Our Italian Adventure: Which are the best months to live in Italy?

PART 69: It might be interesting to share how we pulled off living in Italy for part of the year. I will post some steps we took.

We live in Puglia in the summer and then back again in the winter.

But this may be changing.

Step 1: Advantages of being in Puglia in the summer and winter.

When we decided to live in Italy for half the year, we had to choose when. Following the Schengen zone guidelines, each stay is limited to 90 days so that we would be coming to Puglia twice a year.

Choosing to be in Puglia during the summer made sense for several reasons: to escape the 115-degree (and higher) temperatures in the Palm Springs area, to make our time in Puglia coincide with the vacation schedules of local friends, and to be in Italy during excellent beach weather.

Choosing Puglia in the winter made sense because it is off-season. We could explore the cathedral floor in Otranto without distractions, make a road trip to Amalfi (finding the coastal road mostly deserted), and enjoy the absence of tourists on our beaches and our favorite Puglian spots.

Step 2: Disadvantages of the summer/winter model.

We are in year 2 of our Puglia adventure and are rethinking this summer/winter model since we are experiencing some disadvantages.

Some disadvantages of being in Puglia in the summer include the crowded beaches and coastal towns; the humidity plus the heat is more problematic to adjust to than the dry heat back in California; planning road trips when everyone else is traveling can become complicated, and international trips from Puglia are expensive because everyone else is traveling at the same time.

As far as the disadvantages of being in Puglia in the winter, the humid cold is probably the most challenging, but this wasn't a big deal once we figured out our heater and got an electric blanket! Another disadvantage is that some towns are utterly dead in the off-season, with restaurants and cafes closed.

Step 3: Clarifying goals.

We paused to rethink some of our goals during our present stay in Puglia. These include cultivating friendships, becoming part of life in Puglia, international travel, new experiences, and learning a new culture.

Clarifying our goals and reflecting on why we came here helps us refine our decisions about what type of experience we want in Puglia.

Step 4: The new model: spring and fall.

After much thought and discussion, we decided that, in the future, we will live in Puglia in the spring and fall. We realized that we could cultivate our local friendships without having the exact vacation schedules and that the mild weather of fall and spring would enhance our experience of living in Puglia.

Step 5: Advantages of spring and fall.

Some advantages of shifting our living in Puglia to spring and fall include more affordable travel experiences, fewer crowds, less traffic, milder weather, and more opportunities for new experiences.

Insights.

Our experience living in Puglia is organic in that we don't have it all figured out, but we are open to each step as it reveals itself. What worked for us last year may not work for this; our experience is evolving, and hopefully, so are we.

Being open to what life in Puglia reveals is a path that works for us and helps us to move forward with serenity and gratitude.

More next time.

My book is "Stories from Puglia: Two Californians in Southern Italy." Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Stories-Puglia-Californians-Southern-Italy/dp/1913680649.

And also, on Amazon Italy:

https://www.amazon.it/gp/product/1913680649/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0.