Italy will literally pay you to live and work there! Yes, quite a news and Luis tells us all about it!
It looks like Italy has understood how remote work can really revolutionize the economy for more rural areas. So, in several locations, the country decided to pay workers with slight cash. I know, we can’t believe it either. But is it as good as it sounds?
Well, yes! Although, in most cases, it’s not permanent, the measure provides workers with extra cash for six months. Quite a way to attract remote workers! What do you think?
Luis:
Italy will literally pay you to live and work there, with the slight catch. Welcome ladies and gentlemen to Virtual Coffee Chat With Luís, that’s me. Luis, Louis, I’ve been… People have called me so many different variations of my name over almost two decades, working through the internet, that I get it. I change it often as well. I’ve just become a name chameleon or something like that.
Though, actually, that’s a good point before we go on to today’s topic. And by the way, please do enjoy your coffee. Before we go into today’s topic, it’s worth pointing out the importance of names. Now, I’m not bothered by people calling me anything from Luís, that’s my original name, to Louis or Luis, or whatever. But I’ve just grown used to it, and I never took it any particular offense.
But when I’m interviewing guests in my podcast, well, I always take pains to try to figure out how to pronounce their name correctly. And I always check with them before we start the show, because I found out that people in general care a lot more about names than me. So, yeah, and it makes sense. Your name is a pretty intimate part of you.
So, I guess, I’m just strange that way, but I’ve learned to care about it in other people. So, anyway, with that said, it does look like Italy has understood how remote work can really revolutionize the economy for more rural areas. And so, they are actually paying you. Some places in Italy actually pay you to live there and work there. So, that’s interesting.
Is it as good as it sounds? Well, yeah, in most cases. Though for most parts it’s only for six months. So, it’s not really a permanent thing, but it’s helpful, right? Right. If they pay you for six months, it’s an amount that will pretty much wash out for half your rent. It’s a nice way to soften the blow of uprooting your life and going to another place. Because, after all, that’s expensive.
Those six months are probably going to be much more expense-laden than the rest of the amount of time you choose to be there. So, it actually make sense and it’s nice. There are some exceptions where you can extend these six months to a few years. And so, that’s something worth considering. Italy is lovely. Italy is lovely. And I know that… Because I have access to metrics, I know that a lot of people listening to this actually hail from the United States.
And let me tell you, if you’ve never been to Italy, it’s an absolute treat. You will love every day that you spend there, even though hopefully you will be working for most of it, because that’s what you do when remote working, you work. It’s just a beautiful country, full of beautiful towns with lovely culture, a great food, great drink. It’s a lovely place to live. Look, I mean, I love Portugal.
I want to live here for the rest of my life. But Italy, if I couldn’t live in Portugal for some reason, let’s say they outlaw, outright ban video games and cat ownership, Italy would definitely be in the top three. Certainly top five, almost certainly top three. So yeah, I mean, if you can go there, you can get like six months rebate on your rent or maybe even for more than that for several years.
Why not? I’d definitely give it a try. It’s also, schools are pretty nice. You can take children, et cetera. Do keep in mind that Italian internet infrastructure may not be the best. I know this from experience. Now, the cities and towns that have opened up these programs, they’re committing to improving the internet infrastructure, but committing to something is different from actually doing it.
So, have a backup plan, right? Make sure that you secure an independent, a nice wireless, hopefully 4G or 5G high quality internet solution, before you arrive there. That’s the biggest tip that I can give. Otherwise, as people get vaccinated, Europe is starting to allow travel. This could be quite an adventure for people who now can work remotely. So, enjoy.
And if you’d like to know how to make the most out of your remote work travel arrangement, out of your remote work arrangement in general, head over to thinkremote.com, where we have all the guides, news, and insights that you need to thrive as a remote worker. This was Virtual Coffee Chat With Luis, and I will give you one last sip. I hope you have your coffee ready and we can sip together. I hope that felt as good to you as it did to me. See you tomorrow. Bye-bye.
