Operation Italy- Vacation or Relocation?

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My honey and I are planning a 2-3 week vacation to Italy, with a possibility of relocating there. Not anytime soon, most likely the vacation part next year (2012). We have no plans to stay in hostels (I can’t get over the movies and the blowtorch to the eye—icky) so it’s gonna be expensive.

Since it’s gonna get pretty spendy to spend a couple of weeks in Italy, we’re going to have to save some money. Yep, that’s how this relates to personal finance and finally explains the excitement over 2 free duffels. :-)

We don’t even have passports and I haven’t been on a plane since I was 15, that’s 14 years ago—wow! Even if we don’t end up moving there, we’ll still vacation and prepare ourselves the best we can. Money, money, money. How will we do it? Not really sure yet, but if we do end up moving there, we won’t really need the Operation SUV goal anymore.

I’m so excited! I’ve never even left the U.S. before, this will be so awesome, I’ve always wanted to go to Italy. I’m also quite curious to see how much all this is going to cost us; hopefully I’ll be able to save a crap ton of money. 😉

 

So, do you think I’ve lost my mind?

About Jen Perkins

Likes: saving money, being debt free (aside from our house), zombies, travel, getting money, blogging and dogs. Dislikes: debt, being broke, bunnies, wasting money, not having enough money to travel the world and paying interest. Facebook  ♥  Twitter  ♥  Google+  ♥  RSS

Comments

Operation Italy- Vacation or Relocation? — 8 Comments

  1. I went to Italy a couple of years ago and absolutely loved it.
    I went with my dad and we stayed in “budget hotels.” They’re nothing like cheap hotels in the state. Instead of being filled with drug dealers, they’re simply cheap because you get a tiny room and a tiny bed. And possibly share a bathroom with a couple of other rooms on the hallway, but that was never a problem.
    When I went, the exchange rate was 1.5 or so.
    If you have the chance to relocate there, that’s awesome! Their economy is struggling though, so I’d be scared of that, unless you’re linked to an American company that can relocate you back to the US if need be.

      • Hands down, Assissi. It is out of the way enough that it was not packed with tourists, and inside Assissi’s cathedral, you can sit and listen to all of the monks chanting, which is eerie and awesome. Also, the weather was gorgeous, the town is gorgeous, this old castle there is gorgeous.

        That, and if you’re thinking about going to Pisa, check out Lucca instead. Pisa has the leaning tower, but apparently it’s smaller than you expect. Lucca is surrounded by a grassy wall that you can bike around the top of easily.

        Also, get yourself a Rick Steves guide, and follow his restaurant suggestions wherever you are. You’ll get great food at the best prices that way :)

    • I think we’ll start off with a vacation and also visit some other places while we’re over there, then we’ll have more information to go off of. I’d still like to live in another country, it would be awesome…just not sure which one yet. We were planning to go there this year, but I might have to put that off until next year. My husband doesn’t think we’ll be able to save enough for a comfortable trip, also there’s FinCon12 in September.

  3. My wife and I went to Italy (Venice, Florence, and Rome) for our honeymoon. We saved quite a bit of money by staying in a bed and breakfast at each locale. Search on trip advisor for the best ones.