Leaving Home and Going...Home

 

“I’ll never be a stranger, and I’ll never be alone; wherever we’re together, that’s my home…”
Billy Joel, You’re My Home 

I’m having a little trouble wrapping my head around that fact that finally, after about 22 months of preparation, we’re actually doing this:  heading to Italy!  We’re leaving two days from now.  I think we’re mostly ready (still have to pack), although I’m fairly sure I’ll have forgotten something, some detail or piece of information, but eh:  if so, we’ll find a way to deal with it. 

We are so, so fortunate to have one of our nephews coming to stay in our house while we are away; we’ve never been gone for longer than about two weeks, and we weren’t keen on leaving our house empty for what could be months.  At least if something happens while we are away, we have someone there who can help us deal with it from afar. 

I started out with a long to-do list of things to accomplish before we leave; I’ve whittled it down to the last few things.  The list was mainly small but practical things:  making sure all our bills are sent electronically; setting up an account to which I can transfer money and convert the currency to euros (we’re using Wise since their conversion rates and fees were the most reasonable I could find); and getting SIMs for our phones so we have data and cell service (our current US provider has an international plan, but the fees are ridiculous).  Cell and data service are much cheaper in Europe; it was easy to order SIMs that will work in Europe via Amazon before leaving, and have them set up for use upon arrival.  

Some items we needed to take care of were a little more complex:  for example, making arrangements to have health coverage while we are away, just in case one of us gets sick or injured.  Now, Italian healthcare is a very different system compared to that of the US.  We could theoretically just pay out of pocket for, say, routine doctor visits and medications, but…you just never know, so better to be safe than sorry, is our thinking.  We also made sure that we had several months’ supply of prescriptions, and also purchased a few OTC meds (Advil, Aleve, things like that) on which we rely but may be harder to find and/or may cost more over there. 

We have our required pre-flight COVID tests scheduled for tomorrow (and I am happy to report that we were both finally able to get our respective vaccine boosters – we were worried that Hubby wouldn’t be able to, but the Moderna booster jab was finally approved just in the nick of time).  I’ve filled out our EU Passenger Locator Forms, and set us up on the VeriFly app as per our airline.  So, other than actually packing, we’re just about ready.  From the research I’ve done, it looks like the weather where we will be going should be somewhat similar to what we are used to here (if perhaps somewhat more rainy), so packing shouldn’t be too difficult aside from the fact that I admittedly have a tendency to overpack.  I really should know better – this ain’t our first rodeo, travel-wise, and I’m really, really, going to try to be better this time, I swear! 

You may have noticed that I haven’t said the name of the comune in which we will be living.  The reason for that is I’m contractually obligated not to say it – at least not on social media (the folks who need to know will know, of course).    There are good reasons for this:  the comune would not want to be overwhelmed with requests from others seeking recognition (the number of folks seeking dual Italian citizenship has increased dramatically in the last couple of years).  Small comuni that are willing to process these requests simply don’t have the manpower to handle a high volume of paperwork (and not all of them have the necessary experience or familiarity with the laws to do so).  Additionally, they don’t want to draw too much attention from the Italian government in that if they suddenly had a large number of citizenship recognition requests, they might be investigated for being a kind of “citizenship factory” (in the past, there have been cases of comuni that allowed people to circumvent the strict residency requirements and other rules, leading to government investigations resulting in fines for the municipalities and loss of citizenship for the applicants).  The service provider I am working with* wants to keep a good relationship with the various comuni to which they refer clients, hence blabbing the name to all and sundry is a no-no. 

But I can give a very general description of our new home away from home.  Our comune-to-be is located in the region of Molise, in the Province of Campobasso.  It’s roughly 48 KM (about 30 miles, give or take) from the city of Campobasso (the capital of the province has the same name as the province itself; confusing, I know).  It’s just over 50 KM from Termoli – so a little less than an hour’s drive to a nice beach (not that I think we’ll be spending a lot of time at the beach this time of year, but still…).  The comune is very small compared to where we live in PA (to keep it vague, let's just say the population is well under 3,000; there are over 14,000 residents here in our township).  I did a Google search for images, and it looks very cute!   We’ve been told it’s very walkable, and that we can easily walk to do our shopping – a lifestyle change we are looking forward to, believe it or not.  We will have a car though, since we will be somewhat off the beaten path, and we will definitely need a vehicle to get anywhere outside of the comune (there are train stations in Campobasso city and in Termoli via which we can travel to other regions, when we don’t want to drive). 

Here are a few screen snips I grabbed from Google Earth, so you can get a better sense of where we will be:

 

The first thing we will need to do upon arrival in Italy is to make sure that passport control stamps my passport, as this will be my proof of date of arrival. If for some reason they don’t stamp it, or they stamp it incorrectly (I'm told it's been known to happen), I will have to take an extra step and file a Dichiarazione di Presenza, or Declaration of Presence.  We’re specifically taking a direct flight to Rome, rather than a flight that would require a transfer in another Schengen Area country, to make sure I get the proper timbro (passport stamp).  Once we’ve made it through passport control and gathered our luggage, we’ll meet up with someone from the car dealership, who will take to pick up our car (we are leasing, not renting).  And from there, we will head to Campobasso, where we will spend the night at a B&B before taking care of some business in the provincial capital the following day prior to arriving at our new home.

I have to admit I am glad that the dealership will be sending someone out to the airport to pick us up, as neither of us would be too excited about having to drive out of the airport.  I am particularly nervous about the traffic; although I think that once we are away from the airport and headed towards Campobasso, it shouldn’t be too bad.  It’s just that we’ve seen Italian drivers – and they are scary if you aren’t used to driving in high traffic areas where stop signs are suggestions and speed limits are ignored; heaven help the pedestrian who gets in the way.  We’ve been assured, though, that we’ll need to be more concerned about goats in the roadway than the other drivers, at least in and around our comune.   Goats we can handle:  after all, they’re very tasty.    

Just think:  my next entry will probably be posted from Italy!

* As I speak very, very little Italian, I am working with a highly-rated company that provides on-the-ground assistance to those applying for recognition of Italian citizenship.  They reviewed the documentation I collected and advised as to any amendments needed, and found the apartment we will be renting, ensuring that the type of lease meets legal residency requirements.  They will also provide translators to attend all residency and citizenship-related appointments with me, to facilitate communication and ensure all the necessary paperwork is completed and presented properly.  There are many such companies in existence; some more trustworthy than others.  There are wide-ranging differences in types of services offered as well as in fee structures.   I did extensive research and interviewed several service providers before I made my selection.