How the whole thing started

My name is Debbie Rossi.  This, and the posts to follow, describe the journey I, and my husband, are taking to move to Italy permanently at the end of this year.  I'm American, originally from San Diego, California and until a few years ago, hadn't really traveled very much.

My daughter is really the one who has always had a more adventurous spirit.  But I'm learning, little by little.

My husband is from Buenos Aires, Argentina but his heritage is Italian on his father's side and Spanish on his mother's side.

Because there are so many Italians in Argentina and he was so influenced by the Italian customs he learned while growing up, we wanted to visit Italy, and in particular, Arezzo which he remembered his grandparents talking about when he was a little boy.

So, right after Italy opened back up after Co-Vid had it's hay day, we took our first trip to Italy.  I'd had recommendations on places to go so on the first trip, we went to some of the most famous places in Italy, Rome, Amalfi Coast, Florence.   We also made our way to Arezzo because of the memories my husband had of hearing his family talk about it.

Here's the rub.  Arezzo is a city.  It is also a province, with, as it turns out, has 39 municipalities within it.  The province is part of the region of Tuscany, which is the more familiar place known to most Americans.  So, that means that his original family that started in Italy before traveling to Argentina in the mid 1800s, could have come from any one of those municipalities, not necessarily the city of Arezzo.

When we were on the first trip to Italy, we loved it so much that we asked ourselves, Why wouldn't we move there permanently?  And the answer was that there was no reason not to.

I believe in intention and manifestation.  So, I zealously intentioned and manifested the heck out of the belief that we could make it happen.  And guess what?  The universe heard me and then it seemed like everyone I met was Italian!  Their families were from Italy, the had friends in Italy, or they had traveled to Italy.  It just didn't stop!

We weren't sure if the City of Arezzo was where we wanted to live so made more trips to Italy visiting all the cities people, with good intentions of course, had suggested that we live.  After that trip, we were even more convinced that the City of Arezzo was the place for us.

So I found a couple of real estate websites in Italy where we could peruse properties.  

I also knew I'd need to have a real estate agent in Italy that spoke Italian.  My beginning Italian wouldn't cut it.

I found a real estate agent in Arizona, where we currently live, who coincidentally, or not, had a cousin married to a guy who was a real estate agent in Italy, Vido.  Well, Vido doesn't speak English but his business partner Nicoletta does!

I was introduced to her via email and we were off and running.

We met her on the next trip to Italy and it felt like we had known each other forever!  We'd found our person.  Her husband was amazing too!

She was gracious enough to travel a couple of hours to Arezzo to help us find the perfect apartment for us.  I don't know why I felt like I wanted to purchase there but just knew it was the right move,

Through our newly found friend and real estate agent, we were able to purchase an apartment but needed to do a remodel.   Having been an interior designer, I was able to create the floor plans and design for the new spaces.

The next trip was talking to kitchen designers, meeting with a contractor that had been recommended and his supplier for the things we'd need for the new apartment.

At this time, we're back home in Arizona, waiting to start the remodel process long distance.  I know it's going to be challenging, but not impossible.

After starting to create again, after not having practiced interior design for a long time, I realized I missed that creative outlet.  People I know have encouraged me to write about the process we're going through and showing the process from start to finish.

I intend for this blog to chronicle our journey, warts and all.

I'm confident after jumping through the Italian hoops that I'll be able to help others who might possibly want to take the leap and let me help them design their new Italian life!

I'm eager to share it all with you!