Month 11 | Our Last Month Abroad in Vietri sul Mare, Italy
Buckle up for a longer-than-usual update, complete with extra sappy moments as I reflect on the realities of moving home after a year spent building a life somewhere new.
Our last glimpse of Vietri sul Mare
Where this month found me
Our eleventh and final month in Italy, and what a month it was. The first week we were still on the road travelling through central Europe as a last hurrah before leaving the continent. After the trip came to an end, we spent the rest of the month back in Vietri and the surrounding area soaking up every minute of life on the Amalfi Coast.
I've spent a lot of time this month filled with so many emotions — joy, sadness, gratitude and a smidge of anxiety to name a few. It's been a whirlwind, but I'm incredibly thankful that we felt so at home in a little town in the south of Italy.
To our friends, thank you for making us feel so welcome and included. You are the main reason this year meant so much to us. To anyone considering moving, it's difficult and scary, but I promise that if you put yourself out there, it's worth it.
To our incredible landlord, Rosario, you went above and beyond and we are so thankful that we lucked out in renting from you. Grazie mille di tutto.
To the town of Vietri sul Mare and its residents, thank you for being our home and our community. What a beautiful place to visit, let alone live.
To the owners of our favourite shop, Imma and Antonio, you were so kind, patient, and inclusive. Without you we would have felt much less at home.
The admin & logistics chapter
It happened — 11 long months later — we finally got our permesso di soggiorno cards… less than a week before we moved home. At this point, I’m just glad we got them, and I fully plan to frame and show them off for years to come! We reached the point in the process that the 2(+) hour wait time to pick it up was met with laughter instead of frustration on our end.
How we moved to Italy pt 2 for the application process - link
Apart from getting our long-awaited permesso, we were also navigating the mental checklist of preparing for our move home to Canada. The list included cancelling phone and health insurance plans, finalizing our work situation back in Canada, figuring out the logistics of returning our keys to the landlord, locking in our travel itinerary for the day we were flying home, and more. To say the mental load this month was a lot would be an understatement!
Side quests
At the end of month ten, we were about halfway through a two-week trip, really taking advantage of the ease of travel that comes with living in Europe before we left! So after leaving Milan, we caught a train to Venice.
Though I visited in 2022 when I travelled to Italy with my mom (an unintentional scouting mission for our move), it was Tyson’s first time, so we spent a few hours wandering the winding canals that the city is known for.
The next morning we headed out by bus, and headed for Trieste to explore the city before continuing on to Slovenia — our favourite destination of the trip! We spent a night in Lake Bled and two in Ljubljana, loving every second of it. We were already planning a return trip before we had even left.
After leaving the mountain air of Slovenia, we caught another bus to Budapest, Hungary where we stayed for four nights, exploring both the Buda and Pest sides of the city and eating some pretty incredible food while we did. The city took a moment to grow on us, but once it did, there was no denying its appeal. I would happily return one day.
Lastly, we caught yet another bus from Budapest to Bratislava, Slovakia for our final stop on the tour. If I’m being honest, Bratislava was my least favourite stop on the trip, not for any singular reason, I just feel that I connected with other places more… I’m still glad we went, and the old town is quaint and pretty, but in hindsight, I think I would have preferred it as a day trip.
Tys and I are both walkers by default and reached nearly 300k steps as per Tyson’s Garmin watch. We saw so much and had some incredible experiences along the way.
People & connection
Being our last month living in Italy, we were determined to see our friends as much as possible… which started immediately after we got home from our trip. Less than an hour after arrivIng at the train station in Vietri, we met up with our friends to catch the Northern Ireland vs Italy World Cup qualifying match. The vibes were electric. If Italians take one thing seriously (other than food), it’s football! And though the Italian team won, they lost to Bosnia a couple of days later, taking them out of the running.
A couple of days later, we went out for some drinks and aperitivo to celebrate our friend’s 29th birthday.
The weekend of Pasqua (Easter), we had a BBQ on a sunny Saturday at our friends’ place which ended in a water-gun fight with their daughters, and Pasquetta (Easter Monday) at the beach with a picnic.
On our final weekend, we ventured to the far end of the Amalfi Coast for a hike, enjoying a full day with friends. Followed by a visit to an agriturismo where we indulged in incredible food over a few hours of good conversation as our official going away party. Were there tears? Absolutely. I can’t begin to describe how these people made us feel at home during a year over 7,000 kilometres from everything we ever knew.
Then, the day before we caught our flights home, we spent the afternoon with our landlord. We caught up with him and grabbed a late lunch before sneaking in one final drink with our friends and saying a proper goodbye to their daughters before we left.
Leaving this community we’ve built will absolutely be the hardest part of moving home.
Exploring this place
Knowing we were leaving soon basically lit a fire under ourselves, and we tried to check everything off that was still on our bucket list before we took off!
Shockingly enough, apart from a few quick journeys between Napoli Centrale and the airport, we hadn’t actually explored Naples at all. So we hopped on a train less than a week before the move and spent a day wandering the streets of the city… and enjoying some fried pizza!
A couple of our friends also took us to a buffalo farm for fresh mozzarella (yum) and buffalo milk gelato (delicious) near Paestum — did you know there were ancient Greek temples less than an hour from Salerno? Because I’ll admit, I knew nothing about them!
We hiked the Path of the Gods between Agerola and Nocelle which was beautiful. After enjoying our packed lunches and grabbing granita al limone, we continued along the staircase down to Positano. We had only ever seen the town from the water before, but even in early April, Positano was overwhelmingly full of people and I will happily keep it as a “been-there-done-that” one time visit to avoid those crowds!
On our ferry ride back to Salerno, I couldn’t help but be a little teary-eyed knowing this was the last time I’d see the views for the forseeable future.
On my bookshelf
Friend Recommended Read:A Piece of Cake: A Memoir, Cupcake Brown | 4.5/5
Wow. Cupcake Brown masterfully pulls back the curtain — sugarcoating nothing — to look into her past of horrific traumas. After losing her mother from her at 11 years old, her life takes a harsh detour as she is thrown in to the foster care system.
If you love a well-written, unapologetically raw memoir, this one is a must-read, and you will see the very worst and very best that humanity has to offer.
Trigger warnings include: substance abuse, death, grief, racism, suicidal thoughts, gang violence, sexual abuse, domestic abuse, and more.
Personal Read:One True Loves, Taylor Jenkins Reid | 4/5
Imagine you lose your husband — the love of your life — in a tragic accident, and after finally pulling yourself together and moving on, you find love again when you never thought you would… Just in time for your husband to be found. The book navigates through the impossible decision that will leave at least one person heartbroken, and the bigger question of are you even the same person you were before you lost the first love of your life?
At times it felt a little rushed, but I loved it all the same — despite making me cry on a bus!
TJR knows how to write a page-turner. I always fly through her books, and this one was no different.
Bonus Read:Crescent City: House of Earth and Blood, Sarah J. Maas | 4/5
Think high fantasy world meets modern day mystery and you have the Crescent City. I read ACOTAR in 2024, Throne of Glass in 2025, and 2026 is my Crescent City year… Honestly, I don’t get the hate! Did it take a minute to get used to fae, angels, and werewolves using cellphones and playing video games? Sure. But I kinda love it.
When people mysteriously start being murdered by a dark power, Bryce — a half-fae, half-human girl — assists in the investigation and discovers she didn’t know her late best friend as well as she thought.
Small joys
You know that sense of nostalgia you get before something’s even over? Where you take a little more notice, because you already know you’re going to miss it? That was this past month to a tee.
I spent the entire month appreciating everything even more than usual — the view from our home, the cute ceramic details throughout Vietri, the wisteria blooming all around, the people who centred us, and the fresh, high quality food to name a few.
Also, if you’ve ever spent time in Italy you know their love language is food, and if you’ve read my month eight post, you might remember the home cooked eggplant parm we had on Christmas Eve. So how lucky did we feel when our friends dropped off an entire eggplant parm that his mom made for us before we left?? Extremely!
The hard parts
I know I’m not the first to say this, but the hardest part of living abroad is feeling caught between two places that both feel like home, but at the same time you’re always kind of missing the other. You’ve built a new life — maybe even a slightly new personality — and it’s hard accepting you’ll be leaving it behind.
The hardest part of this final month was saying goodbye to everything — from the beach, to the streets, to the people, to the gelato! Though we know Vietri sul Mare wasn’t our forever home, that doesn’t make it easier to leave!
What this month taught me
More than anything, this month reminded me to live in the moment. Planning ahead is great and all, but worry too much about tomorrow and you might forget to appreciate what’s right in front of you.
I just tried to soak it all in and enjoy every second of sunshine, laughter, and joy before we packed our bags.
Looking ahead
We just arrived back in Canada, and we start working in the service industry again this coming week; our premature year of retirement has come to an end! We have a lot of plans over the next couple of months including weddings, baby showers, concerts, and more, and we’re both really excited to see our friends and families again. Toronto is also the best in the summer and I plan to make the most of it!
In the next few weeks we’re also going to start planning what comes next (so much for living in the moment), starting with new passports so we can start thinking about applying for our next visas!
Read more about our time living in Italy on the Amalfi Coast here:
Welcome to the 11th and final monthly update from the Amalfi Coast! Between new countries, more Campania exploring, and lots of time with friends, we tried to savour every moment. And days before we left, we finally picked up our permesso di soggiorno cards (IYKYK)!