“Just a short drive from home, I can be in a world of lemons, gorgeous blues from the sea, and seafood you can only dream about."
Jen Balletto is a New Jersey native now living a short drive from the beautiful Amalfi Coast she described above, in a small town near Naples. She moved to Italy seven years ago, and her life has never been the same. Her days are filled with “pizza, mozzarella, spaghetti and clams, simmering pots of Sunday red sauce, delicious pastries and creamy gelato. The people here are loud and boisterous, and you hear it every day as you go about living your daily life.”
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Jen, her Italian husband, and their two small children live near her in-laws. “My husband’s parents grow most of their own fruits and vegetables, and they also make their own wine. The sights, smells, and tastes of Southern Italy have become very much part of the experience of living here for me, and for our children, who were born here.”
Although she is happy living life in a small town, it is important to her to be near a big city. She visits Naples often to get her “city fix” where she can explore, shop, and try new restaurants.
“I needed to be close to Naples because I need the energy of the city. Naples is a crazy city, very much alive—very musical, very creative and exciting, very human, and in its own way, very beautiful. There’s a saying, and even a song, that “Napule è mille culure” (Naples is a thousand colors)—and I find that to be very true,” says Jen.
A typical day for Jen starts quietly with coffee and fresh air on the balcony of the condo she and her husband bought a few years ago. “I love having a balcony! Ours is a good-sized one, so I make myself a cappuccino, have a cornetto—preferably with my mother-in-law’s homemade apricot marmellata—and sit down to relax/think/get my life in order before the day begins! It’s so amazing to see Mount Vesuvius from my home. Sometimes I see my neighbors sitting outside enjoying the fresh air at various times of the day. It’s a nice reminder to take these moments to do that when we can.”
Jen’s family of four lives modestly on €2000 ($2,295) per month. “Italian salaries are low, and in line with this lower budget.” The national healthcare system covers their medical care, as they are all citizens. In addition, they chose supplemental private insurance through her husband’s employer, for which they pay €25 ($29) each month to cover her husband and herself.
She’s glad for private insurance because the public system often comes with a longer wait time than she would like. With private coverage, she has the option to book appointments with providers and specialists outside the public system.
“I appreciate that medical care here is more accessible and isn’t as “phramaceutically driven” as it is in the US. Medications are much more affordable as well. I’ve found that vitamins are often suggested by healthcare providers more here than in the US”
Dinners out are casual and inexpensive. “I definitely find it more affordable than Philly/NYC!” she laughed. “ It’s tough to spend more than €40/$46 or €50/$57 per person on a very nice dinner at a top restaurant!”
“Some random items, like baby care items and non-plastic food containers are more expensive here in my town than I’ve paid in the US,” she says.
When asked what advice she has for folks considering a move to Italy, she says, “I’d tell them to be excited, but also be realistic…but…do it! You will have a bigger and richer life because of it.”
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