The Italian Dream: Why We Left Italy

Yes, you read right, we're leaving Italy. We're packing up our house in the Tuscan countryside, saying goodbye to sipping wine right next to the vineyard where the grapes were grown and soaking up our last few days of blue skies and sunshine before we move back to Scotland.

But why? Let us explain….

The Italian Dream

Living in Italy was a dream come true. We moved here after years of dreaming about la dolce vita, eating the most beautiful food, sipping on wine in the sunshine and soaking up the culture, language and landscape Italy has to offer.

Four years ago we made the decision we were going to leave our jobs and leave to go to Milan, find jobs somewhere and try as best we could to make it work for as long as possible.

The thing is a job offer came out of nowhere, unexpectedly before we even left. Our boyfriend applied for a job to work on the restoration of a Tuscan villa and got it! There was one catch though, he had to leave straight away!

We were filled with so much excitement, joy, nervousness and being only 22, naivety! So we packed our bags and off we went, a one-way ticket to Tuscany.

A photo of the city of Florence and the Ponte Vecchio at sunset

Living In Italy

Phew, living in Italy has been the biggest challenge we've ever had to face..EVER! It's been so much fun and the best experience. We lived right next to the beach in a seaside town for two years and then moved to the countryside in the Tuscan hills of Siena for another two years.

The Things we'll Miss and Loved Whilst Living In Italy

The People – We've met so many great people and friends in Italy especially our friend Stefania who's not only been the kindest person we've ever met but she's helped us with so many things along the way, she's a true friend for life and we'll miss our get-togethers, picnics and all the beautiful lunches we've had together.
Food – This had to be on the list, it's pretty much the main reason we moved lol! The quality of food is so much higher in the supermarkets, the tomatoes, peaches, everything is so much juicer and tastes good. Bell peppers and fennel bulbs are the size of our head and half the price of what they are back in Scotland.
Italian Ingredients – This one's obvious but having Italian produce at our fingertips has been a luxury. The cheese sections are huge and filled with burrata, gorgonzola, pecorino, taleggio, scamorza, mozzarella…this could be an endless list and it's totally different from what you get in UK supermarkets. Also the raw meats, cured meats and PASTA sections are so varied and so good. Let's say we're stocking up on things we won't get back home.
The Weather – Blue skies and hot summers. The weather is beautiful in Italy especially during the summer, something we definitely did not have back in Scotland. Suddenly we were able to make plans knowing the weather would be great. Going to the beach, BBQs and picnics are all normal things you can enjoy when the sun is shining and we will miss it!
The Landscape – we have seen the most breathtaking views we've ever seen in our life living in Italy. From the most beautiful sunsets over the Mediterranean Sea to the rolling hills of Siena. The clusters of old and rustic, dusty orange towns dotted around the hills and windy roads of cypress trees. Vineyards and olive groves for miles, that, we will definitely miss.

A photo of the Tuscan countryside, an old rustic farmhouse with cypress trees surrounding it

The Things That Made Life Hard

Ok so we've given our reasons for loving Italy and what we'll miss but WHY am we leaving?! The thing is life has not been so easy and as romantic as people think when you say you live in Italy. It's not a living holiday and we've run into our fair share of problems. Here is a short list of the things that made life difficult.

No Jobs – It's so hard to find work in Italy unless you live in a large city like Florence or Rome and even when you find a job it's almost always seasonal for the summer.
Having a Job doesn't Mean you Get Paid! – Can you imagine working hard for the month, it gets to payday, you check your bank and you've not been paid?! This happened A LOT and unfortunately, it's a common thing in Italy. Employer's say they can't afford to pay you and then don't. We can't even start to explain the stresses we had with this.
Self Employment Is A No Go – In the UK becoming self-employed it a fairly simple process and being so young (and not doing much research) we assumed it would be the same in Italy. When you work for yourself in Italy you are hit with high taxes, accountant fees that you can't avoid and you're pretty much left with nothing after all your hard work. When we first started working doing English lessons we sent the information to our accountant who then told us we'd have to pay 110% our wage after taking off tax and fees. Yup, we would have to pay more than we earned (and it was little), crazy right?! After talking to Italian friends they all said becoming self employed is a BAD IDEA (if only we knew before).
Customer Service Ain't Great – Try searching for a new apartment, opening a bank account, registering with a doctor….all these things take forever and we're not joking. We know people that have had to wait 6 months to open a bank account. Our experience searching for a new apartment to rent was awful, agencies don't reply to emails or answer the phone. It was stressful to say the least.
Driving – When we first started driving in Italy we thought the big problem for us was getting used to driving on the right hand side of the road, little did we know that would be the easiest thing to overcome. Driving in Italy is CRAZY! There are no other words to describe it. It doesn't scare us anymore, we have to expect the unexpected whenever we get in our car but we will never understand it. Oh and then there's the annual car tax that you pay basically because you have a car (no it doesn't go towards road repairs or toll fees it's because).
Money – Yup, if you have plenty to throw around then you'll do fine living in Italy. If you're like us and come to Italy looking for adventure with no more than a suitcase then it's going to be a problem. Jobs pay low (if you can get one) and there is a tax for EVERYTHING and if it's not a tax that you're paying then it's a charge that some company will make you pay, well, because.

Personal Reasons For Leaving

Apart from some of the reasons we listed above that made life hard for us living in Italy there are a few personal reasons for us leaving. All the things below are things or comfort and nostalgia and what we're looking forward to having again.

Family – Four years is a long time to be so far away from friends and family and although we were so set on living in Italy for the rest of our lives, it soon dawned on us that we were only going to see our family once or twice a year. It got harder and harder and we soon realised how important it is to have our family around us.
Home Comforts – we started to miss silly everyday things like going to the cinema without watching a dubbed film. Topshop (yes, we miss the British high street shops lol). Telling a joke to someone that actually gets it (that's when languages get difficult). Drugstores being able to run into a drugstore for makeup and toiletries, there are no shops that are like that in Italy. CHRISTMAS we are a Christmas crazy! It's pretty much on our mind all year long and Edinburgh has the most good Christmas market which we missed like crazy. We also missed the shops filled with Christmas decs, clothes, gifts and music! We got none of that in Italy and we know it's all commercialised and some people hate it but we love it and to us, it's a big deal. P.S it's the atmosphere and Christmassy feeling we miss not the gifts. Diversity the UK is so diverse when it comes to different cultures. Although we cook and eat Italian food the majority of the time we missed being able to buy ingredients to make an Indian curry or go out for Mexican food.

So What's Happening To Vonfo?

The big question everyone always asks us is but what will happen to your blog? We can safely say we are going nowhere! This blog is our life, seriously it's like a baby and Italian food is our passion.

We can't imagine our life without blogging and we will always continue to cook Italian food as we always have *happy dance*.

We actually think not living in Italy will help us help you more when it comes to Italian food. It's so easy for us to run to the shops and pick up fancy Italian ingredients that not everyone can get their hands on easily. THIS will be a new challenge for us and we're excited about it. We'll be able to know what it's like to try and create recipes without that luxury anymore and find the best solutions. Easier recipes for you and a better understanding for us!

When Is This Move Happening?

Next week! Ahh, as we're typing this we're waiting on the removal company arriving to pick up our stuff and take it all the way back to Edinburgh. The extra crazy part? We're driving…let us rephrase that, we're driving! Yes, we're driving the 4 day journey from Siena to Scotland because we have a dog and it's the only way for us.

Can't drive and we have no sense of direction so he's the map and we get us there. It'll be an experience but we think it'll be fun (we'll let you know).

So there you have it, we're leaving Italy and we are SO excited! We can't wait to go home and start the next chapter of our lives. We're so curious, have you moved to or lived in another country? How was your experience, did you move back and why?

We love talking about this kinda stuff so let us know all about it in the comments below! In the meantime, we'll see you next week with more yummy recipes and updates!