As a long-time blogger about living in Italy, I frequently receive emails and messages from people who want to move to Italy. Maybe you are one of them! People ask me for advice about working here, about finding a home, about the cost of living in Italy and so much more. Not fully knowing each person’s situation, I try to help, but I can’t very well coach each person through the process. I live in Italy but every situation is different; plus, I’m not an immigration lawyer or a real estate agent, two professional figures you’ll want to know quite intimately if you’re moving to Italy.
In comes Thea Duncan and her Move to Italy Masterclass. In an online talk last year about buying and renovating a home in Italy, Thea’s level-headed advice particularly impressed me. She’s an intelligent and enthusiastic realist who communicates in a measured and clear manner. She loves Italy and she’s made it work for herself only due to her own effort, and now she’s sharing all her secrets – and professional contacts – in a brilliantly structured 8-week online course. She’s tweaked the format since last year when I first promoted her course on this blog, adding more details, materials and more one-on-one time with experts to sort out all your questions and doubts about taking this leap in your life.
I have partnered with Thea to let my readers know about this course because I think that it will answer a lot of questions I regularly receive from you and help you make your dream of moving to Italy come true, right now, or a while down the line. The link to sign up in this article is ArtTrav’s special affiliate link, and if you decide to take the plunge, I’m also going to send you a gift from an artisan friend here in Florence (find out more below). If you click the button you’ll be taken to a first info page and can participate in some free seminars before you commit. Sign up on that page and Thea will get back to you with more information.
Move to Italy course information
When: 8 weeks starting May 2022
Enrollment is open: May 10-14 2022 (limited spaces available)
Format: Weekly readings followed by a live online Q&A session held every Saturday
What topics are covered in the masterclass?
- Cost of living in Italy. This is something I’ve written about here on the blog (see the link below) – it changes between Italian regions, and Thea’s got that mapped out so that you can budget for your move.
- The Italian job market or other options to finance your dream. This is the main question everyone has for me when they say they want to move here. “How can I get a job in x field?”, to which I generally answer, “keep dreaming”. In a country in which average salaries are shockingly low, you’ll want to think this through; the remote work brought on by Covid could be a blessing now.
- Can you legally live here, and how. You’ll need to work out how to get a visa or citizenship, and while you can read up on this, having an expert map it out is helpful.
- Renting in Italy. All the funky contracts and the restrictions that come with them… did you know that unfurnished apartments don’t have kitchens, light fixtures, or bathroom cabinetry?
- Buying property in Italy. The biggest question of them all! This country doesn’t have a centralized listing system or real estate agents who work to find you a home, and the steps towards buying a home are totally different than anywhere else. Thea’s class includes a guest lecture by a real estate agent who lays it out clearly; she herself is also undergoing real estate training in Italy!
- Italian taxes. One of the two sure things in life, next to death, right? Will you need to pay taxes if you live in Italy? Do you still need to declare elsewhere, and is there a tax treaty between those two countries? You don’t want to find out the answers the hard (and expensive) way.
- Healthcare. As a Canadian, I feel strongly about socialized healthcare. Italy has a two-tier system with public and private options that work in harmony, and many drugs are covered by the healthcare system too. Find out what healthcare in Italy costs and how easy it is to access it.
- Bureaucracy and how to deal with it. This is a module I think I might sign up for myself, because you will never truly know how to deal with this 100%, but looks like this course will give you a head start. Trust me, dealing with this properly is going to make your life so much more relaxing when it’s all done.
Why I think Thea’s class is great value
- for the same price you might get to talk to one qualified person for two hours if you’re lucky
- the class comes with plenty of structured reading material and live online sessions where you can ask questions
- In the 2022 edition, Thea’s including one-on-one call with a real estate or immigration attorney depending on your needs
- you get access to future editions, so if you take the class now but actually get your act together to move say, three years from now, you can attend any module again, either to refresh your memory, ask different questions that have come up, or to find out if anything has changed (in Italy, the laws change rather frequently!)
- there’s a whole bunch of cool extras included in the course that really add up to a lot of value.
Sign up for the Moving to Italy Masterclass and get an extra gift from me
I am excited for you to take the plunge! As a special thanks for being a constant reader of ArtTrav, I’ve chosen a gift to send you if you sign up using the link on my blog.
My friend Lisa Brancatisano (an Australian living in Florence) recently began a career as a watercolour artist after the pandemic put her tour-guide job on hold, and I really love her pieces. I’m going to send you your choice of either her flowers series (with Italian flower names!) or coffee print series (so you can plan that caffé ristretto at the bar). They’re sets of six reproductions on watercolour-type paper that you can frame as a collection or share with friends. In case you just want some of her artwork for yourself or to commission a watercolour of your favourite animal or florentine scene, you can find it here at the This Tuscan Life shop!
*Gift conditions: You must purchase through the link on this blog so that Thea knows I sent you. I will send you the prints by regular post within 8 weeks; I may contact you to ask for your mailing address.
Watch a Move to Italy Q&A I held with Thea last year
Some of my top resources for moving to Italy
On this blog
- My cost of living in Florence article with half a decade of statistics!
- Long term stay in Florence: how to find everything you need is an article about finding a good rental in Florence but also the names of the stores or types of stores where you can buy all those things you find out you need ASAP like a fan, or a mixing bowl, or a desk lamp.
- Healthcare and staying healthy in Italy is an article that outlines how the healthcare system works, and I also wrote about gyms, food, and general wellbeing.
- An older but still valid article of tips for buying property in Italy.
People I know and recommend
- Sean Carlos is an American real estate agent with experience in Milan who has now moved to Maremma. He helps foreigners find and buy property, even remotely! He was written up recently on CNN about that (see: The Americans who bought a house in Italy over the internet)
- Michele Capecchi is an international lawyer who helps a lot of Florentine expats with their immigration and other needs
A reading list
- Legal advice for expats in Italy is a slim but helpful introductory volume to the various questions one frequently has (including the kinds of questions you hope to never have to ask like “what happens if you marry and then divorce an Italian?”) by Michele Capecchi (listed above) for The Florentine Press.
- How to retire overseas (2018)
- A convenient checklist for relocating to Italy
- Humour: Living in Italy by Stef Smulders
Disclaimer: This article contains affiliate links for products that I believe are excellent quality
Updated May 1 2022
