Right? All positives. I lived in Spain a couple times using the tourist visa and every single one of these things (other than paperwork which I dodged) was a huge plus
Last year I "lived the dream" of housesitting for a friend's mom in Italy. A whole month. Literally a dream...for someone. Not for me!
Things I didn't anticipate:
1. Climate change. Folks, it's bad. Parts of temperate Italy are now becoming tropical and they *do not* have the infrastructure for that. My apartment never got cooler than 80F, ever. With AC. The thick stone walls held heat like an oven. The only time it cooled down was a hailstorm and I just put towels on the ground next to the window so I could get that sweet, sweet breeze that was chucking in ice rocks at me. I had to plan going out either insanely early in the morning or later in the evening and hope/pray that the businesses I wanted to go to opened on time/were still open.
2. Completely different infrastructure. I've lived in other countries. I know things are different. But in Italy, you don't know where to buy anything. You need to go to like 5 different shops to get 5 things. Amazon was a nightmare as they refused to deliver to my address and would only deliver to a shop. The delivery notifications were a mess and the shop was almost never open.
3. You don't know what's going on. Not knowing a language in some countries, you can get by. Not Italy. You *must* know Italian. It's essential. And you must know it well. Not just for paperwork, but figuring out gee, why is this half of the city shut down? What did they say about my train? Why are my bus drivers screaming at each other?
Italy is a proper country, not a fantasy escape for Americans. Your ancestry might be here, but you are not your ancestors. Even your ancestors wouldn't know anything because Italy is both old and incredibly new.
Rachel, I am sorry you didn't locate them; we DO have shopping malls. We have supermarkets where you can get everything from grapes to screwdrivers to underwear and more. We have superstores where you can get not only grapes but lawn furniture as well.
Personally, I prefer going to the greengrocer for greens, the butcher for meat, the bakery for bread; in the US I did that and it cost a bloody fortune - whereas here doing so is less expensive AND I have a relationship with my food and my money goes to support a family rather that a corporation.
My Italian is shameful - (turns out some of us are just linguistically stupid) - but tons of people speak English, and unlike the French are happy to help you. Generally, you can get by.
This said, I don't really want a bunch more rich expats moving here, driving up the cost of housing and demanding to see managers - Portuagal is a nice place if you are looking to escape though!
Noooooo! We have a ton of expats in Lisbon now, too, and housing prices are insane. And we have pretty much everything mentioned here about Italy, too. Maybe Greece? Or the Baltics? Or just stay and try to fix the US? (Unless you're part of a group that is actually unsafe. Then, get out if you can.)
Climate change is also real in Argentina. People say we are now becoming a "tropical" country! And Dengue is now here. Our lovely, freezing winters are becoming less so.
> My apartment never got cooler than 80F, ever. With AC.
Install a better AC. Or a heat pump. My apartment gets 65F if I want to.
> I've lived in other countries. I know things are different. But in Italy, you don't know where to buy anything. You need to go to like 5 different shops to get 5 things.
Oh, the humanity. (There are of course malls, IKEA, DIY mega-stores, huge supermarkets, areas with multiple independent stores, and of course Amazon and others)
I can understand some Italian, and read it fairly well. (I was a Latin scholar, LOL). But I cannot speak it. However, I had no problems in Italy. I could always find someone who spoke either English or German. (NEVER ask in France if they speak German.) Traffic was ... complicated. But seemed the infrastructure was fine. I got to pick up my car and drive in Naples, which was interesting to say the least. The autostradas were top notch.
Went on holiday in northern Italy a few times, and Rome. LOVED Rome. A night owls dream! And yes, they close down in the heat and reopen at night. And stay open late. Everybody has their own preferences, but I'd move to Italy in a heartbeat if I wasn't almost 80 with 5 cats.
Well, Claire, for me, leaving Amazon Prime, and everything else Amazonian, is one of the principal attractions of leaving the US. Kraft cheese is a close second.
Once, after being in Rome for several weeks, I was waiting for a large wire transfer. Day after day, I went to the bank, the teller politely telling me it hadn’t come yet. After a week, I said to him good naturedly “It’s getting difficult, I have no cash, even to buy a newspaper.” He looked at me for a moment, reached into his pocket and handed me a 20€ note and said, “You pay me back when your wire comes through”. Try that in San Francisco.
Sera - we HAVE AMAZON PRIME. Anything I want comes to me on a nice truck - in the middle of nowhere - in a day or two. Plus, honest - the grocery store will bring my groceries on a truck (to the middle of nowhere!) and Sephora delivers, Zolanda delivers, my pet food store delivers - I am literally living in a house whose address includes "house in the middle of nowhere" and still manage to get deliveries.
I lived abroad in my 20s (working in East Africa in foreign aid, an industry that's been decimated by the Trump Administration) and now, a homeowner and firmly settled on the East Coast of the US, I often have dreams of taking a sabbatical year or living the expat life again. It's partially related to the sinking ship of US politics, partially just imagining being 24 again and hanging out on beaches of Tanzania without any real responsibility.
What's keeping me here is family. Obligations to my aging parents and also receiving support from the community I've been building for 15 years.
I also feel a sense of responsibility to fight for democracy here in my home country.
But I'm still on the lookout for any house sitting opportunities that might fall into my lap. 😎
This is a great post, all true. I’ve lived in Spain for 45 years and it took me forever to feel at home and love it (my Spanish children helped, of course). I’ve seen dozens of expats come and go. The European romance only lasts a few months, then reality sets in. It changes from, “oh, I love the laid-back lifestyle here” to “why, oh why, do the stores close on Saturday afternoons?” And all the other things you wrote about- plus the isolation. It takes a long time to be accepted into circles of friends that have existed for years, you end up hanging with expats like yourself. Language, unless you are a linguist, is hard to master enough to share your deepest thoughts with the locals. So if you want to buy that little house in Italy, Spain or Portugal — go for it , just remember, the honeymoon ends and couple therapy begins. 😁.
That last sentence! It's GOLD! Yes, 15 years in with Argentine kids I have all the feels;) I'm so curious what books you read over the years that you liked (if you did). I love a good expat tale.
Claire! I'm always looking for books about expats and immigrants. I read The Disobedient Wife about a Western woman in Tajikistan, which was interesting. Lately, I've enjoyed the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, set in Botswana, because they are "feel good" stories, and with the world the way it is, if I want to cry, I watch the news. I'm getting ready to query a novel I wrote about an American woman in the 50s who follows her husband and his job to Mexico City. Wish me luck.
France dweller here. This is much like the complaining I’ve heard from Italian friends. Some also complain of places where « there are no young people. » As for marshmallows, I detested them in America and avoided the French version, guimauves, until the local baker gave me a couple. They were some kind wonderful …
When I first got here, I whined too, until I finally realized that I'd left America for cause, and didn't WANT it to be just like the US. (Sadly, it's becoming way too much like the US now!)
And also - my gosh - the healthcare? I get HEALTHCARE?!!!! I get healthcare cheap or free and if I'm sick a doctor will come to my house????
Love this! Where in Argentina are you? I was born in Buenos Aires and lived there my first 3 years but grew up in Illinois. I have a feeling Argentina would take me back but haven’t felt inclined to move — and though my family there is Russian Jewish, I do have an Italian connection in my father, who was born and raised in Italy. For some bizarre Italian law reason having to do with the exact years he was there, my sister and I would have to go live in Italy for 3 years to get citizenship. But having spent time there, I get what you’re saying. When a friend met a British guy and moved to England to marry him, she was surprised at how difficult the adjustment was. Even the language presented problems she hadn’t anticipated (she said every word had at least one silent letter but you never knew what it would be), light switches were the opposite of ours, they didn’t love Americans where she lived, it was hard to get peanut butter, etc. I think a lot of people don’t realize how hard it is to move to another country. Hope you’re enjoying Argentina!
I love Argentina (we’re just outside city, Nordelta), moved here with kids. But yes, the romanticization of moving is very funny! 3 years?!? Everyone here gets their Italian passports it seems like!
The 3 years has to do with our specific complicated situation. Another friend here is getting his Italian citizenship this fall at the consulate. Glad you're liking Argentina!
> As you have perhaps read on the internet, housing size in Europe is smaller than in the USA. In fact, the average size of a house in the USA in 2025 is 6,798 feet, whereas in Europe it is more like 109 feet. Wow! Who knew!
Cheddar cheese??? With all the amazing cheese available in Italy, or anywhere else in Europe, you'd miss cheddar? Anyway English cheddar is better than ours. Or Red Dragon, Wensleydale... But best of all is Tilsit! Yeah, that one is German.
I lived in Europe 15 years while military and then DoD civilian. Biggest mistake of my life was coming back to the States.
As someone who’s lived in Switzerland since 1995, this definitely resonated with me. I have not found a replacement for US sports culture or my family. Cheddar cheese, thankfully, is now available, meaning I no longer freeze big blocks to transport in my luggage. As for marshmallows, I purchase US brands in Germany — so much cheaper. It’s always something about the grass being greener on the other side.
The German ones tend to be too sweet and often are pastel-colored with fruity flavoring. My kids complain that even the white ones aren’t „right“ and have a weird coating on them.
Bureaucracy... I call it bureausaurus. It's there, but I haven't needed A4 sheets of paper for years. Everything is digital now. Amazon Prime has been around for years, and I think it makes its money mainly from my purchases. And unfortunately the streets are full of SUVs.
In short, some partial truths, and a bunch of funny nonsense.
No one lives in Japan? They treat foreigners well here, the medical system is head and shoulders above the US, and MUCH (2/3) chaper. My wife just got a refund for paying too much for her last Doctor visit.
Is it weird that this only made me want to move to Italy more
Ha and nope! I love living outside the US;)
Right? All positives. I lived in Spain a couple times using the tourist visa and every single one of these things (other than paperwork which I dodged) was a huge plus
Last year I "lived the dream" of housesitting for a friend's mom in Italy. A whole month. Literally a dream...for someone. Not for me!
Things I didn't anticipate:
1. Climate change. Folks, it's bad. Parts of temperate Italy are now becoming tropical and they *do not* have the infrastructure for that. My apartment never got cooler than 80F, ever. With AC. The thick stone walls held heat like an oven. The only time it cooled down was a hailstorm and I just put towels on the ground next to the window so I could get that sweet, sweet breeze that was chucking in ice rocks at me. I had to plan going out either insanely early in the morning or later in the evening and hope/pray that the businesses I wanted to go to opened on time/were still open.
2. Completely different infrastructure. I've lived in other countries. I know things are different. But in Italy, you don't know where to buy anything. You need to go to like 5 different shops to get 5 things. Amazon was a nightmare as they refused to deliver to my address and would only deliver to a shop. The delivery notifications were a mess and the shop was almost never open.
3. You don't know what's going on. Not knowing a language in some countries, you can get by. Not Italy. You *must* know Italian. It's essential. And you must know it well. Not just for paperwork, but figuring out gee, why is this half of the city shut down? What did they say about my train? Why are my bus drivers screaming at each other?
Italy is a proper country, not a fantasy escape for Americans. Your ancestry might be here, but you are not your ancestors. Even your ancestors wouldn't know anything because Italy is both old and incredibly new.
A WHOLE MONTH? Wow.
Rachel, I am sorry you didn't locate them; we DO have shopping malls. We have supermarkets where you can get everything from grapes to screwdrivers to underwear and more. We have superstores where you can get not only grapes but lawn furniture as well.
Personally, I prefer going to the greengrocer for greens, the butcher for meat, the bakery for bread; in the US I did that and it cost a bloody fortune - whereas here doing so is less expensive AND I have a relationship with my food and my money goes to support a family rather that a corporation.
My Italian is shameful - (turns out some of us are just linguistically stupid) - but tons of people speak English, and unlike the French are happy to help you. Generally, you can get by.
This said, I don't really want a bunch more rich expats moving here, driving up the cost of housing and demanding to see managers - Portuagal is a nice place if you are looking to escape though!
Noooooo! We have a ton of expats in Lisbon now, too, and housing prices are insane. And we have pretty much everything mentioned here about Italy, too. Maybe Greece? Or the Baltics? Or just stay and try to fix the US? (Unless you're part of a group that is actually unsafe. Then, get out if you can.)
Oh, olive oil. You can get the GOOD stuff!
yesssssssss yummmmm
🤣🤣🤣
Climate change is also real in Argentina. People say we are now becoming a "tropical" country! And Dengue is now here. Our lovely, freezing winters are becoming less so.
> My apartment never got cooler than 80F, ever. With AC.
Install a better AC. Or a heat pump. My apartment gets 65F if I want to.
> I've lived in other countries. I know things are different. But in Italy, you don't know where to buy anything. You need to go to like 5 different shops to get 5 things.
Oh, the humanity. (There are of course malls, IKEA, DIY mega-stores, huge supermarkets, areas with multiple independent stores, and of course Amazon and others)
Come to think of it, DO stay at the US.
I can understand some Italian, and read it fairly well. (I was a Latin scholar, LOL). But I cannot speak it. However, I had no problems in Italy. I could always find someone who spoke either English or German. (NEVER ask in France if they speak German.) Traffic was ... complicated. But seemed the infrastructure was fine. I got to pick up my car and drive in Naples, which was interesting to say the least. The autostradas were top notch.
Went on holiday in northern Italy a few times, and Rome. LOVED Rome. A night owls dream! And yes, they close down in the heat and reopen at night. And stay open late. Everybody has their own preferences, but I'd move to Italy in a heartbeat if I wasn't almost 80 with 5 cats.
Well, Claire, for me, leaving Amazon Prime, and everything else Amazonian, is one of the principal attractions of leaving the US. Kraft cheese is a close second.
Once, after being in Rome for several weeks, I was waiting for a large wire transfer. Day after day, I went to the bank, the teller politely telling me it hadn’t come yet. After a week, I said to him good naturedly “It’s getting difficult, I have no cash, even to buy a newspaper.” He looked at me for a moment, reached into his pocket and handed me a 20€ note and said, “You pay me back when your wire comes through”. Try that in San Francisco.
Well, it's all satire, but I do miss my cheddar. Sounds like you've found a country with plenty of aged dairy, however;)
(You can find it. Cheddar that is. It'll cost, but it exists.)
Sera - we HAVE AMAZON PRIME. Anything I want comes to me on a nice truck - in the middle of nowhere - in a day or two. Plus, honest - the grocery store will bring my groceries on a truck (to the middle of nowhere!) and Sephora delivers, Zolanda delivers, my pet food store delivers - I am literally living in a house whose address includes "house in the middle of nowhere" and still manage to get deliveries.
You are lucky! I dearly miss amazon prime in argentina 🤣
I lived abroad in my 20s (working in East Africa in foreign aid, an industry that's been decimated by the Trump Administration) and now, a homeowner and firmly settled on the East Coast of the US, I often have dreams of taking a sabbatical year or living the expat life again. It's partially related to the sinking ship of US politics, partially just imagining being 24 again and hanging out on beaches of Tanzania without any real responsibility.
What's keeping me here is family. Obligations to my aging parents and also receiving support from the community I've been building for 15 years.
I also feel a sense of responsibility to fight for democracy here in my home country.
But I'm still on the lookout for any house sitting opportunities that might fall into my lap. 😎
Love it! I lived in Kenya in my 20s, also. We’ve been in Argentina so long I have the same feeling about other places;)
This is a great post, all true. I’ve lived in Spain for 45 years and it took me forever to feel at home and love it (my Spanish children helped, of course). I’ve seen dozens of expats come and go. The European romance only lasts a few months, then reality sets in. It changes from, “oh, I love the laid-back lifestyle here” to “why, oh why, do the stores close on Saturday afternoons?” And all the other things you wrote about- plus the isolation. It takes a long time to be accepted into circles of friends that have existed for years, you end up hanging with expats like yourself. Language, unless you are a linguist, is hard to master enough to share your deepest thoughts with the locals. So if you want to buy that little house in Italy, Spain or Portugal — go for it , just remember, the honeymoon ends and couple therapy begins. 😁.
That last sentence! It's GOLD! Yes, 15 years in with Argentine kids I have all the feels;) I'm so curious what books you read over the years that you liked (if you did). I love a good expat tale.
Claire! I'm always looking for books about expats and immigrants. I read The Disobedient Wife about a Western woman in Tajikistan, which was interesting. Lately, I've enjoyed the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, set in Botswana, because they are "feel good" stories, and with the world the way it is, if I want to cry, I watch the news. I'm getting ready to query a novel I wrote about an American woman in the 50s who follows her husband and his job to Mexico City. Wish me luck.
I'd love to! send to claire (at) clairediazortiz (dot) com
It's my fave genre and I try to be aware of every single book that exists. Send me your faves! I don't know The Disobedient.
Also I didn't realize "expat fiction" was a phrase? I'm always just getting google alerts for travel memoirs.
France dweller here. This is much like the complaining I’ve heard from Italian friends. Some also complain of places where « there are no young people. » As for marshmallows, I detested them in America and avoided the French version, guimauves, until the local baker gave me a couple. They were some kind wonderful …
Guimauves sound divine!
When I first got here, I whined too, until I finally realized that I'd left America for cause, and didn't WANT it to be just like the US. (Sadly, it's becoming way too much like the US now!)
And also - my gosh - the healthcare? I get HEALTHCARE?!!!! I get healthcare cheap or free and if I'm sick a doctor will come to my house????
I'm NEVER going back to the US.
My post is satire, but YES!
You were dead on about the paperwork, though. My God, the lost GDP from the amount of paper they produce is mind-numbing.
Love this! Where in Argentina are you? I was born in Buenos Aires and lived there my first 3 years but grew up in Illinois. I have a feeling Argentina would take me back but haven’t felt inclined to move — and though my family there is Russian Jewish, I do have an Italian connection in my father, who was born and raised in Italy. For some bizarre Italian law reason having to do with the exact years he was there, my sister and I would have to go live in Italy for 3 years to get citizenship. But having spent time there, I get what you’re saying. When a friend met a British guy and moved to England to marry him, she was surprised at how difficult the adjustment was. Even the language presented problems she hadn’t anticipated (she said every word had at least one silent letter but you never knew what it would be), light switches were the opposite of ours, they didn’t love Americans where she lived, it was hard to get peanut butter, etc. I think a lot of people don’t realize how hard it is to move to another country. Hope you’re enjoying Argentina!
I love Argentina (we’re just outside city, Nordelta), moved here with kids. But yes, the romanticization of moving is very funny! 3 years?!? Everyone here gets their Italian passports it seems like!
The 3 years has to do with our specific complicated situation. Another friend here is getting his Italian citizenship this fall at the consulate. Glad you're liking Argentina!
;)
> As you have perhaps read on the internet, housing size in Europe is smaller than in the USA. In fact, the average size of a house in the USA in 2025 is 6,798 feet, whereas in Europe it is more like 109 feet. Wow! Who knew!
Nobody knew, because this is total bullshit. The average size of a house in Europe is around 1000 to 1300 sq feet (for the house/appartment alone). The average size of a house in the US is about 2100 sq feet ( https://www.visualcapitalist.com/cp/median-home-size-every-american-state-2022/ ).
And the average European house is sturdy bricks, not a make-believe thing made of wood, plastic, and particle boards as "walls".
it’s a joke;) The entire piece is;)
Cheddar cheese??? With all the amazing cheese available in Italy, or anywhere else in Europe, you'd miss cheddar? Anyway English cheddar is better than ours. Or Red Dragon, Wensleydale... But best of all is Tilsit! Yeah, that one is German.
I lived in Europe 15 years while military and then DoD civilian. Biggest mistake of my life was coming back to the States.
Excuse me, but we most certainly have Amazon Prime. It's almost like a first-world country here.
I don’t! I am jealous;)
I'm sorry! (I am also surprised. I thought like a giant man-eating squid, they'd gotten their tentacles everywhere!)
It's in the human spirit that life is great... somewhere else.
I 100 percent object to this post 😂😂😂
🤣🤣🤣🤣
As someone who’s lived in Switzerland since 1995, this definitely resonated with me. I have not found a replacement for US sports culture or my family. Cheddar cheese, thankfully, is now available, meaning I no longer freeze big blocks to transport in my luggage. As for marshmallows, I purchase US brands in Germany — so much cheaper. It’s always something about the grass being greener on the other side.
How ARE German marshmallows? The Argentine ones are much too sweet;)
The German ones tend to be too sweet and often are pastel-colored with fruity flavoring. My kids complain that even the white ones aren’t „right“ and have a weird coating on them.
yes! pastel!
If you've ever lived in Rhode Island, you know about paperwork and line-standing. Ha, but maybe that's because there are so many Italians there! :D
Haaaa… but truly … paperwork on Rhode Island???
:-D
Bureaucracy... I call it bureausaurus. It's there, but I haven't needed A4 sheets of paper for years. Everything is digital now. Amazon Prime has been around for years, and I think it makes its money mainly from my purchases. And unfortunately the streets are full of SUVs.
In short, some partial truths, and a bunch of funny nonsense.
You are lucky! Come to Argentina to get things in triplicate!
No one lives in Japan? They treat foreigners well here, the medical system is head and shoulders above the US, and MUCH (2/3) chaper. My wife just got a refund for paying too much for her last Doctor visit.
love it!