# Making the big move to Italy



## bobisking (Feb 15, 2010)

After a couple of years of pondering and planning, my family and I are now going to take the plunge and move to Italy.

Our aim is to move to Abruzzo, somewhere within 30mins of the coast, probably not far from Teramo. My wife and I are both leaving our jobs and eventually plan to earn an income though wedding photography, both in Italy and the UK, this is something I have been doing part-time in the UK.

We have got our house on the market and the Italian lessons are in full swing!

Our plan (which is fluid!) is to come out mid Sept for a three month look around the area, secure a 6-12month rental from jan 2011 and finally buying sometime later in 2011. 

We have a daughter who will be two in September, one of the reasons why we are coming to Italy, so we putting a lot of thoughts into doing this properly.

We have a 1000 questions and was hoping there might be someone here that can help with some of the ones we cant find answers to!
From a finance point of view;

Can we continue to receive UK child benefit in Italy ( gov website suggests we can but don't say definatly, has anyone done this)

Should we make voluntary NI contributions? (Cant seem to find a definitive answer to this, we want to make sure we don't risk losing our UK pension.)

I will return to the UK periodically to work for short periods, do this have any pro's or cons?

My photography work will be self employed, am I best keeping this as UK income?

As far as somewhere to live goes, does anyone have any thoughts on a three month rental from Sept - Dec, furnished? (We have found several in the costal resorts for 400-500 euro's per mth but would prefer somewhere that's a little further inland where there would more of a community that we could start to integrate ourselves into). It would need to be around this price and furnished.

Are winter house sitting's viable in this area?

Any suggestions on a final place to buy, we want to be fairly rural, on the edge of a small town, that has a school, reasonably close to the coast and close to road connections to Rome

Thats just a few of our questions but any help would be great, and after reading a lot of ur posts on here, it's nice to put ourselves up here and get involved!


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## NickZ (Jun 26, 2009)

I think if you want a furnished short term rental in that time frame one of the coastal holiday rentals will be your best bet. Many people have places that they rent during high season then during the fall/winter they are often empty. So prices are more accessable then during the summer.

The other plus is it'll be easier to scout from a coastal location which will likely be better served with roads then sitting yourself in a rural place. Plus do you really want a rural location for the winter? I'd reconsider this.


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## ncompass (Jun 27, 2011)

Hi did you work out the Child Benefit situation, the HMRC website seems pretty clear about those moving abroad permanently...


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## motiveART (Apr 1, 2013)

*Dream Village!*

Hello - 

Did you sort out where you wanted to end up in Abruzzo? I looked quite a bit and found Tocco da Casauria (PE) to be the perfect balance between small enough to retain its SERIOUSLY Italian heritage and large enough to have a year-round vitality... I had seriously considered other locations (Scurcola Marsicana - a bit too small and seemingly a bit 'closed' to non-Italian speaking outsiders (but this may have just been me being intimidated! Haha!) / up to Sulmona - a bit too big and not really offering the deeply Italian feel of being in the heart of one of these medieval villages!)... So, Tocco - which is close enough to Sulmona to be able to enjoy what it has to offer... is right on the Autostrada for easy access to Rome and Pescara (coast beaches, etc.) fit my bill perfectly and I highly recommend!

Best of luck - 

Donald


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## filmboomer (Apr 3, 2013)

Boy...some of these posts are SO OLD, the writers have probably moved on and will never be back. Isn't there some way of eliminating all the posts that have NO probability of creating further conversation?

I mean, if 80% of the posts are more than a year old, what is the chance that the creators would be checking the posts for responses??


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## motiveART (Apr 1, 2013)

*Old Posts*

Yeah, I noticed how old the posts were, but I just figured they would receive some notice that a reply had been posted and maybe would check in to pass along how things turned out for them... But, you're probably right and the thread won't be revisited by the original group...

I am just always looking for places to sing the praises of the great little village of Tocco da Casauria!

Donald




filmboomer said:


> Boy...some of these posts are SO OLD, the writers have probably moved on and will never be back. Isn't there some way of eliminating all the posts that have NO probability of creating further conversation?
> 
> I mean, if 80% of the posts are more than a year old, what is the chance that the creators would be checking the posts for responses??


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## filmboomer (Apr 3, 2013)

Where is that? I lived in Rome for three years but have never heard of that town.
Thomas


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## motiveART (Apr 1, 2013)

*Tocco da Casauria (PE)*

It is right at 1 and 1/2 hours east of Rome and pretty much right on the autostrada... 30 minutes or so west of Pescara... pretty much midway between Popoli and Torre de Passeri on the SS5 / A25... 




filmboomer said:


> Where is that? I lived in Rome for three years but have never heard of that town.
> Thomas


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## filmboomer (Apr 3, 2013)

Oh yeah...just found it on a map of the boot. What industry or setting was the magnet drawing you there?


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## motiveART (Apr 1, 2013)

More of an aligning of lots of magnets!

- I wanted something close enough for reasonable access to Rome, but not in Rome (traffic, etc.)...
- I wanted something cheap enough so I wouldn’t feel compelled to go through the trouble of renting it out when I was not there - so that brought me to Abruzzo...
- Once I started looking, I quickly decided that I wanted something that was within the medieval centro of a village... built of stone and with the thick walls, etc.
- I wanted a village that was large enough to have a vitality year-round and had at least a few restaurant choices and at least one truly great restaurant...
- I wanted a village that was small enough to have retained and clearly show its Italian heritage (but not so small as to feel unwelcoming to foreigners!)...
- I wanted something that was beautiful as you were driving up to it (pretty easy to satisfy in Abruzzo really!)...
- I wanted reasonable access to beaches, mountains, skiing, good local wines, good local foods, etc. (again pretty easy in Abruzzo!)...

Tocco is right at 3,000 population and stays at that level pretty much year-round... has a good size weekly market and it close enough a drive to Sulmona for alternate market days... 

So, it just turned out to be ideal...

As regards industry - I hope that the most strenuous thing I do there is the walk to the local square to take my seat on a bench and just let the day flow by! Haha! Of course, I am a photographer, so I am sure there will be plenty of energy spent on capturing that and the other areas of Italy!

Why were you in Rome for 3 years? Film work?

Donald





filmboomer said:


> Oh yeah...just found it on a map of the boot. What industry or setting was the magnet drawing you there?


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