Italy is a stunning European country and incredibly popular among holidaymakers and expats alike.
It’s famous for its mouth-watering cuisine, stunning architecture, gorgeous monuments and chic fashion.
But an expat living in the European country warned others not to romanticise it too much, as no place is perfect. According to Valeria, an expat in Italy, the country has its pitfalls.
The expat said on her YouTube channel Dramatically Expatic: “When you wake up one morning and realise Italy will not make you happy, life is very different. It’s not always sunny, it will be noisy, and it’s chaotic sometimes.”
Italy is known for its picturesque scenery
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While Valeria loves her life in Italy, she wanted to share the “peculiarities” of Italy, and things people should consider before they relocate there.
She said: “Moving to virtually any country will not make you happy. Italy is a fantastic country, but you cannot rely on it for happiness. If you want to move abroad to escape your inner demons, you won’t be able to do that.”
The same goes for pinning all your hopes on Italy being better than where you currently live. Valeria said: “I’ve met people who talk terribly about their home countries and said that everything worked better here.
“But after living here for some time, they said terrible things about Italy as well because the problem was with them.”
The expat acknowledged that while Italy lives up to its reputation of being wonderful in many ways, expats “won’t be happy there until they accept that life is different here”.
She warned: “It will be noisy, it will be chaotic sometimes, the waiting times may be way longer here, and there may be much more bureaucracy.
“Moreover, people are very affectionate here.” The expat explained that not everyone moving to Italy will be used to this.
In order to enjoy living in Italy – and not go “insane” – the expat urged others to “embrace the differences”.
She said: “If your expectations are too high and unrealistic, you probably won’t be able to find happiness in Italy.
“It’s not always sunny – it’s actually quite humid here, which may result in mould in your house.
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