I tell my expat coaching clients: living in Italy isn't like being on vacation in Italy. Sure, the first few months are like a honeymoon. Everything is magical and you explore like a tourist.
But then you get back to life. Work. Grocery store. Friends. And life resumes its normal grind, albeit with an Italian soundtrack.
I thought I'd give you a peek at what my Italian life looks like!
Morning
Because a) I work for myself and have never liked getting up early and b) I'm on Italian time, so there's no rush to start working, since America is still asleep, I wake up between 7 and 9. Lately, I've been waking up early because it's summer and it's so. Damn. Hot. And Fra hates the air conditioning run at night.
I digress.
I make my cappuccino with my sweet little Lavazza maker. If I'm feeling sassy, I'll make American pourover or Moka.
The morning is usually when I get things taken care of out of the house. I might meet my business partner/BFF Dora for a second coffee (we've turned the closest bar into our own Starbucks).
This time of year, I'll go for a quick swim. Or I'll run errands like scheduling medical appointments (because: online scheduling? Ha.) or go to the grocery store.
Afternoon
I usually work an hour or two after I take care of morning activities, then it's lunch time.
If Fra's home, we usually eat different things. He's happy with a plate of fruit, but I need something more substantial! Occasionally I'll go out with my son Max, who's visiting, or family for all-you-can-eat sushi or poke.
[Cue food coma and nap.]
After my 20=minute nap, it's back to work. American clients are waking up, so it's usually late afternoon when my inbox sees some activity. I write a few blog posts and schedule social media updates (because my audience is American, I schedule my Instagram posts to go live in the evening to maximize views).
Evening
I'm not one for working eight hours a day, so I'll usually knock off by three. Then it's lounge time! You can usually find me with a stack of books.
Stores and businesses close from about noon til 4:30, so if I have more errands to run (or want to do it in the cooler evening), I do those now.
We might have an aperitivo scheduled with friends at 7. If not, we cook around 7:30 (early for most Italians). Fra and I love cooking together! We have a saved folder of recipes we've found on Insta we will never work our way through entirely.
After dinner comes la passeggiata! We love walking along the lungomare and trying to guess how many people that we know we'll bump into.
After that, we'll return home and read or watch something on tv, alternating between Italian and English.
I know! An exciting life! But it goes to illustrate that living in Italy isn't always glamorous. It's just life. But oh, so much sweeter!
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