a 3rd world country. 
You need a drivers license, medical, job, place to live, etc...and learn the language and cultural difference.

Save some money, get pssport and come for 3 months on a visa or as a student at a language school. 

iF YOU DO NOT Leave Screaming and pulling your hear out you will find a way. I know the Us is having its issues buit Italy is expensive and on the verge of a economical melt down also. We have Burelsconi and massive political corruption. Do some more research on the news and culture in italy.

My advise as a mother of 3 grown sons is do it there first, get through school somehow. Rescearch Italy more realistically and and the immigration laws to Italy.

Talk to you parents....get their permission you do not want to wind up like Amanda Know here. 
If you still want to come...chat with me again. I will help you find a language school because they are the cheapest way to stay long term and if you make it through that I will try and find you a host family. 

I have dual citizenship (us AND iTALY) and live in Abruzzo. it aint easy but I am living the dream.
Christine Del Rosso /SNIP/



QUOTE=pinkaquarius84



;564201]I know it sounds crazy even though i never been there. My mom and my brother went last year and loved it. Also my mother had visited Italy 3 times and well this year i want to go alone. I have done so much research on it. I am miserable here in the US. I have a security job I loathe and i can't afford to go back to college. I am single with no kids. If I had 10,000 saved up and if i move to italy will it be hard to find a job there and to live there? I mean what is I get a job as a waiter will it be enough to live off?[/QUOTE]


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## bunty16

Good advice.


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## luwigi

Good advice..i agree and would like to only add on the Amanda comment...
Perhaps Amanda deserves to be where she is.


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## Frescas

pinkaquarius84 said:


> I know it sounds crazy even though i never been there. My mom and my brother went last year and loved it. Also my mother had visited Italy 3 times and well this year i want to go alone. I have done so much research on it. I am miserable here in the US. I have a security job I loathe and i can't afford to go back to college. I am single with no kids. If I had 10,000 saved up and if i move to italy will it be hard to find a job there and to live there? I mean what is I get a job as a waiter will it be enough to live off?




I think Italy is a nice place to live,but everything is subjective.I was born and raised italian and I left.I would like live in Usa,I don t like everything in Usa but I like it.It can be the same with Italy,but if you don t know the language it will be really hard.The economy is not great,so you need to be really educate and know the right person or be happy with money you make.I would like to live in Usa,but there is no way,except I get married ..


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