A lot of people have helped

We have been fortunate that in our quest to learn as much about moving to Italy as possible, we have been able to meet many people who have offered us a great deal of assistance. This started with our first trip to Italy when Valerie's parents were living in Gaeta. This was our first experience with Americans living abroad and we learned of the subtle differences in cultures that are involved in the everyday activities of living in a foreign country.

We have made friends with Italians during our several visits to Italy who have been a great help in arranging some of the items needed for our visa. Most important of these Italian friends is the Roman family who is allowing us to use their summer home in Anzio. We have also made friends with Americans who live there (and have lived in Italy with limited funding). We have friends who enjoy traveling to Italy as much as us and Italians who live in the US. Each contributed something to the planning of this adventure. We are grateful to have found extensive information on the whole experience -and details of moving to and living in Italy -on both the SlowTrav and Expats in Italy web-sites, and in books.

These people have shown us different perspectives on what it takes to move to and live in Italy. Their insights have shown us both the positive and negative aspects of this experience, which we believe gives us an "eyes wide open" perspective of the adventure before us. We have taken bits of information from each of these sources and are indebted to all of these friends.

Our families have also been supportive of us in this venture as we step out of the mainstream of American culture and pursue our dream. Valerie's parents have been allowing us to live in their home in Ohio while we worked out our visa difficulties. My sister has been receiving and forwarding mail and is safe-guarding our belongings during our absence. Without the support of our families, it would have been much more difficult for us to make this move at this time.