Fro big city to small town

There are many reasons why I like living in Italy and in particular why I like living in a small village of 800 or so people. People thought we were mad when we announced that we wanted to relocate to Malito, which is a small village in the mountains about a 20 minute drive from the main city of Cosenza (Calabria.) Before that we had spent most of our time together as a couple living in Rome, some of that time together living in Sorrento and time apart living other parts of Italy (and the world.) People thought bel fidanzato had corrupted me, bribed me or kidnapped me, forcing me to come here. They were shocked when we told them it was actually the other way around - I was the one who first raised the idea of moving to Malito.

We knew we wanted to start trying for a family. We knew that Rome was a beautiful city to visit - but in our opinion not the most beautiful city to live. No, let me rephrase - Rome is a fantastic place to live if you are without responsibilities (like wanting to have a baby) if you have family already living there, and if you have a lot of money. You need good money to live in Rome, two people have to work and have a pretty good wage just to be able to pay the rent. Most people live in apartments and that was not something I wanted. Call me spoilt, but I was raised in a house, with a backyard and this was what I wanted my future child to have. I could not bare the thought of trying to have a baby, all alone, in Rome whilst living in a tiny apartment in the middle of no where. I couldn't stand the idea of having to leave the baby with an unknown baby sitter if I wanted to return to work, and having an apartment so small that the babies cry would vibrate against the walls driving me mad. It was the thought of having a baby that made me decide to broach the subject on moving back to Calabria.

Moving down here has not been without it's problems. Moving to Malito meant making a lot of sacrifices too. Bel fidanzato and I have always worked, and had no problems finding work in Rome. We knew moving down here would mean joining a long line of unemployed people as it is hard to find work in the south. If you find work you get paid a lot less then in other parts of Italy and often finding work does not depend on your merits but who you know. Saying this we knew that the cost of living was a lot less, rather then spending 10 euro on a pizza, you spend on average 4 euro, a glass of wine at the bar will not set you back 5 euro, but about 2. We were lucky enough to have an apartment where we could live rent free and decided to give life in Calabria a go.

We have been here since January and are getting alone pretty well. We have work even if it is not ideal, we have an apartment even if our future home with it's giant backyard is still a few years off and we have back up plans if one day it does not work out. So for now we are not going anywhere at all!