We head to Italy tonight!  We have a direct flight from Atlanta to Rome, a 9-1/2-hour voyage. 

We have a short-term vehicle lease lined up in Rome.  When we land, we’ll get the car and then drive about 3 hours to our first town, stopping for lunch along the way.

Much like the U.S. has states, Italy is divided into 20 regions.  We will be staying in the Molise region east of Rome in the central part of the country.  The first 4 days will be spent in the region’s capital, Campobasso, where we will work through the jet lag, explore the town, and stock up on groceries.  Then we will head to the town of Guardialfiera where we will be honorary citizens for 2 months.  Guardialfiera is a town of about 1,000 people.  From what I can see on Google maps, it has one restaurant, two cafe/bars, and one cafe/grocery.  There is also a clothing store and, oddly enough for a small town, a furniture store.

Chad has family in the Abruzzo region which is just north of Molise, and we’ve been there to visit with them.  It’s a beautiful part of the country with mountains, lakes, rivers, forests.  We haven’t spent time in Molise, so we’re looking forward to exploring that region.  And, of course, we look forward to seeing the extended family again.

Chad will work remotely for the first month as he wraps up a project.  I’ll spend that time practicing my language skills, reading up on the history, and exploring the town.  During the second month, Chad will have more time for exploring.  We plan to take some day trips on the weekends to see other parts of Molise, but mostly we just want to get settled into the town of Guardialfiera and get to know the people, the culture, and the food.

Fun fact:  Chad and I only travel with carry-on luggage; we don’t check bags.  Here’s my bag for the next 2-1/2 months:

Carry-on luggage all the way, baby!

We’ll do laundry while we’re over there, so we don’t need to take more than a week’s worth of clothes.  We can also buy toothpaste, shampoo and anything else that we need when we’re over there, so we don’t need to take a bunch of stuff with us.  Chad has already found a sporting goods store over there where we can buy a yoga mat and an exercise bolster so we don’t have to haul those things across the ocean.  The only “luxury” items in my luggage are my laptop, Kindle, Italian study notebooks and a book about the history of Molise and Abruzzo.

Stay tuned for news direct from Italy in a couple of days!