4 Years Living in Italy: How I've Changed

This week marks the four-year anniversary of packing up 3 suitcases, 2 cats, and 11 boxes and reinventing my life here in Italy.

It's been so much more than I could ever have hoped for. And I, as a human being, have changed in many ways, all for the better.

1. I'm More Mindful of My Consumption

In my "former life," I didn't think twice about buying cute tschotskes on a Target run or buying clothes online that I liked more than I needed.

Here, I do.

Since I'm in a family of people who hang onto objects to get every last use out of them, it's worn off on me. I consider whether I really need new Halloween decorations, for example. Or whether I couldn't get just one more season's wear out of that skirt before giving it away.

Locally, there aren't a lot of fun places to shop, so that definitely curbs impulse buys. The worst I can do is pick up new sheets for the bed or a shower head!

2. I Have a Better Relationship with Food

In the U.S., I cooked less. I consumed more prepared meals. (Which don't really exist here). I gave little thought to eating with the season or where my meat came from.

Now, these seemingly insignificant details have a large influence on how and what I eat. When there's an abundance of tomatoes, for example, we make sauce (and I make Mexican salsa). When things are fresh, we revel in them. When they're not, we move on.

I cook so much more. I cook with whole, healthy ingredients, and my body loves it.

And I don't worry much about eating carbs or eating too much. I balance out the heavy Sunday lunches we have with the family by eating lighter fare during the week. My body is happy, not being on a rollercoaster diet of restriction and guilt.

3. I've (Mostly) Accepted the Slowness

By now, I know that anything that would take seconds/minutes/hours in the U.S. will take days, if not weeks, here. I adapt.

For example, we want to paint the outside of our house, ideally this year. So I started the discussion with our cousins, who have a construction company, in April. One came to assess the situation in June, and now we're waiting for the other to take measurements and give us a quote. So...it'll happen next year. :)

I went to change my cell phone plan yesterday. This is something that would be instantaneous in the U.S., right? Here, it'll take a few days for the transition to happen. I always say, we have to wait for someone to push the big red button to make it happen!

I moved here for the slower way of life, and that means accepting the frustrating parts, too.

4. I've Adapted to Large Family Gatherings

In San Diego, most of my get-togethers consisted of me and my three closest girlfriends. Occasionally, someone would host a neighborhood party.

My (American) family is dispersed across the country, so we haven't had large family gatherings since I was a kid.

Here, we have a large meal with extended family at least every couple of months. More during the winter because of all the winter holidays and birthdays.

At first, these events overwhelmed me. Fifteen to twenty Calabrese all talking loudly (in dialect) at the same time! I'd hide in the bathroom just to have a little peace.

Now, I'm used to it. And I know how to manage my energy better. Instead of being a deer in the headlights trying to latch onto all the conversations happening around me, I zero in on whoever's sitting next to me (and I try to sit next to someone I like!).

I know that the meal will last three hours. After the primo and secondo, there will be salad. Then fruit. Then coffee and/or amaro/limoncello. Then dessert. When we try to leave, it will take 45 minutes to say goodbye to everyone four times. It's the inevitable ritual. I've made my peace with it.

5. I'm More Connected...to Everything

Given that I've spent 20 years working from home online, it's been interesting to see how living in such an Old-World culture has changed me. I now hate sitting at my computer. I'd rather be out walking in the woods, monitoring new flowers that have popped up. Or making creams and salves for my herbal skincare brand, Magara Botanica.

When I tell people I work online, they get a vague look in their eyes. They glaze over when I try to explain details. This is not an online world. Thus, the importance of connecting tactilely to everything. Nature. People. Work.

6. I've Become a Mountain Girl

When we moved from Soverato, I worried I'd miss being in close proximity to the sea. I did, at first. But this summer, I went to the beach a lot less than last year.

I'm loving being amidst the mountains. I have an ever-expanding list of places I can hike, and I keep discovering new ones. When I go down the mountain to run errands, I sigh in relief when I hit the fork in the road that leads to Davoli. With the windows down, I can feel that it's several degrees cooler than by the sea.

I've stopped getting manicures. I got rid of all my heels because I don't care to break my neck on our cobblestone streets. I have more old "work" clothes than new ones, which is important when you're making salsiccia or picking olives. I hang out with goats and sheep whenever possible. I do manual labor.

I'm a far cry from the hair-coloring, happy-hour-enjoying, shopping girl I was in San Diego. And I couldn't be happier.