# Help with relocation choice!



## mdamiani (Jun 30, 2009)

Hello!

I’m hoping I can get some good advice on a huge decision. My husband and I are planning to move our family (children will be 13, 10, and 5) to Europe in 2012 , and are struggling with choosing where to land. The trip will be for one year, so we can save beforehand and not have to work while we are there, so finding a job is not a consideration. Based on a wide range of factors we’ve narrowed our search to Provence or Umbria. I realize these are two very different places, but since we’d like to go somewhere we’ve been our options were limited and these were 2 regions we felt at home.

But I have some questions that would help us focus our search, and this is where I would love some guidance.

1) How much of a problem is pervasive tourism in Umbria? 

2) Any advice on cost of living?

3) We would put our children in public schools, any information about what that might be like?

4) What are winters in Umbria like? 

5) If you know anyone who has made a leap to either of these regions (or you have yourself) can you describe how welcomed foreigners would be?

6) Would you have any advice on how to soften our landing, or allow us to transition into a new community in a respectful way?

7) We’d be looking for a town of about 3,000-5,000, with a school within the town. Any recommendations?

8) We’d like to decide shortly so that we can have 2 years of language classes to prepare before arrival. Our two older children have been taking French classes in school since Kindergarten. They are not fluent, but they certainly have the accent down (in fact on our recent trip to Italy, they struggled with not speaking Italian with a French accent). Should their having this base influence our decision? We’ll be taking language classes together as a family regardless of which country we opt for.


ANY and all advice would so appreciated! 

Thank you for taking the time to read this!


----------

