I would welcome the simpler life, and being around my wife’s family.
I love America, and I am very proud to be an American, but the hapless pursuit to get bigger and bigger and bigger things drives me insane. I can’t even buy a decent small house in the modern subdivision because everything caters to the four and five bedroom crowd. I don’t want to live in the country, though having a gigantic workshop would be appealing, unless it is not convenient to city water, or city fire protection.
I know that my house would be smaller in the U.K., and that it is more expensive to drive a car. Hell, one can get away without a car. But the simpler ways are quite refreshing, as I am sick and tired of people with too much money and not lots of time complain about how hard life is. They know what to do, but they don’t want to give up the stuff.
Best case scenario: win the lottery, buy a carbon fibre plant in Taiwan, market my stuff, have two houses- one in Bristol, England (c’mon you REDS!!!), and one in sunny Florida.
My wife and I did that 12 years ago when we moved to Hawaii. Life is expensive but we both got good jobs. We were just stuck in the ratrace on the mainland and jumped out.
Yea we live in a 1000sq foot smaller place and in a condo instead of a house, but we walk 10 min to work and have one car that we don’t even drive 5k a year in.
We have about 8 to 10 years more till retirement and have thought of putting the stuff in storage and living in Tuscany or the Basque area of Spain for a while. If you have to pay rent somewhere why not someplace fun?
With the Euro up 30% and land values in Tuscany going up 10-15% a year buying would be expensive. The other posters were spot on about work or lack there of, so if you plan on Tuscany you better hurry.
B&B’s are a real hard way to make a living. A bike shop is probably the only thing harder. It is nice to dream, but weigh your options carefully and best of luck. Aloha G
Tom, “sitting by the road watching the traffic go by”…you could have described the same human tendency of people anywhere.
In Montreal, Paris and Nice, people sit in cafes for hours, chatting about nothing and “people watching”. I tell you, French folks know how to really relax and enjoy life on either side of the Atlantic. Ask a person in Montreal if they’d rather have a nice big house and be tied to a mortgage, working like a slave for 90 hours a week, or if they’d rather have a modest place, great clothes, eat in fine restaurants, and party often and travel the world, their answer will be the latter.
As such, here in Ontario, you’ll find folks enjoying life a lot less and working much harder to support their material wealth than my good friend in Quebec, who I would argue live an intellectually and culturally more stimulating lifestyle. Its kind of like the difference between northern and southern Europe to some extent. I never hear of anyone here in Canada saying that they want to pack the bags and move to Dortmund, Hannover or Hamburg, but you always have Tuscany, Mallorca, or Provence on the list. Something about the weather and the culture depicted in the movies we see
Oz. My wife has a long lost cousin there (probably in Sydney). I keep telling her that she should get / keep in touch with her. I could mooch for a while, I’m not proud. As a small mammal, I could adapt well to the marsupial way of life.
When I got my medical discharge from the Marines (I was an officer), my wife and I went from the middle class to the poverty level overnight. I had some job offers in Denver, where I grew up. But, as Tom alluded to, Colorado is not the haven anymore many people believe it to be. We decided to settle in Milton, Florida, my wife’s home town. We rented and later bought a small wood frame house. We sold one of our cars to keep out of debt. I got my wife’s old bike out of the barn, repainted it, put a baby seat on it and rode around town with my infant son. My wife made some money substitute teaching. I had several part-time jobs and went to grad school on the GI Bill. After a year, I got a good, but low-paying job which has developed into a career where I am now making 10 times what I was back then.
Thinking back, even though we were poor, those were some of the happiest times we have had. We had each other and a new baby and family. It was like living in a Faulkner novel–small, southern town where everybody knows everybody. The lesson we learned, and we still say to this day–if it ever gets to the point where we want to chuck the rat race and get rid of all our material possessions, we’d do it again in a New York second.
My point–you don’t have to move to Italy. There are a lot of places in the US with the values you describe. You won’t find it in suburbia, though.
No, I worked for Pizza Time, in Coeur d’Alene- near the Sheriffs Office. It’s closed down since. No big loss, it really wasn’t good pizza. That is one of the very few things I miss about the East Coast- the food.
I’d second tri-bri2’s observation - don’t have to go to Italy…
When we first came to USA, I had a contract in Winston-Salem, NC. My wife didn’t have a work permit, so she did a lot of volunteer work. I was earning about 1500 a month after taxes, and saving 6-700 of that. Caught the bus to work, bought a $1000 car and a $450 canoe (priorities) and had a wonderful time.
Now of course we have the mortgage, the minivan, the kids, the college savings to fund, and are the poorest household in the richest county in America…
The trick is to find a nice small town well away from all the hustling over-achievers.
Also, as Marco observed, it’s tough to get a work permit for the EU. It’s not easy anywhere in the world, though the EU is at least possible. It took me five years of indentured servitude in the US before I could become a free agent and seek employment on my own.
Man, this thread sucks. I have been pulling back-to-back all nighters to get some stuff done and am just wasted. That is typical for this time of year. Two months ago I was on the beach… somewhere. A month ago I was in New Zealand.
This life is pretty darn good but I would like to spend more time near the water and in warm weather.
Five years ago, my oldest son, a concert muscian, met a young beautiful Italian girl while he was on tour with Michael Barshnikov in Italy. Of course they fell in love. She moved to New York City to be near him but hated the States. She moved back to Italy and my son soon after.
Now they live in Rome and were married 3 years ago. I have a wonderful 2 year old Italian grandson who speaks english and italian (as much as a 2 year old can… Ciao Grandpa!). They have an apartment in Rome, my son has a studio in Rome (near St. Peter’s) and a weekend home in Umbria. They are building a home outside of Rome and will soon move.
However, life is not a bed of roses. Being an American is Italy, my son has a hard time “getting” fulltime work with an Italian Orchestra since he is not a citzen of Italy. I’m told that is the case for employment, you must be a citizen. He does play with a Quartette in Florence but the Itailains don’t always pay. So my son still tours approximately 4 months of the year. My daghter-in-law owns a marketing company, having several major accounts, however Italians are slow pay or even no-pay for work done.
The good thing is I have a place to stay when I go to Rome and when they visit me I learn to speak a little Italian and how to cook Italian (I love to cook).
If I can help in your decision to move send me a PM.
Hey Bri, did you make it to Abitaman last weekend? A bit chilly at the start (car said 41F when we were going past Eglin at 5:45) but overall a great day to be out racing on the beach. After I finished, I found myself thinking “I may not have the budget to go race in exotic locales, but hey, what I’ve got in my own backyard is pretty damn good” as I was heading back to collect my bike.
