Why spontaneously moving to a new country was the best decision of my life so far.

 

The thing that made it even worse was what everyone kept saying to me. Friends, extended family members and friends of my parents all seemed to say the same things: “why, you must be having the most incredible time of your life; you’re so lucky; you’re in ITALY; the things I wouldn’t give to be living in I-TA-LY!” I felt like I was letting everyone down, that perhaps I was doing this living-abroad thing wrong, that I was simply making a fuss when anyone else would have lapped up the weather and the city and the food and the men, while I was wiling away my time, waiting for work to start, and then counting down the hours until I could crawl back into bed again. Perhaps I didn’t deserve this incredible opportunity, if all I was doing was wasting it? Perhaps I should have taken a different route after all? What I really wanted to say to everyone was, “no, actually, you have absolutely no idea how this is going for me – you really couldn’t be further from the truth! It’s terrifying and lonely!” I hated almost the entire first month.

 

And then, little by little, something somewhat miraculous happened: I started to enjoy teaching, and discovered that I was quite good at it. I made some friends, both from within work and thanks to the “Foreigners in Florence” Facebook page. I started to understand why everyone I had spoken to had made such a fuss about this city. I began to embrace la dolce vita italiana and sampled many exquisite Italian dishes accompanied with Tuscan Chianti. I visited art galleries, and started to wander around the city, just taking it all in: the architecture, the smells, the people, the food. Florence is full of hidden wonders just waiting to be explored. Around every corner there is something to be admired and new treasures to be discovered. My new favourite Sunday activity is to hike up the hill to Fiesole, to gaze at the view of Florence spread out below, and to witness the sky turn from orange to blood red as the sun sets over my historical city. It really is magical, and I can finally see where everyone was coming from when I first moved here.

 

moving-to-florence

Here is the amazing view of Florence from Fiesole I mentioned before

 

But it took a lot of time for me to feel like this, and it also took a lot of work on my part too. And that, I believe, is where the secret lies. I love living here because I had to make an effort to love living here, and so I truly appreciate everything this city and this life-abroad has to offer. I live the life of a tourist, of someone willing to explore and to discover the hidden gems of the city, but as a citizen. The only reason I persevered and didn’t run back to England was because of my work contract and not wanting to let down my new employers, and I am so grateful that I had these commitments keeping me here. I have now made the decision to stay in Florence for the foreseeable future, before the next adventure starts. And now that I’ve done this, I am so proud of myself, and now I know that I am strong enough to move to another place, should I want to. We are all strong enough to do anything, so long as we put our heart and soul into it.

 

Any advice I have to anyone considering moving to Florence would be: do it! But be prepared for it to be really difficult at times. It’s never going to be a walk in the park moving to a new place, city or country. There will always be challenges that you could never have anticipated, and there will be times you want to throw in the towel and jump on the next flight home, but given time, you can achieve almost anything. Yes, it will be scary and yes, you will question why you did this to yourself about 10 times per day, but it will also be one of the most amazing things that you’ll ever do. Within a few short months, you’ll be wondering why you ever doubted your move here, and falling in love with a new city will help you forget whatever past love it was that brought you here in the first place.