Episode #20: Move to Abruzzo Italy with Your Kids with Joe Reagan

American Joe Reagan bought a 24,000€ house in a hilltop town in Abruzzo with 750 people, moved his wife and four kids from Ireland, enrolled them directly into the Italian school system, and has not looked back. Three years in, they love their life in Abruzzo and are Joe is working to help other families move to their town for a better quality of life in Italy.

Dream of Italy Podcast Host Kathy McCabe sits down with Joe to talk about his new initiative to bring families to Celenza sul Trigno, Abruzzo, a town that has lost nearly half of its population in the last 35 years. He talks about the school system, where his kids got dedicated Italian lessons pulled from class for the first year and were fluent by the end of it, and where his eight-year-old daughter now sounds out English words with Italian vowels because that is simply how her brain learned to read. He gets into healthcare, where the pediatrician takes appointments by WhatsApp and the new family doctor was messaging his wife back within minutes of being contacted. He also gives an honest account of what small town tradeoffs look like, the nearest Costco equivalent is thirty minutes away and the bureaucracy moves at its own pace, and why he thinks the mindset shift matters in moving to rural Italy more than any practical obstacle.

The conversation ends with Joe describing a Sunday spent picking wildflowers with the other fathers from the First Communion class to make decorations for the street procession. Neighbors knock on the door with fresh cherries. His son who used to be dragged to school in Ireland now has his grembiule on and his lunch bag packed before anyone else is awake.

Show notes: http://www.dreamofitaly.com/20