About Us

Meet Danny, Stephanie, and our three girls: Sophia, Bella, and Gia! We are Americans living in Bergamo, Italy after relocating because of my husband’s job. We moved here in June 2019 and want to share our story. Our goal is to inspire you to take the plunge and move your family somewhere new, even if it’s just temporary.

If you ever thought about living somewhere else, but let your doubts convince you not to, then it’s time you gave yourself another chance to think about it. The experiences your family will go through will be worth it.

Our first big move

Danny and I both grew up in Miami, Florida, but in 2013 were given the opportunity to move to North Carolina. We really never thought about moving away especially since our immediate family was close by. Being from a Hispanic background, family is very important to us and we wanted our girls to grow up with their grandparents. However, when this opportunity came, something was telling us to take it, to move away and start fresh. Of course the pros and cons of moving away all went into our decision, but I think the pros outweighed the cons, and that’s how we made our first move.

When we settled in our new city of Cary, a suburb close to Raleigh, North Carolina, we immediately loved it. It seemed so put together, everything was immaculate. Kids riding their bikes on the streets, friendly neighbors who brought us freshly baked cookies, and who actually stopped to greet you, and the slower pace of life, all made us fall in love with the southern life we didn’t know much about.

We lived in Cary for 6 years. We built friendships, became part of the community, and really felt that we would never leave. Our girls loved it there too. My in-laws and sister-in-law also moved to be near us. Which made it even harder for us when we heard the news about Danny’s job opportunity in Italy.

We’re moving where?

I remember that day very vividly. I could not believe that we were faced yet again with the possibility of picking up and moving, but this time it was not a 2 hour flight away, like the Cary move was, it was in another country, a 9 hour flight away! Another language, culture, cuisine, school system, I mean everything was different. But none of those things scared us away. In fact, it made it that much more exciting.

When Danny and I told the girls, we were very careful about how to present the news to them. We made sure it was done in a positive way, and it worked because the girls were actually excited. We told them that this was a huge opportunity for us to get to know another part of the world. Danny and I had both been to Europe a few times before, including Italy, so we knew it had so much to offer. However, we knew there was a big difference between being a tourist and actually living there.

Telling the family

The family did not all take the news well, which added more stress to an already stressful situation. As time went by, this is what all of us talked about leading up to the move. I really think that helped put everyone at ease and before we left, the whole family was looking at this experience in a positive light.

As our moving day came closer, so many emotions were going on in my head. This blog will share our experience about moving from the U.S. to Italy and everything we learn along the way.