Living

Why I Chose to Buy a House in Sicily.

Why I Chose to Buy a House in Sicily.

Closing on my home in Sicily, Italy

Closing on my home in Sicily, Italy

What is an Apostille Anyway?

What is an Apostille Anyway?

How I bought a home in Italy. And it’s not like Under the Tuscan Sun

How I bought a home in Italy. And it’s not like Under the Tuscan Sun

So, I bought a house in Italy. Now what?

So, I bought a house in Italy. Now what?

stephaniesynclairhome

Night time in Sicily.

Night time in Sicily.

BUYING ON FOREIGN LAND. The things we don’t talk

Lessons learned in Italy about American Food cultu

Lessons learned in Italy about American Food culture and it’s not what you’d think.

I spent last 4th of July in my small town in Sicily, overlooking the rolling hills below. The 4th of July is one of my favorites in the states as it means its boat day. We grill, grab drinks and take it to the lake. It was my first year out of the states on the 4th and I was definitely missing hanging with friends and family.

Imagine my surprise when later in the evening, I get a call from my neighbor, Guisey (pronounced Juicy). It is important to note that Guisey doesn’t speak a word of english and my italian is FrenchTalian… a blend of French and the few words that I know in Italian. After about three mins of Guisey speaking and me, looking confused as ever, her son grabs the phone and translates. “Would you like to come to a cookout at our olive grove?” I exclaim with delight “of course”.

While there I met many other neighbors in the community, many who speak English so that I wasn’t there alone with no one to talk with. We had such an enlightening conversation specifically around food and Italians.

Here are a few things that I discovered that lead me to a huge lesson.
1. As a people, they’re very proud of their culture. Good, bad, other. They are who they are. The culture is what it is. It’s theirs and they embrace it. 
2. They love their food. They truly feel there is no better food than Italian food. 
3. They aren’t open to trying food from other cultures. 
4. They’re very unapologetic about the above

Finish reading in todays newsletter. Linked in bio also here https://stephaniesynclairhome.substack.com/p/a-huge-lesson-learned-from-italians

I grew up wanting to be the black Martha Stewart.

I don’t speak often about the town I reside. Sic

I don’t speak often about the town I reside. Sicily has so many small towns that are beautiful with reasonably priced homes that need love.

One thing about foreigners, we like to all congregate in the same areas. And with that comes higher construction prices, grocery prices and real estate prices. It’s the reason why in these towns you have to wait 1-2 years for contractors. Because everyone is packing like sardines in one space. I am very conscious of my fingerprint in the economy.

Though foreigners buying helps the economy, all of us buying in one area harms it.

We become the gentrifiers.

We push up prices.

Meanwhile all these amazing areas, within 20 mins of mine are unoccupied.

It’s partly why I decided to buy a second home, a small farm house, outside of the town. It’s likely where I’ll start spending a lot of my time.

When I decided to buy 2 years ago, those of us buying were conscious of these things.

Now it seems people are jumping on a moving train with no regard for the town and the impact.

It’s why I share homes ALL OVER not just one town though many towns has several amazing deals.

Now we have people looking to make an online name for themselves promoting not Italy as a whole, not Sicily as a whole, but one small village, adding to the problem.

So when people ask me why I don’t talk about my town, this is why.

I am often dishearten by the fact that it’s slowly becoming little America 🥴😩

Which means the same American mentality and problems along with it. The “how can I make money from this” and “how can this become a business opportunity”.

And that makes me sad sometimes.

I can’t wait to get back to my little farmhouse away from the town, with my fruit and nut trees. I’m gonna sip my @larue.1680 and mind my business.
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📸 @dannyforgood who runs the Good Kitchen and bought this amazing farm in Sicily.

Today, July 4th commemorates the passage of the De

Today, July 4th commemorates the passage of the Declaration of Independence by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776. America’s freedom papers were received.

It was independent. It was free to become whatever the people wanted it to be.

And yet, I never really connected those words. Independent and free.

A decade ago when I decided to pack my things and buy a one way ticket to Palermo, Sicily, I was going on an independent journey to find my freedom. To find me.

For the first time in my life I was doing exactly what I wanted to do with no thought of what anyone else thought about it. I was breaking free of the need to do the “traditional” thing and walk the “traditional” path.

Which led me here today, writing this post. Sharing my thoughts.

That one trip over the course of a year awakened me to a version of me who would go on to do what I was not “supposed” to do. Start businesses, find loves, leave loves, move states and buy homes in other countries.

Why?

Because that trip became my “fuck it” trip.

That is the trip where I dropped all of my deep seeded needs to make anyone proud or to be what others thought I should be. F*ck it…

Read more in todays LIVING with Stephanie Synclair Home newsletter. Link in bio or below

https://stephaniesynclairhome.substack.com/p/the-pursuit-of-independence

LIVE on LIVING with Stephanie Synclair Newsletter.

LIVE on LIVING with Stephanie Synclair Newsletter. 2 stone farmhouses that sit in a valley with a stream and over 500 olive and walnut trees!!! Needs work but for the price it is totally worth it. 😍 https://stephaniesynclairhome.substack.com/p/valley-with-stream-walnut-grove-olive

One of the things that I noticed about our time at

One of the things that I noticed about our time at our Italian home is more precious moments. One minute I was raising a little boy and the next he was a teenager taller than me with a deep voice. These are the moments that matter. So precious. Irreplaceable.

What’s your favorite thing to do in Italy? We as

What’s your favorite thing to do in Italy? We asked over 135 expats and families who summer in Italy this question. I thought we would get specific answers. Names of restaurants, locations etc. But that’s not what happened. We picked our favorite answers and shared them today in LIVING with Stephanie Synclair Home. Linked in stories and bio

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