ITALY!!!
Yes, I am in fact moving to Italy in May 2019. Well first of all, you’re probably thinking, why the heck would you move to Italy? Well my friends, my answer is the same as it is for most things: why the heck not?! I am young & slightly educated (undergrad in the bag in May) and when else am I going to have the opportunity to move to Europe for an extended period of time?
My original plan was to head to law school for September 2019, but… that is just not realistic for me, right now anyways. So, my plan is to take a year off in between my undergrad and law school, whichever law school I may end up going to (Canada vs. UK). This decision took a lot of thought & stress but then somebody made it super clear what my best option was by saying, “when else are you going to get the opportunity to travel?” Which is so true! If and when I get into law school, it is likely that I am going to article right after and in the best case scenario get hired on by that firm. And then, I will be stuck with little to no time to time off work, let alone take a 6-8 month vacation. Therefore, I genuinely believe right now is the perfect time for me to explore the world, be independent & immerse myself in a culture that I know next to nothing about (literally – I think I know one word of Italian).
So… you may also be wondering, where are you going to live in Italy, how are you affording this, what are you going to be doing, etc etc. Or you may just not care, but either way, I shall tell you everything that I know as of right now. I am going to be au pairing for a lovely family that lives just outside of Verona, Italy! If you don’t know what au pairing is (which I didn’t either before a friend of mine showed me), it is basically nannying, a domestic worker or helper – whatever you want to call it. The au pair lives with the host family for an extended period of time and generally speaking, takes care of the families children and helps out around the house in exchange for free accommodation and food. And then typically, there is a weekly pay that the au pair receives. So, I met my family on a website called Au Pair World, where you can put up an au pair profile & families seeking an au pair, put up a profile of their own. I met this family back in July (ish) and we chatted over email, skyped and eventually they offered me the position of being their 8th au pair! They currently have another au pair living with them right now who is also from Canada & leaving in May 2019, when I will be going. I don’t want to disclose to much information about the family just for privacy reasons – but there is two girls that I will be hanging out with & doing all sorts of fun activities with in the summer months! They are older girls, so my main “job” is to be a big sister to them 🙂 Additionally, I get Friday – Sunday off to do my own thing and explore. Which is absolutely perfect because my friend Janae is currently au pairing in Italy right now and will still be there for a couple months once I arrive. Janae – trip to Croatia for my birthday in May? 😉
Although it is still so long away, I can’t wait and I love having something to look forward to at the end of school. Also on an important note, I can’t believe that I am in fourth year of University and about to finish my undergrad?! Where does the time go?! Haha… also another major reason why I want to move to Europe – time goes by so fast, and I will only be young once. I’m trying to live my life as it comes, have no regrets and take every opportunity that I find. Super cheesy, I know, but I want to live my life to the absolute fullest!
Anyways, that is it for now on the topic of Italy. I will post updates along the way to my departure – such as, the visa process, packing my life into 2 bags, etc. However, I am actually going to COSTA RICA in one month with my two friends! So stay tuned, my next post will be about all the details of our trip that we (sort of) have organized.
Below are some pics that the family sent me of the vineyards and Lake Garda which is super close to where they live!
Wanderlust Morg xx
