I never set out to build a community.
That sounds like one of those things people say when they want to appear humble, but I genuinely mean it. When I moved to Italy in 2023, I was too busy trying to work out how to get a visa, open a bank account, and find a plumber who would actually show up to think about building anything online.
What I did do was talk about it. On TikTok. On Instagram. Because the whole process was so overwhelming, so confusing, and so badly documented in plain English that I figured if I was going through it, other people probably needed to hear it too.
And it turns out they did.
Nearly 2,000 people have now joined my How to Move to Italy community on Skool since April!! Two thousand people who are somewhere on the same path I was on – some of them still dreaming, some of them mid-application, some of them already here and trying to figure out the next bit.
That number stopped me in my tracks when I looked at it this week.
What I actually share in there
Everything. Honestly, everything I wish someone had told me.
The visa routes that actually make sense for people at midlife, and the ones that sound good until you read the small print. The reality of buying property in Italy as a foreigner (I’m currently buying a place on Lake Bracciano, so this is very live for me right now). The financial stuff – how to move money without haemorrhaging it in fees, how to think about currency timing, how to set up your finances so Italy is actually sustainable and not just a beautiful, expensive mistake.
The stuff about life here that nobody writes about. The bits that are harder than you imagined. The bits that are so much better.
I share it as I live it, which means it is not polished or perfect. It is what I know, right now, from being inside the process.
Why I care about this
I left a 21-year career in school leadership to do this. I was 44. Most people in my life thought I was having some kind of crisis.
I wasn’t. I was finally making a decision for myself instead of around everyone else.
That is not an easy thing to do, and I had very little practical support when I was doing it. I had the internet, a lot of late nights, and a high tolerance for bureaucratic confusion. I do not want that to be everyone’s experience. There is no reason it has to be.
If I can save someone six months of confusion, or stop them making the visa mistake that costs them the whole application, or just make them feel less alone in the process – that is worth doing.
What the community looks like now
There is a free tier, which is where most people start. You get access to resources, the community space, Q&A threads, and the content I put out regularly covering visa routes, the move itself, life on the ground here.
There is also a premium tier for people who want to go deeper – more structured content, direct access to me, and the kind of detail you cannot really fit into a TikTok.
I also work with people one to one through The Relocation Edit, my consultancy, where I help with the full picture – visa strategy, finding the right area, the property process, all of it.
But the community is where everything starts. It is the place I would have wanted to exist when I was sitting in Cornwall in 2022, wondering if I was actually going to do this thing.
Come and find us
If you are thinking about moving to Italy – at any stage, any age, any starting point – come in. Have a look around. Ask a question.
Nearly 2,000 people are already in there. Most of them had the same questions you have right now.