I realized I'm not happy living in Florida. So we're moving to a small town in Italy, where life moves at a better pace.

Todd Kleperis has lived around the world, but loved the tight-knit communities in Italy.Todd KleperisTodd Kleperis is moving from Florida to Lazio, Italy, after being unhappy in the US.He's lived in the US and Asia, and is following a friend to Italy for a slower pace of life.Italy's family-oriented culture, affordable homes, and free healthcare were selling points.This as-told-to essay is based on conversations with Todd Kleperis, 54, a Florida resident who is leaving the Sarasota area and moving to Lazio, Italy, about an hour south of Rome. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.I'm 54 years old, and I don't know how long I have left on the planet. Let's say we can make it 10 to 15 more years. Are you happy? I haven't been happy here in the last eight or nine years.I made a deal with my wife a couple of years ago. I said, "If we're still here, I want to be able to be out of here." And she goes, "OK." So that's what happened.The reason that I chose Italy was because I have a friend who is Italian who's going back there.He has blood cancer, and he wants to live out the rest of his life in an Italian family village. I like family, I like community, and I like close-knit groups.I've known him my entire life. His family is all Italian. Three or four days a week, I'd be down at their house and experience what they had as a culture. And then when I came back to the United States, I was like, "Where is that culture?"I grew up in a small town in Connecticut, and my town was a small farming town that had about 6,000 people. I believe in small-town values, and I believe in trying to take care of people and doing the right thing.Italy represents that to me because it's still a lot of family, a lot of good values, a lot of good food, a lot of good culture — a lot of good everything. You've got the coasts, you've got skiing, you can go kayaking, you've got everything that I'd like to do outdoors. Everything that I can't do in Florida during the summertime, I can do there.I've been around the world too many different times to not do what I want to do.I've lived abroad before and didn't want to move back to the USI spent five years working in Taiwan. Then I moved to Singapore, and then we bought a house in Thailand. Then I lived in China for nine years.My wife got a job in the United States and asked if I wanted to go back. I said no. I said that 10 years ago, and I've been living in Florida ever since. But this year is the last year.Kleperis and his wife were living in Florida, but are moving back abroad — this time, to Italy.Todd KleperisThere are three questions I always ask before a move. If you can answer the three questions, then you know where you want to go: Do you like the food, do you like the people, and do you like the healthcare? If you have those three things, you could pretty much live wherever that is.But people really need to understand that if they're going to do this, there are things that they need as a criteria list that they should have set, and then they build around that.For instance, if you have to have some type of international restaurant, then you don't want to go to a small village because they will not have international restaurants — that's just not going to happen. I'm not going to go to my local village and say, "Hey, why aren't you making any Indian food?"What drew me to Italy was the proximity to the rest of Europe and the cultural nuances of having a society that's been around for a very long time. The culture is very solid, and I think the way Italians interact with each other is different. Life is at a little bit of a different pace, but it's also a better pace. And, in my opinion, it's a better way to live.Homes are cheaper in Italy, plus healthcare is free once you're a citizenWe bought a home about an hour south of Rome in Lazio. It's a little village that nobody in America would know where it is. It's so remote and there aren't a lot of foreigners, which is perfect.Our home in Florida is 2,800 square feet, and the home in Italy is 2,500 square feet. Homes in my neighborhood in Florida are about $750,000. In Italy, you can buy the same house for $100,000.Now, I'd have to put probably $50,000 into it, but it'd be almost the same size. I'm going to put on a 200-square-foot glass room addition on my home in Italy, and it'll be nearly at the same size as my home in Florida, and it'll cost me an 18th of the cost.A small town in Lazio, Italy.ItalyDrones/Getty ImagesMy wife and I will do the residency the first year, and then after that, it's only a two- to five-year stint before you can actually apply for citizenship — or 10 years, and you get citizenship as included.We're definitely nomadic, though. My wife will probably travel more than I will back and forth to the United States.If you're a couple in your 40s in the United States, you can almost rest assured that you're going to be paying a couple of thousand dollars a month in health insurance. In Italy, once you have residency, you're completely covered by the Italian government.Just that one example changes the dynamic for people when they look at the long term. You hit 60 years old, and you're lucky to get Medicare and Medicaid in United States in the next 15 to 20 years. Over in other countries — and I'm not just specifically talking Italy — they have a different system set up as you get older, so weigh your benefits and your minuses.I'm always going to travel, and will always be around different parts of Italy. But I definitely see that small town as being part of my life, because a small town has a small culture with small belief systems, and it's the kind of thing that I liked. That makes it easier.Read the original article on Business Insider

Comments

Business News

HSBC profits slide 26% as tariff uncertainty puts brakes on investment

Independent

Comments

Business News

HSBC profits slide 26% as tariff uncertainty puts brakes on investment

WH Smith sells Funky Pigeon to card giant for £24m

Nationwide launches phone line to help UK residents claim benefits

Just Eat sales dip as it warns yearly earnings to be at ‘lower end’ of forecasts

Santander sees more than 2,000 jobs go in ongoing overhaul as profit dips

HSBC profits slide 26% as tariff uncertainty puts brakes on investment

Londoners 'most likely to be targeted by online or text scams'

Just Eat sales dip as it warns yearly earnings to be at ‘lower end’ of forecasts

HSBC posts lower-than-expected profits for first half of 2025

FTSE 100 Live 30 July: HSBC profits fall, BAE Systems lifts 2025 guidance

Street versus sky: Why Londoners need to look down as well as up

Union bosses urge "no further delays" to Heathrow third runway plans

George Osborne's M&A advisory firm Robey Warshaw sold for £146m

Modest growth in new UK home registrations as London sees 59% annual fall – NHBC

HSBC posts lower-than-expected profits for first half of 2025

Assisted-living facility where fire killed 10 temporarily lost certification for mistreatment

Business news live: FTSE 100 reaction to HSBC and GSK latest profits, Nationwide launches benefits helpline

Hedge fund tycoon Hosking says rival Telegraph bid "ready to go"

Hedge fund boss Ray Dalio warns Britain trapped in 'debt doom loop'

Labour's fastest G7 growth aim undermined by IMF report

Will I get a Winter Fuel Payment? I'm confused whether I have £35,000 'taxable' income: HEATHER ROGERS replies

Britain's 50 biggest savers will earn £3MILLION EACH in interest alone

Asian shares are mostly higher after China-US talks end without a trade deal

NTSB launches hearings on deadly Washington collision between a helicopter and passenger plane

DWP State Pension warning as people could lose out on thousands

Starbucks plans to phase out its mobile-only stores for a future with more 'warmth and human connection'

Country music star Zac Brown's weight-loss plan includes gaming, IV drips, and several foods he says he won't eat again

Elon Musk explains why xAI is calling its staff engineers, not researchers

Anthropic's cofounder says 'dumb questions' are the key to unlocking breakthroughs in AI

Starbucks isn't giving up on its China dream

Apple's supply chain makeover just gave India a massive win over China

Video appears to show Putin's bodyguards armed with a handheld anti-drone interceptor

Tsunami Warnings Issued In Japan, Hawaii And California After Powerful Quake Hits Russian Far East

Trump Hostility To Wind And Solar Has Utilities Treading Softly

Gary Neville hits out at national insurance rise

Look out for 'one of the rarest' UK coins ever struck worth £1,000

Protein powder stocked at Boots is 'amazing in smoothies' and helps bloating

'I was a shopping addict - it needs to be taken more seriously'

Top F.D.A. Official Resigns Under Pressure

China’s Control Of Supply And Demand Gives Lithium A 20% Boosts

NFC Training Camp Preview: New Coaches, New QBs In The Spotlight

Summer Rosés: The Heat Dome Edition

NFL Temporarily Closes New York Office After Shooting Targeted League

Why Bigger Isn’t Better When It Comes To HVAC Systems

Dolores brings a Mexico City-inspired Cantina to Brooklyn

Idol Psychology

When Will ‘South Park’ Season 27 Return With Episode 2 After Hiatus?

Today’s Wordle #1502 Hints And Answer For Wednesday, July 30th

Britain’s ‘best places to retire’ revealed

Octopus Energy ad banned over heat pump cost claim

Modest growth in new UK home registrations as London sees 59% annual fall – NHBC

NHS set to reveal impact of strike action as doctors return to work

Thousands of people access Nationwide’s service to raise awareness of benefits

YouTube now the second most-watched media service in the UK – Ofcom

Kai Trump teases the president in video promoting Accelerator energy drink: ‘Sorry grandpa’

Massacre at Park Avenue office tower by deranged Shane Tamura casts dark cloud on NYC’s premiere business corridor

US Open to give fans an early taste of new dining options prepared by award-winning chefs

Thousands of people access Nationwide’s service to raise awareness of benefits

Modest growth in new UK home registrations as London sees 59% annual fall – NHBC

Got an electric car? Buyers can now search for homes with an EV charger - and where drivers can plug in locally