Playing the long game

2023 has been a very different year for me so far—so different than 2022 when I was traveling almost every single month and changing countries quite frequently. But in order to change my life and achieve some big dreams, I had to change how I move. And for me, this has been the hardest few months ever (our very long winter didn’t help), staying in one place and essentially waiting…but it was all worth it.

Also—as I’ve grown I’ve come to realize that time with people you love is never a bad thing. In the sense that often I struggle when I’m in Minnesota, but it’s always worthwhile to be around family and friends. So even if it’s been a hard period, I will always be grateful for days skiing with my Dad, Saturday morning coffee shop dates with my sister, family dinners, catching up with friends, and so on…

I realized as I was writing my post on December in Rome and the start of 2023 that I hadn’t really written about why I haven’t been traveling as much this year so far. As many of you probably know, I’ve been going back and forth between Italy and the states and to be honest, that is emotionally taxing and often complicated financially—figuring out apartments and subleases when you’re moving every couple of months.

So, when I came back from Rome in September, I got serious about finding a long-term solution so that I could finally move to Italy for longer than three months.

I had always wanted to move back, but I hadn’t been taking aligned action toward that dream—I was just kind of passively exploring opportunities and seeing what could be possible. But finally after last summer, I realized that needed to change. Leaving Rome was so hard, and I didn’t want to do it anymore. This led me to get serious about finding a visa and really making the move.

Since then, I have been dedicating myself to figuring out the best way to make that happen and with figuring out visas, one thing always leads to another and the process has taken many months, but it’s all unfolding now, exactly how it’s supposed to be.

A few weeks ago, I received my passport back in the mail with my visa inside, after a successful and smooth visit to the Italian consulate in Chicago last month. And just over one week from today, I’ll be arriving in Italy to actually move there, for a year (to start).

I think I’m still processing the fact that my dream is finally really coming true. It’s something I’ve been dreaming of for so long, and in the past I’ve felt frustrated it didn’t happen sooner. But I truly believe in divine timing and the fact that everything happens when it should.

I even think back to right before the pandemic, when I thought I would move back to Rome a few months after I came back from au pairing. Of course, the universe had other plans and the world shut down—but now I’m in such a better place in my life to make this move, and have had beautiful experiences over the past few years going back and forth that wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t been forced to change my life during the lockdowns.

I’m so grateful for all the time I’ve spent with family and friends in these past years, too, living this sort of double life. Moving to Italy didn’t happen sooner for a reason. But now that it’s happening, I feel so much gratitude and so prepared to step into this new chapter of my life, that I’ve been waiting for for so long. More on all of that soon as I get back to writing after a busy few months of visa documents, packing up my apartment, and other things…