Our Dream Retirement In Carini Sicily Begins Soon: Villa Preview & Relocation Tips

Today, we are pleased to share an update on our upcoming retirement relocation to Carini, Sicily. Our vision of life abroad is just 90 days away from becoming a reality. With much preparation already in place, we’re excited to embrace this new chapter.

Our travel arrangements are set with Delta Airlines. We will depart from Dallas and connect in Atlanta before a direct flight to Rome. A brief final leg from Rome will bring us to Palermo, where we’ll be greeted by my brother and begin our transition to Carini.

Fortunately, we have secured a welcoming rental home in Carini. The property owner confirmed that it was fully prepared for our arrival, allowing for a seamless move-in experience.

▶️ Our pre-relocation checklist is progressing efficiently, and we are pleased to share the following updates:
• Social Security: Application has been completed, with the first payment expected in January.
• Medical Clearances: We have completed annual physicals, both with excellent results. Carol has one remaining routine follow-up scheduled in December.
• Tax Planning: After thorough discussions with our accountant to ensure confidence moving forward, we consulted Attorney Alfred Zappala in Catania. His specialized expertise has proven invaluable in clarifying the legal aspects of our move.
• Downsizing: To simplify our transition, we have thoughtfully downsized, redistributing meaningful items to family, and donating others to charity. Notably, our enthusiastic baker son will take over our cherished rosemary bush.

▶️ A few final tasks remain before our departure:
• Job Transition: Croce will give his employer a two-month notice to ensure a smooth handover of responsibilities.
• Notice of Departure: Written notice will be provided to finalize our move-out from our current residence.
• Utility Disconnection: Arrangements to cancel utilities will be made as we near our departure date.
• Currency Exchange: We closely monitor exchange rates to optimize our dollar-to-euro conversion.
• Flight Comfort: Forty-eight hours before departure, we’ll use seatguru.com to select the most comfortable seating options for our economy-class flight from Atlanta to Rome.

Our recent consultation with Attorney Zappala was exceptionally informative. He confirmed the steps needed to register our lease agreement and shared additional insights, making us even more eager to start this new adventure.

⏱️𝗩𝗜𝗗𝗘𝗢 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗦⏱
00:00 Our Dream Retirement In Carini Sicily Begins Soon
00:07 Flight Details and Layover Plans
00:33 Finalizing Living Arrangements in Carini
00:56 Social Security and Tax Preparations
01:20 Health Appointments
01:42 Meeting with Accountant and Legal Consultations
02:20 Preparing for Relocation: Family Gifts and Donations
02:58 Travel Security: Apple AirTags for Luggage
03:28 Remaining Tasks Before Moving
03:33 Giving Notice at Work
04:18 Housing and Utility Notifications
04:29 Currency Exchange Plans
04:39 Seat Selection for the Flight
05:23 Follow-Up with Attorney in Sicily
05:29 Confirmation of Lease Registration
05:40 Excitement for New Life in Sicily

Video Transcript

We are getting ready to retire to Carini, Sicily, and we are getting really excited. We just wanted to give you all an update. How long till we leave? Ninety days and counting. Yes, 90 days and counting.

We already have our flights booked. We’re going with Delta this time, right? Where’s the layover? We’re leaving Dallas, Dallas and Atlanta. Yes. And going straight to Rome. Yes. Straight to Rome and then from there, we just get an hour flight to Palermo. Right, to Palermo. And then your brother’s going to pick us up at the airport. Yes.

And we are so blessed because we are going to go right into the place that we’re renting. We’ve already WhatsApp’ed the owner today to confirm that we are on track to move in. And he said you will have everything ready. All you have to do is unpack your bags and make yourself at home. So what a blessing that is. Yes, definitely.

Already Done

Let’s talk about the things we’ve already accomplished. Croce, what have we done so far? I already applied for Social Security. Social Security has been applied for. Your first check starts in January. We met with the Social Security Administration, and they advised us, and we did everything we were supposed to do. We’re going to do the 12 percent tax and all that we sent in the form so all of that is good to go.

We had our doctor’s appointments, and we had our annual physicals which were included in your insurance from your work. Right. And we had all the blood work and the regular appointment and everything turned out great. So we’ve got a clean bill of health. I have one more appointment that i’m going to do and that’s not until December 2nd, but that’s all scheduled. So we’re really good in that area.

We have already met with our accountant and figured out all of the tax information.

And I also have a consultation booked, and I will update you at the end of this video via by narration. Because I’m meeting with Alfred Zappala who is a lawyer in Catania. He is from the Boston area in the United States. But he’s Sicilian, and he has been living there for many, many years.

And he’s very knowledgeable about taxes and moving there and everything. But I have an appointment with Alfred on Friday and so I will update at the end of this video and let you all know how that went.

And then we have also been giving big items to our children. We’ve already given our plants to our son. He wanted the rosemary bush because he makes homemade bread. They cook a lot, and they use a lot of fresh herbs. So that’s already gone.

We’ve already taken things to my daughter in San Antonio. We just spent a wonderful time with them celebrating our granddaughter’s 10th birthday. So we are really excited that we got to spend a lot of time with them.

But we also have donated to the church. Yes, we did. And you’ve been dropping off things at Salvation Army. And we’ve been getting receipts for those for tax purposes. So that’s something good.

We bought AirTags. We bought Apple AirTags to go in our luggage, in my purse, in the carry-on so that we will always have a GPS tracker in our luggage. So in case it gets lost or stolen or whatever, we will always have the location for those items. So that was a big security, just a peace of mind for this particular travel coming up. We’ve never done that before, but we were glad to get a recommendation from some other channel. And so we went ahead and bought those.

Still To Do

These are some things that we still have to do, Croce. What’s number one on the list? I’m going to give notice at my job. Two months. Yes. Isn’t that generous? Now, normally — well, you’re an employee at will.

We’ve owned our own restaurants and been business owners many, many decades. Yes. But for the last several years, Croce has chosen just to manage someone else’s. Because when you own it, you’re married to it, and it’s really a lot. So anyway, he’s chosen to just manage for a good, long while now.

But anyway, you’re going to give two months. Yes. And normally, at will employees don’t even really have to give notice. Of course, it’s a courtesy to give two weeks. Two weeks. But you’re a very vital person at that restaurant so he’s going to give two months just so they can get someone in and train them. So I thought that was great.

Now we need to give notice here where we live and that needs to be in writing. So we have that to do. And then we also need to cancel utilities. That’s later, and I’ll make a to-do list for that.

We need to exchange dollars to euro. So whenever the exchange rate is beneficial to us, we need to take care of that and get several thousand dollars exchanged. Yes.

Then, of course, 48 hours before we leave we get to pick our own seats. And I’ll go on seatguru.com to look at the layout of the Delta plane that we’re going to be on so that I can pick the best seats for us.

We will be in economy. We did not splurge for business or anything like that. But it is going to be a nine-hour flight from Atlanta to Rome. Now, it’s just an hour, a little quick flight from there to Palermo. But yes, that’s the longest because we’re not flying out of JFK this time. It’s going to be out of Atlanta so we want to be comfortable.

We want to get a — if they have the middle section with three or six seats. We want to get a middle section on the aisle, if at all possible. So I’m going to do that 48 hours before.

We met with Attorney Alfred in Sicily. And he is very knowledgeable and has been there for over 20 years.

We got confirmation on the tasks to do. The owner of the house we’ll rent from will officially register the lease agreement with the fiscal authorities. And that needs to be done within 30 days of us signing the lease. We plan on signing the lease the day we arrive in Sicily as we already had that scheduled.

We also got some other advice that was more on a personal level, and we are very excited about our new life in Sicily.

And next, you should watch 5 THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE TRAVELING TO Sicily ITALY.
Thank you for watching. Thank you. Arrivederci
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