By the end of 2017, I had spent nearly a year researching Italy, connecting with expats, and searching for every possible way to turn my dream into reality. What I didn’t realize at the time was that moving to Italy wasn’t simply about changing countries.

It was about changing me.

In late 2017, while participating in an Italy expat Facebook group, I came across a post from a woman named Sophie. She was advertising her coaching program called Take the Leap. Her work focused on empowering women to create lives they truly loved.

Immediately, I was intrigued.

Sophie is Dutch, but she had fallen in love with Italy as a child and eventually moved there herself. As I read through her website, something resonated deeply. Her story felt familiar. Her message spoke directly to where I was in my own journey.

I scheduled a discovery call.

Within minutes of speaking with her, I knew I had found the right person.

Sophie is incredibly gifted at what she does. She combines practical coaching with deep intuition. During our sessions, she had an uncanny ability to identify the beliefs, fears, and emotional blocks that were quietly holding me back. She would ask questions that went straight to the root of an issue, helping me uncover things I hadn’t even realized were there.

I had never worked with a coach before, and although it wasn’t therapy, it was one of the most transformative experiences of my life.

Becoming the Woman Italy Needed Me to Be

I began working with Sophie in early 2018, and the results were immediate.

Looking back now, I can see that I wasn’t simply preparing to move to Italy.

I was being prepared for the woman I would become in Italy.

At the time, I didn’t fully understand how much inner work still needed to be done. I only knew that every session seemed to move me one step closer to the life I wanted. Today, I am deeply grateful for that season of preparation.

Sometimes the greatest transformations happen long before the physical move ever takes place.

Signs, Synchronicities, and Divine Timing

February 2018 became a particularly meaningful month.

The week before my birthday, I had the opportunity to attend a Valentine’s Ball at the Embassy of Italy in Washington, D.C.

For someone who had spent all of 2017 researching Italy, dreaming about Italy, and setting intentions around Italy, the experience felt surreal.

It was as if the universe was beginning to respond.

I remember walking into the embassy and feeling completely at home. It wasn’t Italy, but it felt like a small piece of Italy had been brought to D.C.

Looking back, I now see these moments as signs that things were beginning to align.

The week after the ball, I traveled to Florida to celebrate my birthday.

I’ve always considered myself a spiritual person rather than a religious one. I don’t attend church regularly, but there have been moments throughout my life when I felt strongly guided to be somewhere because there was a message waiting for me.

This was one of those moments.

On my birthday, February 18, which happened to fall on a Sunday that year, I attended a church service.

During that service, the minister referenced two Bible passages:

Mark 2:18

and later,

Exodus 20:8–10

At the time, those verses landed differently.

I felt them.

Deeply.

I knew intuitively that they were connected to my journey and the future that was unfolding before me. Although I didn’t fully understand their significance yet, I walked away with a quiet certainty that my move to Italy would happen.

The details would reveal themselves later.

The message had simply been delivered.

And sometimes, that’s enough.

A Taste of Italy

A few months later, another piece of the puzzle fell into place.

One of the women I attended the Embassy of Italy event with shared my love for Italy, particularly Florence. A few months after the event, I casually asked her:

“What if we spent a week in Florence studying Italian?”

She immediately said yes.

And just like that, a plan was born.

In May 2018, I traveled to Europe for two and a half weeks.

A few days in Vietri sul Mare, one week in Florence, and the remainder of the time in Barcelona.

The Florence portion of the trip was especially important because it represented my first real step toward integrating Italy into my life rather than simply dreaming about it from afar.

When Reality Doesn’t Match the Dream

I enrolled in an Italian language program and eagerly arrived ready to learn.

Then life reminded me of an important lesson.

I got sick.

Very sick.

After only a couple of days of classes, I spent much of the week recovering instead of exploring.

Ironically, Sophie had often reminded me that living in Italy wouldn’t be a permanent vacation. Real life would still happen there. There would be wonderful days and difficult days. There would be challenges, frustrations, and moments when things didn’t go according to plan.

And there I was, experiencing exactly that.

I had hoped to spend time with Sophie in person during the trip after months of working together online. But because I wasn’t feeling well that opportunity didn’t happen.

At the time, I was disappointed.

Today, I simply smile.

Because life was already teaching me that Italy wasn’t meant to be idealized.

It was meant to be lived.

Not Wanting to Leave

After Florence, I continued on to Barcelona. And when it came time to return to the United States, the feeling was stronger than before….

I didn’t want to go back.

I knew that Europe, and especially Italy, was home.

Still, I boarded the plane.

Because my journey wasn’t finished.

Not yet.

The Power of the Waiting Season

The rest of 2018 became a year of continued preparation.

I kept applying for jobs.

I continued networking.

I kept learning.

I kept working with Sophie and participating in group sessions with other women who were also creating new lives for themselves.

Most importantly, I kept growing.

What I learned during that period is something I still believe today:

Manifestation isn’t only about receiving what you want.

It’s about becoming the person who can sustain what you want once it arrives.

The waiting period is rarely wasted time.

It’s preparation time.

It’s where your character is built.

It’s where your faith is tested.

It’s where your vision becomes stronger than your doubts.

There were certainly moments when I felt impatient. I wanted everything to happen faster. I wanted answers. I wanted certainty.

Instead, I received a lesson in divine timing.

Looking Back

A friend once told me:

“God has to open doors, close doors, and move people around before everything can come together.”

That wisdom stayed with me.

Because sometimes what feels like a delay is actually orchestration.

The right people.

The right opportunities.

The right circumstances.

The right timing.

Everything has to align.

And looking back now, I can see that every conversation, every setback, every lesson, and every moment of waiting was serving a purpose.

Italy was coming.

But first, I had to become the version of myself who was ready to receive it.

Coming Next

The First Glimpse of Italy Becomes Reality

In the next chapter, I’ll share how Italy began moving from a dream on a vision board to something tangible, real, and impossible to ignore.