Hello friends! This Roman-adopted object in motion has finally found time to update you on the last several weeks of my activities. It’s been a productive two months. I’m happy to report some good news, but you must wait until the end to find out what it is. I hope you enjoy this short and newsworthy post.
I am the poster child of an object in motion
But before I get to the good part, I want to say a few words about this idea of being an object in motion.
We are all objects in motion. Our lives are vibrating constantly as billions of individual objects in motion–living, bumping, and colliding with each other along our way. Sometimes, collisions are pleasant, while others, not so much. Life is a series of human collisions that lead us to the right community of family, friendship, or love that slows us down a bit. Those collisions force us to stop for a while to rest, learn, and live.
After my experience of buying a house in France, in what my friend Joe called a pandemic-forced “shotgun wedding” of sorts when COVID was holding a gun to the world’s head, I collided with Rome and found peace the last several years. My intent was never to make Rome my permanent home but a holding position until I could find somewhere that would allow me to feel like I did so many years ago—that place where I would have the sensation of belonging.
I’m now manifesting another collision with something that might put this object in motion to rest again, at least for a little while.
Is it better to be the stick or the rock in the river
When I left California, I chose to be like a stick in the river. I would allow the current to take me wherever it wanted to go. I traveled on a whim, moved from one place to another, and collected incredible experiences. However, what I haven’t collected is a sense of local community.
I continue to care for and nurture my network of friends around Europe and America instead of making deep relationships where I live. It may not be a bad thing. It’s just something that has kept this object in motion in search of something missing.
My head is full of questions and empty of answers. I believe that I should be more like a stick in the river instead of a rock. I will flow and see where the river takes this object in motion.
And we’re on the move again
When we talked in my last post, I told you I decided to leave Rome after my rental contract finished next February. I would begin my search in Liguria, the western region of Italy bordering France.
This April, I packed the car with my suitcase and Sofia and drove north. Our journey took us from Rome to Florence and then west through the historical Tuscan towns of Lucca and Pisa.
I decided to stay in a seaside hotel northeast of Lucca for the night. My hotel had a view of the Tuscan Apuan Alps and their famous carved white slopes. It was the area where the sculpting marble of Carrara was quarried to make Michelangelo’s masterpieces.
The next day, I drove towards Genoa into Liguria. After four hours, Sofia and I arrived in Sanremo. It’s a seaside town famous for its annual music festival where Italy’s top performer is crowned and sent on to compete in the annual Eurovision Music Festival.
If you’re a movie buff, you may remember that Sanremo was also the town where Dickie Greenleaf met his demise after Tom Ripley bludgeoned him with a boat oar in The Talented Mr. Ripley. I promise you that I have no intentions of getting into a rowboat with a 20-something Matt Damon lookalike, no matter how good-looking he is.
Ligurian house-hunting adventures
My friend Linda from France joined me, and we spent a week driving from village to town to village again. We looked at small villages like Dolceacqua and San Lorenzo al Mare and visited houses in Sanremo and Imperia. We both became more familiar with Liguria, and it started to feel like a comfortable place.
After Linda left, I stayed on for another week and went deeper into my explorations. I spent more time enjoying Liguria. I rented a bike and rode up and down the famous Ligurian “pista ciclabile.” It’s a seaside bike path of 24 kilometers on the former railway tracks of Trenitalia. It was an incredible experience to go from village to village on a bicycle, stopping at small Ligurian gems that dot the Italian Riviera coastline.
I’ve included some of the photos from our time in Liguria. Although they evoke the beauty of Liguria, the real magic can only be found in person. If you want to read more about the history of Liguria and the Italian Riviera check out this great article from Italia.it about Liguria.
An object in motion collides and who knows what will happen next
I continued my real estate explorations seeing another ten or more places. Nothing gave me that “knowing” feeling you have when you find the right home.
On the last day, I took a chance and saw an apartment in Sanremo just outside the city center but close enough to bicycle quickly into the village along the pista ciclabile.
The apartment was one of three in a newly restructured palazzo. All three apartments were for sale, but I wanted to see the top floor. It was the smaller of the three, but what it lacked in space, it made up for with an incredible terrace that overlooked the sea.
This was the latest collision moment. I knew this was the place. I wasn’t sure how the space would work, but it felt like a blank canvas where I could create something new.
The realtor and his father, Tommaso and Giuseppe, met me at the apartment. They were genuinely intrigued by this American’s desire to make this apartment his permanent home. They had expected to sell this apartment as a vacation home to someone from Milan, Turin, or maybe France. The fact that a middle-aged American would be in Sanremo and plan to live there all year was interesting to them.
After the visit, I told Tommaso that I would be making an offer when I returned to Rome, and he should prepare the “proposta di acquisto” or the proposal to buy.
I returned to Rome and made an offer. It was accepted by the building owners a few days later without much negotiation.
It’s a good feeling…grateful but different
While America is celebrating Independence Day the first week of July, I will have my independence celebration in Liguria, signing papers and receiving the keys to my new home. It all happened by simply putting the collision into effect.
I can’t say that buying a home now has the same incredible feeling of what it felt like in California so many times. I don’t have that sense of another dream waiting to be fulfilled. It simply feels like a natural progression in a series of steps. There is far less fanfare and more practicality. I want to feel more, but I’ve become quite pragmatic in this phase of life.
At 53 years old, I don’t want to continue the expensive endeavor of buying and selling homes to find happiness. However, if this object in motion has to collide a few more times in different places to find a home, I’ll accept that. The key is to remember to gratefully and gracefully float with the collisions in life.
Thank you for following along. I hope you enjoyed this latest version of Luke colliding with life as much as I enjoyed sharing it. If you haven’t subscribed, and don’t want to miss another update, please enter your email in the box below. I look forward to another post after I have the keys in hand. It will be a great story about enjoying the summer and making the most of my never-ending collisions with life.
I’m so happy for you,Lou, that you’ve found a home for this next phase of your life. I do hope it brings you the peace, friends, and laughter that you need. How about a few pictures so I can visualize where you’re going to be?
Love you.
Lynda
Thank you to my mamma in Arizona! I think I’ve found a place that will certainly be full of adventure with friends closer in France and Monaco. It’s a great place for this phase of life, which I measure in 3-5 year increments now. 🙂
I hope you are doing wonderful! I will provide some pictures soon! I am having a little bit of work done over the summer and putting in a kitchen (which is my happy space)…the apartment should be ready around October.
I’ll be sure to keep you updated! Sending lots of love back to you, Linda. Be well,and know that I hope to see you someday in Italy! XOXO
so happy for you, I have been following your Diaries since the beginning ! We love Liguria and have stayed several times, several weeks in Sanremo and Bordighera. He is curious, which side of Sanremo are you on?? Don’t you just love the pista and all the scenic (and tasty) views from your bike!? My husband would move there in an instant. We were living in Lucca up to the pandemic. This fall we are managing to be a week in Alassio (in between our 3 Weeks in Puglia and 4 weeks in Piemonte with friends and family. Looking forward to more posts about your new Ligurian life – (from Santa Barbara California)
Lisa from Santa Barbara, hello!! Thank you so much. I’m happy to have you continue along with me, and I’m happy that you have found the same beauty in Liguria that I have. I spent quite a bit of time between Bordighera, Sanremo and Ospedaletti…trying to decide between the three. I chose Sanremo, and I’ll be near la spiaggia tre ponti…just after the marina. It’s a great area on the way to Arma di Taggia, a tranquil little zone close to everything. And that pista ciclabile is just an amazing feature!
When you make your way back to Liguria, let me know! I may be there. I know Piemonte and Puglia are beautiful in autumn. I bet you have Alba truffles on your list 🙂 Best to you and have a beautiful summer!
Your final words in this blog “gratefully and gracefully float with the collisions in life” will stay with me for a very long time. Thank you for sharing your journey with us and continuing to inspire us. Wishing you the very best in your abode. Viji
Viji! How are you my friend? Isn’t that a great thing to inspire to being? Graceful and grateful – when life bumps us along our journey. I’m wishing you the best and thank you for your kind words.
Congrats on the home Luke!
Thank you Antonio! I hope all is well in your world and you are enjoying the summer! Let me know when you are back in Italy!
Congrats, dear friend! I want nothing but the best for you, and your heart! It sounds as if you have found it…. for this chapter! Maybe you can still be a stick, just firmly snuggled up against a rock! xx
Oh I love your message..all of it! Thank you! I think I have found a very good place to let next chapter unfold! And yes, I’m on the look out for a rock to snuggle against! LOL Sending XOXO to you and the family!
Very happy for you. I know the area just a little and I can see you fitting in. Glad u updated us, I was starting to get a little worried about you. Ciao
Love it Luke. Sanremo is gorgeous! Much happiness a lei!!
Grazie, bello! Quando siete pronti, dovete venire a trovarmi! La costa ligure vi aspetta!
Congratulations Luke! To use a cliche “home is where the heart is” and add where you can openly share it with others. Good luck, sounds exciting. Kathy
Thank you, Kathy!! Yes..after my heart has been relocated a few times I think it’s ready to be shared in the same place 🙂 If you ever make your way down to that little corner of the world, I would enjoy seeing you both! Have a wonderful summer in Sweden and wherever the river takes you both. Thanks for following along!
Félicitations Luke bien fait❤️
Grazie amica mia. Ce l’ho fatta! Dovete venire a trovarmi! Un bacione a voi!
I knew Rome wasn’t the place…
But Italy is full of gems and you found yours.
You deserve all happiness and joy.
Good luck with moving north with Sofia!
Germano
Thank you, Germano. You are absolutely right. Italy is a country full of beautiful destinations and things to be discovered. Thanks for your very kind words. It will be a change to start the next chapter. Thanks for following along.
Beautifully expressed, that lightness of being. I am so delighted for you. Happy new home in Sanremo, with love from (this time) the Welsh Borders! xx
Thank you bellezza. I am feeling more delighted myself. The process is always a learning adventure. I hope you are having a fantastic summer in Wales and experiencing wonderful things. I await your updates on WITWIC. Where in the world is Christine! 😜😜
Congratulations dear friend, can hardly wait to see what you do with your new home. Make it dreamy no doubt. Love the photos, always. 💚👏🏻🫶🏻
Thank you! It will be as dreamy as I can make it. 😅😅. The kitchen plan is coming together nicely. Now I just need to find a bit more space. I can’t wait to have photo-ready spaces. 😜😜. Love back atcha!! ❤️
Hi Lucca, congrats to you and Sophiaaaa on your new home. Enjoy and I k own you will make it your own! Keep on moving on my friend. Much love and admiration!😌❤️🥂
Thank you!! Sofia is excited about sniffing out new dogs and I’m happy to be a homeowner again. Her and I have different priorities. 😆😆. Thank you. I learned from the best my dear friend! ❤️❤️