A Home Full of Furniture &A Heart Full Of Ideas For the Future

Of all the paths of my life, of all the places we’ve moved......the path to Naples, Italy is a path that incites a feeling of incredible excitement for me.  I absolutely can’t wait to see the sights of the world through the eyes of our boys.  I am still here in Pensacola with a home full of furniture and a heart full of ideas for the future, enjoying every moment of these pristine beaches! 
We’ve finished our screenings, received our passports, and I just received a call that our Visas are in. Our flights are booked and I’m spending all my time researching like crazy!  
 
I’m leaving behind a real estate career that I love and that has been incredibly successful.  I plan to continue to refer business as long as I can, but leaving Pensacola is more than leaving behind our home for the past 3 years....it’s leaving behind a business that I spent blood, sweat, tears, countless hours building....it hurts.  My dreams of becoming a broker and continuing to build and expand my business are on hold. My husband and I make decisions together and even though he was up for retirement, we decided that neither of us are ready to settle down.  We traveled to Europe in 2016 and have been dying to go back and take the kids to experience it together.  Moving to Naples, Italy are exactly what we wanted.  It’s not easy, but I believe it will be worth it.  It’ll be very hard work to build my business again, but it is my greatest wish, at this time in our lives, that we experience more of the world while we can.
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I’ve researched our move extensively and Facebook is a valuable tool for us. Do we want to live on base or off?  Which of our household goods are going into storage and which items are going with us to Italy?  If we live on base, the housing is much smaller than we are used to, so we definitely have to downsize.  There are Facebook pages for everything. All I have to do is type in my question and the internet is full of answers.  This is vastly different than when my husband and I first met and I was in the military. We learned everything from word of mouth and if the people I knew didn’t know the answers, I’d ask my sponsor, or just go forward living and learning.  
 
When we arrive, there is something called ‘Direct Assignment’ on NSA Naples Support Site. That means that if a 4 bedroom base apartment is available, we have to take it. If it is not, we have to live off base. There are perks to each.  I’m going in with an open heart so that I don’t get disappointed if I get one type of housing over another.

Living on base means having American and Italian plugs at home, steady air conditioning and heat, pretty reliable maintenance, utilities are included, and the kids can roam free. I realize that there may be hiccups with maintenance, but they are beholden to work and take care of the maintenance issues.  Everything is walkable or bikeable....the school, stores, movie theater, base restaurants, bowling alley, etc. Can you imagine how much the kids would enjoy that? The negative is that the base housing is small and rather than houses, they are apartment style. We haven’t lived in an apartment for 16 years.  Yes, I realize I’m showing my age here, but you get the point.  Many people believe that living on base can put one in an ‘American bubble’ where you basically live like you’re in America while living on base.  If we end up on base, I will make every effort to still experience the Italian culture by going off base to purchase groceries, drink coffee, eat at restaurants, socialize with the kids, etc.
 
Perks to living off base are that many people find that they can walk to local Italian bakeries, restaurants, markets, etc.  Many times, a family will end up living in a neighborhood called a ‘parco’ and can be invited to dinner and embraced by their Italian neighbors. This is truly what living abroad is about.....immersing yourself in the culture. However, Naples is a large city and the typical issues of a big city are to be considered. It is said that maintenance can be unreliable, your landlord can make or break your time at the home, insulation, air conditioning, and heat can be a challenge.  Utilities are much more expensive and for most of the off-base housing all plugs are European. There are converters, space heaters, security, safe areas, but everything I mentioned are things to consider.  Just think of the age of the city of Naples...dating back to 600 BCE (according to Encyclopedia Britannica) and the age of the buildings makes living in Napoli a different life than living in the newer buildings of America.   We will have to commute to base for sports, school events, and socializing for the kids, so commute time is considered, as well.

​Do you see why I’m not trying to set my heart on anything?   I worry that I get all ramped up and end up disappointed. Hubs and I decided that we’re going to make the best of any situation.  We are truly going to Italia to experience the culture, show our kids more of the world, and to travel as much of Europe as feasible in our time there. Keep in mind that this entire email is about my research and I haven’t lived it yet. I look forward to creating future blog posts with my true experiences.  May the journey begin!
 
Second blog post:
 
The Big Move......Arrivederci USA! Off to Spain!

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