LIFE AS SICILIAN EXPATS. Worse or better than we thought? #12 

Thanks, Claudia. And thanks for watching. I’m glad you like them. Ciao!

Thanks 😊 It IS really beautiful here. A lot less music these days but sometimes it’s fun. Like this Sunday I did a little piece on Massimo working with his tractor and it was fun to edit to music. I don’t want to get bored !

Thanks. It makes us really happy to make “happy” videos. There’s so much crap everywhere these days that we just hope we can make a small dent. Thanks for watching 😊

Perfect! Check out Puglia and Sicily. Great weather, great people, great food and wine and not expensive. It’s a dream.

Thank you 😊

You can do it!

Right? It smacked us on top of the head and slapped us across the face 🤣 This is an amazing place and, although it is starting to get discovered, still has an Old World charm that is incredibly unique. Thanks for watching 😊

Thanks so much!

Good. That makes me happy 😊 Lots more to come! And I grew up in Dover, NH. Big Red Sox fan. Even this year 😆

@@beeseurotravel Babe Ruth's daughter said you can't live in New England and not be a Red Sox fan. It's just not possible.

I’m sorry you lost your husband. That has to be really hard and we are very, very fortunate. Good luck with everything and thanks for the kind words 😊

Best of luck. Figuring out family is the hardest part… our kids are scattered all over the US so it’s easier for us.

Yeah… but it makes for a much better life!

@@beeseurotravel In italian we say: "Chi va piano, va sano e va lontano!" (who goes slowly, goes surely and far).

Thanks Brian 😎 I don’t think you will regret your choice. My Italian isn’t all that great - però stò imperando! And we think it’s really important to learn, too. We know lots of English speakers and we can get help with the bureaucracy, but it’s a really a matter of respect. What makes things a little more complicated here is that people really speak Sicilian, not so much Italian, and it is quite a bit different. So we’ve got that going for us 😝 Good luck with everything. -Brian

Hahahahah. I LOVE that you said that. The early ones had a silly vibe that I loved 😊

Thanks! And I’d be embarrassed to tell you how much time I spend editing 🤣

We’d better ramp up the production! 😳😂

Thanks! 😊 No place is perfect but Sicily is pretty amazing…

Thanks! Sicily is a little “raw.” The SE is much chiller than Palermo 😳 But we love it all and feel very alive here. Good luck finding the right spot for you 😊

Always! Thanks 😊

Thanks 😊

Someone commented earlier that channels like ours can ruin a place. I can see that, but net population growth is way down in Sicily. If you come with the right attitude you will love it here 😎

@@beeseurotravel Beth and Brian, good morning. Great to hear from you. There are too many negative folk on social media.I lived in a French hamlet with 40 other souls. One of the neighbours had a pet 'sanglier' which he walked through the hamlet on a lead. Other neighbours, who had a flock of goats and made goat's cheese, had a fireplace in the kitchen you could sit in. The husband sported a mustache birds could perch on. It was pure Marcel Pagnol 😂. Right now I'm in Thailand, which is wonderful, but I do miss the architectural wonder of the Med. I can apply for the elective visa in Bangkok but need to sort out driving as I cannot exchange a Thai licence for an Italian one and my UK licence has expired. As the Spanish say, arriba! It's 33 degrees in Bangkok and my view of the Temple of the Dawn is enchanting. Have a great weekend.

Yeah. We’re seasoned… 😍 Noto is a little touristic but a good spot. Definitely check out Palazzolo Acreide. It’s a real gem.

Thanks! We could’ve stayed longer, worked longer, made a lot more money but why? We have enough for a great simple life and that makes us both really happy. If you’re thinking about moving here then you probably already k ow that 😎

Thanks! 😊

Thanks 😊 We LOVE our lives here. If you are near here I’d be happy to meet you for a beer or coffee or whatever and fill you in on what little I know 😝

Thanks, you too!

It creates the most controversy! Thanks

Thanks. And thanks for watching 😊

Sorry. I like to do it once in a while. Especially when I’m working 🤷‍♂️

Funny. Still working on that 🤣

Thanks. That’s all we want to do. Too much negativity in our world!

Thanks, and yes. REALLY fortunate and we don’t take it for granted.

You’re so nice. Thank you. Get off the pot!! 😉🤣

Thank you!

You should!

Ha! Thanks. I have a long ways to go and my Sicilian? Probably never. One Sicilian phrase I have that always gets a smile is "FOO TEE TEE NEH" (no clue on the spelling). In Sicilian, it basically means "Don't worry, be happy." Congrats on Castellammare del Golfo. Beautiful place! Thanks for watching the videos -- I hope they give you a small fix until you're able to come back. Ciao.

@@beeseurotravel I'll have to remember that phrase! Grazie

Right? 🤣

Hi and thanks for watching. Our experience here has been as retirees so I can’t really speak to how it might be as a young family. But with that said it is a completely different life here. Things you have come to take for granted like: efficient administration and online access to nearly everything are in short supply here. It can be very frustrating and you have to have a ton of patience. On the flip side daily life with friends, neighbors and small businesses are incredibly fulfilling. Food is inexpensive, fresh and healthy and there is no shortage of things to do everywhere on the island. For us it was a great move.

Funny. Nothing from Yankees fans yet 🤣🤣

Thanks for that. We have a 20,000 liter tank under the garage that’s full. We’re fine. Had a lot of rain last week and that helped, but people are still worried. 🤞

I was an insurance broker and Beth was a middle school teacher. We worked hard and saved money. Paid the price. Then I sold my insurance agency to a bank and that helped a lot. Very fortunate and we are well aware… don’t give up the dream. You can live here easily on social security.

No. We gutted it out. It’s not that hard really… just a lot of busy work. The most complicated part is figuring out how much passive income you’ll have to show to meet your local embassy requirement.

Thanks. We’ve applied for an Elective Residency visa

Nope. Just a lot of visiting. Some in Tuscany, lots in Puglia and even more in Sicily.

Just bought a house close to Viterbo, great area, mountains, Tuscany so close, food, Rome one hour away and especially great people.

@@avivaekklesia1097 Really happy for you. We grinded really hard fior a lot of years and this is an amazing country.

Not sure. The lifestyle is amazing, but school-wise? Just don’t have enough knowledge to give you great advice. I’ve heard/seen really good and not so good. We have a couple of friends that are teachers and they are great people. We have another friend who has her son in a Montessori school and they love it. The kids seem really, really happy so 🤷‍♂️ I’d like to believe it’s all good but I’m sure it’s very unlike American schools (Beth was a middle school teacher for 15 years 😉)

So not « as… ? » LMAO. Thanks for watching. We’ve chosen more talking and less music, so moving forward you should be happier 😉

www.hsh-realestate.it/en/real-estate.html 😊

That and then some

People are weird on the internets, lol imagine telling a couple of lovely people to mind their manner.😂😂😂😂

Thanks 😊 Well… I guess because I’m just used to doing everything? We’re talking about adding a small addition next year and if that happens then I think we will have contractors. I’m kind of getting over it.

Not really… we always use Airbnb and don’t have any of those connections yet. Soon hopefully! Sorry I couldn’t be if more help.

@@beeseurotravel thank you. Will check Air BB

It all starts with your “local” embassy in the US. Whatever your showing for a US address is what will determine your embassy. Lots of paperwork which isn’t hard but you do have to show quite a bit of regular income to get the ball rolling. In Boston we had to show quite a bit more than the advertised ~$40,000 and I’m still not sure why 🤷‍♂️Beth said it has something to do with median income of the embassy region but… it’s the one question I’d get answered right at the beginning.

Hi, thanks for your reply. We should be o.k. as far as income goes. Did you need FBI reports to show the embassy? If you do not mind, can you tell me how much land you got with that property and approximate price. Everywhere in Italy is seems people just ask any price as there is no appraisal service that could give a real property value. Thanks and keep the videos coming we like them.@@beeseurotravel

No FBI reports for us. We got 7.5 acres and a 500 square foot 1960’s block house for less than the price of a Tesla Model X. But that’s Sicily. Tuscany would be 5x what we paid. Real estate is the Wild West here, but if you spend enough time looking online and find a good realtor you’ll be ok.

Thank you very much for your replies. We are only looking at Sicily and a small farm like yours. Have you guys now received your residency cards?@@beeseurotravel

Thanks 😊

You’re 100% right. Libération Day is April 25th and there are celebrations all over Sicily 😎

3 hectare (7.5 acres)

I’m watching all the videos to get my expat wishes fulfilled. I’m not sure my husband will ever be on board. Thank you so much for sharing with us.

@@sharonwalshthompson8185 Good luck, but don’t give up. It took me 15 years with Beth!!

Easy

I just found this one in a quick search 😉 www.hsh-realestate.it/en/habitable-house-in-noto-for-sale-hsh-722.html

@@beeseurotravel thanks ☺️ what areas would you recommend (that you could buy a house) that you could get a taxi to and from? Or is Sicily generally well covered? I ask as I wish to buy somewhere which I could live in for 6 months of the year and not have to worry about the general maintenance of a car

Public transportation is lacking. You’d want to be close to a city.

I find it to be more raw, more real. Italians are generally very friendly but here they are exceptionally so. It’s very underdeveloped which is good and bad, but for us mostly good. The weather is exceptional. Finally, it’s very affordable here.

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It’s windy here and I position myself so the wind carries all of the dust away from me outside. In the house I am wearing a heavy mask with dust filtration. Thanks

sei troppo gentile…

A few things. For us, the weather was really important and Sicily has sunshine in spades. Also, we try to avoid touristic places and for now Sicily fits the bill perfectly. I can’t imagine us in Tuscany. It’s also very affordable here. Though we looked hard at Puglia, what we were able to get here for the money was unbeatable. Finally, the people we have met here are the friendliest we have met in ALL of Europe. Tough to beat!

Thanks for the reply.

Brian I wanted to ask if the weather is a reason for leaving the Pacific northwest? It plays a role for us!@@beeseurotravel

You both have a great attitude. One day at a.time. You will get there. With a very good support network, you won't be short of help. Good luck with your new lives. Life goes by quickly. Enjoy 😊❤

I was stationed in Vicenza for 3 years with the US Army. It changed my life, and I plan on retiring in Italy when my military career is over. My preference is Northern Italy.