daily life

Pre-Planning Communications Abroad

| Alan

A question we have repeatedly been asked is how Tracy and I plan to stay in touch with family and friends back in the States after we relocate to Italy.

We are planning to make maximum use of today’s communication technology.  We won’t have cash flow to make frequent trips make to the US, so we plan to stay in touch through the constantly evolving technology.  The cost of international phones calls and the nine hour time difference the west coast can make traditional telephone calls problematic.

SOCIAL NETWORKING:  Tracy and I started this WordPress Blog with the principle goal of staying in touch with family, old friends, and new friends we will make.  We wanted a central platform to journal our new lives, share travels and events, post photography and communicate.  We will also create “An Italian Point of View” FaceBook page and link it to this blog to mirror the posts and provide an easy second method of access for FaceBook users.  FaceBook Chat allows us real time communication when we and another person are online at the same time.  A third access method is to link the Blog postings to Twitter so people know when we have updated our Blog.

E-MAIL:  The Blog allows for an e-mail notice whenever there is a new posting to the Blog.  Tracy and I both have new G-mail addresses for traditional asynchronous e-mail.  Google Docs (soon to be Google Drive) allows us to create real-time, cooperative documents, like a vacation itinerary, that can be shared a with a friend planning to visit while updates and edits can be done on both sides of the Atlantic before their departure.

WEBCAM:  We have had good previous experiences using Skype and ooVoo for free video chats with family.  We hope to expand on that to see family and friends frequently and see the grandkids getting bigger over time.  G-mail also have a video chat service available that we want to explore more.  There is also a premium service from Skype and ooVoo that allows multiple participants in a video conference call that we intend to investigate.

WiFi:  Italian anti-terrorism and anti-mafia laws limits free WiFi Hotspots like we are used to in the States.  There are free and paid WiFi locations in Italy, but there is a more elaborate sign-in process. We will also have WiFi at our apartment, a MiFi system, or mobile WiFi cards for our laptops.  Broadband Internet is one “luxury” that we consider a necessity for our life abroad.  It is our key to staying in touch with family and friends in the US.

TELEPHONE:  Before leaving the US we will purchase an unlocked cellphone with an Italian phone number that we can share with family and friends in the event there is an emergency that requires that we be contacted immediately.  Cellular Abroad, sponsored by National Geographic, has unlocked cell phones available with the Italian SIM cards and a “pay as you go” payment option.  This is useful for us since we don’t plan to have much need for a phone in Italy immediately, but still need one for emergencies and business related calls.  Italian government agencies will often use phone text messaging for notifying clients.  Cellular Abroad provides its cell phone services through the Italian cell phone company, Vodafone, which provides phone service nationwide in Italy.  We don’t expect family and friends to pay international rates to chat on the telephone when video calls, text chats on the computer,  and e-mail is free, but we wanted the telephone option for an exceptional events, emergencies, and for our local use in Italy.

Ask us next year if these “best laid plans” worked as we intended.

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Alan’s Retirement: 200 Days and Counting

| Alan

Next week is Tracy’s final week at work prior to her retirement on June 29.  She is excited to start her retirement working full-time on our final visa paperwork and preparing all the logistics for our move to Florence.  She is the ultimate “Queen of Organization.”

I’m envious she is retiring first, but looking forward to be teaching one last semester at Truckee Meadows Community College while still helping Tracy with the moving process between classes.  I have a few days less than 200 to go until I “pull the pin” and join her in retirement.

Between careers in law enforcement and college teaching I have about 32 years in public service prior to retirement with five years working in the private sector before that.  I feel privileged to have had two challenging and rewarding careers serving my community and, with minimizing and simplifying our lifestyle, being able to retire young enough to fully embrace our expat adventure.

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Letting Go: The Art of Minimizing

| Alan

It has been big year for minimizing and downsizing our material world to prepare ourselves for retiring to Italy.

In July 2011, Tracy and I put our house up for sale.  After living in the same home for the last 12 years, it was a big commitment minimize our possessions to move into a one bedroom apartment in preparation for moving into what will probably be an even smaller living space in Florence.

We went through the contents of the house and donated, recycled, sold, and trashed, trashed, trashed. We disposed of everything that would not be going to Italy with us and we would not be using through 2012.  We delivered surplus household items to the Salvation Army, Goodwill, Committee to Aid Abused Women, Truckee Meadows Community College, Silver State Law Enforcement Museum, in-laws, children, friends, and Disposal Services.  The adult kids in town helped too with hauling things away.  Guess how quickly two college aged sons respond to the text message of, “Would you two want a bar for your apartment?”  I didn’t realize how much furniture sons Casey and Adam could fit in back of a Subaru hatchback.

Absolutely amazing the sheer volume of  material that can accumulate over the decades from two adults with eight children.  (Seriously, who still needs three bulletproof vests after being out of police work for a decade?) Even with trying to repurpose every item possible in the house, we filled one 14 cubic yard dumpster, two additional 6 cubic yard dumpters, and a 14 foot U-Haul truck with debris.  We mistakenly thought that the adult children had taken all their things with them when they moved out into the world.  No exactly true. Incredible how much is actually in what we thought was an “empty” house.

It’s incredibly liberating to free yourself from “stuff.”  Comedian George Carlin had a whole stage routine about “stuff” overtaking lives.  Tracy and my plan is to move to Italy with two large suitcases each.  We are passing keepsakes on to the adult children now and starting to live a minimalist life.

Moving from house to apartment was a huge step, next up is selling Tracy’s car over the summer and my car come November.  After years of used cars, minivans, station wagons, SUVs, Tracy and I love driving our two-seater convertibles, but they are not going to Italy with us so it’s time for the next major step in minimizing.

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7 days and counting

| Tracy

One week to go. In just seven short days, I’ll be retired after 18 years at the college. I won’t miss the work, but I’ll definitely miss the people. After so many years of driving to the same place, parking in the same place, seeing the same people for lunches, breaks, meetings and events they all feel like family. So many good memories over the last 18 years that it’s almost hard to believe there is so little time left. With such a great team of people who always have your back, it’s a little daunting to think that my “go to” people will no longer be a phone call away. Thank goodness I know all their e-mail addresses!

. . . in Italia!

| Tracy

While all of our preparations are coming along great for our “big move,” we still expect a certain amount of culture shock when we arrive in Florence.

One of the things we know will be challenging is the paperwork required by the city and country for our “extended” stay retirement visas. We read other blogs of those expats who have made the journey before us and know that we will face long lines, take a number and wait three hours only to find that we do not have the correct documents with us so we must start the process anew the following day. We expect this, we have planned for this and we are hoping that we are prepared each time we undertake such an excursion.

We have put together a binder with all of our most important documents, photocopies of our documents and are even planning to have many extra copies of passport style photos that we already know are required for different types of ID cards and such.

However, as life-long students in higher education as well as employees of the same, we know that things often change so even the well-prepared, pre-planned and organized fall victims to bureaucracy.

That’s were movie history comes in. Historical fantasies like Arthur (the Romans at Hadrian’s Wall, not the rich drunk) and Troy will serve in shaping our destiny a wee bit. You see we’ve noticed that warrior’s in the movies have “battle cries” to encourage their men and whip them into a frenzy of patriotism to face an impossible-to-win battle and come out victorious.

Our battle cry: “. . . in Italia!”  The reminder that no matter how daunting the bureaucracy becomes, no matter how tedious the requests, no matter the number of hours spent waiting only to come back the very next day . . . we’re doing it “in Italia!”

Dawning of a New Horizon

| Tracy

Retirement is now on the horizon. 64 days until I take a drastic cut in pay and start the next adventure in my life. I am exhilarated and worried all at the same time! An odd feeling to be sure but I have no doubt that my adventurous nature will win the day. OK, and the thought of not getting up at 5:30 in the morning is pretty cool too!