I have been living in Italy most of the time since 1999. My marriage was in Italy, my two daughters were born here, I have been self-employed here, worked for an American company and now work for Engel & Voelkers here in Siena, a multinational real-estate agency.
Way back when I first moved to Italy to I worked as an IT consultant for a large technical consulting company. At that time, the big panic was Y2K. It kept us busy for a year, creating work-arounds for problems that, as it turned out, didn’t really exist. In 2002, the Euro arrived; it wasn’t exactly seamless. Life did become more expensive here in Italy but the world didn’t change its direction of rotation. In 2006, I established a specialist tourism company, which immediately caught the imagination of a good-sized and interesting customer base. Then 2008 happened…..the world’s financial markets followed the Americans off a self-created precipice. However, we kept working, the hand made pasta and sauces tasted as good as ever, the sun continued to shine.
As the title suggests I am an expat living in Italy. In fact, I am a British expat, having for years enjoyed the freedom of movement and ease of working in Europe enjoyed by over 300 million European citizens. I think you have guessed where we are heading! June 2016. Everyone has his own opinions on this one, and I think we will keep them to ourselves. Suffice to say we endured three plus years of confusion and questions, arguments and fear. Finally, Boris paved the way and the UK left the union on the 31st January 2020. Guess what, the sun is still shining, Tuscan food still tastes great and I am still working.
However, a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, hyperbolic perhaps, but November 2019 seems a long time ago and China still feels, even in an ever shrinking globalized world, far, far away; something was brewing that has really changed the way we live - at least for now.
Bureaucratically speaking Italy has always been an infuriating place to live and work - if I didn’t love it I would have given up! I even tried moving to California but back I came, and am happier for it. Italy can really drive you mad, there is a permit/license/authorization for everything you want/ need to do. Whatever it is there is something else you should have done first! But… it is still the best place to be.
During the early stages of the pandemic, the Italian national pastime of hypercondria embraced it, reporting on the risks and facts without reacting. We heard the news and carried on. On the evening of February 27th, I took my wife to a violin concert in Florence. At the start of the show, the soloist thanked us all for coming and applauded us for being the sensible ones for not panicking and over-reacting to this elaboration of the common cold. We all laughed. Everyone in the world knows what happened next.
So how is life and work for a (Brexited) expat in Italy during this pandemic? We look out of our window on to ageless, pastoral scenery. Every day my wife and I say how lucky we are to be living in a lovely house with some land, surrounded by vineyards and olive groves. We now have chickens (anyone that knows me will understand how profound a change this is!)….we planted a large ‘orto’ and I bake bread every day. I work using the lightly creaking internet and watch too much Netflix. I call family and friends around the world on a daily basis. I read the news, study statistics and try to work out what is going to happen next. Italy reacted slowly for the first two weeks then locked us down rigidly. My work requires movement and face-to-face meeting with buyers and sellers. For now, we do what we can in the hope that a return to some form of normalcy will soon arrive. My background in IT and self-employment gives me an edge when it comes to ideas and digging out ways to accomplish what I need. Italy has helped us out, my wife has been promised unemployment pay (see above!), and the comune has granted us some Euro for food shopping. Oddly, the local community that is unable to see, meet or touch each other seems to have increased in community spirit. Brexit has paled into true insignificance. Will Italy rebound? We just have to look at the beauty around us to remember why we are here and to know that tourists will come back, and the businesses that tourists support will survive. Things will change, they always have, but Italy will still be Italy.
Overall, I am very happy to be here, I still love the food (even if I am cooking it all at home now), the sun still shines and we will not give up at work! I enjoyed living for a while in the USA, but the other thing my wife and I say every day during these pandemic times……Thank **** we are not still in California!
“Italy is a dream that keeps returning for the rest of your life.” – Anna Akhmatova