“Italy has more great scenery than a travel magazine,” Chip Stites says, “from the snow-covered Alps and Dolomites in the north to the southern tip of the boot and islands where it’s warm all the time...from the Mediterranean Sea to the calmer, warmer Adriatic Sea, it’s stunningly picturesque. “Most of Europe, in fact, is absolutely amazing.” A few years back, Chip and his wife, Shonna, were looking to retire to Europe. Their wish list included a four-season climate, mountains or ocean, a place with good healthcare, a stable government, fresh food locally produced, a low cost of living, ease of travel, a small town, and a society that would be welcoming. A tall order. But an IL conference—like the Fast Track Europe Conference coming up soon—helped them find their “just right” spot. “The conference was the perfect answer at the ideal time,” Chip says. “We attended every session, talked with the speakers and expats, and got as much information as we could on our initial list of countries. Afterwards, our list had narrowed, and before long, we had zeroed in on Italy.” Nearly nine years later, Chip and Shonna are well settled and happily part of a “great community with wonderful friends” 10 minutes from the town of Rieti, in the center of Italy, about 58 miles northeast of Rome. This is well known as a fruit and olive-growing region. “Harvesting in the fall is great fun,” Chip says, and adds that he’s enjoyed helping with grape harvests. “Local wine is delicious and can be had for just $3 a bottle.” See more of Chip and Shonna’s story here. The food is of the best things about living in Italy, as you might imagine, Chip says. Every region has its own local delicacies and food traditions. Chip and Shonna have spent a lot of time exploring Europe and Italy, in particular, thanks to incredibly affordable air, train, and bus transportation. In one little-traveled corner that he describes as blending “ancient roots with modern charm,” they enjoyed the very tasty local white wine and a delectable “rustic stew of bread, potatoes, onions, tomatoes, chicory, wild mint, and olive oil.” Here, in one of Italy’s best-kept secrets, Chip says small apartments can be rented for about $400 a month, while a spacious, 2,000 square-foot apartment might rent for a bit more than $1,500. Prices like this exist in many corners of Italy...and indeed all over Europe...when you know where to look. That’s the goal of our upcoming Fast Track Europe Conference, in fact: to point you to all those places...beyond the tourist trail...where life is high-quality, and prices are low. We’ve tasked each speaker to share their top locales for a genteel yet low-cost lifestyle...places they’d recommend to close friends and family. They may not write about these kinds of places—after all, once a place becomes “discovered,” prices tend to go up. But at the conference, our trusted experts and contributors that live and work in Italy, Portugal, France, Spain, Greece, Malta, and beyond, have promised to reveal their secrets. Details here. We’ll do the heavy lifting, so you don’t have to. We’ll cover all those things you want to know—and all those things you need to know...like visas, taxes, and importantly, your healthcare costs and options. You likely know that European countries offer varying versions of universal healthcare systems, with the common thread being that that everyone is in it together. Because healthcare costs are societally shared, overall expenses are minimized. If you like, you can get affordable private insurance, too. As Chip Stites emphasizes, besides the food, what he and Shonna appreciate most about living in Europe is “the people, the culture, and the amazing healthcare.” “I hate to think about what life in the States would cost us now,” he says. “Not to mention the healthcare. I’ve had four surgeries in the last few years...excellent care that cost me virtually nothing but would have bankrupted us back in Albuquerque. “Compare what we’re getting for what we spend, and living here is an incredible deal. I don’t think we’d ever go back to the States. The culture here is just too rich and the life we’ve built here is too good.” If you think Europe might be for you, I invite you to join us in Portugal’s sunny Algarve next March. As Chip and Shonna discovered at the IL conference they attended, there’s a perfect place out there waiting for you. Let us help you find it. All the details of our Fast Track Europe Conference are here. I hope to see you there! |
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