Ciao, to the calm and the restless!
Here comes the first practical lesson on how maybe not to do it when planning a move to Italy. Well, to be fair, grazie to us for sorting everything out step by step, piano, piano. But now – let’s talk about choosing a home in Italy, from the very beginning..
Why Italy? – our relocation choice
Before the big change, we had looked into several countries – New Zealand, Australia, Cyprus. Laugh all you want, but that, including Italy, was our fantastic four. In some places there were simply too many spiders, in others the flights to Latvia were far too long. Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland? Nope, those never even made it to our list, although they might have sounded more rational. In the end – Italy. It is what it is!
Perugia – the first stop in our new life in Italy
Pencil in hand, question in mind – which direction should we go? North was too expensive, south too wild, so fine – let’s go for the middle. We opened the seismic map – the seaside didn’t look good (a pity, we really wanted the sea), so the choice landed on Umbria. Green, beautiful, calm. And you know what – when you’re only “kind of” thinking about moving to Italy, but deep down know you probably won’t, choosing a place is actually pretty easy.
Next criterion we typed into ChatGPT: “best youth football teams in Italy.” No shortage of football here, obviously. School research (that’ll be a separate chapter), job opportunities, safety ratings – all looked promising. We decided: let’s go to Perugia and explore the region to see where we’d feel “at home.”
Our first scouting trip to Perugia
The plan was simple – an AirBNB for a week. While searching, we even found an offer to stay with a lady… and her cats, plus some pretty bad reviews. Nope, that one wasn’t going to happen. But it gave us the idea – maybe we should find a local host, someone willing to share what life in Perugia is really like, maybe even give us some contacts. And we got lucky! We found our wonderful Marzia and Massimo – today, they are still our most trusted friends and anchor point in Italy.
Even if we don’t see each other as often as we’d like, the story of meeting them makes me believe in destiny and in the right people showing up at the right time.
We planned to spend the last day of that trip in Rome, throwing a coin into Trevi Fountain and making a wish, but the rest of the trip was all about exploring local life. We met real estate agents, sat outside schools imagining our kids walking in, and with the help of our new friends, even met teachers. At the football field, we imagined how it would be if our son played here. So far, so good.
House hunting in Italy – the reality check
Although we started early with our search, the answer was always the same – no. For families without a job contract in Italy, renting an apartment in Perugia is nearly impossible. Only students get a “yes.” As I understood, landlords face strict rules – rental contracts for families are minimum four years, and even if you don’t pay rent, you can’t be evicted. With students, it’s different – short-term contracts, and parents usually guarantee the payments. Safer.
We tried again six months later – same result. And now I understand why the question I get asked most often is: how did you actually find a place to live?
When there’s no plan – and yet, it works out
Time went by, and at one point it felt like we’d have to think of something else, or give up the idea completely. Talks with agents led nowhere, we weren’t ready to pay cosmic rents, and with kids we weren’t about to move into shabby apartments. We had no plan left. But we knew change was coming. We sold our house, got rid of the extra stuff, and rented a small flat just to “wait it out.”
We lived without a plan until… a plan appeared!
We bought plane tickets, booked an AirBNB farmhouse for a month, and told ourselves: if it doesn’t work out, we can always go back. Safer that way. Looking back, it feels completely crazy – but in that moment, it felt like the perfect solution.
Lessons learned about moving to Italy
🍋Finding a family home to rent in Italy is not easy – start early.
🍋AirBNB and local contacts can be a true lifesaver during relocation.
🍋Always keep a plan B in your pocket.
Next chapters
How our journey started, how we prepared, how we finally solved the housing issue, and yes – what it’s like to fly to Italy with a cat. That’s all coming up in the next chapters. If you’re reading – I’ll share it!
New chapter, same heart –
Linda
