In 2 Days, I’m Moving To….
genoa, italy!
I guess moving isn’t technically the correct term since I found out about a month ago that I legally can’t stay there for more than 90 days… so now it’s being referred to as an “extended stay” or a “self sabbatical” because I’m a little bitter about not being able to stay as long as I hoped. But regardless, I get to spend 90 glorious days in Italy where I have a cute little studio apartment in a pink building with views of the water and I couldn’t be more excited!
“But Morgan, why are you going to Italy?”
Well, my friend, first and foremost I blame Netflix for putting Under the Tuscan Sun on the recommended watch list where I watched it almost daily for like 5 weeks. #noshame but it caused me to send a few text messages while I should’ve been studying for finals in December 2016 that said “I know this is a long way away, but I think I’m gonna move to Italy for a few months in March 2018” and alas, here we are. It’s almost March 2018 and I am, in fact, “moving” to Italy. SAY WHAAAAAAA.
In all seriousness, Under the Tuscan Sun definitely had a huge impact on this move. But obvs not getting a divorce or planning on buying a villa in Tuscany (though Frances wasn’t planning on that either…). Really, I knew this was a point in my life where I’d have the opportunity to do this, so I took it. I’ve been saving up ever since the idea popped in my head. I finished my dietetic internship in January and haven’t accepted a job yet so why the heck not? I’ve been living by the phrase of “keep not settling” so here I am. Not settling for a life short of enthusiastic.
“But Morgan, who are you going with?”
Me, myself, and I. Solo traveling has always been high on my priority list and while I’ve flown by myself several times, this is the first time that I’ll actually be exploring a city all by myself.
“But Morgan, what are you going to be doing in Italy?”
Eating a lot of really good food. But really… aside from a few friends coming to visit, I don’t have any plans. My goal is to not be busy and to focus on me and what I want out of life and be in a place where I have to say “no” to people. My studio has a pretty sweet balcony, so wouldn’t be mad if I just drank coffee and read good books all day. But I also think it’ll be a really great time to focus on my design business and the nonprofit I co-founded and dedicate some much needed time to streamline those.
So yes, in 2 days I’ll be solo-adventuring to Genoa, Italy and I couldn’t be more excited/nervous/pumped/giddy. Arrivederci, USA!
Morgan, I’m so excited for you! And so excited that you’re letting me share a little bit of time in Italy with you! Save travels and see you soon!
Good for you Morgan! It will be a great experience. Good luck. I hope you will write more about your time there. You are much, much more courageous than I ever was. I love Italy! Best food in the world!! Enjoy!
[…] Hi guys, Morgan here today! If you read Kylie’s post a few days ago, you saw that I was heading to Italy soon. Well, I finally arrived on March 1st and despite being incredibly overwhelmed the first few days, I’ve finally settled into a semi-routine. Some days that means wandering around my new city for 3 hours. Some days that means sitting at a coffee shop for a few hours and getting some work done. Other days it means watching movies like The Holiday, Under the Tuscan Sun, and Eat, Pray, Love (read: movies about females who travel abroad by themselves!) while translating one of the hundreds of Italian books that are in my apartment. If you want to know a little more about why I jetted off to Italy, you can read about that here. […]
Hi Morgan, I am hoping to do something like this after I graduate, please if you are able email me with details on how you did it, how much money you saved, and other helpful details that would be so helpful. It’s my dream to do something like this, maybe we can even be friends! I would love your feed back- thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Hi Tiffany! I’ll shoot ya an email today 🙂
This is AMAZING and so inspiring. I would love to solo travel to Italy for 90 days and hope you have the best time! Please keep us updated!
Thanks so much, Connie!
I’m so excited for you! I lived in Paris for school in the fall (I know, not the same), but I went into it not knowing anyone (or any French), and I decided to do all of my non-school exploring and international traveling solo. SUCH a great decision. I grew so much and got to see so many fantastic places. Have the best time, lovely!
Ah that is so encouraging! I’m taking the train for the first time today and am weirdly anxious about it. It’s so strange though because I took the train so many times by myself a few years ago with no problem. I think getting older is making me more cautious 😛
Hello! I came here by way of Kylie’s blog. I think this is amazing but am curious how you are able to pay for it? Especially since you won’t be working there. I apologize if this is an intrusive question and feel free to not answer if so, but I’ve always wanted to do something like this and can’t afford to.
Hey Sarah, I’d be happy to talk about this! I try to never shy away from finances because maybe I can shed some light on how to help others travel 🙂
First and foremost, I have an incredibly supportive family that has allowed me to put a lot of my income from various jobs over the years into savings and I owe so much of my ability to travel to that. However, it doesn’t stop there. This is something I planned on for well over a year and during that time, I worked 20 hours a week for my university and I have my own design company so I was able to budget appropriately. In addition, I am still doing design and freelance work while I’m here so I do have the option to bring in additional income!
Second, travel is a priority at this stage in my life and so I adjust other aspects of my life to be able to put an appropriate amount of my savings towards trips!
If you have more specific questions, please feel free to shoot me an email because I’d love to provide more insight so this IS something you can work towards!
[…] If you have no clue who I am, check out my intro post and figure out what I’m doing in Italy! […]
[…] and moving into my professional life. Talk about a slew of emotions (ones that actually led me to move to Italy for a few months to help figure it out) and embracing the “fake it ‘til you make it” […]
[…] If you have no clue who I am, check out my intro post and figure out what I’m doing in Italy! […]