Choosing between a big city and a small town in Italy involves significant trade-offs regarding cost, career opportunities, and social integration. Here: Confrontation outlines of pros and cons
Two kinds of expats move to small-town Italy. The ones who romanticise it so hard they forget to check whether there’s a pharmacy within 30 kilometres. And the ones who actually stick around.
I’ve been living in this area for a few years now, and I’ll be honest: I go out alone most of the time. I called a friend to come with me to see a menhir in Mazzè last week. She wasn’t feeling well. Called another. Too busy. I didn’t even call the third one because I already know that her partner, now retired and living with her, doesn’t look favorably on her friends.
This is not a complaint — it’s just the reality of adult social life, anywhere in the world. The difference is that in a small Italian town, the loneliness can hit harder when you don’t speak the language yet, and the community feels impenetrable. But it’s not, and Mazzè is actually only a good example to speak of why.
Continue reading https://exegi.substack.com/p/the-town-40-minutes-from-turin-that
